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. […]
What’s in a name? Just ask Dwayne or Trucklene
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 […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
A dry old time
The Dry Cimarron River is called “dry” because it has a tendency to sink, then rise again, as it flows from Johnson Mesa in northeastern New Mexico, through a deep canyon, across a corner of Oklahoma and into the Arkansas River near Dodge City, Kan. Along the way, the Dry Cimarron nourishes rangeland that has […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
A new planning tool takes flight
Have you ever endured an incredibly boring planning meeting at Town Hall? Some developer, standing before a blizzard of maps and charts, drones on about how his subdivision will fit seamlessly into your community. You know that the size and location of the project will forever mar the incredible view over the river to the […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
Crawdads get the boot, but not the boil
ARIZONA At Arizona’s Fossil Creek this August, concerned locals took a bite out of an invasive crayfish population. Two years ago, under pressure from local environmental groups, power provider Arizona Public Service agreed to remove a 90-year-old dam from the creek, which provides important habitat for native fish like Gila and roundtail chubs, desert and […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
Thumpers hit a speedbump
COLORADO On August 16, seismic “thumper trucks” were poised to explore for oil and gas in the Canyons of the Ancients, a national monument in southwest Colorado, home to several rare lizards and more than 5,000 archeological sites. But four environmental groups sued to stop the 30-ton trucks from rolling across the landscape, and in […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
Nuclear waste road accidents don’t faze WIPP
NEW MEXICO August, a drunk driver crashed into a truck in southern New Mexico that was hauling 28 55-gallon drums of nuclear waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Project in Carlsbad, N.M. (HCN, 4/12/99: Nuclear waste dump opens). Less than two weeks later, the driver of another truck carrying waste to WIPP blacked out, hurtling […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
BLM gets a land-swap lemon
COLORADO/UTAH In early September, Bill Rodgers, a Buick salesman in Knoxville, Tenn., landed a great deal. Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., introduced a bill to Congress ordering a land exchange that would give Rodgers 3,888 acres of Bureau of Land Management land, mostly in Utah on the Colorado border. In exchange, Rodgers would give 2,048 acres […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
Environmentalists fight chemical weapons burns
OREGON Plans to burn Cold War-era chemical weapons in northeastern Oregon have environmental groups up in arms. Before burning the more than 3,000 tons of sarin and mustard gas that have been stored at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility since 1962, the Army must first test its furnaces by burning “surrogate” chemicals. At the […]