Western Colorado Congressman Scott McInnis occupies a congressional seat that until 1972 was the most powerful in the West. It was owned by the late Wayne Aspinall, a Democrat, who chaired the House Interior Committee in the 1960s and early 1970s, when the federal government was pouring billions into the the Interior West. Federal agencies […]
The West’s negligent landlord
Posted inWotr
New Urbanism is just growth by another name
It’s hard to tell whether New Urbanism best fits the definition of a cult or a conspiracy. It has elements of both. Either way, my advice is not to drink the Kool-Aid. Embracing a politically correct excuse for growth is suicide for the West’s small towns. New Urbanism is the name given to a collection […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Motorheads sue over park’s seasons
Proposal would keep snowmobiles humming year-round
Posted inWotr
A national park in Utah should not allow laissez-faire climbing
In 1927, a gathering of huge sandstone windows in Utah was set aside by presidential proclamation and named Arches National Monument. Now a national park, its 75,000 acres welcome almost 800,000 tourists a year, who come from all over the world to look with awe. This marvelous place must be well protected by federal laws […]
Posted inWotr
Looking at sprawl in familiar faces
Soon, it will be goodbye to the Colorado Front Range. The moving van is reserved, and Heather and our 4-year-old son, Josiah, will soon aim north and west from Boulder to the Missoula area in western Montana. It will be an adventure. We don’t know where we will live, maybe in a condo or a […]
Posted inWotr
A message from women, witnesses in black
Today, in the short space of one hour, I was cursed, yelled at and repeatedly shown the finger. One man pulled down his pants and stuck his rear out of a car window. Why? Simply because, together with seven other women, I donned all black clothing and a veil and stood silently on a sidewalk […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Americans have a right to recreate
Dear HCN, From my perspective, your article “Feds bail on snowmobile ban” (HCN, 11/25/02: Feds bail on snowmobile ban), is a little one-sided. I think that the snowmobile riders are just being Americans, and enjoying themselves. Now, I myself do not ride snowmobiles, but I do still believe in why this country was formed. These […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Snowmobile ban should stand
Dear HCN, I am writing in response to an article written by Ray Ring (HCN, 11/25/02: Feds bail on snowmobile ban), regarding the National Park Service bailing out on the proposed snowmobile ban in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. I think this measure is totally wrong, considering that the Park Service has vehemently pushed […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
A ‘green development’ next to a toxic dump
Dear HCN, I read with great interest the article about Mesa del Sol, “Project mixes suburbs with nature preserve” (HCN, 2/3/03: Project mixes suburbs with nature preserve). The article failed to elaborate one aspect of this “community of 100,000 people, living amid open space and restored rangeland”: It’s also located next to a Cold War […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
The Underground Heart: Return to a Hidden Landscape
I loved the desert when I lived in El Paso, but as a native, I had no environmental concerns. There was no such thing back then. We were too busy growing up in a vast landscape that could never change. — Ray Gonzalez, The Underground Heart Ray Gonzalez grew up on the Mexican border, in […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Emmet Gowin: Changing the Earth
The word “beauty” does not normally come to mind at the mention of bomb testing, open-pit mining, chemical disposal, or the marks these activities have left on the Western landscape. But Changing the Earth, a book and traveling exhibit of Emmet Gowin’s aerial photographs, lends rich texture and a mysterious vitality to the Hanford Nuclear […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
On the WaterWatch
Oregon’s rivers may run dry again this summer, but you can still saturate yourself with information about your favorite Beaver State stream. That’s because WaterWatch of Oregon has restructured its Web site to serve as a clearinghouse on state rivers. WaterWatch of Oregon, a nonprofit conservation group founded in 1985, is dedicated to restoring and […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Read the fine print
Dear HCN, Poor Senator Harry Reid. He says if he were king, he’d have lots of wilderness, but he had to compromise in his recently passed Nevada “wilderness” bill (HCN, 3/3/03: The Wild Card). Fortunately, there were bright spots in the legislation for some of Harry’s friends, who got free or cheap land through numerous […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Wilderness in name only
Dear HCN, Thank you for the article on Nevada wilderness (HCN, 3/3/03: The Wild Card). Many of us promoting and protecting wilderness in Nevada didn’t know how much was being traded off. Thanks to your intrepid author, we do now. I’m dismayed that the bill promotes development and that more is proposed in exchange for […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
From wild to windshield wilderness
Dear HCN, The article on the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act (HCN, 3/3/03: The Wild Card) gave readers the impression that, until recently, conservationists always advocated multi-area wilderness legislative packages, that the supposed slowdown in wilderness designation is something new, and that compromises of the Wilderness Act have been routine (and desirable) since 1964. […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Wilderness Watch stands firm
Dear HCN, Since when is standing firm on fundamental wilderness principles seen as counter to those very principles? “The wild card” by Matt Jenkins (HCN, 3/3/03″ The Wild Card) portrayed Wilderness Watch as an organization more concerned about “purity” than reality. The reality is: They seem to be the only organization that has the courage […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Wilderness Watch upholds the law
Dear HCN, I am deeply disappointed in HCN’s misrepresentation of the mission and efforts of Wilderness Watch (HCN, 3/3/03: The Wild Card). Contrary to what was reported, Wilderness Watch does not work to undo any special provisions that were “grandfathered” by Congress into wilderness legislation. The Wilderness Act itself allows a number of special exceptions […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Forest Service fights red tape
When Philip Dechain-Saw, the supervisor of Colorado’s Big Fir National Forest, tried to approve a 30,000-acre clear-cut in 1997, his efforts to “bulletproof” the final decision against environmentalists’ appeals and lawsuits took a horrific personal toll. First, he experienced dizziness and ringing in the ears; now, he’s suffering full-blown “analysis paralysis.” Unable to cook meals […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
The Latest Wrinkle
Dubois, Wyo., has announced a name change. The town council voted in February to change the name of the community to “Doo Wah Diddy.” “We thought it sounded more American — you know, patriotic,” explained Mayor Roy Bungee. “We want our men and women in uniform to know we’re not a town full of Frenchies.” […]
Posted inApril 14, 2003: Change comes slowly to Escalante county
The BLM’s conservation kingdom
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Change comes slowly to Escalante country.” The National Landscape Conservation System is a blend of new and old. It includes not only the 15 monuments designated by President Bill Clinton, but also some 800 protected areas that the BLM has managed for as long […]