“The first impression of the country — one that does not wear off — is that of magnificent confusion,” writes Walter Webb of the southwestern corner of Texas, also known as Big Bend country. Some visitors feel as though they’ve discovered hell on earth. Other people find that this region of vast open spaces, colorful […]
Jessica Toubman
Posted inJune 23, 2003: 'Sound science' goes sour
Will offshore be off-limits?
The ability of oil companies to tap black gold off the coast of California is up in the air, following a lengthy fight between the state and federal governments. Most of the water near California is off-limits to drilling, thanks to a 1982 congressional ban on new federal offshore oil leases that was extended until […]
Posted inJune 9, 2003: How we see the West
Women take the wheel
In the 1990s, the bumper sticker “Thelma and Louise Live!” sprouted on mini-vans driven by mothers in suburbs across America, proclaiming a craving for a journey beyond the kids’ soccer fields. The 19 women writers who contributed to A Road of Her Own: Women’s Journeys in the West have peeled out of the daily commute, […]
Posted inMay 26, 2003: A losing battle
Desert saved from ‘dingbat’ development
The Wildlands Conservancy, a California-based nonprofit organization, has wrapped up the largest purchase of private land for conservation purposes in the country’s history. In March, the Conservancy completed a four-year effort to buy over 600,000 acres in the Southern California desert and turn the land over to the federal government. The land was owned by […]
Posted inMay 26, 2003: A losing battle
Mining rules put industry on rocky ground
California has two new regulations that industry officials say could spell the end of gold-mining in the Golden State. On April 7, Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill requiring mining companies to fill in open-pit mines near sacred Indian sites on federal lands, once they have completed mining. The same week, the California State Mining […]
Posted inApril 28, 2003: Indian Power
Hit the audio road in Nevada
“I wasn’t sure what I had found, but I knew it was Nevada,” says Jon Christensen, as he drives the so-called Extra-Terrestrial Highway in eastern Nevada. The road flanks Area 51, the top-secret military facility where scientists are rumored to be studying captured aliens. Originally a series on Nevada Public Radio, Nevada Variations is a […]
Posted inApril 28, 2003: Indian Power
Montana debates bison-hunting season
Critics say bison should simply be allowed to roam
Posted inApril 14, 2003: Change comes slowly to Escalante county
Fate of the Red Desert up in the air
A new Bureau of Land Management plan could re-open the door to oil, gas and coalbed methane leasing on over 432,000 acres of the Jack Morrow Hills, the heart of southwestern Wyoming’s Red Desert. The hills are home to a migratory herd of 48,000 antelope, a rare desert elk population, and seven areas being studied […]
Posted inApril 14, 2003: Change comes slowly to Escalante county
Debate rages over ‘de-listing’ wolves
Wolves may not be ‘endangered’ anymore, but have they recovered?
Posted inMarch 17, 2003: Bracing against the tide
Water face-off in Fresno
The federal government has given the city of Fresno an ultimatum: Either change the way you write your water bills, or risk losing a third of your water supply. A 1992 law forbids the federal government from renewing water contracts with central California cities, unless the cities bill residents based on how much water they […]
Posted inMarch 17, 2003: Bracing against the tide
Does your representative make the grade?
It’s report card time again for Congress, and Western politicians are seeing more Fs than As. According to the League of Conservation Voters’ annual National Environmental Scorecard, Western congressional members had some of the worst environmental voting records in the nation. Out of a possible score of 100, the senators of Colorado, Idaho, Utah and […]
Posted inMarch 3, 2003: The Wild Card
Land-use laws attacked from all sides
Although it died on the floor of the Oregon Supreme Court last October, Oregon’s controversial property-rights initiative, Measure 7, may live again. The initiative, approved by voters in 2000, would compensate landowners for decreased property value caused by local and state land-use rules. The regulations, conceived in the 1970s, aim to preserve farmlands and forests […]
Posted inFebruary 17, 2003: Wyoming at a crossroads
Canada lays down the law on endangered species
After 10 years of debate, Canada has become the last country in North America to pass an endangered species law. The Species at Risk Act (SARA) passed Parliament in December, and goes into effect later in 2003. Unlike the U.S. Endangered Species Act, SARA protects only “federal species,” such as fish, migratory birds, and plants […]