In the wake of the Los Alamos fire, New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, R, is proposing a bill that some worry is another “salvage rider” (HCN, 9/2/96: Last line of defense). Domenici says that in order to reduce fire danger, federal agencies should be able to thin trees without enduring lengthy environmental review. Environmentalists say […]
The Wayward West
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Climbing is the easy part
COLORADO To scale a “fourteener,” it helps to possess the body of a goat and the nerves of a test pilot. To climb 14,047-foot Culebra Peak in southern Colorado, you also need to join a club. Culebra Peak is part of the 77,000-acre Taylor Ranch near San Luis, Colo., which was sold last year to […]
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Drying up the Melon capital
Farmers in a small Colorado town plan to sell their water
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Heard around the West
Yes, they look freaky, some of them, but on the whole they’re peaceable and just want to see old friends and hang out – sometimes, it is true, while sampling controlled substances. They are the Rainbow Family of Living Light, a loosely affiliated group of ’60s-style hippies who gather for a week once a year […]
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Fires illuminate our illusions in the Southwest
Air, earth, water and fire. In the dry Southwest, the ancient fundamentals emerge clearly, and act upon each other in plain sight. When the wind moves rapidly above the earth after water has been scarce, little fires become big fires, and big lessons. For a few days after the fire at Los Alamos, the usual […]
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Los Alamos fire offers a lesson in humility
The Cerro Grande fire in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico blackened 42,869 acres, destroyed the homes of 400 families, and penetrated the security of Los Alamos National Laboratories more effectively than any Cold War enemy. In much the same way that the Cerro Grande restarted ecological succession on the scorched slopes above Los […]
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Red Mountain tries to hang on to history
Locals want to put an abandoned mining district in public hands
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Utah’s river kid takes on the water buffaloes
Where is Utah’s water needed most: in fading farming towns or booming cities?
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
A gutsy activist challenges a powerful industry
California off-roaders kiss their unregulated days good-bye
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Freedom of speech shines in Arizona cave
State reinstates biologist fired for criticizing managers at Kartchner Caverns
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Los Alamos races against time
Summer monsoons could wash laboratory waste into the San Ildefonso Pueblo and the Rio Grande
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Dear Friends
Summer break To give everyone a chance to catch up on their reading, hit the trail, ride a bike, paddle a river or – you get the general idea – High Country News will skip the next issue. We’ll return July 31, 2000. New to the board Last issue’s Dear Friends column on the Albuquerque […]
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
A river resurrected
The Colorado River Delta gets a second chance
Posted inJune 25, 2007: Predator hunters for the environment
Watershed moment
A former California timber town becomes ground zero in the battle over bottled water
Posted inJune 19, 2000: Accidental refuge: Should we save the Salton Sea?
Cows can help
Dear HCN, Although Jon Christensen’s story on weeds, fire, and the Great Basin was informative, he left out an important ingredient to the story (HCN, 5/22/00: Save Our Sagebrush). The same tools that he attributes to the ecological collapse of the region – fire and grazing – can be used to restore the region. Spring […]
Posted inJune 19, 2000: Accidental refuge: Should we save the Salton Sea?
Why wolf recovery is a failure
Dear HCN, The recent article by Steve Stuebner about wolves in Idaho demonstrates why wolf recovery is an ongoing failure (HCN, 5/22/00: Activist calls for cease-fire on wolves). If it were not for a few livestock-free safe havens like Yellowstone Park and the core of central Idaho wilderness, there would be no wolf recovery whatsoever. […]
Posted inJune 19, 2000: Accidental refuge: Should we save the Salton Sea?
Weeds don’t need cows to spread
Dear HCN, Thank you for the thoughtful coverage dealing with weeds across the West, and especially the discussion of the cheatgrass/fire cycle problem. A quick point of clarification, though. Your articles seemed to return to a theme of grazing as a central cause. In my experience, grazing may not be necessary for land to experience […]
Posted inJune 19, 2000: Accidental refuge: Should we save the Salton Sea?
In defense of ‘enviros’
Dear HCN, I am responding to several letters in the May 8 edition. One letter said that “enviros are mostly intruders funded by wealthy foundations.” Those foundations are set up by nonprofit corporations supported by the donations of many environmentally conscious citizens and companies. An individual cannot make any impact on the money-obsessed power structure […]
Posted inJune 19, 2000: Accidental refuge: Should we save the Salton Sea?
Writer has an ATV agenda
Dear HCN, Jim Gerber, president of Citizens for a User Friendly Forest, has written several letters to the editor of High Country News in which he has neglected to identify his affiliation. CUFF supports motorized access to national forests. The vice president of CUFF, Adina Cook, is also the public-lands director of the Blue Ribbon […]
Posted inJune 19, 2000: Accidental refuge: Should we save the Salton Sea?
Heard around the West
Could a man juggle 20 drinks sliding around a tray while walking in spike heels and looking sexy? Some cocktail waitresses in Reno, Nev., do that for eight hours at a time. They also say they’re sick and tired of it – the blisters, bunions and hammer toes caused by wearing high heels on the […]