COLORADO Shooting coyotes from the air came under fire this spring. Twenty environmental groups sent a letter to Colorado Bureau of Land Management Director Ann Morgan demanding a halt to aerial gunning in the state until the agency studies its effects on wildlife. “Aerial gunning needs to stop because of the biological impact and the […]
Environmentalists challenge aerial gunning program
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
The basin has a much-ballyhooed plan
NORTHWEST No one’s holding their breath, but approval may be close for an interagency plan outlining management of 63 million acres of federal land across Idaho, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and western Montana (HCN, 6/23/97: New plan draws hisses, boos). In the works for over six years, the hefty and ballyhooed Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem […]
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Expansion faces restrictions
COLORADO Telski, the ski resort in southern Colorado’s Telluride, is expanding onto national forest lands now that a lawsuit brought by two locals and two environmental groups has been settled (HCN, 8/4/97: A do-over in Telluride). In an out-of-court agreement, Telski owner, Telluride Ski & Golf Co., was authorized to add 733 acres, nearly doubling […]
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Tooele opens the door to more toxics
UTAH Writer Chip Ward has called his home turf of Tooele County, Utah, the “most extensive environmental sacrifice zone in the nation” (HCN, 2/14/00: Canaries in the Utah desert). The 7,600-square-mile county on the western edge of the state is home to a chemical-weapons burner, a biological warfare proving ground, a bombing range, a hazardous-waste […]
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Protesters rock roadless area hearings
MONTANA Hundreds of logging trucks and busloads of protesters circled downtown Missoula, Mont., June 21 to rail against the Forest Service’s proposal to protect 43 million acres of its roadless forests. About 2,000 people from all corners of western Montana joined a barbecue and rally sponsored by the timber and off-road-vehicle industries. Loggers and millworkers […]
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
The Wayward West
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 […]
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 […]