Douglas Brinkley’s new biography tells the story of TR
Communities
Posted inGoat
Avatar: an allegory of the West?
For better or worse, one of the most significant environmental events of the holiday season may have been James Cameron’s Avatar. The blockbuster, which tells the story of an alien tribe beset by big business and their mercenaries on the intergalactic frontier, has captured this planet’s imagination. Avatar has been praised by some as a […]
Posted inWotr
In considering the future, include Plan B.
Over Christmas break my family paddled the Rio Grande River along the border of Big Bend National Park in Texas. More than a week along, we stopped at a riverside hot springs to soak off a layer or two of grit. A man appeared, walking down the trail from a nearby road. He was short, […]
Posted inWotr
The Navajo Nation signals it’s ready for more reforms
When it comes to political reform on the Navajo Nation, one should never, ever, expect anything to change fast. Recently, voters agreed to reduce membership on the Navajo Nation Council from an unwieldy 88 members to 24, while also giving the president line-item veto authority. The reforms were passed overwhelmingly — once again. The same […]
Posted inGoat
The West leads the country in personal bankruptcy filings
Every state saw a rise in bankruptcy filings in 2009, but the West — hit hardest by the collapse of the real estate market — showed the most increases. The Associated Press reports nationwide figures of more than 1.4 million filings, making 2009 the 7th worst year on record. Arizona led the way, with a […]
Posted inWotr
Snow job leads to a reporter’s exit
There’s an old saying in Colorado’s ski country regarding weather reports and predictions of snowfall: “I’ll believe it when I’m shoveling it.” That’s what I was thinking to myself several weeks ago as I sat on my couch, sifting through some ideas for a weekly opinion column in the western Colorado-based Summit Daily News, where […]
Posted inWotr
When doing the right thing gets complicated
It was dark, and about 30 of us were grouped around a campfire in a forest in the Pacific Northwest, when Tim, the owl expert, said, “I think it would be really weird to be a ‘sparred’ owl.” A sparred owl is what you get when a spotted owl mates with a barred owl. I […]
Posted inWotr
Parenting again, though not by choice
Just a year ago, I turned 65, had a modest Social Security income and half-time job with the nonprofit I’d founded 20 years earlier, and I was divorced — amicably — after a 34-year marriage. Home was a small house in the small town of Joseph in northeast Oregon, but I was making frequent trips […]
Posted inWotr
Whatever I do, it’s probably wrong
I try to do my best, I really do, but it seems harder than it should be. I’m in the grocery store, where the shiny plastic packaging stretches as far as the eye can see, and parents and kids seem larger than life – in fact, some seem the size of NFL linemen. With my […]
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
‘Firebrand ways’
A visit with one of the founders of the Center for Biological Diversity
Posted inArticles
Colorado River blues
Photos and audio stories of communities that live along the troubled Colorado River.
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
Life along the Colorado River
See a slideshow of Broussalian’s images of the Colorado River — and its people. The desert Southwest is unlikely to run out of water. But under the pressures of climate change and drought, population and politics, the Southwest is likely to run out of cheap water. The deal of the century will become last century’s […]
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
Food for thought
As 2009 limps to a close, Westerners have plenty of reasons to want to ring in a new — and perhaps better — year. With the economy lagging, folks are trimming budgets, shopping like Scrooge, and turning to federal food programs for a little extra help to put a holiday ham on the table. 395,000 […]
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
“Swimming in circles”
While Emily Underwood did an admirable job writing “The Lost Art of Listening,” there are two comments that are problematic (HCN, 11/23/09). Underwood wrote “… he has been consistently frustrated by what he considers teachers’ and administrators’ failure to implement his methods for teaching Arapaho” and “Greymorning is convinced that the problem lies in teachers’ […]
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
See you in 2010
It’s time for another publishing break in our 22-issue-per-year schedule. Look for the next issue of HCN to hit your mailbox around Jan. 18. May your stockings be stuffed with goodies and may your reindeers’ noses shine brightly all season long.NEW WORKS, NEW JOBSHCN contributors and interns have been busy writing and getting new jobs, […]
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
A search for meaning in the Pacific Northwest
LivabilityJon Raymond272 pages,softcover: $15.Bloomsbury USA, 2009. If you’ve ever imagined that your search for meaning might finally end at an organic farm in Oregon, or on a summer gig at an Alaskan fishery, or with the sale of your first screenplay, you’ll recognize the characters in Jon Raymond’s short-story collection Livability. Livability is a menagerie […]
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
Creating a precedent for forgiveness
The Crying TreeNaseem Rakha368 pages, hardcover: $22.95.Broadway Books, 2009. The word “forgiveness” conjures up images of long, damp hugs, sobbing and weakness. Our movie theaters, television screens and books are filled with heroes who violently punish evildoers, not people forgiving each other. In real life, our justice system steers clear of reconciliation and dispenses vengeance […]