Writers on the Range


Writers on the Range is opinion from the ground up. Got a beef with beef? An experience that changed your mind about the American West? Writers from the region tell their story in 750 words. Op eds are syndicated to 50-plus papers, and they also appear here, on the HCN website. For more information, contact Writers on the Range editor, Betsy Marston: betsym at hcn.org.


Watt's wilderness proposal sets agenda for energy industry
To an energy industry stretched thin, Interior Secretary James Watt's temporary ban on oil and gas drilling in wilderness areas is something of a favor.
Geoffrey O'Gara Opinion March 5, 1982 From the print edition
Open pit and economic pendulum
As the West's uranium industry declines, it should reclaim mines, not wait for economics to swing back in the industry's favor.
Dan Whipple Opinion Jan. 8, 1982 From the print edition
Reagan's free market energy myth
Although the Reagan administration preaches free market ideals, it has increased funding for nuclear power, retained some subsidies for synthetic fuels, and backed away from its promise to deregulate the price of natural gas.
Colin Norman Opinion Nov. 13, 1981 From the print edition
Removing the "heavy hand"
As long as we have the federal government in our front yard, we will attempt to work with them to arrive at decisions that are mutually beneficial to Montanans and to the nation as a whole.
Gov. Ted Schwinden Opinion Oct. 30, 1981 From the print edition
Profiting from parks: None of Watt's business
Virtually every hotel, store, gas station and restaurant in the national parks is a private, profit-making enterprise. Regulation of these businesses is one of the most important and least understood issues in public land management.
Joseph L. Sax Opinion Oct. 16, 1981 From the print edition
Tuning in media causes environmental fade-out
Given the press of time and circumstances, the vocabulary of environmental organizations increasingly reflects a new technological style.
John Soisson Opinion July 10, 1981 From the print edition
Conservatives and conservationists
The environmental perspective embraces not only the interests of the well-established environmental community, but many other interests as well, including the business sector.
Malcolm Forbes Baldwin Opinion June 26, 1981 From the print edition
Environmental sophistry imperils the West
Several years ago, environmental organizations in Wyoming chose to begin making compromises. Slowly, inexorably, they are losing whatever it is they love.
John Soisson Opinion June 12, 1981 From the print edition
Reagan budget hits Indian self-sufficiency
President Reagan's proposed budget would allot more taxpayer dollars to Indian reservations but also impair the tribes' efforts to gain control over energy development on reservations, undermining Indian tribes' efforts to become more self-sufficient.
Marjane Ambler Opinion May 29, 1981 From the print edition
'Ecotage' seeks wild ends but won't make friends
No philosophical or psychological rationale speaks to the effectiveness of ecotage, Politically, what made sense for the Sixties activists is unlikely to work for wilderness advocates in the Eighties.
Geoffrey O'Gara Opinion May 1, 1981 From the print edition
Earth First! says it's time to be tough
Editor Dan Whipple examines and critiques the roots and new tactics of the radical environmental group Earth First!
Dan Whipple Opinion April 17, 1981 From the print edition
Conservation? Let's go for the real thing
A conservation director for the Sierra Club distinguishes between "real" and "pseudo-" conservation.
Gene Coan Opinion Jan. 23, 1981 From the print edition
Who are the real 'extremists' in fight over wilderness?
Are they the Wilderness advocates who give freely from their lives to save the last remnants of American Wilderness? Or are they the protesters who flex every political muscle to prevent any more Wilderness and are now hoping to violate already-designated Wilderness.
Bill Schneider Opinion Oct. 17, 1980 From the print edition
Business-as-usual politics spurs new dam foes
Some conservative Western senators are unexpectedly calling for cuts to federal water project spending -- and environmentalists should cooperate by not fighting the few water projects that might have some redeeming value.
Michael Moss Opinion March 7, 1980 From the print edition
The Sagebrush Rebellion: Misdirected dynamite
The real danger of the Sagebrush Rebellion is not that the federal lands will be taken over but that the deep sentiments aroused by the effort will drive a wedge between agricultural and environmental interests.
Marjane Ambler Opinion Feb. 22, 1980 From the print edition
Hail and farewell! 1979
A Holiday season ode to the West's environmental issues of 1979: "It's time for reviewing the year first to last: // A remembrance of two dozen deadlines past. // Water and wilderness, endangered species, // Oil, Alaska, railroads and coal leases;"
Geoffrey O'Gara Opinion Dec. 28, 1979 From the print edition
Fish and Wildlife Service: growth and contradiction
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, charged with protecting birds, beasts, and fish, has serious internal problems, such as applying tons of harmful pesticides to the lands it manages.
Barnard Shanks Opinion Nov. 2, 1979 From the print edition
1973's fresh thinking has decayed
We have had more than five years since the Arab oil embargo to prepare for the next shortfall in gasoline supply. What have we accomplished as a result of our unhappy experience in 1973-74? Nothing.
Mike Leon Opinion March 23, 1979 From the print edition
Forest Service secrecy serves only confusion
Now that the Forest Service has entered its "evaluation" phase of the Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE II), it intends to keep its workings a secret until the final environmental impact statement is completed.
HCN Opinion Nov. 17, 1978 From the print edition
Western passenger train service should continue
We are glad to see that Congress is responding to its Western contingent by continuing Amtrak passenger train service until at least Oct. 1, 1979. This may allow enough time for the Department of Transportation to realize that cutting Amtrak routes is a bad idea.
HCN Opinion June 30, 1978 From the print edition
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