California reached a conservation milestone in September, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R, signed a bill requiring all homes in the state to use water meters by 2025. Existing California law requires water meters on all houses built since 1992, but most utilities charge a flat rate, rather than using the meters to charge by […]
Californians put their money where their meter is
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
Follow-up
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R, says he won’t ask the federal government to uphold the Clinton-era roadless rule in his state (HCN, 8/16/04:Feds pass roadless headache to states). In July, the Bush administration gave governors until January 2006 to request that the governnment keep the rule in place in their respective states. Meanwhile, Wyoming Gov. […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
Heard around the West
OREGON “It’s perfect rattlesnake country,” exulted Deputy Sheriff Dan Brewer from Sweet Home, Ore., as he walked through sagebrush in eastern Oregon at the start of a vacation. He found what he was looking for underneath a boulder, and as his family videotaped the encounter, Brewer uttered the fateful words: “I say, let’s take a […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
Together, we cross the fence
“My credo has always been: Don’t take yourself too seriously, and never give up.” –Tom Bell, founder of High Country News, speaking to the National Wildlife Federation, March 9, 2002 Barbed wire in the mind, I’ll call it that; a four-strand fence, let’s say, barbs sharp against chest, gut and legs, little reinforcers, reminders that […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
Brace yourselves for the counterrevolution
Consider the matter of Row v. Wade. No, that’s not a misspelling. We’re talking fishing here, and the never-ending debate, raged with greatest fervor along rivers in the Rocky Mountain West, over whether the best way to catch fish is from a boat or while walking through the water. And just what does this have […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
Transforming the Forest Service: Maverick bureaucrat Wendy Herrett
Since the frontier age, the West’s forests have been home to all kinds of rogues and rebels, from family logging operations to stubborn ranchers to hard-core eco-defenders. And for nearly as long, the U.S. Forest Service has been charged with keeping them all in balance. But sometimes, the Forest Service needs its own mavericks. For […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
A problem any city would love to have
Boulderites have poured money into protecting open space — now they want to use it
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
Old-growth sales end in courts
Ruling could put the kibosh on Biscuit Fire timber salvage and cutting in old-growth reserves
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
A flurry of visitors
VISITORS A mild late fall/early winter has brought a few snowflakes to Paonia, and a flurry of visitors to the HCN headquarters. John Slone dropped in from Montrose, Colo. Subscribers David and Catie Karplus came through from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California, where David works in utilities and grounds, and Catie studies […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
Looking outside the box
This issue’s cover story is a bit of a departure for us. Usually, we print an in-depth story from a single author on a topic we believe will resonate with readers throughout the West. But pivotal moments in history can prod even the most ardent adherents of routine to venture outside their boxes. And this […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
Taking the West Forward
Facing four more years with the Bush administration, it’s time to seek fresh paths through the terrain ahead
Posted inWotr
Send the coyotes to Congress
At last, there are coyotes in the capital. The first confirmed sighting of a coyote in Washington, D.C., was reported in September, and rumors of new sightings have circulated briskly ever since. What a relief. All we Westerners have to do is get the critters elected. These adventuresome D.C. coyotes, first spotted in the relative […]
Posted inWotr
An artist’s residency, unplugged
The Aspen Guard Station is a log cabin in an aspen grove in the San Juan National Forest, 12 miles north of Mancos in southern Colorado. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, the guard station once housed fire crews. Today, the cabin is home to another kind of seasonal worker: writers and […]
Posted inWotr
What do you do in that little town?
Near the top of the list of dumb questions I get asked is this: “So, what do you do there?” This generally follows my telling anyone who has never been to Logan, Utah, that I live in Logan, Utah. In general, though, it is a question asked by those who mistakenly believe they live somewhere […]
Posted inWotr
Now that we’ve clear-cut the Forest Service…
I first met the U.S. Forest Service in 1967, when I helped build a log cabin at 9,600 feet on the Gunnison National Forest in western Colorado. The idea that I was part owner of 300,000 square miles of beautiful land intoxicated me. We became so drunk on the land that in 1974, we moved […]
Posted inWotr
The ecology and politics of fear
Here’s some good news: In Yellowstone National Park, the cottonwood groves are thriving. Cottonwoods are a key element in the Yellowstone ecosystem, but not so long ago it seemed that they were doomed by dense herds of elk that clustered along the park’s rivers and browsed the trees so heavily that no young saplings survived. […]
Posted inWotr
Go West, Democrats, in the path of Harry Reid
Can a teetotaling Mormon from a busted mining town in Nevada lead Democrats to the Promised Land of national power? This much is certain: Democrats rallied behind Harry Reid in the hope that he can take them through purgatory —or is it hell? — as minority leader of the 44-member Democratic caucus in the U.S. […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
Calling all birders
Ever wonder how your feathered friends are faring in the face of deforestation, farming and other formidable foes? You can find out in the National Audubon Society’s State of the Birds 2004 report. Using 40 years of data collected from the U.S. Geological Survey’s national Breeding Bird Survey, the National Audubon Society assessed population changes […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
State loopholes upset Clean Air Act
Six Western states are among those accused of shortchanging public health by ignoring certain hazardous chemical emissions from power plants. A new report from the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project reveals that the majority of state regulatory agencies overlook power plant “upset” emissions that exceed federal pollution limits. Gaming the System: How the Off-the-Books Industrial […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2004: Conservationist in a Conservative Land
Calendar
The Association of Partners for Public Lands is holding its annual convention in Portland, Ore., from March 6-10. The convention will include more than 35 educational sessions, a trade show and an auction. 1-877-647-APPL www.appl.org The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute?s 14th annual conference will be held at the University of Denver College of Law […]