Dear HCN, I resent Stephen Gies’ repeated references to manhood and the male ego, since I happen to be female and an avid hunter (HCN, 10/26/98). While condemning hunters as barbaric Neanderthals, Gies implies that hunting his way (with a self-fashioned stone knife or spear and wearing animal hides) would be OK. Who’s the Neanderthal […]
Who’s really the Neanderthal?
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Don’t blame Freud
Dear HCN, I am unaware of any science that can demonstrate hunters are “subconsciously killing other male humans because of competition for females.” In my reading of the literature, killing and bringing in high-level protein packages in the shape of fish and game gets you more access to females, not less. More access means greater […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Radical is a relative concept
Dear HCN, About 15 years ago, I heard poet and anti-war activist Father Daniel Berrigan speak in Portland. Berrigan was a leader in the Plowshares movement, whose participants entered factories and government installations to physically damage nuclear weapons. After his speech, which was both passionate and supremely logical, Berrigan took questions from the audience. One […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Forester should have fallen
Dear HCN, The opinion expressed by Ted Williams on a “Fallen Forester” (HCN, 12/21/98) is not shared by those who are familiar with federal land exchanges in Nevada. What Mr. Williams didn’t say was, while Jim Nelson was “hustling around the countryside cutting land deals, adding 100,000 acres to the forest,” the taxpayers were losing […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Another hatchet job
Dear HCN, Your title “Fallen Forester” in the December 21 issue is unfortunate. It leads one to conclude that Jim Nelson is in some way tainted goods. To the contrary, he is a model of the passion, intellect and gumption the Forest Service needs to cultivate to accomplish its difficult mission. More fitting titles would […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
One of the agency’s best
Dear HCN, I was disturbed and dismayed by your recent article about retired forest supervisor Jim Nelson (HCN, 12/21/98). I have never met Mr. Nelson and know him only by his reputation. I believe him to be a man of courage and vision, with a land ethic fully the equal of that possessed by two […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
The Future of Our Public Lands II: A Work in Progress
The Andrus Center for Public Policy, led by its namesake, former governor of Idaho Cecil Andrus, who also served as secretary of the Interior, is sponsoring its second symposium on federal land policy, The Future of Our Public Lands II: A Work in Progress, in Boise on March 24, 1999. The heads of the Fish […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Gila National Forest
Though jobs in fire management, trail maintenance, guiding and research won’t be available on the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico until summer, the application deadline is Jan. 29. For details, call Joan E. Hellen, 505/539-2481, at the Glenwood Ranger Station. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Bibliography of Native American Literature
A bibliography of Native American literature is now available on the Web at www.anpa.ualr.edu. The site, developed by the Native American Writers Archival Project, includes over 10,000 annotated citations of Native American fiction, poetry, journalism and technical writing published before 1945. For more information, contact James Parins at anpa@ualr.edu or write to the Native American […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Western Forest Activists Conference
Environmentalists favoring wilderness protection for ancient forests will convene at Headwaters’ 8th annual Western Forest Activists Conference in Ashland, Ore., Feb. 5-7. Speakers include Agnes Pilgrim, a Rogue Band Takilma elder, who works to preserve the role of native women in traditional land management. Call the Headwaters office at 541/482-4459 or e-mail headwtrs@mind.net Send pre-registration […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to lure volunteers to work in a number of positions ranging from trail crew workers to campground hosts. Volunteers choose the region and the Corps matches them with a project. Call the Volunteer Clearinghouse at 1-800-VOL-TEER, write to P.O. Box 1070, Nashville, TN 37202-1070, or check out www.orn.usace.army.mil/volunteer. […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Keeping hikers and habitat happy
-Most hikers think of their hobby as low-impact, a way to enjoy nature without harming it, but a new publication from Colorado State Parks suggests they’re only partly right. Planning Trails with Wildlife in Mind: A Handbook for Trail Planners shows how trails can interfere with wild areas. The guide suggests routing trails along ecological […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
ATV revolt
ATV revolt A proposal to close 400 miles of forest roads and 200 miles of trails to motorized vehicles on the Targhee National Forest has raised a storm of protest. The road closures are intended to decrease road densities in a grizzly bear recovery area – a move recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Crust course coming
Although they resemble bits of black rubber, clumps of lumpy soil crust found throughout the arid West prevent erosion. This slow-growing community of microscopic plants, however, is feeling the effects of cattle grazing, off-road vehicles and outdoor recreation. Next month, the Bureau of Land Management will sponsor an intensive training course on the biology and […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Keystone snowmakers get thirsty
Ski resorts are working overtime to beef up the sparse early season snowfall in the Central Rockies, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board thinks snowmakers at the Keystone Ski Area might be working a little too hard. In early December, the Summit County resort pulled more than its share of water out of the nearby […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Starry, starry night
Many New Mexicans worry that their ability to see the stars is vanishing. Because light pollution is increasing, the New Mexico Historic Preservation Alliance has declared the night sky one of the 11 most endangered places in the state. “The night sky has always been looked at as simply a natural resource,” says National Park […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
The Wayward West
Two of the managers of Colorado’s Summitville gold mine finally got their day in court, but the company higher-ups won’t ever step inside the courtroom to explain their role in the nation’s costliest mine disaster – the clean-up has cost $150 million so far. Six years after Galactic Resources declared bankruptcy, a federal court slapped […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
The great bison chase continues
Fifteen bison thundered along a barbed-wire fence in West Yellowstone while officials from the Montana Department of Livestock chased them from snowmobiles in December. After running the herd for a half an hour through a privately owned field, officials cornered eight. Then they shot blanks from rifles into the air, set off firecrackers and yelled […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Environmentalists are ‘doing nothing’
Note: This is a sidebar to a feature story headlined ‘Desert sprawl.’ Bill Arnold is a real estate broker and former county planning and zoning commissioner. “The environmental community doesn’t want the desert destroyed, but what the hell do they do to promote infill? They’re doing nothing. In May, we had a textbook case of […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Children teach tough lessons
School is a terrible place to have to spend your days. As any disgruntled student can tell you, the walls are sterile, the teachers suspicious, the curriculum irrelevant, the freedoms nonexistent. And, out of all the places on earth I could be, I have chosen to spend my workdays here. I made this decision, perhaps […]