In Idaho, the state Fish and Game Commission is almost a hallowed institution. Its history extends back to the 1930s, when a national committee led by writer and conservationist Aldo Leopold advanced a management formula devised to protect wildlife from the political whims of the day. Voters adopted Leopold’s plan by approving a citizen’s initiative […]
Chaos reigns in Idaho wildlife agency
Posted inMarch 15, 1999: Selling off the Promised Land
Locals work to tame the Air Force
RENO, Nev. – Grace Potorti lives 10 minutes away from the neon lights and slot machines of this “Biggest Little City in the World.” Hers seems an unremarkable home – magnets adorn the refrigerator, two teenage children drift in and out. But from this base, the 40-something Potorti takes on the Pentagon – for the […]
Posted inMarch 15, 1999: Selling off the Promised Land
Indian money: Where is it?
A federal judge raked Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt over the coals last month, when he held Babbitt in contempt of court in a lawsuit over unaccounted-for Indian money. Babbitt’s department “engaged in a shocking pattern of deception of the court,” said Federal District Court Judge Royce Lamberth. “I have never seen more egregious misconduct by […]
Posted inMarch 15, 1999: Selling off the Promised Land
Dear Friends
Almost fooled by a fax We received a confusing message by fax machine recently from promoters of something called The National Media Guide in Altamonte Springs, Fla. At first, it seemed a no-brainer: We sign our name, we get a “complimentary copy” if we “rush” back a reply. Then, we noticed an odd line at […]
Posted inMarch 15, 1999: Selling off the Promised Land
Heard around the West
If you’re standing on the vast Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington and a tumbleweed tumbles your way – better step aside. Last year the federal Department of Energy surveyed tumbleweeds on the 560-square-mile complex, a high-security bomb factory, and found that 20 tested toxic. That’s up from 1995, when only five of the weeds […]
Posted inMarch 15, 1999: Selling off the Promised Land
On the Web, church chats up a storm
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. If you want a good look at the internal debate over the Church Universal and Triumphant’s new direction, go to cyberspace, where a pair of Web sites are dedicated to airing viewpoints pro and con. People speculate about the sex life of CUT guru […]
Posted inMarch 15, 1999: Selling off the Promised Land
Bison may get ground to stand on
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. The Church Universal and Triumphant remains willing to remove all cattle from its Royal Teton Ranch and to allow bison to roam there once state and federal government make some commitments of their own. Here are the highlights of the church’s proposal, some of […]
Posted inMarch 15, 1999: Selling off the Promised Land
Church lands will help bail out bison
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. If someone tells you they have a simple solution to the bitter controversy over Yellowstone National Park’s wandering bison, turn around and walk away. The Church Universal and Triumphant’s offer concerning its Royal Teton Ranch illustrates the complexity of the problem. What could have […]
Posted inMarch 15, 1999: Selling off the Promised Land
Church picks and chooses to create a belief system
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. The theology of the Church Universal and Triumphant is a mixed bag of Christianity, Buddhism, New Age mysticism and astrology. Add in beings called Ascended Masters, who speak through Elizabeth Clare Prophet, angels and “elementals,” who embody earth, fire, water and wind. Then there […]
Posted inMarch 15, 1999: Selling off the Promised Land
A biography of Prophet’s most recent life
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. Guru Ma’s got troubles. Lots of them. At the age of 59, she has both a preschool child and Alzheimer’s disease. All four of her adult children have turned their back on the Church Universal and Triumphant, the institution she spent almost 40 years […]
Posted inMarch 15, 1999: Selling off the Promised Land
Selling off the Promised Land
CORWIN SPRINGS, Mont. – The big trouble started 10 years ago, when federal agents arrested Vernon Hamilton for possession of illegally purchased sniper rifles in Spokane, Wash. There was more. Hamilton was carrying $130,000 worth of gold, cash and crates of ammunition, along with an elaborate false identity he had stolen from a California man […]
Posted inMarch 1, 1999: Working the land back to health
Friends of the dogs
Dear HCN, Woody Beardsley’s review of “Varmints,” shown in Boulder, Colo. (HCN, 1/18/99), depicts Rocky Mountain Animal Defense (RMAD) as antagonistic to the filmmakers in particular and prairie dog conservationists in general. This could not be further from the truth. This misrepresentation is not Beardsley’s fault; RMAD’s views were simply poorly represented at the film […]
Posted inMarch 1, 1999: Working the land back to health
Sprawl also harms native people
Dear HCN, Tony Davis’ story on desert sprawl (HCN, 1/18/99), with figures proving the city of Tucson has more than doubled in size in 40 years, and that an acre of the Sonoran Desert disappears every two hours, seems absurdly unbelievable. It is preposterous that people can destroy the saguaro, prickly pear cacti, and ironwood […]
Posted inMarch 1, 1999: Working the land back to health
Who should float the Colorado?
Dear HCN, I seldom voice my opinion in the public arena, but I felt compelled by the recent articles in High Country News to share some of my experiences and opinions. Like Brad Dimock, I am a recovering river rat. I got my start with Outward Bound School in the late 1960s. I started floating […]
Posted inMarch 1, 1999: Working the land back to health
Hogs replacing hogs are still hogs
Dear HCN, Re: “Fun-hogs to replace cows in a Utah monument” (HCN, 2/1/99), give us a break. Give us the real story. The Escalante, a lone remnant of Glen Canyon, is a sensitive and disastrously disturbed river system. It is a central riparian corridor for wildlife, but at present it is barely alive. It flows […]
Posted inMarch 1, 1999: Working the land back to health
High Country News derides hunters
Dear HCN, I am sorry to say that I will not be renewing my High Country News subscription. I have been reading your paper with much interest and appreciation for the past four years, but lately have become increasingly disappointed with your anti-hunting, and anti-hunter, sentiment. While your writers do an outstanding job illuminating some […]
Posted inMarch 1, 1999: Working the land back to health
Murder, hunting and macho men
Dear HCN, I should like to respond to Paul Quinnett’s letter (HCN, 1/18/99) in which he says he is unaware of any science that can demonstrate hunters are “subconsciously killing other male humans because of competition for females.” There are numerous scientific publications dealing with the issue of hunting and personal aggression, but one will […]
Posted inMarch 1, 1999: Working the land back to health
Wilderness and Spirit
The School of Forestry at the University of Montana in Missoula offers a lecture series focused on human relationships with nature. Wilderness and Spirit is open to the public and takes place every Tuesday at 7 p.m. until the end of April. Speakers include activist Scott Silver and writers Richard Manning and David Peterson. For […]
Posted inMarch 1, 1999: Working the land back to health
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
The 10,894 acre Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Flint Hills of Kansas was created in 1996 and the National Park Service is accepting comments on its General Management Plan until March 5. Use the online comment form at www.nps.gov/tapr/altcom3.html or call 316/273-6034. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the […]
Posted inMarch 1, 1999: Working the land back to health
Sustaining the Missouri River for Future Generations
Native Americans and scientists will be among those meeting in Pierre, S.D., on March 21-24, to discuss Sustaining the Missouri River for Future Generations. For more information on the third annual get-together, contact Jeanne Heuser, Columbia Environmental Research Center, 4200 New Haven Road, Columbia, MO 65201 (573/876-1876), e-mail: jeanne_heuser@usgs.gov, or visit the Web site at […]