Think of all the dangerous beats assigned to federal law enforcement officers: tracking illegal arms sales, intercepting drug smugglers, guarding the nation’s borders against foreign terrorists, apprehending kidnappers and fugitives, protecting the lives of potential assassination targets. Now, guess which branch of federal law enforcement is the most dangerous, in terms of the rate at […]
Guess what’s the most dangerous government job
Posted inWotr
Democrats need to pick up their guns
For the past 25 years or so, Democrats have been the party of protection for public lands, while Republicans have generally supported more mining, drilling, logging and grazing. It hasn’t always been this way. The protection of public lands was a mainstay of Republican policy for generations. Democrats, acting on behalf of their constituencies – […]
Posted inWotr
Freedom of the press is eroding before our eyes
On Sept. 1, the Idaho Statesman ran a fascinating exposé of local CEO salaries. The amounts of money, stock options and the all-encompassing “bonuses” lavished on these public company executives were staggering and obscene. Not to mention, according to Statesman reporter Julie Howard, “generous severance, salary, pension and retirement packages.” Many of the companies the […]
Posted inWotr
We care for our public lands more than we know
Hear the debate rage. As someone once said, academics get so angry at each other because the stakes are so small. “The author does not seem to understand, and thus misrepresents, many of the concepts he wants scrutinized,” asserts one scientist. “I focus on what appears to be the source of his snappishness,” says another. […]
Posted inWotr
There’s nothing like watching a grizzly bear in the wild
We heard them long before we saw them. My husband and I were watching a grizzly feeding on the slope across the drainage from us when weird howls drifted through the valley. The bear heard the strange sounds, too, and eased into the brush at the base of a berry patch. The noises came again, […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
California isn’t profligate!
Dear HCN, Allow me to correct some statements made by Susan Zakin in her article about the central California river delta (HCN, 9/3/02: Delta Blues). California is said to employ “profligate use of water.” According to the Los Angeles Times, Southern Californians consume considerably less water, per capita, than people in nearby states (and a […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
More stories to tell at Martin’s Cove
Dear HCN, I think you missed the point when you spoke of only one side of the Martin’s Cove story being told on a Mormon-owned site (HCN, 9/30/02: This land holds a story the church won’t tell). The issue of a “holier-than-thou” attitude that led to movement from New York to Ohio to Missouri to […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
Mayor, not minnow, is to blame
Dear HCN, Following the lead of our Illustrious and Infallible Leader, Emperor Bush the Second, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez has declared war on the endangered silvery minnow. Chavez has promised to appeal the decision of Judge James Parker, Chief Justice of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court (HCN, 10/14/02: Albuquerque is dragged into Rio Grande fight). […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
Cove should stay with BLM
Dear HCN, I am writing to express the Public Lands Foundation’s (PLF) opposition to the transfer of 1,640 acres of public land to the LDS Church (HCN, 9/30/02). The Public Lands Foundation is a nonprofit national conservation organization whose members are from the general public and retired BLM employees, all who are interested in the […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
Martin’s Cove essay was distorted
Dear HCN, I am writing this letter to let you know how disappointed I was to read the article, “This land holds a story the church won’t tell” (HCN, 9/30/02: This land holds a story the church won’t tell). I might expect such a poorly written article to be found in a scam paper, such […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
An activist who never let up
Norma Smith’s biography, Jeannette Rankin: America’s Conscience, records the inspiring courage, integrity and optimism of the first woman elected to Congress, dramatically recounting Rankin’s struggles and successes as an activist. Smith, a personal friend of Rankin, writes that as a congresswoman, Rankin’s interests shifted from suffrage to pacifism. She often said, “The first vote of […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
A rez-to-rez film debut
Chris Eyre, director of Smoke Signals, just finished a one-of-a-kind movie premier for his new film, Skins: For four weeks, Eyre brought Skins to Native American reservations across the country in a mobile cinema trailer, outfitted with 100 seats, surround sound and a concession stand. Based on a novel by Native American writer and poet […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
Does dam breaching make cents?
For years, the Hells Canyon dams in Idaho have been the subject of intense debate: Should we breach them and restore the Snake River, or keep the dams and save the local economy? Now, two reports have come out, representing both sides of the issue. After more than 10 years of research, Idaho Power, which […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
Revisiting Alcatraz
In November 1969, a small group of Native American students and “urban Indians” landed on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay and occupied the former prison for more than 19 months. The “invasion” was a protest of the U.S. government’s Indian policies and programs, and some say it kicked off the fiery “Red Power” movement […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
Yellowstone goes retro
Yellowstone is not only our first national park; in 1922, it was also the nation’s second-largest bus company (right behind Greyhound), operating a fleet of 400 yellow convertible buses for visitors who traveled to the park by rail. But by the 1960s, as automobiles became the preferred transportation to the park, the yellow buses were […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
Judges rule gas leases are illegal
The Bush administration’s rush to develop hundreds of thousands of coalbed methane wells in five Western states hit a roadblock Oct. 15. Two judges on the Department of Interior Board of Land Appeals ruled that the federal Bureau of Land Management has illegally leased methane rights without evaluating impacts. The BLM’s method of granting leases […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
Nuclear dump may be supersized
NEVADA It will be at least 8 years before a nuclear dump opens in Yucca Mountain, but every inch of space in it has already been claimed. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that new estimates released by the Department of Energy show that, once the existing commercial nuclear waste is moved into Yucca Mountain, there […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
The Latest Bounce
Taking its duty to expedite energy exploration on public lands very seriously, the Bureau of Land Management has given a hearty thumbs-up to a plan for seismic exploration for natural gas in Uintah County, Utah. In early October, the agency issued a “finding of no significant impact” for the tests, which would spread across more […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
Small-town determination at 25 percent off
POWELL, Wyo. – To people just passing through this town of 5,500 people, the department store on the main street, near the post office and True Value Hardware, must seem painfully ordinary. Inside, customers browse displays of clothing, shoes and jewelry, picking out what they want to buy. But there’s a lot more to Powell […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2002: Shadow Creatures
Heard Around the West
Judy Powell says she didn’t think twice about walking onto the plane at Los Angeles International Airport with a doll that she’d bought in Las Vegas for her grandson. Toenail clippers may get taken away and destroyed, she assumed, but never a child’s toy some 12 inches high. Wrong assumption. The doll was GI Joe, […]