GILLETTE, Wyo. – Will Wyoming’s arid Powder River Basin be home to cranberry bogs and alligator farms? Most people aren’t taking such suggestions too seriously yet. But thanks to a boom in coal-bed methane development, the basin will soon have more water than anyone knows what to do with. “The fact is, we’re going to […]
The Cowboy State’s next boom
Posted inSeptember 27, 1999: The Millworker and the Forest
Dear Friends
Here come the hunters Though the health department made our meat-locker neighbor shroud its backdoor hoist with a giant tarp, staff can’t help noticing all the carcasses swinging by. Elk and deer, so far, we can report, but no black bear. All have been killed by the hunting elite that likes to make things tough […]
Posted inSeptember 27, 1999: The Millworker and the Forest
The Millworker and the Forest
Notes on natural history, human industry and the deepest wilds of the Northwest
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
Toilet water and other woes
Dear HCN, I used to live in the subdivision below Susan Ewing’s in Montana’s Gallatin Valley (HCN, 5/10/99). As a geologist with experience in groundwater consulting, I became involved in our neighborhood’s concerns about the impacts on our wells of yet another proposed subdivision in the area. While Montana’s intermontane valleys host abundant groundwater supplies […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
Stand in the place where you live
Dear HCN, Dan Flores’ essay on ranchettes in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley interested me, since I am a fellow Bitterrooter who makes a living working for the very ranchetteers he discussed (HCN, 5/10/99). I do tree planting, ecological restoration and native landscaping for them, and so I’ve done much brainstorming on what makes a “good ranchette.” […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
After the ranchers go, sprawl comes
Dear HCN, Your front page story on Jon Marvel points to the fact that you seem to have no clear vision of how to save the West from inappropriate development and urban sprawl (HCN, 8/2/99). I got the same feeling when I read your feature story on Wyoming a while back. You and your bright, […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
They’re both right!
Dear HCN, I find the exchanges between Tom Power and Ed Marston perplexing (HCN, 8/2/99). They are both right! My colleagues and I have surveyed over 7,000 randomly selected persons in the West over the last 10 years. In all these surveys people consistently say they either moved to or live in the West for […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
Lyons is a stereotyper
Dear HCN, Steve Lyons rips on the Aryan Nations as a pack of dimwits (HCN, 8/16/99). Fine, I’m with him there, but it seems Lyons is so blinded by his own politically correct views that he didn’t catch himself perpetrating yet more stereotypes. As an expatriate Montanan, I resented the “Ford-with-Montana-plates’ sound bite. Since when […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
The different faces of bigotry
Dear HCN, Regarding Stephen Lyon’s essay “An ugly message marches down an Idaho street” (HCN, 8/16/99): The rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933 was both surprising and rapid. Few people then anticipated the process or magnitude of events to come. Just shortly before, Germany had been a refuge from the wave of […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
Lyons is unfair to Idaho
Dear HCN, Stephen Lyons’ article on the Aryan marchers in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was terribly misleading and distorted against Idaho (HCN, 8/16/99). When I moved to this area in 1977, I had no idea about the Aryans. It wasn’t long before I learned of them firsthand. We would all like Butler and his group to […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
Enough said
Dear HCN, Now that you have turned the bulk of an issue over to defending the prairie dog, and presumably you have it out of your system (HCN, 8/16/99), as a subscriber I can only hope that you will get back to the business of journalism and work on issues of true significance to the […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space
The title of a report from the Trust for Public Land says it all: The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space: How Land Conservation Helps Communities Grow Smart and Protect the Bottom Line. As cities create parks, city economies usually improve and property values go up, say report authors Steve Lerner and William Poole. […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
New Millennium First People’s World’s Fair and Pow Wow
Organizers of the “New Millennium First People’s World’s Fair and Pow Wow” say representatives of more than 100 tribal nations will be present to help bring in the year 2000. It all happens at Rillito Raceway Park in Tucson, Ariz., Dec. 31-Jan. 9. For details, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to American Indians World Fair, […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
1999 Congress on Recreation and Resource Capacity
The 1999 Congress on Recreation and Resource Capacity is bringing the public and private sectors together to discuss the future of recreation on the nation’s public lands. The congress will meet Nov. 29-Dec. 2 in Aspen, Colo. Sponsors include the Bureau of Land Management, Blue Ribbon Coalition and National Parks and Conservation Association. For details, […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
Twenty-five Years of Self-Determination and Economic Development
Native American nation-building is the topic of a Tucson, Ariz., conference, Twenty-five Years of Self-Determination and Economic Development: What Have We Learned? The Nov. 11-13 conference will look at problems Indian communities confront, including joblessness, touchy tribal-state-federal relationships, and how to manage natural resources. Contact the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, the University […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
Continental Divide Trail
People who like to work hard in high places are needed to help maintain the Continental Divide Trail. Winding for 3,100 miles from Montana to New Mexico, the trail traces the rugged backbone of the Rocky Mountains. Volunteers, who will monitor and maintain 3- to 25-mile segments, can contact the Continental Divide Trail Alliance, P.O. […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
Wilderness Act Handbook
A 68-page handbook helps decipher the nuances of the 1964 Wilderness Act. The Wilderness Act Handbook, published by the Wilderness Society, includes the entire language of the act with a section-by-section interpretation of the legalese. For a revised copy, send $5 to the Wilderness Society, 900 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20006 (202/833-2300), or buy […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
MINExpo International 2000
MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2000 is billed as the largest mining exposition in the Western Hemisphere. It happens in Las Vegas, Nev., Oct. 9-12. For details, contact Kim Boscia, MINExpo coordinator, 1130 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036 (202/463-9799); e-mail: kboscia@nma.org or check out www.minexpo.com. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
The Northwest Environmental Defense Center
The Northwest Environmental Defense Center holds its annual retreat on the Oregon coast at Westwind YMCA, Sept. 24-26. Keynote speaker is Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. For more than 25 years, the center has been a student conservation law organization, located at the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & […]
Posted inSeptember 13, 1999: Troubled Oasis
Indian Land Consolidation Symposium
-Taking a Stand on Indian Land” is the motto for this year’s Indian Land Consolidation Symposium, sponsored by The Indian Land Working Group. Workshops will focus on the group’s legislation aimed at consolidating ownership of land on Indian reservations, and the newly introduced tribal computer database called TAAMS. The symposium will be held in Palm […]