Overall wildfire size likely to double by 2100, new study concludes
In a warming West, expect more fire
Posted inSeptember 27, 2004: Life After Old Growth
Tribes ‘buy in’ to restore their river
Warm Springs Indians become dam owners in an effort to bring back salmon
Posted inSeptember 27, 2004: Life After Old Growth
Energy companies rush the West
Wyoming applies the brakes, but the leasing spree continues
Posted inSeptember 27, 2004: Life After Old Growth
Dear friends
End of summer swarms During the tail end of August, as the last cobs of sweet corn were cut and sold, and local farmers began transforming their fields from verdant rows of uniform green to mazes for kids to run through, visitors flocked to High Country News. Colorado subscribers included Bobbie and Roy Wright from […]
Posted inSeptember 27, 2004: Life After Old Growth
Look who’s in the conflict business now
As I read through the usual glut of e-mail press releases from environmental groups the other day, I came across one announcing a lawsuit against an Idaho logging project that is being offered by the Bureau of Land Management. Nothing unusual there: Though logging has diminished in the West over the last decade, the projects […]
Posted inSeptember 27, 2004: Life After Old Growth
Life After Old Growth
The battle over the Northwest’s ancient forests has again taken center stage, but behind the scenes, some locals are pushing for peace
Posted inWotr
Lewis and Clark and the short view of Western history
If American history west of the Mississippi begins with Lewis and Clark, then the history of the United States seems pretty simple: “Indians owned the West, and then they lost it.” History is never so simple. That some of the people Lewis and Clark met had “never seen a white man” did not mean they […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
Wamsutter Profiles
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “When a Boom is a Bust.” The preacher Mike Smith has put in nine and a half years as pastor of Wamsutter Baptist Church, the town’s only surviving church (four others have closed in recent memory). He used to mine uranium in Jeffrey City, […]
Posted inWotr
When yesterday’s garbage becomes today’s collectibles
To get to Glass Beach, you turn towards the ocean at the Denny’s on the outskirts of Ft. Bragg, Calif., and drive down the lane to park. Signage is minimal. This is not Big Sur. The day we go, two local guys drive up and park next to us in a Volvo that has seen […]
Posted inWotr
Let the states broker roadless lands — it’s the democratic way
This July, the U.S. Forest Service proposed a new administrative rule dealing with the controversial issue of roadless areas in national forests. Environmental groups reacted as you might expect. For example, a “personal” spam I received from John Adams at the Natural Resources Defense Council warned that the Bush administration “is lining up massive timber […]
Posted inWotr
This is no time to step back from the Roadless Rule
While researching a new book last spring, I had the opportunity and pleasure of interviewing Dale Bosworth, chief of the Forest Service. I found him to be an honest, straightforward, forthcoming, and, at times, courageous man. So when I read that he had agreed to the repeal of the Clinton-era Roadless Rule on our national […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
Occupying less
This excerpt from Solace by Mary Sojourner has been removed from High Country News Web Archives as the request of Scribner, the publisher. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this creates for our readers. If you need access to this essay, hard-copy back issues of High Country News are sometimes available. Email circulation@hcn.org to […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
The wages of sprawl
A new documentary, Making Sense of Place: Phoenix, the Urban Desert, uses the Arizona megalopolis to illustrate what happens when suburban sprawl goes unchecked. Historical and current footage shows how cheap land and even cheaper water have encouraged Phoenix to sprawl over more than 1,700 square miles of Sonoran desert. But the resulting generic suburbs, […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
Calendar
The U.S. Geological Survey is sponsoring a conference, Working Together to Ensure the Future of Wild Trout, at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The conference, which will be held from Sept. 20-22, will feature discussions concerning everything from balancing native, introduced and invasive fish species, controlling non-point source pollution and talking to the public about […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
A thin, dry border between heaven and hell
“The first impression of the country — one that does not wear off — is that of magnificent confusion,” writes Walter Webb of the southwestern corner of Texas, also known as Big Bend country. Some visitors feel as though they’ve discovered hell on earth. Other people find that this region of vast open spaces, colorful […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
Chambers was a part of the problem
I’ve worked in government for 20 years, and I am aghast at your notion that a manager or department head has some kind of First Amendment right to trash her bosses in public (HCN, 8/16/04: National parks pinching pennies). Teresa Chambers had every right to go to the Washington Post and lobby for a different […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
Parks need efficient money management
Dan Wilcock’s piece on national park budgets relates a “shouting match” between the Interior Department and parks observers about how much is or isn’t being spent (HCN, 8/16/04: National parks pinching pennies). But focusing on money spent is diversionary, since money can be used inefficiently, siphoned to other uses, inflated away, and otherwise disguised. The […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
Bush neglects parks
Thanks for the recent story on penny-pinching by the Bush administration when it comes to funding our National Park Service (NPS) (HCN, 8/16/04: National parks pinching pennies). The budget shortfalls that are being forced on the NPS by the White House are just one more of the many examples of how Bush is hell-bent on […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
The writer replies
Mr. Dorn states that, “the very essence of backpacking is exploring remote places.” I would hope that any attempt to define the essence of backpacking would also include the need to explore remote places in a responsible manner such that others can continue to enjoy these same places in their natural state. In this particular […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
Backpacker magazine responds
As longtime fans of HCN, we were deeply disappointed by the unprofessional reporting and inflammatory tone of Sean Neilson’s “Writers on the Range” column in the Aug. 2 issue. Neilson grossly mischaracterizes a recent Backpacker article on Yellowstone, accusing the magazine of three things: 1) Sending readers on illegal routes; 2) Failing to mention backcountry […]