On April 14, a Sunday, the Colorado ski resort Vail Mountain celebrated closing day in the invariable way: Skiers and boarders sported neon onesies and mullet wigs. The less modest squeezed into denim short shorts to flaunt calves and quads sculpted over a winter on the slopes. Alcohol was overconsumed and confiscated in lift lines. […]
Cally Carswell
Posted inGoat
Mixed messages on methane
There was a time when environmentalists were all googly-eyed about natural gas, primarily because the cleaner-burning fossil fuel was far more climate-friendly than coal – or so it seemed. The Sierra Club and Chesapeake Energy even became allies in the fight to phase out coal. But as tales of tainted water and polluted air emerged […]
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The companies behind the curtain
Ever since the Bureau of Land Management announced more than a year ago that some 30,000 acres surrounding the towns of Colorado’s North Fork Valley like a necklace had been nominated for oil and gas development, wild rumors have flown about who did the nominating. (Nominating leases prompts the BLM to review whether the parcels are […]
Posted inApril 15, 2013: Sacrificial Land
Federal austerity hits home in the West
When the Tea Party tide crested in 2010, a number of Western Republicans surfed it into the U.S. House of Representatives. There was Colorado Springs’ Rep. Doug Lamborn, who promotes gutting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, saying it’s “low-hanging fruit” that must be picked to shrink the federal deficit. New Mexico Rep. Steve Pearce harnessed […]
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The enviros’ new money man
On Monday, Congressman Steve Lynch, a Democrat seeking his party’s support to run for the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by our new Secretary of State, John Kerry, received a menacing letter. “Because climate change is such a serious issue,” it read, “we are asking you, Congressman Lynch, today to do one of two things by high […]
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Living the small government dream
updated 3/7/13 Let me begin with a confession: I have a professional crush on Ryan Lizza – the master of longform political profiles. Nearly every time I read one of his New Yorker stories – fascinating windows into our political culture and the sausage making side of lawmaking (or, as it may be, political posturing […]
Posted inFebruary 18, 2013: Farming on the Fringe
Farmers agree to tax those who deplete groundwater
Amid drought and climate change in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, farmers vote for a new approach to rein in their overpumping of groundwater.
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Mexican wolf recovery #fail
At the end of 2007, we published a story by investigative reporter John Dougherty called “Last Chance for the Lobo,” about the “bloody mess” that had become the Mexican wolf reintroduction in New Mexico and Arizona. There were so few wolves left when the recovery effort started that many born in captivity were inbred. Ranchers […]
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Hello, climate change
Environmentalists got what they’ve been waiting for Monday, when President Obama reinvented himself as a committed liberal in his second inauguration speech. He referred to climate change by its proper name, rather than dancing a little rhetorical jig around it, and even summoned the Almighty. God, he said, “commanded” the planet to our care. He […]
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The climate conversation
You are a High Country News reader, and thus, unlikely to be a subscriber to People magazine. But try as you might to stay above the pop culture fray, you’ve probably heard by now: Princess Kate is pregnant. She craves lavender shortbread. She is not, it turns out, too thin to be pregnant, though the […]
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The future of our forests
I recently got an email from a reader who was considering moving to Flagstaff. With its excellent bike trails, university, and a populace full of outdoor nuts, it sounded like a pretty nice spot. So he paid a visit, and while there, sought out the answer to a big question: “I needed to know when 100 […]
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The bark beetle feedback loop
Trees, you might say, are nature’s ultimate do-gooders. A compound in the bark of Pacific yew trees fights cancer. Dead trees become nurse logs, nurturing forests’ next generation of fungi and vegetation. In the ocean, rotting leaves boost the growth of plankton, fortifying the foundation of the sea’s food chain. Living leaves scrub the air of […]
Posted inArticles
West of 100: Goodbye, listeners
We hope the seven episodes of West of 100 we’ve produced this year have stimulated your curiosity and warmed your ears. Unfortunately, we’ve decided to discontinue the podcast. We’ve concluded that our small staff can better serve our audience by concentrating our resources on conducting the best in-depth reporting on the American West that you […]
Posted inGoat
A pro-tax revolt?
Dear voter, This is a test of your reading comprehension: “Without increasing any tax rate or imposing any new tax, shall Delta County be authorized to collect, retain, and use all revenues derived from impact fees on new development on and after January 1, 2013, as a voter approved revenue change under Article X, Section […]
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The money trail
The Montana Statesman calls itself “Montana’s largest and most trusted news source.” It is edited and published by Donald Ferguson, an “award-winning newspaper veteran,” boasts the Statesman’s website. Its home page features 11 stories — six of them unflattering portraits of Steve Bullock, Montana’s attorney general and the Democratic candidate for governor. The headlines topping the page: “Bullock admits […]
Posted inOctober 29, 2012: Red State Rising
Races where the environment matters. Sort of.
Environmentalists can’t contain their glee about Jay Inslee’s candidacy for governor of Washington. “I can count on one hand the members of Congress … that are like Jay Inslee,” gushed League of Conservation Voters president Gene Karpinski at a Washington chapter event last October. The national LCV usually stays out of state politics, but at […]
Posted inOctober 29, 2012: Red State Rising
Westerners’ presidential proclivities
The Democratic Party has taken a shine to the West of late, seeing the region as its best shot to grow the base. Indeed, changing demographics — rising populations of minorities and educated whites, and a declining white working class — have put a few formerly solid red states into play for Democrats in presidential […]
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Environment 2012
Environmental issues have barely registered a blip on political radar screens this campaign season. Sure, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney had a notable bickering match about drilling on public lands in their town hall debate. But it devolved into a game of one-upmanship as to who would drill more. Yes, Obama continues to promote clean […]