My family and I live in Clark, Wyo., on the Montana-Wyoming border. I used to tell people that I lived on the edge of Yellowstone country. Nowadays, though, I admit that I live in an industrial zone — the kind of place where things can get dangerous and sometimes go very wrong. Early in the […]
When a gas pipeline blows, you get out fast
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
No wheels in wilderness
Greg Hanscom penned one of the more eloquent and poignant discourses that I have ever encountered on limiting access to mountain bikes in wilderness areas in his Sept. 18 editorial. As a fellow longtime mountain bike rider, I must say that he is not just speaking for himself on this issue. Joe Oliver Carmel Valley, […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Hikers and bikers unite!
I began mountain biking in Santa Cruz in 1984, riding in the Coast Range from Big Sur to the Bay Area. In the years that followed, I was baffled and dismayed by the rancor of the hiker/biker conflict. For me, and the friends I rode with, mountain biking was simply another way to explore the […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
A taste of your own medicine
In response to the Sept. 18 cover story, “Going Big,” just hop on your mountain bike and pedal on a well-known 4×4 outback road, where the four-wheelers exceed the speed limits, kick up dust, mud, rocks, and try to enjoy the same road with your bike. This experience is the same for any hiker in […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Bikers must police our own
Patrick Farrell’s Sept. 18 cover story, “Going Big,” presented a fairly accurate picture of the current challenges facing the mountain-bike community. As an active mountain-bike trail advocate since 1989, I have witnessed the gradual acceptance of mountain bikes as part of the trail equation by land agencies and most trail users. The upstart downhill/ freeride […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Bikers have blown it
I’d like to answer the rhetorical question on the cover of the Sept. 18 issue: “Mountain bikers, long vilified as unruly renegades, are finally winning respect — and access to more trails. But does a new generation of gonzo riders threaten all that?” My response is: I certainly hope so. Nothing pictured on the cover, […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Stop locking bikes out
Although mountain bikers are essentially silent, as well as not motorized, not polluting, muscle-powered, and most importantly, appreciative of Nature and wild places, environmentalists like HCN Editor Greg Hanscom have from the beginning thumbed their noses at us. In his Sept. 18 editorial, Hanscom says we “should stay out of wilderness politics,” because there ought […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Getting out of the office, and into hot water
NAME Jeff Mount VOCATION Geology professor AGE 52 HOME BASE Davis, California KNOWN FOR Pointing out that building houses below sea level and surrounding them with weak levees is a recipe for disaster MOST RECENT EXPLOIT On a dare from his son, giving up his raft to kayak the Grand Canyon this summer: “I saw […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Wastin’ away in New Mexico
European-based company breaks ground on uranium enrichment facility
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
On the ballot: Will Californians vote to build an off-ramp from the oil highway?
Californians will find more than a dozen initiatives on their ballot this Nov. 7, including one aimed at helping them kick the oil habit. Proposition 87 would raise $4 billion over 10 years for the California Energy Alternatives Program Authority by taxing oil produced in the state. Part of an effort to reduce oil consumption […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Clinton-era roadless rule is back… for now
Federal court ruling creates more questions than answers
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Wildland acres burned
As global temperatures rise, wildfires are starting earlier and lasting longer into the season. As of press time there were 10 large fires (over 500 acres) burning in the West. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Wildland acres burned.
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Mother Nature rides an ATV
Two small cacti have put a stop to motorcycles and ATVs on one of southern Utah’s most contested pieces of public land. On Sept. 20, the BLM announced that off-highway vehicle use would be restricted in the desert surrounding Factory Butte to protect the endangered Wright fishhook and the threatened Winkler cactus. The decision closes […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
One dam down; four in limbo
Endangered Lost River and short-nose sucker fish in Oregon’s Klamath Basin may get some relief, now that the Modoc Point Irrigation District has voted to remove the Chiloquin dam and re-establish access to spawning habitat on the Sprague River, a tributary of the Klamath. The Interior Department will foot the $15-to-$16 million bill to take […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
BLM busted for booting whistleblower
Former BLM staffer Earle Dixon, who was in charge of cleanup at the abandoned Yerington copper mine in Nevada, says he was fired in October 2004 after one year of work for informing local residents and the media of radioactive contamination at the mine. He accused the BLM, the State of Nevada and the U.S. […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Will your favorite Forest Service campsite be closed down next summer?
Perhaps, if it doesn’t fit the agency’s increased focus on “dispersed recreation” at remote sites. The 155 national forests are now ranking their developed camping and picnic sites to determine if they meet agency standards; those that fall short will be closed or have their services reduced. According to a recent report from the Western […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Some ‘canned’ elk get uncanned
Although most of its neighbors have either banned or begun phasing out elk farms, the state of Idaho is still home to more than 70, with some charging shooters thousands of dollars to bag fenced, domesticated game. In August, as many as 160 elk escaped from an Idaho canned-hunt operation near Yellowstone National Park. It […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
In politics, it’s not about who you want to drink a beer with
So Angie Paccione filed for personal bankruptcy in 2001. According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, so did another 1,452,029 people. Why should anyone care? Because Marilyn Musgrave, the two-term Republican incumbent Paccione is running against to represent northeastern Colorado in Congress, has informed the world about the bankruptcy via a radio ad. […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
How to save a creek… one drop at a time
An overview of Whychus Creek restoration projects, including flow restoration and habitat restoration projects