Allocate $10 million to $15 million for new bosses at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the beleaguered agency might get itself back on track, says a new report from the National Academy of Public Administration. The BIA, which represents 1.2 million Indians from 558 tribes, has long been plagued by mismanagement (HCN 4/15/99). BIA […]
BIA told to get organized
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Nevada names
JARBIDGE (Elko). A Nevada post office, established March 5, 1910, and town (the most isolated mining camp in the state) … According to Jarbidge legend, the name … comes from a Shoshone Indian word Jahabich, meaning “devil,” or from Tswhawbitts, the name of a mythical crater-dwelling giant who roamed the Jarbidge Canyon for many years. […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Risks multiply for land managers
Beatings, bombings, death threats and other acts of violence against Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management employees are on the rise. According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility), agency workers or buildings were attacked or threatened nearly 100 times in 1998 alone. One Forest […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Grant program gives greens GIS
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology can turn hard data into colorful maps and geographic databases, but few nonprofit groups can afford the expensive computer tool. The Conservation Technology Support Program wants to solve this problem by offering GIS grants to environmental groups. In the year 2000, the program will give away more than $1 million […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Dirty air in the deep of winter
Snowmobiles produce nearly all the air pollution in Yellowstone National Park, even though other vehicles outnumber them 16 to 1, says a new report by the National Park Service’s Air Resources Division. Air Quality Concerns Related to Snowmobile Usage found that one winter’s worth of emissions by snowmobiles amounts to 78 percent of all carbon […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Nobody’s perfect
Dear HCN, After reading Craig Childs’ article, I no longer feel guilty concerning my choice of employment for the past 12 years. I’m currently employed by the world’s largest printer (lots of dead wood there), and before that, I was a boiler operator at a sawmill. I have always cared about my impact on our […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
All of us come from primitive cultures
Dear HCN, I read with interest James Bishop’s “Bones of Contention.” I was struck by the comment of Kurt Dongoske: “What he has demonstrated is that people were hacked apart, their bones dismembered. He presents no evidence of ingestion.” Mr. Dongoske is angered by Mr. Turner’s assertion that the Anasazi, particularly at Chaco Canyon, practiced […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Race card trumped
Dear HCN, In a recent essay (-All our backs are a bit wet,” HCN, 10/11/99), Jack McGarvey suggests that U.S. immigration and border enforcement policies are racially motivated and that U.S. immigration policies give preferential treatment to Canadians over Mexicans. When examined in the light of U.S. Census data, however, this race card is soundly […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Another view of La Migra
Dear HCN, Having lived and worked with illegal Mexican laborers for over 20 years from the Mexican border to South Dakota, I disagree with Jack McGarvey’s essay and description of the U.S. Border Patrol as irritating and oppressive (HCN, 10/11/99). From this same perspective I laugh at his reference to the “affectionate” employers who employ […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
What about dogs?
There you go again, raising the non-issue of cell phones in the backcountry (-Heard around the West,” 10/25/99). As a frequent backcountry traveler, I simply haven’t encountered the problem. In any event, it seems the phones could easily be avoided by those who are offended. Perhaps you should report instead on the increasingly unavoidable backcountry […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Park Service is working to protect Petroglyph
Dear HCN, Your recent article on Petroglyph National Monument left out a great deal of information about actions the park is taking to deal with some of the issues raised by your coverage (HCN, 10/25/99). Cultural and natural resource protection in the park has greatly increased since it became a unit of the National Park […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Developers don’t have to rule
Dear HCN, Many thanks to Cathy Robbins for writing about the abuse of the Petroglyph National Monument just outside of Albuquerque, N.M. (HCN, 10/25/99). I am not ashamed to admit the article brought tears to my eyes. While the plight of the petroglyphs is of grave concern, the article brought out the larger issue of […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
A public apology and the publisher replies
Dear HCN, On behalf of the National Parks and Conservation Association, I want to publicly apologize both to Petroglyph Superintendent Judith Cordova and to your readers for the personal remarks made by NPCA Southwest Regional Director Dave Simon that appeared in a sidebar to your Oct. 25 “Monumental chaos’ feature. His comments were inappropriate and […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Petroglyph: Why one staffer quit
Dear HCN, Cathy Robbins’ article on the hideous situation at Petroglyph is right on target (HCN, 10/25/99). As a former NPS staffer there (I was chief of Interpretation and Cultural Resources from 1994-1998) who fled in terror under Judith Cordova’s reign, I can elaborate on several points in the article. Ms. Cordova did indeed make […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Nonstop service to the Mojave Desert?
A 6,500-acre swath of federally owned desert, 10 miles from California’s Mojave National Preserve, could become the site of a new Las Vegas airport. But environmentalists and the National Park Service say airport overflights will ruin the preserve visitor’s experience. “One of the really special things about Mojave is the opportunity for solace and quiet,” […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
The Wayward West
The first reported case of chronic wasting disease has hit Montana. The fatal disorder has been slowly spreading throughout the West’s elk and deer populations for the past 30 years (HCN, 9/27/99). Early this month, an autopsy report proved it killed a game farm elk on the Kesler ranch in Philipsburg. Josh Turner of the […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Hunters cry: too many predators
A booming wolf population around Yellowstone National Park has local sportsmen up in arms. More than 2,500 people have sent in a dollar to join the newly formed Friends of the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd, according to founder Robert Fanning. The group wants to take wolves off the endangered species list and give the state […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Tree-sitters and timber company celebrate
Sarah Vekasi was prepared to spend the winter perched in an old Douglas fir tree near the town of Randle, Wash., in order to stop the trade of old-growth forest out of public ownership. Thanks to a recent reworking of a complicated land swap, it looks like she’ll stay warm, dry and on the ground. […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Heard around the West
After a Taiwanese pop star filmed a four-minute video in a Grandview, Wash., cherry orchard, the demand for cherries in Asia boomed, crows cherry promoter Eric Melton. Cherry growers paid $100,000 for the MTV-style video, but the value was “about $3 million,” reports Capital Press. The gain came through higher prices, so that while Asian […]
Posted inNovember 22, 1999: Go tell it on the mountain
Figuring out FERC
Note: in the print edition of this issue, this article appears as a sidebar to another news article, “A tired stream gains new steam.” Relicensing of a hydroelectric project begins at least two years before the old license expires. After an application is filed, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gives public notice, and any member […]