In a parting gesture last month, outgoing Interior Secretary Gale Norton opened the door for counties and states to claim control of roads crossing federal lands managed by her department. Revised Statute 2477, enacted in 1866, allowed states and counties to construct highways across public land (HCN, 12/20/04: The road to nowhere). Although the act was […]
Norton eases road claims
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Valle Vidal Coalition gathers momentum
Even as new drill rigs tickle the boundaries of the Valle Vidal, the coalition opposing energy exploration in New Mexico’s Yellowstone gains strength. In January, the Bureau of Land Management gave Houston-based El Paso Energy the go-ahead to drill 25 new coalbed methane wells on the Vermejo Park Ranch, private land adjacent to the Valle […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
The Latest Bounce
To fund rural schools and services, President Bush’s 2007 budget proposes putting thousands of public acres on the auction block (HCN, 3/6/06: Public acres for sale). But two Democratic senators have a better idea: Close a legal loophole that lets some government contractors skip out on taxes. Montana’s Max Baucus and Oregon’s Ron Wyden proposed a bill […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Heard around the West
CALIFORNIA What a surprise for two off-roaders in the California Desert, who ventured farther off-road than was good for them. Driving a Suzuki Samurai in a restricted area managed by the Bureau of Land Management, they blasted over a ridge and plunged 30 feet straight down an abandoned mineshaft. “I can still hear that scraping […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Mute, riven, blessed
All over the West, white roadside crosses and spontaneous, humble shrines mark the holy sites where the souls of human beings have left this world.
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Eco-terrorism and the Trial of the Century
In case you hadn’t noticed, 12 young people (average age 33) have been charged with arson and conspiracy to commit arson in several Western states. The 83-page indictment was handed down by a federal grand jury in Oregon, and it must be important because the story made the front page of the Western edition of […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
National Fire Plan vs. the Healthy Forests rule changes
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “The War on Wildfire.” THE NATIONAL FIRE PLAN What is it? A 10-year strategy, launched in 2000 by Western governors, to attack overgrown forests and to increase fire protection for communities Key players Former Govs. John Kitzhaber, D-Ore., and Dirk Kempthorne, R-Idaho Rule changes […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Slim margins
Loggers say forest restoration work doesn’t put much food on the table
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Pete McCloskey rides again
In February, a new vendor appeared at the weekly farmers’ market in this southern Bay Area town. Pete McCloskey, a soft-spoken 78-year-old farmer with a thatch of unruly gray hair, stood before a folding table flanked by bags of organic oranges. But McCloskey wasn’t pushing fresh fruit; he was hawking his homegrown politics. Former Rep. […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
City makes desperate bid for watershed
Note: this article is a sidebar to a news article, “Citizens unite against gas field chaos.” “This is your first time, isn’t it?” whispered a kindly Bureau of Land Management matron to an apprehensive Greg Trainor at a recent oil and gas lease auction in Denver, Colo. Trainor, who manages the water supply for Grand […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Citizens unite against gas field chaos
Group meets company halfway to deal with natural gas impacts
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Dam removal considered for Klamath
As salmon suffer, truce settles on river
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Enviros wary of ‘Nevada-style’ wilderness bill
Utah proposal includes public-lands sale, utility corridors
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
Dear friends
LOCAL GRASSROOTS ACTION WSERC (“wuh-serk”), this valley’s local environmental group, has been called many things, including, of course, berserk. For a small group started around a kitchen table, the Western Slope Environmental Resource Council has accomplished a lot in its 29 years: It stopped a major powerline through the valley, convinced local coal companies to […]
Posted inApril 17, 2006: The War on Wildfire
The War on Wildfire
To wage war on wildfire, President Bush convinced Congress to help him change the rules of forest management. Are we better off now?
Posted inWotr
The trailers of Montezuma County
It’s like a soap opera romance, this ongoing affection of mine for the old-style single or double-wide mobile homes, more commonly known as trailers. To me, their appeal is strongest when I’m driving a gravel county road, and out in a field I see one, perched like an alien spacecraft on a few open acres. […]
Posted inWotr
Preserving native language is more than just words
Seated around tables in Prescott, Ariz., Yavapai elders swap stories, learn who’s related to whom, and gossip in their fluid tongue. Ladies with a lifetime of experience etched on their faces converse in “Yavaglish” when the right word just isn’t available in Yavapai. Elders from the Prescott, Camp Verde and Fort McDowell reservations compare notes […]
Posted inWotr
A new civil rights movement is born in America
I became a part of American history March 25, when I took to the streets of San Jose, Calif., along with 15,000 other people, most of them young. We marched to protest the anti-immigrant proposals welling out of the Congress, but more importantly, we walked to honor our parents who came to this country as […]
Posted inApril 3, 2006: Land of Disenchantment
Land of Disenchantment
A native New Mexican digs for the roots of a tragic epidemic
Posted inWotr
Changing times, changing hats
I don’t wear my cowboy hats much anymore. I have two, both bought cheap at Wal-Mart: a gray wool felt for winter and a light yellow straw for summer. Maybe I don’t wear them around town because fewer people seem to favor them. Lately, Cody, Wyo., sports a new fashion statement: those canvas, earth-tone wide-billed […]