TEESTO, ARIZONA In the dry heart of the Navajo Reservation, at the end of a solitary, sand-choked dirt road, geologist Margaret Hiza Redsteer climbs out of her dark blue government Jeep, taps lightly on a door, and waits. And waits. When Mary Biggambler finally pokes her head around the door, it’s with a hearty […]
Shifting sands in Navajoland
Posted inJune 23, 2008: Peace on the Klamath
Wilderness, schmilderness
In Nevada, wilderness-wary locals derail
lands bills that could help their communities
Posted inJune 23, 2008: Peace on the Klamath
The bone collectors
Wildlife managers clamp down on antlergatherers to protect deer and sage grouse
Posted inJune 23, 2008: Peace on the Klamath
Survival and the fittest
What is an ultramarathon, anyway? Any race longer than 26.2 miles, the length of a traditional marathon. On ultramarathon-induced vomiting “Yes, that happens. Yes, it’s hard. But, it’s extreme. I mean, that’s the point.” Major wins in 2007 Western States Endurance Run (her third victory); Tour de Mont Blanc 100-miler (set new women’s course record); […]
Posted inJune 23, 2008: Peace on the Klamath
Two weeks in the West
It may have surprised some people, but really it was as inevitable as sunrise: After seven years of denial, the Bush administration can no longer ignore the biggest environmental problem facing the West and the entire planet. Thirteen federal agencies, led by the Department of Agriculture, acknowledged reality in a thick May 28 report signed […]
Posted inJune 23, 2008: Peace on the Klamath
Unlikely alliance?
High Country News, like everyone else who covers the West’s environmental issues, loves “unlikely alliances.” We’re delighted whenever chardonnay-sipping Sierra Clubbers from Mill Valley fight on the same side of a cause as Budweiser-swilling elk hunters in Idaho. We love writing about what happens when surly miners join forces with grassroots greens, partly because these […]
Posted inArticles
When choosing a house, think past a lifetime
We’ve had some minor flooding lately in the Gallatin Valley in southwestern Montana, the consequence of a good mountain snowpack and a two-day heat wave, followed by a big rain. It reminded everyone of the way things used to work. Some local landowners, however, were “shocked,” I read in the paper. “I’ve lived here 12 […]
Posted inArticles
CON: A housing development that’s a tragedy for condors
In recent weeks, several high-profile environmental organizations have been celebrating a deal they call “perhaps the greatest victory for conservation that many of us will see in our lifetime.” If only this were true. Sadly, it is not; the deal in question represents a major setback for conservation. The “deal” does result in permanent preservation […]
Posted inArticles
PRO: The Tejon agreement is a true conservation victory
Anyone reading about the Tejon Ranch — California’s largest contiguous private property — has probably heard about the three controversial development projects: Tejon Industrial Park, the Tejon Mountain Village and the Centennial Planned Community. But have you heard about the Tejon Golf and Hunting Resort, or maybe the Whitewolf Village and Shopping Center? People haven’t […]
Posted inArticles
Don’t trash Joshua Tree National Park
Which word doesn’t belong with “national park?” Wildflowers, wildlife, hiking, night sky, garbage dump? No doubt you answered “garbage dump,” yet the biggest landfill in the United States may be developed right next to California’s Joshua Tree National Park. Fortunately, a lawsuit filed by the National Parks Conservation Association and others is trying to halt […]
Posted inArticles
Who you calling terrorist?
The Cold War was hot when I was growing up in the 1950s and ‘60s. It affected our domestic discourse because politicians so often sought to discredit their opponents as “Communist sympathizers” or “comsymps,” people “soft on Communism,” “just a little bit pink” or outright “pinkos.” Something as basic as the integration of public facilities […]
Posted inArticles
A little regulation can be a very good thing
The gas industry won the battle of the stickers that festooned people’s ball caps, chests and arms. Some 2,000 folks had gathered in Grand Junction to tell the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission their feelings about proposed new rules for oil and gas drilling in Colorado. It was easy to see that “Please don’t […]
Posted inOctober 13, 2008: Back to the future
Battleground!
No matter who wins in November, one thing is certain about this year’s election: the Interior West has finally arrived. For the last 40 years, campaigns generally flew right over the eight states in the interior. Their sparse populations, relative handful of electoral votes and status as Republican strongholds meant they just weren’t worth fighting […]
Posted inArticles
Guest workers: Laborers or commodity?
Mexican workers are people with “a good old-fashioned work ethic” who are “very friendly and easy to work with,” says www.mexican-workers.com. Labormex.com, which guarantees the lowest prices around for Mexican workers, boasts that hiring them is “the most cost effective way of handling all your agricultural labor requirements.” Some companies, however, temper their advertising copy […]
Posted inJune 9, 2008: Why the West needs Mythic Cowboys
Heard Around the West
CALIFORNIA Thanks to skyrocketing prices for gas, a new breed of criminal has begun preying on restaurants, reports The Associated Press. “It’s like a war zone going on right now over grease,” says David Levenson, who owns a grease-hauling business in San Francisco. Levenson pumps used cooking oil from 400 restaurants, but recently he’s found […]
Posted inJune 9, 2008: Why the West needs Mythic Cowboys
The luckiest horse in Reno
When the men approached, the black foal might have been nursing. Or she might have been on her side, giving her wobbly legs a rest, leaning into her mother under the starry desert sky. At the sound of the vehicle, the band prepared to move and did move at once, for horses are animals of […]
Posted inJune 9, 2008: Why the West needs Mythic Cowboys
Conservation groups come and go. Why?
Over the past 20 years or so, I’ve been affiliated with at least a dozen environmental groups, and I’ve seen it happen several times. So has everyone who’s been involved in the movement. I’m talking about professionalization. It begins when a group of grassroots activists begins to feel overwhelmed. They can’t keep up with the […]
Posted inJune 9, 2008: Why the West needs Mythic Cowboys
Every picture tells a story
I think that HCN could have exercised better judgment with the cover photo for the story “Pillaging the Past” (HCN, 4/28/08). I see a conflict between the use of that particular image and the contents of Childs’ article. Pillaging isn’t just about removing objects — it’s also about respect for them. Placing human remains on […]
Posted inJune 9, 2008: Why the West needs Mythic Cowboys
Sticks and stones
I just want to assure Ron Gillett that even though I’m an enviro, I wasn’t born under a rock, nor am I a “wolf-thug terrorist” or “full of ‘crap’ and ‘baloney’ ” when it comes to wolves having little impact on elk and deer populations (HCN, 5/12/08). Certainly, if wolf populations explode and there aren’t […]