The federal government wants to allow gas companies to drill nearly 40,000 new coalbed methane wells in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin over the next 10 years. That many wells would quadruple the number currently in Wyoming and increase the nationwide tally by almost 70 percent. The plan is outlined in the draft Powder River Basin […]
BLM’s coalbed methane plan disappoints enviros
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Who’s bringing home the bacon?
Imagine discovering your salary and assets posted on the Internet. Farmers throughout the nation are finding their names listed on the Web, along with the amount of federal subsidies they’ve received since the passage of the 1996 Farm Bill. The Environmental Working Group retrieved and compiled the data under the Freedom of Information Act. “I […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
A wing and a genius grant
After 11 years of quietly helping researchers and environmental activists carry out their projects from the air, Tucson pilot Sandy Lanham was awarded a $500,000 “genius grant” from the MacArthur Foundation on Oct. 23. Other pilots bill $300 an hour for similar services. But Lanham’s Environmental Flying Services, with the help of charitable foundations, only […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Montana revved up about snowmobile agreement
MONTANA When hard-pressed, even the most antagonistic foes can reconcile their differences, as snowmobilers and wilderness advocates demonstrated in their recent agreement on motorized access in Montana’s Flathead National Forest. Early last year, months of legal wrangling between the Montana Wilderness Association, Montana Snowmobile Association and the Flathead National Forest ended in a ruling that […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Lawsuit is for the dogs
MONTANA A gun owners’ group is trying to shoot down a ban on prairie dog hunting, imposed by the Bureau of Land Management to preserve habitat for the endangered black-footed ferret. The Montana Shooting Sports Association is frustrated by what it sees as a violation of the right to bear arms. “What part of ‘shall […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Bull trout get some help
After living in legal limbo for three years, bull trout will get a recovery boost. On Jan. 16, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it had settled a lawsuit with two environmental groups and agreed to designate critical habitat for the fish. “It’s another step on the long road to the recovery of […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Tug-of-war over water
COLORADO The Colorado Legislature is considering a measure that could turn the tide for fish, rivers and rafters. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, would allow irrigators and municipalities to retain rights to water they choose to leave instream for fish and boaters. Under current law, irrigators must use or lose their […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
The Latest Bounce
President Bush officially approved the high-level radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain on Feb. 15 (HCN, 2/4/02: Yucca Mountain debate goes nuclear). Later the same day, Nevada filed a lawsuit – its fifth – alleging that the energy department’s reliance on man-made barriers, rather than Yucca Mountain’s natural geology, to contain radioactivity violates the Nuclear […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
In the grip of Ungulate Fever
Deep crimson splotches, like large drips from a painter’s brush, pock the snow and lichen-encrusted rocks. A few steps farther, they mingle with patches of gray-brown fur, some of which cling to the stiff gray branches of sagebrush. Then more blood, more fur, more blood, on down the hill. And finally, the body. Or what’s […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Heard around the West
What does the well-dressed park ranger wear to work at Yellowstone National Park? A gas mask, of course, if the work station is at the park’s western gate. Especially on dead-calm winter days, a pall of pollution awaits staffers as they deal with up to 1,200 snowmobilers idling their gaseous engines. The Clinton administration tried […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Westerners share a different reality
Time magazine recently gave Westerners a good laugh. Time’s “Your Technology” columnist, Anita Hamilton, wrote about her road test of a new satellite radio network. You’ve probably heard of satellite radio – it’s the latest breakthrough, promising to beam signals from orbit to your car radio whether you’re in Stinking Desert, Ariz., or Sodden Pass, […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
You can call mine Mortgage Manor
Lupine Lodge. Del Mar at the Sea. Massive Mountain Manor. Harbor House at the Pines. I have changed the names to protect the ostentatious; to protect those who not only must own four luxury homes in four different places, but also pick and register names for them. I didn’t think I was capable of being […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Marijuana’s boring sibling
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. Hemp and marijuana are fraternal twins: While they look similar, the plants are actually quite different. Agricultural hemp has only miniscule amounts of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that exists in marijuana; those trace levels are not enough to induce a chemical high. Cultivated […]
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Colorado oil shale gets a second look
Shell Oil hopes pilot project will go commercial
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Development threatens historic town
Does Washington’s growth law do its job?
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
EPA wants to supersize Idaho Superfund site
State and federal officials squabble over how to clean up the Silver Valley
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Ghost of the Selkirks fading fast
Funding woes and predation have last U.S. caribou herd on the ropes
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Is a coal mine pumping the Hopi dry?
Thirty-six years later, tribe rethinks a money-making agreement
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
Klamath Basin II: The saga continues
National Academy of Sciences study produces more controversy in Oregon
Posted inMarch 4, 2002: Seed in the ground
‘His courtroom was a classroom’
“The end of an era” is how Mark Rutzick, attorney for the timber industry, describes the passing of Judge William L. Dwyer, who died Feb. 12 at 72 from complications associated with cancer and Parkinson’s disease. Although the sentiment is perhaps wishful thinking on the part of Rutzick, who lost virtually every case he brought […]