Breaking into the BackcountrySteve Edwards192 pages, softcover: $16.95.University of Nebraska Press, 2010. “In the seven months I spent in the backcountry, in relative solitude, I rarely felt as alone as I do sitting at this table,” writes Steve Edwards, describing his return to the family dining room after a lengthy sojourn by Oregon’s Rogue River. […]
Communities
Posted inDecember 6, 2010: Toxic Past, Toxic Present
There’s always something in the water
Hal Walter’s recent Writers on the Range essay “There’s Something in the Water” (HCN, 11/8/10) highlights a concern shared by every water-quality professional in the Rocky Mountain West: the presumption of safety. As a member of the Colorado Water Quality Association Board of Directors and a certified water specialist, I can unequivocally state that few […]
Posted inWotr
The Great Plains is the latest new frontier
Local entrepeneurs could revive a dying region
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Housing keeps getting tighter all the time
Moab resident feels development squeeze
Posted inWotr
The EPA takes a small step toward curbing greenhouse gases
Let’s get one thing straight: The EPA’s plan to limit greenhouse-gas emissions from standing sources is nothing radical. States may sue, a bipartisan swarm of senators may politick to stop it, and energy lobbyists may fret about jobs and the economy, but no matter what the alarmists say, the rule won’t shut anyone down. It […]
Posted inBlog
Cobell, settled at last
Federal government finally accounts for money mismanagement of tribal nations.
Posted inWotr
Living with wolves takes some practice
I paddle to a favorite meadow with my friend, Solan. It’s late summer in southeast Alaska, when the tall grasses are turning yellow and the mountaintops are lost in clouds. Coming ashore, we step over dead salmon dragged from the stream by bears. Walking toward the stream, I talk about the time I watched a […]
Posted inWotr
Growing up political
The gray November morning was framed by the windows in my parents’ bedroom. They were still in bed — it must’ve been early — and they cut short my eager question: Did Daddy win? No. Daddy lost. People voted for the other guy — the Republican. I was 5 years old, shocked and crushed by […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Washington eco-saboteurs topple towers
Monkey-wrenching of radio station doesn’t last
Posted inWotr
The healthiest landscapes are hidden
The healthiest wild lands in the nation cannot be found on recreation maps. The bushes in these secret spots aren’t littered with old toilet paper or empty beer cans; there are no crowds, no loud music and no admission fees. No motels, camp sites, toilets, souvenirs or asphalt paths. No gas stations, no boat ramps, […]
Posted inWotr
The hunters called — they want their deer back
Maybe it was just a case of bad timing. First, we learn that mule deer have declined 60 percent on Wyoming’s Pinedale Anticline between 2001 and 2009. That’s not much of a surprise. It’s been evident for some time that deer and deer hunters were going to be the biggest losers in this gas play. […]
Posted inWotr
Hunting and gathering in the modern era
He wakes before dawn, moves silently from his bed. He washes and shaves according to ritual, anoints himself with powders and lotions, some to mask scent, others to enhance it. He dresses in his hunting outfit, adjusts his shirt, brushes dust from his pants. He eats a light breakfast of fruit and cereal, not enough […]
Posted inBlog
Snoop Dogg Called To Wild
Can the power of celebrity bring more people of color into the National Parks? Yosemite Ranger Shelton Johnson thinks so, and now that he’s grabbed the attention of talk show host Oprah Winfrey, momentum is building to invite the rap star Snoop Dogg to go camping. A petition is being circulated in the hopes of […]
Posted inWotr
Mexican wolves, still strangers in a strange land
With the opening of their holding pens 12 years ago, wolves stepped into their historic home on the Southwestern desert for the first time in over 50 years. So began the reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolf into southern Arizona and New Mexico. It was a culminating moment for the state and federal agencies that […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
Roll up your sleeves and get cranking
THE NATION Common Cause, the nation’s good-government nonprofit, celebrated its 40th anniversary recently at a party in Denver, helped mightily by the humor and smarts of Pat Schroeder. In 1972, Schroeder was the first Colorado woman to be elected to Congress, where she spent a dozen terms focusing on fiscal accountability from the military and […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Tribute to a prickly icon
Matter Journal 13: Edward AbbeyVarious contributors432 pages, softcover: $17.Wolverine Farm Publishing, 2010. The problem with dead authors is that no more work will be forthcoming from them. Without new material to sink their teeth into, both fans and critics of Edward Abbey have long resorted to “secondary sources” — interviews with the curmudgeon’s friends, vintage […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Lone shepherd on a distant promontory
From where I sit, I see a lone shepherd on a distant promontory, two trusty dogs at his side, a storm posting with all speed from the cold north as a rogue wolf works the edges of the band. The guard dogs, Great Pyrenees and Akbash, are not quite enough to beat off those wolves, […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Rocky Mountain noir
The Long Slide Blair Oliver and Peter Soliunas 200 pages, softcover: $20. World Audience, Inc., 2010. The first collaboration from authors Peter Soliunas and Blair Oliver, The Long Slide is at once a pulpy romp across the Rockies and a mash note to the works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. But where those authors […]
Posted inNovember 22, 2010: Hardrock Showdown
Send us a letter, the sooner the better
Lately we’ve noticed that we haven’t been hearing from our readers as often as we used to. One of the best things about HCN is our sense of community, exemplified by your intelligent, thoughtful letters. We know you’ve got lots of opinions, ideas and reactions to stories to share — so please drop us a […]
Posted inNovember 8, 2010: Dr. No
There’s something in the water
A Colorado family discovers that their clear “Rocky Mountain Spring Water” is unsafe to drink