The “Real West” at the touch of an access code? A look
into the fortified rural retreats of the West’s moneyed
elite.
Also in this issue:
Hanford bomb factory’s hard-to-reach radioactive dregs might stay
where they are.
Pity the ranchers – and the public
Dear HCN, I was dismayed to learn of the plight of cattle growers who are forced to pay “checkoff” fees of a dollar a head. In the simple interest of fairness to cattle farmers and the American public, we should call for the immediate elimination of both checkoff fees and subsidized grazing privileges on public…
The Latest Bounce
National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Michael Kelly blew the whistle in late October on the agency’s failure to protect salmon in the Klamath River (HCN, 10/28/02: The message of 30,000 dead salmon). According to Kelly, in April 2002, the Fisheries Service repeatedly changed its biological opinion – ultimately lowering river-flow recommendations by nearly one-half –…
Wild horses could go to Mexico
The Bureau of Land Management has more wild horses and burros than it knows what to do with. Officials estimate that over 45,000 live on Western range with a carrying capacity of only 27,000 (HCN, 03/02/98: Colorado BLM going wild?). This year, with rangelands battered by severe drought, the question of where to put the…
Navajos can’t Dine at local diner
ARIZONA Nineteen of the 21 employees at RD’s Drive-In in Page, Ariz., are Navajo Indians – but none of them can speak their native Dine language at work. In early October, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against the locally owned burger joint for its English-only policy. Four former Navajo employees,…
Corps stands behind status quo
Endangered shorebirds and fish will just have to wait for habitat-enhancing spring floods and summer ebbs on the Missouri River. Because of prolonged drought, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided in early October to postpone changes in how the river and its many dams are managed. The changes were recommended by the U.S. Fish…
Golden trout swimming in troubled waters
CALIFORNIA Though it appears on the state flag, the California grizzly bear was annihilated from the state decades ago. Now, the state fish, the California golden trout, could disappear. The historical range of the trout is limited to two drainages in the southern Sierra Nevada: the South Fork of the Kern River and Golden Trout…
Land swap too hot to handle
WYOMING Taxpayers may have a fire on their hands if a land-swap proposal goes through. In the trade, the Bureau of Land Management would give the Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. 2,045 acres in Sheridan County, Wyo., believed to hold about 107 million tons of coal. In exchange, the BLM would receive 5,923 acres…
Golden State gets a green power surge
California’s famous sunshine is about to be put to work. Under a new law signed by Gov. Gray Davis, D, in mid-September, California’s three investor-owned utilities must buy 20 percent of their power from alternative energy sources such as solar and wind. State environmental officials say the move will help California reduce pollution, and also…
HCN supports bigotry
Dear HCN, The rationale presented by Ray Ring that a proposed BLM to LDS Church land exchange should not take place (HCN, 9/30/02: This land holds a story the church won’t tell) is based almost entirely on bigotry rather than on any real merit. The primary reason Mr. Ring gives for not supporting the land…
Idaho isn’t hate-free yet
Dear HCN, I just finished reading Rocky Barker’s swell piece on the transformation of Idaho into a hate-free zone (HCN, 9/30/02: Idaho seeks a reputation – and a reality – free of hate). Before any comments … time for a pop quiz: Two months ago I was thrown out of a motel (the only one…
Washington citizens fight to save aging Hanford reactor
Note: in the print edition of this issue, this article appears as a sidebar to another news article, “Feds find shortcuts in nuclear cleanup.” The cleanup at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington has most citizens bidding a fond farewell to the nuclear era. But the planned closure of the Fast Flux Test Facility, a…
Fenced out of Bush’s gated empire
It is deja vu all over again. And it isn’t. A president has come to a small Western fairgrounds to push his war agenda. I stand with 700 Flagstaff, Ariz., neighbors at the north entrance to the grounds, a hundred yards from the south entrance where the president’s motorcade will glide in. We hold hands…
Grand Canyon oases face faraway threats
Flagstaff, Tusayan may be tapping fragile desert springs
It’s more than a house, it’s a fantasy life
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. The sales pitch weighs 12 pounds, arriving in a field bag made of beautiful distressed leather that looks well broken-in. Open the bag and there are maps that appear wrinkled and old, a pretend Montana newspaper clipping that looks historic, and four overdesigned books…
How to make your own Yellowstone, Mexican style
A corporate behemoth races to restore a Coahuilan gem
Gated communities go in with a bang
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. The impacts of rural gated communities go beyond any social insult to the people who live outside. These developments can have very real consequences for the land as well. One place it’s apparent is Montana’s Yellowstone Club, a vacation-home development so exclusive that its…
Freedom of the press is eroding before our eyes
On Sept. 1, the Idaho Statesman ran a fascinating expose of local CEO salaries. The amounts of money, stock options and the all-encompassing “bonuses” lavished on these public company executives were staggering and obscene. Not to mention, according to Statesman reporter Julie Howard, “generous severance, salary, pension and retirement packages.” Many of the companies the…
Wind power in the West gains speed
While energy companies scour the West for oil and gas, another, greener power source is on the rise: wind. Long regarded as expensive and unreliable, wind energy is now drawing the attention – and investment – of even the most conventional energy companies. In the last few years, technological advances and public policy have made…
Behind the gate
A look into the fortified rural retreats of the West’s moneyed elite
Heard Around the West
It all began near Yellowstone National Park with a grizzly bear placidly eating berries close to a road – dozens of people pulled over to gawk. It ended with the bear fleeing and the visitors yelling at each other. There are at least two versions of how the bear jam turned into a bear fracas:…
Break open the gates
Former HCN staff reporter Florence Williams’ cover story in this issue looks at an unusual topic – gated communities. What, you may be wondering, do these have to do with the West? Quite a lot, in our estimation. The sequestered communities and neighborhoods that are springing up around the West represent a broader trend: the…
Feds find shortcuts in nuclear cleanup
Tribes, environmentalists say Hanford is not a “sacrifice area”