Dear HCN, Paul Larmer makes two fundamental errors in the second paragraph of his article (HCN, 1/29/01: Power on the loose). California deregulation didn’t “require” that power companies sell off their power generation; it just made it attractive to do so in the short term, and shortsighted utilities did just that. However, other utilities, notably […]
Myths of the California energy ‘crisis’
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
Land trust becomes green developer
WASHINGTON For 30 years, a ferocious land-use battle between conservationists and would-be ski and golf resort developers has been waged on 1,020 acres on the banks of Washington’s Methow River (HCN, 11/28/94: Beauty eludes the beast: Washington’s Methow Valley may avoid industrial tourism). Now, an end appears to be in sight. In January, the Trust […]
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
The latest bounce
The Bonneville Power Administration wants the Northwest to scrap salmon recovery plans (HCN, 8/28/00: he latest salmon plan heads toward a train wreck), so the federal agency can produce more power for the region. Due to low precipitation and expensive power, BPA says if it doesn’t release reservoir water now, the Northwest could be vulnerable […]
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
The mythic West and the billionaire
Only after looking over my shoulder as I left the Denver Art Museum did I realize the irony of the exhibit “Painters of the American West.” As usual, the blue neon Qwest signs flooded the Denver skyline. Behind both the art exhibit and Qwest, publicity-shy but firmly in charge, is Philip Anschutz, at last count […]
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
Heard around the West
When the mighty stumble, satirists have a field day. California, the sixth-largest economy in the world, became an easy target once its halfway deregulation of electricity triggered billion-dollar deficits.A commentator on the Web site F–kedCom- pany.Com chortled, “All this whining and complaining that there’s no juice to run the Jacuzzis and there’s no way to […]
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
Idaho predators are under the gun
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. The wolf will enjoy federal protection for at least a few more years, but other Idaho predators aren’t so lucky. In August, the seven-member Idaho Fish and Game Commission, which sets the agenda for the state Department of Fish and Game, adopted the state’s […]
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
Wildlife management blossoms on the reservations
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. When the Nez Perce took on the Idaho wolf recovery program, they continued a long tradition of tribal wildlife management. “We’ve always managed – we just didn’t call it that,” says Buzz Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet tribe and a Native American Liaison […]
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
An agency in need of refuge?
Greens, managers wrangle over how to rescue neglected wildlife refuges
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
Farmers asked to ante up for salmon
Some irrigators say dams are the problem, not ditches
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
‘Zero-Cow’ initiative splits Sierra Club
Are urban members ignoring rural range life?
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
How to draw a duck
Start with basic shapes: an oval for the body, a circle for the head, triangles for the bill and tail, a pole for the neck and a checkmark for the wing. Be sure to fill up most of your paper. Now, let’s round out the lines and add color. Then, draw in the duck’s habitat. […]
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
Dear Friends
Changing times The Nez Perce tribe is returning to its stolen lands. As we report in this issue, the tribe now manages wolves on 15 million acres of central Idaho wilderness, and it’s even bought back part of the Oregon homeland that Chief Joseph fought for in 1877. Though many tribes continue to struggle against […]
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
The return
The Nez Perce tribe brings wolves back to the Idaho wilderness — and reinvents its political future
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
Assessing Sunbelt sprawl
A recent poll found that nearly half of Phoenix’s residents would pack up and leave tomorrow, if given the chance. Two-thirds think the region is doing a “poor” or “fair” job of preserving the desert or open space. With this harsh assessment of the city’s quality of life in mind, a team of university researchers, […]
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
Sex-swappin’ salmon
Puzzling piscine sex reversals have left salmon researchers scratching their heads. A study released by the University of Idaho and Washington State University reported that of the female salmon sampled, 84 percent tested positive for a male genetic marker, suggesting that these females actually began life as males. Sex reversals could hold clues to declining […]
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
Men without women
“How sad life is, but the saddest thing is to sleep alone even though one has a wife, Luis.”– A tree carving, translated from Spanish in Speaking Through the Aspens You’re walking through an aspen forest and suddenly you see it on a tree trunk – a carving of a woman’s body or a bird, […]
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
Out of the grave
Presumed dead for nearly two decades, the Mountain Gazette, the rough-cut and barbed-tongued journal of 1970s mountain culture, has been exhumed, resuscitated and, according to its editors, “printed on paper so damned biodegradable … that you can pour milk on it and eat it.” Among its glossy newsstand rivals, the resurrected Gazette looms like a […]
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
Easement saves artifacts
Conservation easements usually protect open space on private land (HCN, 2/28/00: Acre by acre: Can land trusts save the West’s disappearing open space?), but a new easement in southwestern Colorado also protects what’s underneath the land. In December, an agreement between landowner Don Dove and the Montezuma Land Conservancy preserved 110 acres of ancestral Puebloan […]
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
It’s not that simple
Dear HCN, As one of the designated bad guys in Greg Hanscom’s reprise of Milagro Beanfield War (HCN, 12/4/00: Road block), I guess I should be thankful that the Valley Improvement Association came out looking no worse than it did … and stay quietly holed up in my “airy offices” (in a 30-year-old converted shopping […]
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
Unwise welcome?
Dear HCN, “Troubled harvest,” your Dec. 18 lament over an immigration policy that doesn’t encourage immigration, reads like a plea for “wise use.” A population that grew more than 13 percent in the 1990s – the fastest growth rate among the industrial nations – exacerbates virtually all of the environmental problems covered so well by […]