After the Environmental Protection Agency shut down construction of Montana Power Co.’s Colstrip units 3 and 4 because of lack of two permits required by federal and state laws, more than a hundred laid-off construction workers have become pawns in the battle. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/9.20/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
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Water won’t stretch for Western cities’ growth
Recent cases — in which public agencies decided that cities would not get what they demand at the expense of other resources — indicate that cities in the West are gradually being forced to accept the limits that lack of water will impose. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/9.19/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Miners attack coal strip mining law
The mining industry is highly critical of the federal strip mining regulations recently published by the U.S. Interior Department. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/9.18/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Northern Cheyenne tribe wins Class I air quality
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the Northern Cheyenne Indian tribe’s request for Class I — the most stringent classification — air quality for its reservation, a decision that could have a major impact on nearby construction of the Colstrip power plant units 3 and 4. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/9.16/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Non-farmers drive up agricultural land prices
The crush of new uses for agricultural land — mining, housing, and urban expansion — has steadily driven the cost of land beyond the point at which agriculture is profitable. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/9.15/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Proposed power plants plentiful in the Rockies
A summary of the coal-fired power plants proposed in every Northern Rockies state, plus a review of the official and unofficial hurdles to building them. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/9.14/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
N.M. solar power group prefers passive designs
Keith Haggard, the founder and executive director of the New Mexico Solar Energy Association, shares his experiences advocating for solar technology. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/9.13/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Carter’s energy plan will push Western coal boom
The president’s call to nearly double coal development will disproportionately affect the region.
Wild river system begins to grow
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System is finally starting to grow, after a lull following the passage of the bill that created the system in 1968. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/9.5/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
1974-76 Index
See a list of all High Country News articles published in 1974, 1975, and 1976, categorized by subject. Click link to view PDF. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline 1974-76 Index.
Federal judge rules against tribe on Colstrip 3 and 4
Class I designation for air over the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana will not be enough to protect air from the largest nearby pollution source. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/9.3/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Congress gives BLM legal clout, responsibility
By passing the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976, Congress intended to free the Bureau of Land Management from a tangle of laws and give the agency more power to regulate a wide range of different uses on the 451 million acres of public land that it oversees. Download entire issue to […]
Mercer County, N.D., approves rezoning for gasification plant
In a sudden decision that shocked the community of Hazen, North Dakota, the Mercer County Commissioner granted rezoning of 1,575 acres for a giant coal gasification plant. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/8.25/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
States flunk EPA air quality standards test
Of the Northern Plains and Rocky Mountain states, only North Dakota received Environmental Protection Agency approval of the state’s plans for attaining and maintaining national ambient air quality standards. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/8.17/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Hope remains for caribou
Some experts think Alaska’s seemingly endless hordes of caribou can survive the pipelines, roads, and spreading civilization which gas and oil development has brought to the Far North. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/8.16/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
San Luis Valley shows rural ingenuity
Residents of southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley aren’t waiting for federal or state lawmakers to solve their energy problems. They have taken the matter into their own hands, and have several dozen working solar systems as proof of their success. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/8.14/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Fences can devastate deer, antelope
In northwestern Colorado, the Bureau of Land Management may have known about fences deadly to antelope and other wildlife but did nothing to correct the problem, an indication of a larger problem across the West. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/8.13/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
States fear California’s power needs
Officials in both Wyoming and Colorado have expressed concern that California’s appetite for electricity could expand into their states because of California’s initiative to limit nuclear power plants. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/8.11/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
House bill prompts public lands alert
A coalition of 19 conservation organizations warns that the proposed Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976 would severely limit the federal government’s ability to protect long-term natural resource values, putting the nation’s public lands at risk. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/8.10/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Supreme Court hears plains coal case
The Interior Department is facing off against the Sierra Club and 22 states, who have asked the court to not weaken mechanisms in the National Environmental Policy Act that mandate environmental impact statements for federal projects such as coal development. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/8.10/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
