Note: this front-page editor’s note introduces five related articles: “Around the West, the hot races to watch,” “Montanans may take back their dams,” “New Mexico Green lose steam,” “Utahns could kill radioactive dump,” and “State’s big nuke waste fight takes a hit.” This November will be an “off-year” election, but reject the implication that nothing […]
Democrats kick back
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
A crossed heritage in the modern West
Imagine picking up your paper some morning and reading a story like this: “President George W. Bush called on Americans to support the administration in protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil exploration. The president also called for designating more wilderness areas, since ‘the destructive fires of last summer all began in areas that […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
Heard Around the West
Utah has been making financial news, though the news is dismal. According to a report from the American Bankruptcy Institute, a resident of Utah is more likely to go bankrupt than a resident of any other state. About one out of every 35 Utah households filed for bankruptcy last year, says The Associated Press, while […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
State’s big nuke waste fight takes a hit
Note: in the print edition of this issue, this article appears as a sidebar to one of this issue’s feature stories, “Utahns could kill radioactive dump.” Like Nevada in its fight to stop the nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain (HCN, 8/5/02), Utah has adopted a by-any-means-necessary approach to block storage of high-level nuclear waste within […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
New Mexico Greens lose steam
Democrats seem united behind Richardson for Governor
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
Montanans may take back their dams
Initiative would undo some of the damage done by electricity deregulation
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
Conversation with a cowboy conservationist
Kick a sagebrush and you’ll find one jackrabbit and two cowboy poets, or so the saying goes nowadays. In the last 20 years, the rhymes that were once shared around a campfire under a lonesome moon have attracted a national spotlight. There are anthologies of cowboy poetry, coffeehouse performances, and an annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
What’s in a name? Just ask Dwayne or Trucklene
I was at a country-and-western dance bar. I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Y’all wanna dance?” My suitor was a short man whose eyes failed to focus. His aftershave was a heady mixture of Jack Daniels and Old Spice. He wore his cowboy hat absurdly high, as if he were smuggling eggs under it. […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
Dead fish clog the low-flowing Klamath
Interior Department denies responsibility for dead salmon and steelhead
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
Albuquerque is dragged into Rio Grande fight
Mayor says judge stole water from the silvery minnow
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
Forest protection under the knife
Industry pushed Bush administration to revise Northwest Forest Plan
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
He sees the society behind the scenery
I first met Ed Marston when I was a wet-behind-the-ears, wannabe journalist starting an internship at the funky little newspaper called High Country News. It was January 1984, less than a year after the paper had moved to Paonia, Colo., from its birthplace in Lander, Wyo. I arrived fresh from the nation’s capital, where I […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2002: Democrats kick back: The politics of growth
Lassoing the West’s polital winds
The HCN staff and board are just back from our fall board meeting in Seattle. In the spirit of eating dessert first, we’ll start with the high point of the meeting, a talk from Tim Egan, national correspondent for The New York Times and author of books such as Lasso the Wind: Away to the […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
Farewell to Dave Love
Dear HCN, One of the authentic icons of 20th century Wyoming and the West is gone. Dr. J. David Love, known to many as a great geologist and to many others as simply a friend, died Aug. 23 (HCN, 9/16/02: A legend of the land). He was 89. His humble beginnings as a ranch boy […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
Increase the peace – share the pain
Dear HCN, Paolo Bacigalupi’s NIMBY status used to sound more selfish to me in the past than it does now (HCN, 9/2/02: A NIMBY and proud of it). The major reason for my change of heart is my awareness that there is more than one “self” involved in being a NIMBY. His rant points toward […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
More thoughtfulness, please
Dear HCN, I just want to thank you for Jeff Golden’s piece about finding the middle ground in the forest management debate (HCN, 9/16/02: A modest forest proposal for President Bush). We need more sensible, thoughtful people who understand the situation to reflect and contribute their thinking on how we can preserve wilderness, reduce huge […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
Where is McInnis?
Dear HCN, I appreciated your coverage of the coalbed methane controversy in your latest issue (HCN, 9/2/02: Backlash). However, despite your usual dose of comprehensive analysis, I noticed one glaring absence * where is Colorado Rep. Scott McInnis in all this? Given Mr. McInnis’ tireless advocacy for local control (when it comes to forest policy), […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
Drink up, it’s good for you!
Dear HCN, As I read the latest issue (HCN, 9/02/02: EPA puts cleanup in local hands), I was fascinated by the article relating the drinking of untreated lake water by Christine Whitman and others. I was struck not only by the ignorance of doing such a thing, but by the ironic similarity to an incident […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
Magical, mystical and down-to-earth
They’ve been coined “boineers” – for biological pioneers – and they look to nature for models of sustainability and ecological and social restoration. This translates into topics as varied as transforming toxins using natural shamanic rituals to exploring the role of marine ecosystems. Now, you can see what these cutting-edge scientists, artists and activists have […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
A flood of admirers
The Clark Fork River in Montana suffers from more than a century of extraction, but there’s no shortage of praise for the resilience and enduring beauty of the river and its tributaries. Just as the river runs over boulders, drops through cascades, and meanders through its floodplain, the collection of works in The River We […]