California is no better off environmentally than the Rocky Mountain West (HCN, 5/1/06: California, here we come). (Of course, there are several Californias, and the environment is valued in different ways in, say, the central coastal region than in most of the Central Valley. Remember, please, that Richard Pombo hails from California, and he’s not […]
California’s not that different
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Give biologists more credit
I have to disagree with Leigh Bernacchi’s argument for some sort of “Ecosystem Protection Act” (HCN, 5/1/06: Is Pombo the kick we need?). True, ecosystem management is becoming the norm for land management policy, but it’s a lot easier to find a single species’ place in an ecosystem than it is to find all the connections […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
We need sensible ESA reform
I am a member of the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, the National Wildlife Federation and other environmental organizations. However, I believe that blind opposition to any reasonable reform of the Endangered Species Act is eventually going to lead to unreasonable reform. Indeed, I believe that is why we are looking at reform legislation right […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
They’re idealistic kids, not terrorists
A “terrorist” intentionally targets innocent people in order to promote a political agenda. Members of the Earth Liberation Front target only property, which invariably belongs to Earth-rapers with nothing innocent about them (HCN, 4/17/06: Eco-terrorism and the trial of the century). ELF has never killed or injured anyone. They are idealistic kids who claim that the […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Celebrate differences
The ongoing discussions about Brokeback Mountain prompt me to write (HCN, 4/3/06: Keep the closet closed, please). During my 55-year marriage, I have lived in much of the West. I’ve even had the rare opportunity to actually live on a working cattle ranch. In short, I’ve known a lot of real cowboys! Seeing Brokeback Mountain was a […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Lion plan draws heat from scientists, enviros
Lion plan draws heat from scientists, enviros
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Good Samaritan bill could clean up old mines
The Clean Water Act inadvertently hampers efforts to clean up thousands of orphaned hardrock mines across the West. Legislation introduced in April by Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., may help solve the problem. Under the act, anyone who attempts to clean up acid drainage from a mine becomes liable for continuing or future pollution from the […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Montana court acknowledges water linkage
An April decision by Montana’s Supreme Court legally established something that the scientific community has long agreed upon: that groundwater is connected to surface water. In 1993, Montana state legislators ordered a moratorium on new water-rights applications for surface water in the over-allocated Upper Missouri River Basin — along with all groundwater “immediately or directly […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
The Latest Bounce
The Navajo Nation has opened its doors to a new power plant — and waived its sovereign right to protect itself from future disputes over the project. In mid-May, the Navajo Tribal Council voted 66 to 7, granting a 50-year lease to Houston-based Sithe Global Power to build the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant near […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Heard around the West
CALIFORNIA Governing magazine calls Vernon, Calif., “the strangest town in America.” Although 44,000 people work there, only 93 people actually live in the tiny Los Angeles suburb; when election time rolls around, 60 people show up to vote. The Los Angeles Times wrote an exposé of the unusual town, which behaves more like a private […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Between the body and the world
I had to see it. I mean, how often are human bodies impregnated with resin and polyester, contorted into odd postures, and displayed for the public’s edification? It wasn’t appealing; it was irresistible. So one evening this spring, I plunked down $15 and joined the line for Body Worlds 2 at the Denver Museum of […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Science vs. science fiction — get it straight
Science and scientists are taking quite a beating in the public opinion department these days. Sometimes there’s a good reason for it. Consider the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Every year, the geologists’ association honors someone “for notable journalistic achievement in communications contributing to public understanding of geology.” The oil geologists gave Michael Crichton their […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Craig’s excellent adaptive adventures
Name Craig Kennedy Age 33 Vocation Adaptive adventure-travel writer and accessibility consultant Home Base Steamboat Springs, Colorado Noted for Writing adventure-travel guides for disabled hikers, bikers, boaters, campers, paragliders … He says “(Accessibility) could always be happening faster. I’m just happy it’s happening at all. There are a lot of places we can go. ” […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Dust and Snow
High in the snowy San Juan Mountains, tiny particles have big implications
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Bomb test stirs up fear in Nevada desert
Proposed blast raises alarm over lingering radioactivity and talk of bombing Iran
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Dear friends
WELCOME, NEW INTERNS Having worked as a bicycle messenger, Wall Street broker, jeweler, car detailer and welder, Allison Gerfin is ready to try her hand at something new: an internship at High Country News. Allison wandered between the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts for a number of years, from New York City to Portland, Ore., […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Nostalgia is a moving target
I recently realized that my kids have become old enough to be nostalgic. It was a strange feeling. We were driving past the old brick house we lived in five years ago, when my 16-year-old daughter said: “Remember when we used to swing under the old maple tree and see how far we could jump […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
‘Clinging hopelessly to the past’
The cantankerous gospel of Jim Stiles and The Canyon Country Zephyr
Posted inWotr
A real rain is what happens in New Mexico
It is a short flight from one extreme to another. My plane takes off in lush, green Portland, Ore., and lands two hours later in Albuquerque,N.M. As the plane comes over the Sandia mountains, another passenger, making a first trip to New Mexico, is startled to see a panorama of browns shining in the sunlight, […]
Posted inWotr
Raising Bella in springtime
Spring can be a time of quirky deception in the Rocky Mountains. All manner of creatures are born into this seasonal maelstrom, where soothing sunshine one moment can give way almost instantaneously to a howling snow squall. I pity the frail calves and lambs born wet on the High Plains. They trudge dutifully behind their […]