The burning question in Sevier County, Utah, to build or not to build a new 270-megawatt coal-fired power plant, will be answered by voters in November. Sevier County citizens collected enough signatures to place Proposition 1, which would amend the county’s land use ordinance to require a vote before approving any permits for coal-fired plants, […]
Power to the people
Posted inGoat
When spines aren’t enough
To combat cactus rustlers — who can sell the saguaros to landscapers — the National Park Service is planning to imbed microchips into Arizona’s most enticing specimens. Once past the planning stages, officials at Saguaro National Park will begin injecting the cacti with dime-sized chips. Rangers will be equipped with magic microchip wands. Wave one […]
Posted inGoat
Bureau of Land Ravagement?
Just days after the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation raised serious concerns about the Bureau of Land Management’s plan to open up rock art-rich Nine Mile Canyon to 800 more gas wells, the agency is under the scrutiny of the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office for its extensive use of categorical exclusions to permit energy […]
Posted inOctober 13, 2008: Back to the future
A good idea – if you can get away with it
Rainwater harvesting saves water, breaks the law
Posted inOctober 13, 2008: Back to the future
Biodiversity? Not so much
Your article “McCain: T.R. or W?” contains this statement: “The San Pedro hosts the second-most biologically diverse array of mammals in the world, second only to the Costa Rican cloud forests” (HCN, 9/1/08). As far as I know, no scientists have ever claimed that the San Pedro River had biodiversity second only to Costa Rica. […]
Posted inOctober 13, 2008: Back to the future
“1,000 messy facts”
Riparian systems are varied and dynamic; riparian models are human constructs particular to individuals. Cleo Woelfe-Erskine’s article, “Riparian Repair,” failed to capture a fundamental of reclamation and even restoration: We practitioners don’t deliver a perfect facsimile of nature full-blown at the inception but rather advance the recovery process, which continues if we have been successful […]
Posted inOctober 13, 2008: Back to the future
Unnatural selection
In his letter, Neil Snyder asserts that “it’s time stop intervening on behalf of the spotted owl and let nature take its course, whatever that will be” (HCN, 9/15 & 29/08). If we had allowed nature to take its course, old-growth forests would still blanket the Pacific Northwest. Spotted owls would occupy their traditional niche, […]
Posted inOctober 13, 2008: Back to the future
Taking your life in your feet
Having lived in different parts of Arizona for many years, I would say that it is not just Phoenix that is unfriendly to pedestrians. It is the whole state. Arizona drivers think they own the road and have an inalienable right to speed. In many places, both big cities and small towns, roads have narrow […]
Posted inOctober 13, 2008: Back to the future
Greenwashing, literally
In last issue’s “Two Weeks in the West” article concerning “clean” coal promotion at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, you misattributed the purveyors of “green coal” (coal painted green) to coal company “henchmen” at the DNC (HCN, 9/15 & 29/08). In reality, what was witnessed was an act of political theater by environmentally minded […]
Posted inOctober 13, 2008: Back to the future
Readers weigh in on HCN’s redesign
Bravo. The latest issue looks terrific. HCN is always a great read, and your efforts to improve its look over the years are applauded. Peter CarrelsAberdeen, South Dakota *** I really appreciate the changes you have made to the “magazine.” As a former publisher myself, I know it is always a balance between cost and […]
Posted inGoat
Why Western Wildfires are getting larger
The October 1st edition of the radio science show “Earth and Sky” featured a US Forest Service official asserting that the acreage of individual wildfires has increased dramatically in just a decade. The Deschutes National Forest in Oregon was provided as an example and climate change was held up as the cause for the dramatic […]
Posted inWotr
What I will say to Americans once I am elected president
Jimmy Carter once opened an address to the nation with these words: “Tonight, I have some unpleasant news for you.” His chances of re-election vanished soon after. And so, I dedicate my acceptance speech as your new president to Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States and the last honest politician: My fellow […]
Posted inWotr
We’ve heard the “drill now” drumbeat before
Perhaps it is telling that when it comes to energy policy, President George W. Bush has inspired nostalgia for Jimmy Carter. “If we had only followed Carter’s energy plan,” people say, “we wouldn’t be in this fix now.” For Westerners, though, following Carter would have been a big mistake. Granted, there were some sensible aspects […]
Posted inArticles
Video: Still howling wolf
The passionate and complicated feelings people have about living with wolves in the Northern Rockies
Posted inGoat
What the election means for the Interior Department
The scandal-plagued Interior Department has certainly provided plenty of material for journalists during the seven-plus years of the Bush administration. Unfortunately, the tabloid-style headlines have come at a price: the pervasive mismanagement of the nation’s natural resources, from endangered species and clean water to federally-owned oil and gas reserves. Are things likely to be any […]
Posted inGoat
EPA reopens “National Libraries on the Environment”
The EPA’s “self-inflicted lobotomy” is about to be reversed — at least partially. More than a year ago, in response to Bush budget cuts, the agency began dismantling its network of 26 technical libraries, a crucial repository of scientific information for the agency’s own researchers and the public. It closed several regional libraries and moved […]
Posted inGoat
Nothing left to lose
Renewable energy sources may not belch carbon dioxide or other nasty gasses into the atmosphere, but that doesn’t mean they’re impact-free. Solar power, if done on the scale necessary to replace coal, would take up huge swaths of desert land. Wind turbines kill birds and bats and, to some people’s eyes, just aren’t very pretty. […]
Posted inGoat
Drilling setback in Nine Mile Canyon
This week, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation sent letters to the Bureau of Land Management raising concerns about plans to open Nine Mile Canyon for new energy development. The canyon, situated in eastern Utah’s Tavaputs Plateau, is home to ancient rock art, which has already endured damage due to increased truck traffic from the […]