When did the following take place? A conservative wave sweeps the nation, and Republicans take control of the government. Western ranchers, furious about a proposed increase in the grazing fee on public lands, complain about the bloated federal bureaucracy. Members of Congress from the 12 Western states decide they have had enough of Eastern domination […]
Archive
Posted inJune 26, 1995: Colorado's prison slayer
Colorado’s prison slayer
One man’s quest to unshackle a rural economy
Posted inMay 1, 1995: Land grants under the microscope
Land grants under the microscope
Scrutinized from all sides, they defend their turf and look for new ideas
Posted inFebruary 20, 1995: No more ignoring the obvious: Idaho sucks itself dry
1995: Cecil Andrus knew how to take a stand
Cecil Andrus tells the story about how, as a young logger in Orofino, Idaho, he would skid logs down streambeds because it was the easiest way to move them. Skidding, for those who don’t know the rough-and-ready truths about logging, rips up the land and streams. “Those of us in logging in those good old […]
Posted inFebruary 6, 1995: The wolves are back, big time
The wolves are back, big time
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – Badged officers blocked traffic as the lengthy motorcade approached. Reporters and photographers crowded both sides of the road, and satellite dishes atop television stations’ trucks stood ready to beam the scene to the rest of the world. At a “media center’” occupying a cavernous gymnasium, banks of telephones were ready […]
Posted inFebruary 6, 1995: The wolves are back, big time
In surprising ways, wolves will restore natural balance
When wolves arrived in Yellowstone last month, it was as though a boulder were tossed into a lake: the ripples began to spread, and eventually they will touch everything. As trucks carrying the predators entered the park, coyotes nearby began to howl; now they yip and sing almost every hour near the wolf pens. “I […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
Hikers can bear grizzlies
Restoring grizzly bears to Washington’s North Cascades and Idaho’s Selway-Bitterroot ecosystems won’t interfere with hunters, hikers or horseback riders, says a conservation group in Bellingham, Wash. The group, Greater Ecosystem Alliance, examined closures of trails and campgrounds caused by grizzlies in 11 national forests and two national parks. All had little effect on recreation. Blocked […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
A climbing plan for Devils Tower
One hundred and one years ago, when William Rogers and Willard Ripley were the first climbers to top Wyoming’s Devils Tower, they also started a controversy. In the following decades the tower became a climbing mecca. Yet to some Native Americans it has always been a sacred place. To try to satisfy both interests, the […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
The Southwest’s writers are terrified liars
One of the best modern novels about the real Southwest is in technicolor. It takes place in Prescott, Ariz.: A rodeo performer returns to his hometown, finds out that his brother is bulldozing the home ranch and slicing it up into ranchettes and subdivisions, that his dad is about to hit the road for prospecting […]
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
Ranchers arrested at wildlife refuge
The arrest of rancher Dwight Hammond for running cattle on a wildlife refuge provokes a wise-use backlash in Oregon.
Posted inOctober 3, 1994: Subdividing the desert: Should there be a vote?
An agency icon at 50
CAPITAN, N.M. – Dear Boys and Girls: I’m writing this letter in a beautiful forest where Smokey Bear was born. I came because I’d read that he turned 50 years old in August, and I wanted to see his old stomping grounds. You won’t believe what I found. First of all, everything is named after […]
Posted inSeptember 5, 1994: Can planning rein in a stampede?
This boom will end like all the others – in a deep, deep bust
In 1982 a plumber named Jeff Everett and I competed to see who was the greater fool. I won. The competition centered on a 1,000-square-foot building we owned at 124 Grand Avenue, on Paonia’s two-block-long main street. It had been home to Betsy’s and my first newspaper – North Fork Times; by 1982 it stood […]
Posted inJune 27, 1994: Home, home on the range ... where neo-Nazis and skinheads roam
Home, home on the range … where neo-Nazis and skinheads roam
John Trochman calls himself a “Christian Patriot” and defender of the American Constitution. The soft-spoken man with a Robert E. Lee beard is also a field general in the “Militia Of Montana,” a paramilitary survivalist organization formed to fight what it perceives as oppression by the federal government. The number one threat to freedom, Trochman […]
Posted inJune 27, 1994: Home, home on the range ... where neo-Nazis and skinheads roam
A life to fry for: hot on the trail of bighorn
Night slides down the mountainside, and the temperature in the Tule Desert sinks to 108 in the shade. A bighorn sheep 50 yards away gawks at me while I nervously work down a steep stone slope. I can see amusement in her big, dumb eyes. Suddenly, my backpack nicks a boulder. I hear a horrible […]
Posted inNovember 29, 1993: Butte, Montana, seeks a new life
Butte, Montana, seeks a new life
Butte wants to transform its Superfund mine cleanup into a tourist attraction. (To read the full text, click on the “View a PDF from the original” link below, or download this HCN issue in PDF format.) This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Butte, Montana, seeks a new life.
Posted inOctober 18, 1993: A lost land grant: Can it be reclaimed?
Ranchers block public land in Wyoming
Ranchers block hunter access to a federal grazing allotment in Wyoming despite a BLM mandate. (To read the full text, click on the “View a PDF from the original” link below, or download this HCN issue in PDF format.) This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Ranchers block public […]
Posted inOctober 4, 1993: Mining reform: Searching for common ground
Mining reform: Searching for common ground
Gold miner John Livermore, and Sierra Club mining expert Glenn Miller join forces to find a solution to Nevada’s mining troubles. To read this article, download this HCN issue in PDF format. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Mining reform: Searching for common ground.
Posted inJuly 26, 1993: Clinton vs. Foley
How to get there from here
Tips for hitchhiking in the West. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/25.13/download-entire-issue
Posted inJuly 26, 1993: Clinton vs. Foley
Clinton vs. Foley
As President Clinton unveils his plan for protecting the old trees and declining species in Northwest forests, he disturbed a big bear on the trail: Democrat Thomas S. Foley, the longtime congressman from Washington state. To read this article, download this HCN issue in PDF format. This article appeared in the print edition of the […]
Posted inApril 19, 1993: Clinton flinches under western pressure
Clinton flinches under Western pressure
Environmentalists’ euphoria over President Bill Clinton’s Western policies came to an abrupt end in late March, when the White House pulled public land reforms from its new budget. To read this article, download this HCN issue in PDF format. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Clinton flinches under […]