Water in the West has never made sense, thanks to states drawn with straight lines and watersheds that won’t stay put. Then there’s California, where hydrology and demography rebound off each other In opposite directions. Two-thirds of the people live in the south, while two-thirds of the surface water is in the north. This mismatch […]
Surprise: The bill for a water grab in California may be coming due
Posted inWotr
When it’s ‘deer o’clock’ — watch out
When the sun dips into the horizon during Wyoming’s twilight hours, dangers are suddenly everywhere. In an instant, dark figures begin darting onto the state’s roads, and the sound of squeaking brakes can be heard from Rock Springs to Cody. We call this time of day “deer o’clock,” and we grip the steering wheel just […]
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Where you live in a small town is somebody’s recollection
“I’m living on Nutting Street now,” a friend told me last week. “You know where that is?” “Of course not!” I responded. “This is a small town! Nobody remembers the names of streets!” When I lived in the city, I knew the old saw that rural people give directions using landmarks that no longer exist […]
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At home on the range with 10-year-old writers and dreamers
During a spring storm, a group of fourth-graders are considering how their lives will change. I’ve asked them to think about anything that might be different for them tomorrow, or even 30 years down the road. A bunch of hands go up, and the first student I call on looks out the window and says, […]
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Wilderness isn’t a fish farm
For a start, you can blame the enthusiasm of “bucket biologists” in the West. As far back as the 1800s, these avid anglers and fishery managers took it upon themselves to bring fish — and fishing — to lakes and streams in the high country and backcountry of America. A lot of people praised them […]
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Native fish: Some environmentalists don’t get it
This may sound harsh, but it’s true: Environmentalists tend not to see, handle or understand fish, to distrust agencies dedicated to their recovery, and to set up mental spam-filters for facts about short-lived fish poisons. Usually, these poisons are the only tools managers have for saving native trout from being eaten, out-competed or hybridized out […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
Souvenir or sacred artifact?
Stealing from Indians didn’t end in the 19th century: Many sacred American Indian masks, pipes and other ceremonial artifacts still find their way into private collections. However, according to the American Indian Ritual Object Repatriation Foundation, most of these items properly belong to Indian tribes. The Repatriation Foundation got its start in 1992, after an […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
Calendar
The Sierra Nevada Alliance is holding its 11th annual conference, which includes speakers, workshops and field trips, at Lake Tahoe, Aug. 7 and 8.www.sierranevadaalliance.org530-542-4546 The olorado Foundation for Water Education is offering tours of the Upper Colorado River Basin on June 23-25. The three-day tour will focus on urban water supply, recreational water use and […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
The grizzly’s in the house — or at least, the yard
To make it in the wild as a grizzly in the Lower 48, you need an education. But mom may be teaching you some questionable survival skills: how to raid garbage cans, pilfer grain from barns and scavenge birdseed from backyard feeders. As humans spread into prime bruin habitat, some bears are becoming “suburban guerrillas.” […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
This isn’t your daddy’s Democratic party
Your recent article on “Imagining a Democratic West” was a refreshing attempt to really examine the political realities of the West, rather than just engaging in the usual Republican-bashing (HCN, 4/12/04: The One-Party West). As one of the many conservative Westerners who really does care about our environment, I’d like to see some changes that […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
You want to save the ranch? Save the ranchers
How refreshing to see a thoughtful, well-researched article about ranching in HCN, as opposed to the usual ritual bashing of cows and trashing of ranchers (HCN, 3/29/04: Who will take over the ranch?). Though HCN Executive Director Paul Larmer suggests that the paramount question is not, “How do we save ranching?” but rather, “How do […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
The real solution: Buy ranchers out
Jon Christensen does a great job in portraying one of the biggest issues facing the conservation community in the West: the constantly increasing pressure to develop and subdivide (HCN, 3/29/04: Who will take over the ranch?). However, he fails to address an important question raised about land trusts: What will be the character of the […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
Money wasted on war
I recently read Jon Christensen’s piece about the loss of ranch land in the West to development (HCN, 3/29/04: Who will take over the ranch?). Obviously, the public, primarily through its federal government, which has the most money to spend, has an interest in preserving these lands. This piece made me think about the Iraq […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
A champion of ‘cooperative conservation’: Interior Secretary Gale Norton
In recent months, High Country News has spilled a lot of ink covering the Bush administration’s policies for the public lands — and the controversies swirling around them. At the center of that storm is Bush’s secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton. Norton is charged with overseeing the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
Toxic chemical creeping toward Colorado River
CALIFORNIA, ARIZONA Chromium 6, the toxic element made infamous by the movie Erin Brockovich, is back in the news. In Southern California and central Arizona, water officials fear that the chemical might contaminate drinking water for some 20 million people, as it creeps toward the Colorado River from a pump station on a natural gas […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
Follow-up
President Bush’s proposal to offer work visas to undocumented immigrants in the U.S. has opened a window of opportunity, and many are rushing to take advantage of it (HCN, 2/2/04: Immigration reform from Washington, DC). The Border Patrol says that the number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border had declined over the last four years, […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
The Complete Gale Norton Interview
Full transcript of the HCN Interview with Gale Norton, along with Kit Kimball, communications officer with the Interior Department, and Matt Kales of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The concise interview is located at (HCN, 5/24/04: A champion of ‘cooperative conservation’: Interior Secretary Gale Norton) Editor’s Note: HCN is particularly interested in hearing from […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
Heard around the West
NORTH DAKOTA Give a cheer for cheeky Fargo, mocked as backward a mere decade ago in the movie Fargo, which featured locals spouting the stereotypical, “Yah, you betcha.” You can call the city “trendy” now, says the Los Angeles Times. Pricey condos have been built downtown, culture has arrived in the form of sushi bars […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
Throwing out the dishwater
Once I lived in a one-room log cabin where I pumped my water from a well and heated it on a wood stove. When I was finished washing my dishes, I carried the dishpan outside and tossed the water on the nearby sagebrush. It seemed natural to me to return the water to the same […]
Posted inMay 24, 2004: In Search of Solidarity
At Yucca Mountain, deadlines take precedence over science
Don’t ask questions when you don’t know the answers: That’s the rule of thumb for trial lawyers who don’t want courtroom surprises. The Bush administration has a different rule of thumb when it comes to the science of storing nuclear waste: Ask as few questions as possible, and ignore answers you don’t like. Until January, […]