In old Forest Service photos, a trail crew was always young men with crew cuts, their white t-shirts tight against their lean bodies. What would those men make of us, a mother-son team swaying together over a crosscut saw? My ponytail is going gray and 19-year-old Lee wears a stained shirt with the sleeves ripped […]
Trees for two: A mother and son saw together
Posted inWotr
A political fish-kill is in the making
Grayling are artifacts from the Pleistocene, little fish of big country with flanks of pink and silver and sail-like dorsal fins trimmed with orange and splashed with red, white, turquoise, green and neon blue. Fluvial grayling, the race that dwells in rivers, are common in the Arctic and sub-arctic, but in the Rocky Mountain West, […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Coal’s other mess
As the air around power plants clears, another problem worsens
Posted inWotr
Wake up, wannabe presidents
The Democratic presidential debate in Nevada this November was promoted as a chance for candidates to engage with the West and its concerns, but it might as well have been held in Anywhere, USA. The moderator, four journalists andmost of the audience ignored every critical issue that?s central to us here. The first issue is […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
From toilet to toilet
We need a sustainable solution to the problem of pollution (HCN, 9/17/07). Drinking endocrine disrupters is not the answer unless they help prevent population growth. Replumb our recycled sewage water into a system used for just that purpose – flushing our sewage. How many gallons of water are used during a ball game at the […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
… Rather a scornful tone
The tone of Jonathan Thompson’s brief report on the Jeffs trial conveys unwarranted skepticism about the validity of the prosecution (HCN, 10/15/07). “There was a time … could go about their daily lives without much outside scrutiny,” is probably a factually accurate statement but implies that scrutiny is akin to outside interference. Then there’s a […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
In the groove
In order to restore myself to earthly and cosmic balance after sending a negative note regarding the essay “RV Nation,” I must congratulate the editors for an excellent job on the Oct. 29 books and essays issue. They attained a mighty fine groove in this issue, and I appreciate it greatly. P. “Whale” Szczepanowski McCall, […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Of writers and fires
As a retired high school English teacher and member of the Western Literary Association since 1976, I truly enjoyed the books and essay issue and read every article (HCN, 10/29/07). Ray Ring’s review of two books on firefighting was especially interesting. I gave a paper at last October’s WLA meeting in Boise on blowups and […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Rebecca Solnit responds
(Editor’s Note: The following letter was written by Rebecca Solnit in response to our Oct. 29 article titled “Making a home for hope: An interview with Rebecca Solnit”.) I know the intentions were good, but the interview with me in High Country News was damagingly distorted. Readers should know that the conversation was not recorded, […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Stretching the notion of neighbor
Seven years ago, Rev. Peter Sawtell took a leap of faith. He founded a nonprofit organization in Denver called Eco-Justice Ministries and became one of a small handful of Westerners working full-time on faith-based environmental issues. Nearly a decade later, the United Church of Christ minister is busy consulting with clergy, preaching to congregations around […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Two weeks in the West
November is the most political month, for better or worse, even in odd-numbered years. Thus we’ve just learned that two more of the West’s top Republicans are quitting: Wyoming Rep. Barbara Cubin and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo both announced that they won’t run for re-election when their terms expire next year. They’re joining a crowd […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Becoming a native
There’s nothing like spending time in New Mexico to make you contemplate the West’s long and tumultuous history and confront the thorny question: Just who is a native? William “Sonny” Weahkee qualifies. He’s a Pueblo Indian and Albuquerque activist who directs the SAGE Council, which fought for a decade alongside Anglo environmentalists against a proposed […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Heard Around the West
OREGON Lucky, an elk that was hand-raised by residents of Tillamook County, was by all accounts a cute calf. You could see the little elk along Highway 101, in a pasture where bull elk like to hang out with milk cows. He was comfortable with people and would jump into a pickup bed as easily […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Field notes from the front steps
Back in early spring, when just a few buds had cracked open, the world was constrained by a strip of pavement, a lawn, the driveway with the basketball hoop at the end, the dusty colors of sidewalk chalk. The Mission Mountains, Sapphires, Bitterroots – sheltering bears, mountain lions, and elk – were visible from various […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
A former Hot Shot looks at the West’s wildfires
The recent wildfires that burned 600 square miles, razed some 3,000 homes, killed 14 people and forced the evacuations of over a half-million Southern Californians shared one characteristic: All the homes burned were so close to public land that fire moved easily from hillsides covered with chaparral into subdivisions packed with natural vegetation. I’ve seen […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Growth unfettered
When 29-year-old Jon Regner bought a small house in Flagstaff’s oldest neighborhood last year, he already had plans for the property. He’d replace the 700 square-foot carriage house in the backyard with a two-story duplex. Then he’d live on one floor and rent out the other while he renovated the main house. He’d use the […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Betting on the house
In Las Vegas, the BLM puts cheap land on the table for affordable housing
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Dear friends
HCN HAPPENINGS The staff of High Country News cordially invites all readers and friends to a holiday open house at our Paonia, Colo., office (119 Grand Ave.) on Wednesday, Dec. 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. We’ll provide refreshments. Some fresh faces now grace the office, including Ryan Foster, our director of digital media. A […]
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Beetle Warfare
What happens when an exotic bug is brought in to fight an exotic weed?
Posted inArticles
Worker fallout
Some sick workers from Rocky Flats are
poised to receive compensation quickly, but the majority must
wait