Ernest Hemingway said every writer needs a “shockproof B.S.-detector.” My B.S.-detector has been getting a workout, as the presidential candidates have been hunting for votes this autumn. In particular, they are seeking the votes of the 47 million Americans who hunt and fish. In a race this tight, politicians see this as a bloc as […]
Ben Long
Posted inWotr
Hunter to NRA: It’s the habitat, stupid
Like most gun owners of America, I do not belong to the National Rifle Association. Sometimes, I am grateful for their work. But it seems ever more often, I find myself embarrassed by this consummate beltway lobby group — a group that seems to be more intent on settling political scores than solving real problems. […]
Posted inWotr
Looking for Heroes? Go to Boise, Idaho
If you want an example of real heroes in the “war on terrorism,” go to Boise, Idaho. Look for 12 of your fellow citizens who recently spent long hours on uncomfortable chairs in a windowless room in the local federal courthouse. These are the jurors who recently found Sami Omar Al-Hussayen innocent of terrorism charges. […]
Posted inDecember 8, 2003: Riding the middle path
A cheer for runaway bison and the Rocky Mountain Front
Anyone with a heart had to cheer the bison. One recent snowy day in Great Falls, Mont., three of the half-ton creatures were being loaded off a truck into a slaughterhouse. One of the half-wild bovines busted through a five-foot timber corral and — bingo! — led a buffalo breakout. The three beasts stampeded through […]
Posted inWotr
A cheer for runaway bison and their glorious home
Anyone with a heart had to cheer the bison. One recent snowy day in Great Falls, Mont., three of the half-ton creatures were being loaded off a truck into a slaughterhouse. One of the half-wild bovines busted through a five-foot timber corral and — bingo! — led a buffalo breakout. The three beasts stampeded through […]
Posted inSeptember 29, 2003: Harvesting Poison
Extinction – by the clock
It isn’t easy being a cheerleader for a bottom-feeder, but I’m feeling up for the task. Montana’s two varieties of sturgeon — a miraculous, prehistoric fish that feeds at the bottom of lakes and rivers —have recently been given an expiration date, an official prediction of when they’ll become extinct. A doomsday clock all their […]
Posted inWotr
Extinction — by the clock
It isn’t easy being a cheerleader for a bottom-feeder, but I’m feeling up for the task. Montana’s two varieties of sturgeon — a miraculous, prehistoric fish that feeds at the bottom of lakes and rivers –have recently been given an expiration date — an official prediction of when they will go extinct. A doomsday clock […]
Posted inWotr
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s a senator on a Harley
One my favorite things about living in the West is driving the winding, two lane roads, if you can survive the sluggish RVs, washouts, rock slides and icy patches. Now, there’s a new traffic hazard — senators on Harleys. Even if you don’t live near the mountains, you know our famous roads from automobile commercials […]
Posted inWotr
No way to run Wyoming
Imagine, for a moment, that some kooky politicians in Washington, D.C.. decided they wanted to invade Iraq with feather dusters . Now, imagine a colonel in the Army warned them that this was a bad idea, and they need would need real tools of war, helicopters and tanks and such, to execute such a plan. […]
Posted inOctober 8, 2001: Whoa! Canada!
Lessons of an intolerant past
As horrified Americans recover from Sept. 11, 2001, many continue to compare the attack on New York and the Pentagon to the 1941 strike against our military base at Pearl Harbor. But let’s also remember another historically relevant place from the World War II era: A lonely scrap of high desert called Minidoka, Idaho. There, […]
Posted inMarch 12, 2001: Divided Waters
Yellowstone’s last stampede
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. – Every morning, Kitty Enboe dons her thick, green National Park Service uniform and breathes thick, green National Park Service air. As an entrance station attendant in this town snuggled up to Yellowstone’s western border, Enboe occupies ground zero in the fight over snowmobiles in America’s oldest and finest national park. On […]
Posted inMarch 13, 2000: Libby's dark secret
Shoveling vs. sniveling
Watch out, Nevada! It’s gonna rain shovels. In case you haven’t heard, the Montana timber boys are teaming up with Nevada cow-punchers. The loggers are sending 10,000 shovels to Elko, Nev., as a sign of solidarity against the federal government. I think collecting stepladders might be a more appropriate gesture. The way the B.S. is […]
Posted inOctober 16, 1995: In the heart of the New West, the sheep win one
Alberta proves deadly for wolves
Though the wolf population in northern Canada is strong, southwestern Alberta – with ranch land bordering on wilderness – is becoming a killing ground for wolves. Biologists on both sides of the border fear that if the open shooting season there continues, the 100 or so wolves that have migrated on their own into western […]
Posted inMay 16, 1994: Babbitt is trying to nationalize the BLM
Sleuth says wolves are usually innocent
When it comes to killing livestock, the wolves recolonizing Montana have a reputation larger than their appetite. Carter Niemeyer has investigated more than 100 livestock carcasses where wolves were the prime suspects. He can count the number of confirmed wolf kills on one hand: five. The rest? “Nothing led us to believe further that wolves […]
Posted inMay 16, 1994: Babbitt is trying to nationalize the BLM
Montana wolves can’t find safe habitat
Two members of a pioneering wolf pack on Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front were recently moved to Glacier National Park after they were blamed for killing four calves this spring. Two adults and two yearlings were allowed to remain, at least for now. But because of a political stalemate between state and federal wildlife officials, the […]
Posted inApril 5, 1993: Special issue: Small towns under seige
Wolf beats bureaucrats to Wyoming
Evidence of a wolf that roamed into Yellowstone suggests reintroduction is unecessary. To read this article, download this HCN issue in PDF format. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Wolf beats bureaucrats to Wyoming.