China’s insatiable energy appetite is fueling a natural resource boom in the West.
Wedding in the shadowed valley
When I got married, my husband was in the midst of a slide into bipolar disorder that would last for years, nearly kill us both, and ultimately end our marriage. I hadn’t told many people about what was going on. Nor had I thought to reconsider my decision to get married. We had already been…
Montana’s stream access law stays strong
In late May, as melting La Niña-fed snowpack shoved western Montana’s rivers over their banks, the state began closing fishing access sites, including several on the bloated Bitterroot River. Thus, floodwaters accomplished what some state lawmakers, earlier in the year, could not: Removing anglers from the Bitterroot and other streams. The Republican-dominated state Legislature was…
A former energy company lawyer now fights for the other side
In the 1990s, oil and gas was booming, and industry attorney Lance Astrella had it all: a thriving practice, a plump paycheck and a reputation as one of the best in the business. Then one night, disturbed by rumors of drillers trashing private property, he attended a community meeting in Denver. One by one, people…
Milestone in Cobell Indian trust case
In a crowded federal courtroom near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on June 20, the first person to testify was Elouise Pepion Cobell, a member of Montana’s Blackfeet Tribe. Cobell, 65, exemplifies persistence. She grew up in a house without utilities and has worked as a banker and the treasurer of her tribe. Testifying…
The fight over a much-needed pesticide: methyl iodide
In May, on a farm outside of Sanger, Calif., a man in a white hazmat suit and a gas mask drove a hulking tractor over bare ground, injecting toxic gas 12 inches deep in the soil. Behind the machine, plastic tarps unrolled like Saran Wrap over the land to contain the chemical. In the next…
The Global West: how foreign investment fuels resource extraction in Western states
Douglas, Wyo., population 5,000 and home of the legendary jackalope, lies in an almost puritanical landscape — beautiful, yet shy about that beauty, concealing it modestly under a beige blanket of grass and shrubs. A collection of low-slung stone and brick buildings sits at the town’s center, with tree-shaded residential neighborhoods radiating out from it.…
Boom or bust for the West’s fossil fuel economy?
How big will the American West’s current fossil-fuel boom become, and how long will it last? Any answer involves as much art as science, but according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), which each year calculate outlooks for future energy production in the United States and around the…
Global Players in the West’s Extraction Economy
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An L.A. story, in incidents and rhythms: A review of The Book of Want
The Book of Want: A NovelDaniel A. Olivas144 pages, softcover: $16.95.University of Arizona Press, 2011. “I want … I want everything. Everything that makes life beautiful.” So says Conchita, one of the many characters in Los Angeles writer Daniel Olivas’ The Book of Want. That Conchita is a voluptuous, amorous, unmarried 62-year-old with a penchant…
When the locals don’t want your coal, sell it overseas
The world’s largest surface coal mine complex is a landscape unto itself. Six 200-foot-high draglines tear open the earth and scoop the black coal into gigantic dump trucks that make school buses look like playthings. Two dozen loaded-down trains, each a mile long, slide out of the mine complex every day, headed for power plants…
Building a bridge to love: A review of Randy Lopez Goes Home
Randy Lopez Goes Home: A NovelRudolfo Anaya168 pages, hardcover: $19.95.University of Oklahoma Press, 2011. No one in the village of Agua Bendita, N.M., remembers Randy Lopez when he returns — not even his own godparents. Did he stay away too long, seeking wisdom among the gringos? Has he lost his identity? Is Sofia, his true…
The return of the Lords of Yesterday
A couple of decades ago, the West’s conservationists dreamed a lovely dream: The region’s traditional extractive industry base, which had taken such a huge environmental toll, would soon make way for a kinder, gentler economy based on protecting the land for recreation and tourism. And the dream seemed on the verge of coming true; during…
Can YOU carry a concealed weapon in Wyoming? A guide
When President Obama took office, state lawmakers started loosening firearms restrictions, fearing the administration would try to toughen gun laws. It hasn’t, but states continue to relax their own. On July 1, Wyoming became one of four states to allow residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit. (Arizona, Alaska and Vermont are the others.)…
HCN enters the digital world
On a beautiful blue-skied June weekend, the High Country News Board of Directors gathered at our headquarters in Paonia, Colo., to discuss everything from how the editorial staff develops story ideas to the ongoing evolution of digital technology. A presentation by staff on plans to roll out HCN content for mobile phones, tablet computers and…
Where’s the science?
High Country News has a well-deserved reputation for reporting that explores the complexities and subtleties of environmental issues. “Wolf whiplash” was a jarring contrast that blamed repeated legal action by environmental groups for recent legislation that removed wolves in five states from the endangered species list (HCN, 5/30/11). As the story suggests, this legislation opens…
Speaking truth to the Forest Service
Thanks for reporting on Jim Smith, who courageously pursued and won his 2010 court case against the Coconino National Forest for “parking and hiking” without paying fees (HCN, 6/27/11). I respectfully disagree with labeling him a “fee-dodger,” though, as the online version of your story did. Jim is a fee truth-teller! The Federal Lands Recreation…
Fancy a drink?
Thank you for publishing Abrahm Lustgarten’s important article about Louis Meeks and his damaged water well (HCN, 6/27/11). Mr. Meeks is clearly a hero in the 21st century American West. EnCana Corporation once prided itself on utilizing “best practices” in the production of gas wells. So I was encouraged when EnCana spokesman Randy Teeuwen spoke…
Living in a world of hurt
I’ve been aware of fracking for many years (HCN, 6/27/11). But until the relatively recent controversy over its effect on well water in Pavillion, Wyo., I was less informed than I should have been. Development of any energy source has consequences. Rampant development of fossil fuels puts regulators way behind in preventing environmental catastrophes, and…
Prove it already
The EPA cannot prove communication between oil and gas wells and potable water sources (HCN, 6/27/11). I discussed your fracking story with a friend who is a petroleum chemical engineer, and he believes only one well in a thousand may have communication. He believes poor cement jobs on the casing are more the culprit than…