The Cerro Grande fire in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico blackened 42,869 acres, destroyed the homes of 400 families, and penetrated the security of Los Alamos National Laboratories more effectively than any Cold War enemy. In much the same way that the Cerro Grande restarted ecological succession on the scorched slopes above Los […]
Essays
Posted inJuly 3, 2000: A river resurrected
Fires illuminate our illusions in the Southwest
Air, earth, water and fire. In the dry Southwest, the ancient fundamentals emerge clearly, and act upon each other in plain sight. When the wind moves rapidly above the earth after water has been scarce, little fires become big fires, and big lessons. For a few days after the fire at Los Alamos, the usual […]
Posted inMay 30, 2005: Write-off on the Range
Starry Eyes
Recently, at mid-afternoon on a rainy day, I looked up at the cloud-burdened sky and missed the stars. Truly missed them. I felt the kind of wistful pangs that you might feel when remembering a long-gone but beloved grandparent, or a teenage sweetheart who once misunderstood you. I knew they were up there — the […]
Posted inMay 22, 2000: Save Our Sagebrush
‘Los Alamos is burning’
Los Alamos is burning. My wife stands in front of the TV in our home in Lewiston, Idaho, watching CNN with her hands to her face, tears in her eyes. She is whispering softly, a litany of actions from deep in her memory. “They have to pack their things. They have to take the family […]
Posted inMay 22, 2000: Save Our Sagebrush
Yelling fire in a crowded West
I was in Jackson, Wyo., in fall 1988, right after Yellowstone National Park burned to the ground. School children were contributing nickels and dimes to build it back up, and there was a lynch-mob attitude in the town toward the National Park Service and other federal agencies (HCN, 9/26/88). Today, the Yellowstone fires are celebrated […]
Posted inMay 8, 2000: After the fall
Restoring our future
Note: This essay appears in the print edition of this issue as a sidebar to a feature story. Moments of affirmation are rare in Washington, D.C. So I was pleased to run into a friend, living now in Los Angeles, whom I last saw in college, and to hear her excitement about the Forest Service’s […]
Posted inMay 8, 2000: After the fall
Why I ride the bus
Only one other passenger waits to catch the 6:47 a.m. commuter bus from Pullman to Moscow, Idaho. She is pleasant looking, well dressed, with Walkman headphones snaking up out of her sweater. Because I ride this bus regularly, I’ve learned some details of this woman’s life. Whitney Houston is her favorite singer. The woman has […]
Posted inApril 24, 2000: At your service: Unions help some Western workers serve themselves
Down under: Arizona boasts the ‘show cave of the century’
“I love caves.” Just a whisper in the dim light of the cavern, and not addressed to me, but to a husband from his wife. I almost turned and said, “Me too,” then remembered we were on a cave tour – everyone on it probably loved caves. Until that tour of Kartchner Caverns State Park, […]
Posted inApril 24, 2000: At your service: Unions help some Western workers serve themselves
Do we really need the rural West?
Note: this article is accompanied by another article in this issue, “Yes, we need the rural West.” Dan Dagget, the well-known authority on Western livestock grazing and a seemingly mild-mannered guy, lost his cool and fairly screamed at me: “Why don’t all of you go back to the cities back East you came from and […]
Posted inApril 24, 2000: At your service: Unions help some Western workers serve themselves
Yes, we need the rural West
Note: this article accompanies another article in this issue, “Do we really need the rural West?“ Hal Rothman is normally a very cool guy – a history professor fascinated by the culture and economy of his hometown of Las Vegas. But he recently went to a conference about the rural Northern Rockies, and after sitting […]
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
The West’s power game
The West is caught between congressional representatives beholden to resource industries, and federal officials with a conservation agenda. Can we find a middle ground?
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
Indian reservations: Environmental refuge or homeland?
To non-Indians, reservations look like vast de facto wildlife areas. But that’s not what they’re for.
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
The Old West is small potatoes in the new economy
Local and state governments are no match for the massive corporations moving in on the West’s open spaces
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
How to get right side up again
Instead of propping up corporate agriculture, let’s subsidize small farmers
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
Notes from a fence-sitter
Though extremists on either side would never admit it, ranchers and greens care about the same things
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
In search of a politics of union
So far, a bigger table for decision-making has not led to more agreement, just more litigation
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
The infinite West reaches its limits
Undaunted optimism runs up against a finite landscape
Posted inApril 10, 2000: Beyond the Revolution
Learning to think like a region
Environmental issues have nothing to do with political boundaries
Posted inMarch 13, 2000: Libby's dark secret
A barbed tragedy is lodged in Libby
Note: This essay is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story,”Libby’s dark secret.” You remember asbestos: It used to be the hottest little insulator around. For years we crammed it into buildings and warships, wrapped it around water pipes and brake pads, wove it into fireproof clothing and flame-resistant drapes. Then we found out how […]
Posted inMarch 13, 2000: Libby's dark secret
Shadows out West
She greets you and your kids at the doctor’s office. Watching her as she goes about her work she seems very intent, almost frowning. But when a patient arrives she is attentive, tender towards the suffering, reassuring the frightened, and, especially with children, offering an encouraging smile. Her filing is precise and swift, as if […]