My local Montana newspaper ran a letter not long ago complaining about the cost of wind power. The only thing that lets wind power compete with good old coal-fired electricity, the writer said, was the 1.9 cent per kilowatt-hour subsidy that a wind producer gets for the first 10 years of production. If only it […]
When it comes to subsidies, coal wins
Posted inWotr
West’s forests will never be the same
Last year’s Indian summer fires in Montana were so intense, so awesome in their fury, that they even spooked veteran firefighters. Pilots dumping retardant on the Jungle Fire southeast of Livingston, Mont., reported flames jumping 500 feet above the tree line. For comparison, imagine a wall of flames leaping over the Washington monument. Hotshots, those […]
Posted inArticles
Losing their luster
In the 1850s, “gold fever” lured hopeful prospectors to Colorado, but left most disappointed. Now people still flock to the state in search of gold, but instead of precious metal, they look for bright yellow aspen leaves. This autumn, however, those gold seekers, like the disenchanted souls before them, may find a depressing development: Colorado’s […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Heard Around the West
MONTANA Fewer people may be heading for vacations in our national parks these days, but “glamping” – short for glamorous camping – is on the rise. Think of luxury tents that come equipped with Persian rugs and electricity for powering blow dryers. As for stinky outhouses – forget about it. The possibility of glamping convinced […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
In search of giant trees and unseen realms
One of former President Ronald Reagan’s more notorious remarks concerned the grand California redwoods. There was “nothing beautiful about them,” he said, “just that they are a little higher than the rest.” An inspiring corrective to Reagan’s indifference is Richard Preston’s The Wild Trees. The author of The Hot Zone follows professional and bare-knuckled gonzo […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Cowboy love, with a generous sprinkling of sugar
Dump your unresponsive husband in suburban Ohio. Move to Jackson Hole, Wyo., and buy an adorable – and affordable – rustic cabin on a sprawling ranch. Make enough money working part-time to not only afford the aforementioned Jackson Hole cabin, but to also have spare time to revel in the glorious Western landscape. And, the […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
And what about John Cox and Michael Jingozian?
You left out quite a few of the major candidates in your article about how much presidential candidates are collecting around the West (HCN, 8/6/07). Usually HCN does better, but here it seems like you’re acting like the mainstream media – how are people to know about candidates like Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, Mike Huckabee […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Wouldn’t Tyson Inc. shoot wolves too?
When I read Bryce Andrews’ line, “Ranchers lose sleep, money and their tempers (due to wolf depredation of livestock),” it raised my hackles (HCN, 8/20/07). I’ve heard this several times over the last decade. No doubt ranchers are good at losing their tempers, but are they losing money? Doesn’t Defenders of Wildlife have a fund […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Kill a cow, save an elk
Bryce Andrews, in describing how he killed a wolf that had preyed upon some cattle in Montana, refuses to take responsibility for the conflicts he has created for our wildlife by placing livestock among our wildlife on our public lands (HCN, 8/20/07). Every cow on public lands is eating forage that would otherwise support native […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Give wolves a chance
Bryce Andrews experienced “rage” when, after domestic cattle were pushed into limited wolf range, some livestock were killed by wolves this summer (HCN, 8/20/07). His own participation in the public-lands ranching industry apparently notwithstanding, Andrews took solace that, by personally killing the alpha male of the local wolf pack, he contributed to a “moderate” solution […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Two weeks in the West
“I’m sucking up to you. But you know, when you’re at 13 percent, you’ve got to do something.” —New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, seeking support for his Democratic presidential campaign at an Aug. 22 forum at the University of Nevada-Reno, where he vowed that if he wins, he’ll fund all kinds of education programs. All […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Effluent, effluent everywhere
Even here in the mountain valley splendor of Paonia, Colo., where the people are pleasant, the summers fine, the winters mild and the autumns spectacular, things go wrong sometimes. A few weeks back, everyone in town came home to find a piece of colored paper taped to his or her front door. The door-postings announced, […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Ashes
We’re winding our way up the Poudre Canyon in my old four-wheel drive – a strange group, to be sure. There’s me at the wheel, hoping this morning will go right. There’s my 14-year-old son, silent in the backseat, watching the canyon flash by. There’s dark-eyed Eva. And there’s the dead woman, Mary. Mary wanted […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Making an effluent market
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Facing the Yuck Factor.” A sprawling town whose population has grown by more than 50 percent since 2000, Prescott Valley, Ariz., is thirsty and lacks a reliable surface water supply. In most of Arizona, such a combination is no barrier to growth. But Prescott […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Take back these drugs – please
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Facing the Yuck Factor.” Americans love their medications. Pharmacists fill more than 3 billion prescriptions a year in the United States, and consumers also buy huge quantities of over-the-counter drugs. Many of those pharmaceuticals enter wastewater when people urinate. Others end up there when […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
He loves nature. And dams.
NAME Paul Ostapuk AGE 50 HOME BASE Page, Arizona VOCATION Engineer and meteorologist at the Navajo Generating Station, part of the Salt River Project NOTED FOR what he does when not paying the bills. Ostapuk is the Arizona director of the Old Spanish Trail Association, a member of the Glen Canyon Natural History Association and – […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Raising the bar for lawyers
State by state, Native Americans in the West are making sure lawyers know the law in Indian Country
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Cutting trees to save the forest
Leveraged buyouts are the newest tool in forest restoration
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Dear friends
WELCOME, NEW HCN INTERNS Fall intern Christine Hoekenga is happy to be back home in the West. The Boulder City, Nev., native earned a double major in environmental science and rhetoric and media studies from Willamette University in Salem, Ore. While there, her passion for scuba diving led her to a semester abroad in the […]
Posted inSeptember 17, 2007: Facing the yuck factor
Facing the Yuck Factor
How has the West embraced water recycling? Very (gulp) cautiously