Doomsayers think suburbia will be slaughtered by rising oil prices, or drought. But for now, gas is relatively cheap, the grass is still green, and the population keeps on growing. Suburbs continue to gobble up the Western landscape. Don’t be fooled, though: Suburbia is suffering. But don’t blame water or oil for the cul de […]
Nevada
Posted inFebruary 5, 2007: The Efficiency Paradox
A Western historian and a Western hero
Hal Rothman is dying. You can hear it in his voice — what’s left of it. The historian of the New West, defender of Las Vegas as the poster child for what the region will become as it continues to boom, fights a losing battle. Every day, says Lauralee Rothman, there’s something else her husband […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Wildland acres burned
As global temperatures rise, wildfires are starting earlier and lasting longer into the season. As of press time there were 10 large fires (over 500 acres) burning in the West. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Wildland acres burned.
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Some ‘canned’ elk get uncanned
Although most of its neighbors have either banned or begun phasing out elk farms, the state of Idaho is still home to more than 70, with some charging shooters thousands of dollars to bag fenced, domesticated game. In August, as many as 160 elk escaped from an Idaho canned-hunt operation near Yellowstone National Park. It […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Will your favorite Forest Service campsite be closed down next summer?
Perhaps, if it doesn’t fit the agency’s increased focus on “dispersed recreation” at remote sites. The 155 national forests are now ranking their developed camping and picnic sites to determine if they meet agency standards; those that fall short will be closed or have their services reduced. According to a recent report from the Western […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
BLM busted for booting whistleblower
Former BLM staffer Earle Dixon, who was in charge of cleanup at the abandoned Yerington copper mine in Nevada, says he was fired in October 2004 after one year of work for informing local residents and the media of radioactive contamination at the mine. He accused the BLM, the State of Nevada and the U.S. […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
One dam down; four in limbo
Endangered Lost River and short-nose sucker fish in Oregon’s Klamath Basin may get some relief, now that the Modoc Point Irrigation District has voted to remove the Chiloquin dam and re-establish access to spawning habitat on the Sprague River, a tributary of the Klamath. The Interior Department will foot the $15-to-$16 million bill to take […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
Mother Nature rides an ATV
Two small cacti have put a stop to motorcycles and ATVs on one of southern Utah’s most contested pieces of public land. On Sept. 20, the BLM announced that off-highway vehicle use would be restricted in the desert surrounding Factory Butte to protect the endangered Wright fishhook and the threatened Winkler cactus. The decision closes […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 2006: Going Big
Running on empty in Sin City
The Colorado River states pin thirsty hopes on Las Vegas’ lust for Great Basin groundwater
Posted inJune 26, 2006: The Tamarisk Hunter
The wild, wild weather
Blame it on climate change or the vagaries of nature, but whatever the cause, weather in the West has been extreme — and wacky. The Southwest has become a tinderbox, while Northwesterners are sopping wet. WASHINGTON Average yearly moisture: 37.02 in.* Moisture June ‘05-May ‘06: 41.53 in. Nine consecutive days of downpour hit western Washington […]
Posted inMay 1, 2006: Magic Valley Uprising
County and Forest Service bury the shovel
A long-running dispute over an infamous dirt road in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest may be winding down. The Forest Service and Elko County, Nev., are asking a federal judge to approve a settlement over the county’s claim to South Canyon Road in Jarbidge Canyon. Although the agency still refuses to recognize the county’s assertion of […]
Posted inMarch 6, 2006: Save Our Snow
The Latest Bounce
Rural Nevadans may ask for a little federal help in an epic water fight. Las Vegas is moving forward with a controversial plan to pump groundwater from beneath the Great Basin (HCN, 9/19/05: Squeezing Water from a Stone). Now, some citizens in rural White Pine County are looking to curtail that plan by asking their […]
Posted inFebruary 20, 2006: High Noon for Habitat
Colorado River states reach landmark agreement
In severe drought, farms could become cities’ life support systems
Posted inOctober 31, 2005: The Public Lands' Big Cash Crop
The Latest Bounce
The Department of Labor has denied a whistleblower’s complaint that the BLM fired him in retaliation for exposing violations of federal law in a mine-cleanup project in Yerington, Nev. (HCN, 12/20/04: Conscientious Objectors). Earle Dixon supervised the cleanup of the abandoned copper mine for the BLM, and repeatedly complained publicly about inadequate efforts to deal […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 2005: Squeezing Water from a Stone
Squeezing Water from a Stone
Damned with a tiny share of the Colorado River, and running dry, Las Vegas sets its sights on the driest part of the driest state in the Union.
Posted inMay 2, 2005: The Great Energy Divide
Dear friends
ANIMAL PLANET Here in Paonia, we’ve been having various critter adventures. JoAnn Kalenak, our production assistant, recently adopted a beagle named Darcy. In mid-March, though, the dog disappeared while chasing rabbits. Three weeks later, a neighbor called to say that Darcy had been vacationing at her farm a few miles away the entire time. Meanwhile, […]
Posted inApril 18, 2005: What Happened to Winter?
‘Sound science’ in doubt at Yucca Mountain
E-mails show federal employees circumvented quality assurance procedures
Posted inMarch 21, 2005: An Empire Built on Sand
The life of an unsung Western water diplomat
Mark Twain once remarked that in the West, “whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.” But Delphus E. Carpenter, who spearheaded the 1922 Colorado River Compact among seven states, would have disagreed twice over. Carpenter not only abstained from spirits, but believed water problems could be resolved through diplomacy instead of fisticuffs. His life […]
Posted inMarch 21, 2005: An Empire Built on Sand
Nevada desert to be sold for debt relief
Bush wants proceeds from public-land sales sent to Washington, D.C.