Senior editor Jonathan Thompson digs into the mysterious methane cloud above the Four Corners region, plus Montana farmers take on climate change and archaeologists try to save the Arctic’s disappearing treasures. Cover: Storm clouds hang over the natural gas processing plant at Lybrook, New Mexico, one of the centers of natural gas production in the Four Corners region. Photo by Jim Caffrey
Fight at Night
Your Aug. 3 article treated only one aspect of aerial firefighting — daytime activities, when fires are most active. Firefighting officials seem to have ruled out aerial operations at night when the fire has “laid down” and most often is not active. We see instead the photo ops of planes attacking fully active fires in…
Suppression Works
“Aerial firefighting: Is it worth it?” (HCN, 8/3/15) claims that wildland firefighting from the air has yet to be proven to work. Nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone knowledgeable about wildland firefighting understands that fixed-wing tankers and helicopters have always been used in an initial attack mode. Their mission was never meant to extinguish fires,…
When, Not If
Have we learned anything about wildfires and people living in high fire-hazard areas? (“The Bigger Burn,” HCN, 8/3/15.) The late columnist Ed Quillen got it right when he challenged the “closer to nature” lifestyle of people unconcerned about wildfires until one was knocking on their front door. He called this living in “the stupid zone.”…
Our sly climate
It was bound to happen. Regardless of the cynical denialism of some politicians, climate change is now entering our lives in very real ways. This is especially true in the West, a region clearly defined by its environment and natural resources. In this issue, almost without our knowing it, the climate crept into nearly every…
Renewal through exploration in Greater Yellowstone
Review of ‘The Wild Excellence: Notes from Untamed America’ by Leslie Patten.
The Animas spill, Nevada gold mines and a shrinking Salt Lake.
Hcn.org news in brief.
The lonesome, crowded West
Review of ‘The Water Museum’ by Luis Alberto Urrea.
A slew of summer visitors
Plus, filling in a missing word from our last issue.
Bounty hunters swarm Phoenix police chief, gradeschoolers make imposter sage grouse and watchers await the ‘corpse flower.’
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Where FEMA fails
Better preparation can save money and lives, but pre-disaster funds are in short supply.
Where vandals target Western parks
A by-the-numbers look at the most graffitied national parks.
Finding humor where two worlds intersect
Review of ‘Indian Country: The Art of David Bradley.’
While the Animas River spill is eye-catching, Western rivers face an even bigger threat
If there’s any good news to be gained from the toxic spill of mine wastes into the Animas River upstream of Durango, Colorado, it’s that public attention has suddenly shifted to the health of rivers in the West. The 3-million-gallon accident riveted the media, even rating a story in England’s Guardian newspaper. Here at home,…
How movies have changed our expectations of the wild
Decades of Disney have prepared us for a tamed, cleaned-up version of nature.
Why the Clean Power Plan isn’t a death knell for coal
Obama’s new rules won’t necessarily knock out the West’s aging power plants.
Hunting the Arctic’s disappearing treasures
Ancient artifacts in the thawing North vanish before archaeologists can document them.
Unlocking the mystery of the Four Corners Methane Hot Spot
Scientists zero in on the culprits behind a giant plume of greenhouse gases.
Tracking energy’s ‘fugitive emissions,’ from above
Scientists are trying to understand what’s released from the nation’s biggest energy producing regions.
Latest: Environmentalists regroup after Washington’s carbon plan fails
Green groups spent big in the last election in the Northwest.
Latest: Salmon, coast recovers after Elwha dams come down
Despite recovery, warm temperatures still threaten salmon spawning.
Montana farmers start talking climate change
The Montana Farmers Union is fighting political polarization with pragmatic discussions about how to adapt and what to expect.