There’s an active debate among fire ecologists over whether wildfire intensities have indeed increased to “unnatural” levels following a century of fire suppression, as many are now claiming, and if so what should be done about it. This debate and the complex evidence surrounding it were shortchanged in Ray Ring’s article “A Losing Battle,” which […]
Give us the full story
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Let the fires burn
Ray Ring’s HCN article on fire is one of the best pieces on the topic I’ve read anywhere (HCN, 5/26/03: A losing battle). By promoting an understanding that today’s superfires result from a combination of human insults to the environment and natural climate cycles enhanced by global warming, we can begin to look at the […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
We must cleanse forests
Your informative article on fire in forests (HCN, 5/26/03: A losing battle) downplayed one perspective that is crucial for future environmental planning. As a result of fire suppression over the past century, standing fuel loads in many Western forests are unprecedented. Preindustrial inhabitants lacked the technology to fight lightning fires successfully, and recent research by […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Defending your own home
Regarding your fire article (HCN, 5/26/03: A losing battle): To ask taxpayers to compensate homeowners for losses incurred from living in fire-prone areas is irresponsible, and to ask firefighters to put their lives on the line to defend these homes is just plain wrong. I live in Seattle, an earthquake-prone area. To protect ourselves from […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Will offshore be off-limits?
The ability of oil companies to tap black gold off the coast of California is up in the air, following a lengthy fight between the state and federal governments. Most of the water near California is off-limits to drilling, thanks to a 1982 congressional ban on new federal offshore oil leases that was extended until […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Follow-up
Colorado wants to follow Utah’s lead on wilderness rollbacks. In a May 15 letter, Greg Walcher, head of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, told Interior Secretary Gale Norton that his state would like to settle counties’ claims to roads across federal lands (HCN, 5/12/03: Backcountry road deal runs over wilderness). Walcher made it clear […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Heard Around the West
COLORADO Isn’t spell-check wonderful? Voilà! The computer makes everything make sense — except when it doesn’t. The city of Thornton, Colo., is probably abashed at the changes apparently wrought by spell-check on its detailed Drought Management Plan. “While thoughts do not occur at regular, predictable intervals, they are inevitable, and in Colorado, thoughts are frequent […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Put another tank on the fire
While last year’s fires were torching Western lives, homes and trees, their accompanying fire bans were torching something else: the West’s camping plans. “I don’t want to camp without a campfire,” my wife informed me last season, while smoke from the Hayman Fire settled over Denver. Her feelings echoed those of thousands of Western campers […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
An inside look at the hardscrabble plains
An image comes to mind at the mention of the High Plains: an empty but picturesque farmhouse, roof sagging like the back of an old horse, porch falling off the foundation, and screen door swaying in the wind. There’s a wide, exposing sky, and an old windmill tilting toward the West. But what happens when […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
There’s a better way to clean up the RS 2477 road mess
The West’s public lands face many 21st century problems, including pressure from population growth and energy development. But they also face an old problem — the legacy of the Mining Law of 1866, which granted rights-of-way “for the construction of highways” on federal lands not set aside for other uses. That grant became section 2477 […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
State gets its way on a national refuge
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Sound science goes sour.” Endangered species management isn’t the only hot-point issue for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Political pressure is also affecting how the agency manages 540 national wildlife refuges across the country. In 1998, the state of Wyoming sued the Fish […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Off-roaders smash science
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Sound science goes sour.” Three years ago, a federal court settled a disagreement between the Bureau of Land Management, conservationists and off-road vehicle groups over the fate of a short-lived perennial plant in the pea family (HCN, 12/18/00: Feds fight chaos in a desert […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
‘Jeopardy’ opinions go the way of the dodo
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Sound science goes sour.” In the 1990s, a small greenish-gray bird with a yellow belly became the mascot for conservationists who were trying to keep cattle out of Southwestern rivers and streams (HCN, 9/15/97: Feds take on a sneaky species). When the U.S. Fish […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Are minnow scientists still under the gun?
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Sound science goes sour.” The silvery minnow, a two-inch-long fish that’s caused a big splash in the Rio Grande in recent years, used to swim the entire length of the 1,850-mile-long river. Now, its habitat is limited to a 157-mile stretch of river in […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Who needs critical habitat?
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Sound science goes sour.” At the end of May, the Interior Department announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was running out of money. Officials blamed the budget shortfall on the agency’s need to comply with court orders brought on by environmentalists’ lawsuits. […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
The Bush administration – Sinister motives, or just ‘veracity-challenged’?
One problem with environmentalists is that they tend to be reformers. They revere Good Government as much as clean air and wild land. This is a mistake, and not only because clean air and wild land can be protected by making deals — often behind those “closed doors” reformers hate — but also because the […]
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Is it a farm – or is it a pharmacy?
Western farmers consider the risks and benefits of ‘biopharming’
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Genetic engineering turns salmon into fast food
Transgenic superfish may be the next thing to hit supermarket shelves
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Colorado Supreme Court turns tide in favor of kayakers
Boaters get to keep water in the rivers while farmers watch in dismay
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Dear Friends
HCN in the spotlight Thanks go out to all the readers who have written e-mails, postcards and letters in recent weeks to comment on the paper’s new look. So far, the reviews have been mostly positive: “GREAT,” “easier to read,” “handsome and easy to handle,” “a job well done,” “I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new […]