Desert cultures are a breed apart. The environments of each shape the particular ways in which its inhabitants – human and otherwise – survive and express themselves. But beyond each desert’s distinctive topography, climate and culture, “a living river of common heritage runs through them all.” So says Gary Nabhan, Sonoran Desert ecologist and author […]
Lines in the sand
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
A life of words and wilderness
Deeply felt, often metaphysical and sometimes maddening, Rick Bass’ memoir describes his long journey West, from the “petrochemical horrors” of Houston to the Yaak Valley in the far northwestern corner of Montana. But his cross-country migration is merely a starting point for the musings in Why I Came West. The book serves as a study […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Lupophobia blues
I thought that Alaska was crazy over wolves, and yes, they still are, but in Catron County, where I now spend my winters, things are crazier yet (HCN, 2/04/08). I’m not sure how the threatened child issue became so prominent in Catron County. Of course, wolves could kill a child, or an adult, for that […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Grand targhee stretches out
As a Teton County commissioner, I thought HCN’s readers would appreciate some additional information about the expansion of the Grand Targhee Resort in Teton County, Wyo., described in a recent “Two Weeks in the West” item (HCN, 3/03/08). The decision balanced the legitimate need for a historic resort to expand with the protection of natural […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Democracy in water decisions
Matt Jenkins’ article on Navajo water claims seemed to exhibit a subtle bias against the grassroots Dine folks on the outside of the tribal bureaucracy (HCN, 3/17/08). And maybe the activists are a little unfair to the white lawyer – after all, there are also Indian lawyers, elected officials, water consultants and bureaucrats who are […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Vaguely sexist?
Having just read the (for the most part) well-written article by Matt Jenkins on Navajo water rights, I just couldn’t get one phrase from the opening paragraphs out of my head (HCN, 3/17/08). He describes tribal water rights commissioner Lena Fowler as possessing a “… cool intensity and a vaguely sexy set of crow’s feet […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Heard Around the West
COLORADO Directors, take note: Don’t even think about staging a play in Colorado if it features a character with a nicotine habit. A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals recently ruled that smoking indoors anywhere in the state enjoys no protection under the First Amendment – and that includes puffing away on a cigarette […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Tough sledding
A few weeks ago, after a party, my son Truman, who is 7, asked me, “You know when I was outside yesterday with Danny?” “Did you have fun?” I asked. “Yeah,” Truman said. “Except Danny said he was going to kick me in the head because I don’t believe in God.” This is the kind […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
A hard winter makes you think
After more than a decade of mild winters, we residents of this high-altitude town in southern Colorado finally got a dose of the genuine article. Not since “Remember December,” when it snowed every day in December 1983, had anyone seen this much snow. But stories told by old-timers, those former miners who stayed on here […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Ascending Giants
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Taking to the Trees.” They’re like a new frontier,” Sean O’Connor says, speaking about the gigantic trees he climbs, “because no other humans have been up there.” O’Connor is the photographer for the Ascending the Giants expedition team, which seeks out, climbs and measures […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
A Montana rancher stands his ground against subdivision
Name Vernon Gliko Age 86 Hometown Belt, Montana Occupation Farmer/rancher He Says “They were friendly people back then. Everybody was trying to help everybody because they were in the same situation. Well, now, you know, you may not even know your neighbor.” Biggest change in his lifetime Transition from using horses to tractors Known for […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Cougars in chaos
How a state hunting policy pushed Washington’s big cats to the brink
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Two weeks in the West
It’s been a knuckle-chapping, post-holing, white-out freeze of a winter in the West, prompting many a global warming naysayer to crow about buying Al Gore a snow shovel. Not so fast though, weather weenies. A recent report based on long-term data from about 2,000 sites around the West shows that the region has warmed 70 […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Dear friends
MORE KUDOS FOR RAY Senior editor Ray Ring‘s cover story “Disposable Workers of the Oil and Gas Fields,” April 2, 2007, received an Honorable Mention in this year’s Heywood Broun Award contest. The top winners were Dana Priest and Anne Hull of the Washington Post. The award, from the Newspaper Guild, recognizes journalism that helps […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
The hazards of the leasing game
Driving over our local mountain pass these days is a bit like playing that video game where you, as the driver, have to navigate a course full of hazards that appear out of nowhere. Around every hairpin turn on the narrow highway, you’re likely to steer into a minefield of rocks, ranging from a scattering […]
Posted inApril 14, 2008: Taking to the Trees
Taking to the Trees
After conquering rocks, trails and mountains, weekend warriors head for the canopy
Posted inArticles
Why the buffalo can’t roam
Since February, some 1,400 wandering Yellowstone bison have been killed under a controversial plan meant to prevent brucellosis – a livestock disease that causes spontaneous abortions – from spreading to cattle near the park. Five agencies are charged with keeping the park’s bison population within park boundaries, but the animals keep migrating out, entering private […]
Posted inWotr
Push, whack, shove, wallop and pound
I started with hard red wheat. Our pioneer ancestors mostly ate bread made of cornmeal until the wheat began to thrive in the arid climate and thin soil. Hand grinders like mine pulverized it fine enough for bread, even cakes. Kneading, I could see my grandmother’s strong arms working the dough on the cupboard by […]
Posted inWotr
Home, home on the cyber-range
A different kind of neighborhood news now serves parts of Colorado’s Front Range, those high-altitude communities “up the hill” from Denver. It’s paperless, free-form, relentlessly local and increasingly popular. It’s a Web site called Pinecam.com, and for people living in the towns of Conifer, Pine, Bailey and Evergreen, it has become a fact of life […]