As the Bush administration rushes to put the public lands into the hands of private industry, a model group of Forest Service employees gets canned
Outsourced
Posted inWotr
My 40 acres of Eden and the planner’s dilemma
In the 1980s, when I was a college teacher in Prescott, Ariz., I often took my history students down to Cordes Junction to visit Arcosanti, the architect Paolo Soleri’s urban experiment in the high desert. In class, we were studying the rise of the city and reading Kevin Reilly’s The West and the World, so […]
Posted inWotr
Maybe a good work ethic requires real jobs
A specter is haunting the mountain resorts of the West, not the specter of a working-class revolt against the owning class, but the specter of no working class at all. In western Colorado in recent years, some restaurants and shops have had to cut business hours due to a lack of workers to fill their […]
Posted inWotr
Ruminating on cows
I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with cows. I’ve cursed them loudly when they turned my favorite mountain meadow into a cow-pie strewn wasteland. But then, they taste so good. I’ve inched my way through a herd of these stupid beasts on some highway as their cowboy masters moved them to summer range or to […]
Posted inWotr
Eating humble pie can be good for you
From the fifth rung of the ladder, I surveyed the scene, and the conclusion was unavoidable: I’d been screwing up for years. This winter marked a full decade since I bought a small orchard on the north coast of California, but the trees weren’t in top condition any more. With my two riverside acres came […]
Posted inWotr
Democrats hope for a new day in the West
Two recent events signal a new development in Western politics. The first is New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s call for a Western primary in the mountain states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The second is the launching of a “Democrats for the West” initiative by leading Democrats from those […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
The environment’s ‘most durable foe’
During the rising tide of environmentalism in the 1960s, one man earned the title of the movement’s “most durable foe.” Historian Steven C. Schulte’s new book, Wayne Aspinall and the Shaping of the American West, profiles the congressman who unabashedly promoted the development of the West’s public lands and shaped American environmental policy. For more […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Calendar
The League of Conservation Voters has released its 2003 National Environmental Scorecard. To see how your senator or representative voted on environmental issues, visit: www.lcv.org 202-785-8683 Colorado College launches its first annual State of the Rockies Report Card at a conference May 3-4 in Colorado Springs. New college president Richard Celeste hosts a detailed look […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
A city we can live with
If you’re reading this in a café within walking distance of work and home, and there’s a park or greenbelt area nearby, you can count yourself lucky: You live in a well-designed city. In Toward the Livable City, Emilie Buchwald gathers together 16 contributors, whose essays and art entice us toward the antidote to suburban […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Land exchange is a boondoggle
Thanks for printing a small article about the scandalous Yavapai Ranch Land Exchange (HCN, 3/1/04: Arizona land swap dogged by questions). You’ve written previous articles about owners of inholdings in federal lands leveraging excessive profits. Mr. Ruskin similarly wants to play profiteer against the wishes of several Arizona communities. And he wants to prevent an […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Land exchange has a bright side, too
I am just floored that your article “Arizona land swap dogged by questions” does not mention ANY of the positive aspects of the proposed Yavapai Ranch land exchange (HCN, 3/1/04: Arizona land swap dogged by questions). At present, 116,351 acres of land within the boundary of the Prescott National Forest exists in checkerboard ownership with […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Black-robed potentates
They say that perspective is everything, but Ray Ring gets it mostly wrong in his article on Bush judicial appointments (HCN, 2/16/04: Courting disaster). To say that a “coup” is under way is to ignore history. George Bush is fighting a coup that has been ongoing for decades. For too long, federal judges have acted […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Be afraid of Bush, be very afraid
The letter from Lynn Scarlett and Rebecca Watson sparked a discussion with my husband about the return of the Robber Barons aided by the Bush Administration’s undermining of many environmental laws and policies (HCN, 1/19/04: Coming soon to a wilderness near you). Our conversation ended with a comment by my husband that really hit me […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Invasion of the issue snatchers
One reason the conservation movement has not been able to get much traction over the years, especially among Republicans, is that it was invaded, starting back in the ’60s, by what one could call the “Issue Snatchers.” Most of these Issue Snatchers were chartreuse green. They had other fish to fry, agendas that came from […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Race track
Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo may have blown big bucks for nothing. The incumbent senator, who has already spent $1.5 million on his re-election campaign, will not be facing a Democratic challenger in November. According to the Idaho Statesman, would-be Democratic candidate Michael Kennedy’s campaign organizer missed the filing deadline by seconds, after the first challenger […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Follow-up
With buddies like Steve Williams, endangered species don’t need predators, pesticides or encroaching pavement. In early March, Williams — head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — told Congress that money slated for designating critical habitat for endangered species could be better spent elsewhere within the agency (HCN, 6/23/03: Who needs critical habitat?). Nuclear […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Heard around the West
IDAHO Are cows getting smarter? Every year, several cows make a break for freedom from barns in Bonneville County to go a-wandering. Resistance is futile. What was different this spring was the feistiness of a 1,000-pound black Angus. “We’ve been raising cows for 20 years,” said the owner, “and never had anything like this happen […]
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Die, baby harp seal!
It’s time for environmentalism to get ugly
Posted inApril 12, 2004: The One-Party West
Why Greens need blue blazers
One of my childhood friends, Karl Warkomski, is the first and only elected Green Party member in ultra-right-wing Orange County, Calif. Orange County — home to the mega-hawk and former congressman “B2 Bob” Dornan — is a place where people get misty eyed remembering the Reagan presidency. So how in the world did Karl get […]