The Forest Service says a new 272-acre development near the south entrance of the Grand Canyon can control growth near the park. Critics, including some environmentalists, are not convinced. “They’re creating mass development … ext to one of our crown jewels,” says Sharon Galbreath of the Sierra Club’s southwest office. Canyon Forest Village, which got […]
Grand Canyon development sparks debate
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Horses shy from competition
Connie Berto was walking her horse down a wide fire lane in Marin County, Calif., when a mountain biker, traveling at high speed, missed her by inches. It’s not an uncommon experience on the West’s public trails. Pressed by other trail users, horses and their riders are finding themselves less welcome on some trails. “Equestrians […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Trappers set free in Big Sky state
After several months of debate, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners recently voted on new trapping regulations. Most of the rules will remain the same. “The trapping community in Montana has done quite well,” says Kevin Feist, a Kalispell-area man who advocates more stringent rules. “They only have to do a couple […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Second tram heads for Moab
The redrock desert around the tourist town of Moab, Utah, has been colonized by motels and mountain bikers for over a decade. Still, some locals never thought they’d have to worry about ski lifts. Now, less than six months after a controversial chairlift opened for business on the west side of Moab, the county planning […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Can the Preble’s mouse trap growth on Colorado’s Front Range?
Note: a sidebar article, “The city mouse,” accompanies this feature story. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – On the 13th floor of the tallest building in town, Steve Sharkey, vice president of Picolan Inc., pulls out his plans for the Northgate development. It’s a 1,200-acre residential and commercial development at the edge of town, and it’s been […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
In the new West, we’re all tourists
In Wyoming, they say, “We don’t want to become like Jackson.” In Colorado, “We don’t want to become like Aspen.” In Utah, more fervently, “We don’t want to become another Moab.” Yet these same people never say, “I don’t want to be a Julia Roberts or Brad Pitt.” Hal K. Rothman, who is a history […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Heard around the West
Professional vegetarians really know how to hurt a guy. A proposed billboard campaign throughout the West from PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, features a busty babe wearing a bikini and a big grin, while a string of bologna cascades over one shoulder. But the billboard says there’s a problem: “Eating meat can […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
The city mouse
Note: This article is a sidebar to one of this issue’s feature stories. Preble’s meadow jumping mice deserve their name: By using their strong hind legs and (relatively) big feet, the three-inch mice can jump more than a foot and a half into the air and can leap three feet horizontally. Their long tails are […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
A desert boomtown comes to terms with its quiet neighbors
Note: a sidebar article accompanies this feature story: “Slow and steady.” Hirschi feared the consequences as much as anyone. He had started hearing about tortoise troubles when he was a field representative for Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah. In 1989, he was elected a Washington County commissioner. He’d seen a disaster unfold in the Las Vegas […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Slow and steady
Note: This article is a sidebar to one of this issue’s feature stories. Desert tortoises don’t have an easy childhood. Since the softer shells of baby tortoises make them easy prey for ravens and coyotes, less than 5 percent survive to adulthood. Tortoises who make it to maturity typically live long lives – they’ve been […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
The secretary speaks
Note: This article is a sidebar to one of this issue’s feature stories. Since taking office in 1993, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has been an ardent supporter of habitat conservation plans. In a recent telephone interview, he elaborated on his position. Bruce Babbitt: “I got involved (in urban habitat conservation plans) early on in Southern […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Salmon and suburbs struggle over a Washington river
Note: two sidebar articles accompany this feature: “The king of fish” and “The secretary speaks.” CEDAR FALLS, Wash. – In this valley at the foot of the Washington Cascades, 40 minutes’ drive southeast of Seattle when traffic is light, the Cedar River runs clear and cold. Slipping over its bed of cobble and gravel as […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
The king of fish
Note: This article is a sidebar to one of this issue’s feature stories. The hefty chinook salmon, also known as the king salmon, often exceeds 30 pounds. In 1949, a 126-pound chinook salmon was caught near Petersburg, Alaska. It remains the largest chinook on record. In the past 25 years, the number of chinook caught […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
An ESA cheat sheet
Note: This article is a sidebar to one of this issue’s feature stories. Endangered – Any species in danger of extinction throughout all or most of its range and “listed” as such under the Endangered Species Act. Now, 357 animals and 568 plant species in the U.S. are listed as endangered. Threatened – Any species […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
A pocket-sized bird takes on Sunbelt subdivisions
Note: two sidebar articles accompany this feature story: “A tiny owl with a big name” and “An ESA cheat sheet.” MARANA, Ariz. – An eerie calm hangs over Dove Mountain, a mega-development spilling out of the saguaro-lined canyons about 30 miles northwest of Tucson. Here in the foothills of the Tortolita Mountains, developers have spent […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
A tiny owl with a big name
Note: This article is a sidebar to one of this issue’s feature stories. The cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl, described as “fist-sized” and “no bigger than a muffin,” measures seven inches from beak to tail, and is the second smallest owl in North America. Only the elf owl, also native to southern Arizona, is smaller. Pygmy-owls spend […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Montana tribes bid their leader farewell
Michael T. “Mickey” Pablo, leader of Montana’s Indian nations, died at his ranch Aug. 5, at the age of 51. Postoperative complications from surgery on a knee he twisted while fishing have been reported as the likely cause of death. This humble man was highly respected for his wisdom and much loved for his kind […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Dear Friends
Colorful gathering of journalists Assistant editor Greg Hanscom headed to Seattle last month for the Unity Conference, a gathering of 6,000 Black, Hispanic, Native American and Asian American journalists. Power-suited journalists packed the Seattle convention center for four days to hear panel discussions, prize-winning authors and four presidential candidates expound on the importance of media […]
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
Who’s stopping sprawl?
Note: this front-page essay introduces this issue’s feature stories. The northern spotted owl created an enormous controversy in the timber towns of the Pacific Northwest. But at least it never had to tangle with the PTA. Less than 80 cactus ferruginous pygmy-owls are thought to survive in southern Arizona, and many of them live in […]
Posted inAugust 16, 1999: Standing up for the underdog
Building on Leopold’s Legacy: Conservation for a New Century
The 50th anniversary of A Sand County Almanac will be celebrated Oct. 4-7 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison, Wis. Building on Leopold’s Legacy: Conservation for a New Century presents Bruce Babbitt, Michael Dombeck, and conservation biologist Richard Knight, among others. The conference fee is $250. Live Webcasts of the conference […]