In 1999, we published a feature story that followed biologist Jonathan Proctor around the northern Great Plains as he tried to convince ranchers that prairie dogs are beneficial for their land. Proctor’s a tall guy, but his task was undoubtedly taller, if not colossally unrealistic. Affectionately termed “range rats” by some, prairie dogs are one […]
Adam Petry
Posted inGoat
The ethics of wildcrafting
Thoreau once said, “The woods and fields are a table always spread.” Apparently the National Park Service agrees. In blatant noncompliance (or perhaps misinterpretation) of its own leave no trace policy, national park managers have been allowing Native Americans to harvest wild plants and roots from parks, according to a letter from the Public Employees […]
Posted inAugust 20, 2010: A Hell of an Anniversary
Up fur debate
Steel-jaws, conibears, snares: Endangered species and pets in the West have been injured and killed by these “body-gripping” traps, triggering a wave of recent public concern. After six Mexican wolves were hurt in New Mexico, leaving two with leg amputations (including AM871, alpha male of the Middle Fork Pack, captured by a trail cam at […]
Posted inGoat
Insect to Injury?
With plenty of doomsday hysteria circulating about the destruction of western forests from the mountain pine beetle epidemic, the U.S. Forest Service is attempting to allay fears about another beetle on the rise – a 2mm-long twig beetle, Pityogenes plagiatus knechteli, that’s killing younger trees in mountain pine beetle-affected areas throughout Colorado and Wyoming. First […]
Posted inAugust 2, 2010: The Fiery Touch
Leasing lag?
During the past two years, the Bureau of Land Management has been offering less land for oil and gas leasing in Wyoming. The trend is due largely to market conditions — a reflection of low current and future oil and gas prices — but energy experts also cite a surplus in non-producing acreage, an increase […]
Posted inJuly 19, 2010: The Ute Paradox
HCN rocks with eTown
ETown, the eco-groovy weekly radio music show based in Boulder, Colo., will honor HCN Founder Tom Bell and HCN‘s 40th Anniversary with its E-chievement Award at a special concert July 30 at the Redrocks Amphitheater near Denver. The “Greenrocks at Redrocks” event will feature great music from Lyle Lovett and Taj Mahal, a little stage […]