SUPERIOR, Mont. – About 300 snowmobilers from across the Northwest congregated here Jan. 2 for a bittersweet rally. For many, it was likely the last ride to their favorite destination – the 89,500-acre proposed Great Burn Wilderness Area that straddles the border of Montana and Idaho. Two days later, the Lolo National Forest closed 400,000 […]
Recreation
Posted inFebruary 1, 1999: Saving the Platte
Oregon Caves park to grow
Oregon Caves National Monument is known for its crystal pools and delicate mineral deposits, yet at 480 acres, it’s tiny. The final version of a new management plan, however, calls for expanding the monument by seven times – to 3,400 acres – a notion first discussed in the 1930s. “It’s difficult to manage a natural […]
Posted inFebruary 1, 1999: Saving the Platte
Ski the Butte?
Since the 1960s, some locals in Klamath Falls, Ore., have eyed Pelican Butte and dreamed of outfitting its snowy, timbered slopes with chairlifts and challenging ski runs. Past attempts fell flat when financiers ran out of money. Now, a Klamath Falls-based company with deep pockets is leading the effort to build a ski resort in […]
Posted inFebruary 1, 1999: Saving the Platte
Fees feed volunteers
Years of budget-cutting have taken their toll on the trails and roads of the national parks, and the Park Service is using a windfall from increased user fees to clean up its act. Two million dollars in park user fees have jump-started the Public Land Corps, a program administered by the nonprofit Student Conservation Association. […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
The great bison chase continues
Fifteen bison thundered along a barbed-wire fence in West Yellowstone while officials from the Montana Department of Livestock chased them from snowmobiles in December. After running the herd for a half an hour through a privately owned field, officials cornered eight. Then they shot blanks from rifles into the air, set off firecrackers and yelled […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Starry, starry night
Many New Mexicans worry that their ability to see the stars is vanishing. Because light pollution is increasing, the New Mexico Historic Preservation Alliance has declared the night sky one of the 11 most endangered places in the state. “The night sky has always been looked at as simply a natural resource,” says National Park […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Keystone snowmakers get thirsty
Ski resorts are working overtime to beef up the sparse early season snowfall in the Central Rockies, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board thinks snowmakers at the Keystone Ski Area might be working a little too hard. In early December, the Summit County resort pulled more than its share of water out of the nearby […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
ATV revolt
ATV revolt A proposal to close 400 miles of forest roads and 200 miles of trails to motorized vehicles on the Targhee National Forest has raised a storm of protest. The road closures are intended to decrease road densities in a grizzly bear recovery area – a move recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife […]
Posted inJanuary 18, 1999: Desert sprawl
Keeping hikers and habitat happy
-Most hikers think of their hobby as low-impact, a way to enjoy nature without harming it, but a new publication from Colorado State Parks suggests they’re only partly right. Planning Trails with Wildlife in Mind: A Handbook for Trail Planners shows how trails can interfere with wild areas. The guide suggests routing trails along ecological […]
Posted inDecember 21, 1998: Grand Canyon Gridlock
Murmurs about a new monument
The 3 million-acre swath of Bureau of Land Management land between the Grand Canyon and the Utah border, unromantically known as the Arizona Strip, is getting more visitors than usual these days. In late November, Bruce Babbitt toured the area and suggested that nearly 400,000 acres of the wide-open desert lands are worthy of stronger […]
Posted inDecember 21, 1998: Grand Canyon Gridlock
Sewage fouls Yellowstone
Outdated plumbing at tourist lodges in Yellowstone National Park is spilling sewage into lakes and streams, and the state of Wyoming has taken an unprecedented step: In October, it threatened to fine the National Park Service unless it fixes antiquated sewage systems pieced together over the last 50 years. Such fines are unprecedented in Wyoming, […]
Posted inDecember 21, 1998: Grand Canyon Gridlock
A river rat remembers
As we round a bend and come over a small rise, I feel like I’ve been hit in the middle of my everything. I grab for Frank’s arm and say, “Wait a minute, Bigfeets, I don’t think I can take much more of this. It’s too beautiful!” Suddenly, I’m crying. He nods, takes my hand, […]
Posted inDecember 21, 1998: Grand Canyon Gridlock
Grand Canyon Timeline
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. 1869 John Wesley Powell’s first expedition 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt makes Grand Canyon a national monument. 1911-12 Emery and Ellsworth Kolb make a movie of a river trip. 1919 Grand Canyon becomes a national park. First airplane overflight. 1922 Phantom Ranch is built. 1935-36 […]
Posted inDecember 21, 1998: Grand Canyon Gridlock
River guide quits and tells why
I began my “career” as a Grand Canyon river guide in 1971, in the heart of what we later referred to as the clueless years. Few boatmen had more than a couple dozen trips under their belt; some were on their first. We had few wizened veteran guides to tell us where to hike, how […]
Posted inDecember 21, 1998: Grand Canyon Gridlock
Grand Canyon Gridlock
Note: four sidebar articles accompany this feature story: an excerpt from the journals of Buzz Holmstrom describes the first solo river trip through the Grand Canyon in 1937, a timeline of significant events within the Grand Canyon, a book review of “The Doing of the Thing: The Brief Brilliant Whitewater Career of Buzz Holmstrom,” and […]
Posted inDecember 21, 1998: Grand Canyon Gridlock
From the journals of Buzz Holmstrom
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. Camp on right at lower end Rapid – mile 247 with the last bad one above me – the Bad Rapid – Lava Cliff – that I have been looking for – nearly a thousand miles. I had thought – once past there – […]
Posted inDecember 21, 1998: Grand Canyon Gridlock
A brief brilliant life on the river
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. In 1869, John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran, was the first to explore and record the canyons of the Green and Colorado. Launching with nine sturdy men, Powell spent 100 days working his heavy, keeled boats downriver. There was no art to […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Scientists get a free ride
-We’re not very receptive to charges that the park is “wimping out,” “””says Rocky Mountain National Park spokesman Doug Caldwell. But critics say the park did just that – by permitting a crew of soil scientists to take a helicopter ride in a wilderness study area. Last summer, the park in northeastern Colorado sent a […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Keep the backcountry free
Backpackers who frequent Grand Teton National Park scored a partial victory in their fight to keep the backcountry experience almost free. When Park Superintendent Jack Neckels unveiled an extensive backcountry fee program at a recent meeting organized by the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, the audience of over 200 people vehemently protested. Many Jackson residents told […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Grand Staircase-Escalante in the spotlight
When President Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah two years ago, environmentalists broke out the champagne, while many locals moped (HCN, 4/14/97). A proposed management plan for the monument has the two groups in each others’ shoes. “I thought the people doing the plan really did a good job,” Kane County […]