It looked almost exactly like Phil Hyde’s photograph taken in 1964, a year after Glen Canyon Dam began backing up the Colorado River in a process that would take seven years. Hyde’s photo revealed a stunning waterfall in a giant amphitheater with a narrow, almost slot-like opening at the top, perfectly named “Cathedral in the […]
Jim Stiles
Posted inWotr
The brief but wonderful return of Cathedral in the Desert
It looked almost exactly like Phil Hyde’s photograph taken in 1964, a year after Glen Canyon Dam began backing up the Colorado River — a seven-year event. Hyde’s photo revealed a stunning waterfall in a giant amphitheater with a narrow, almost slot opening at top, perfectly named “Cathedral in the Desert.” Eventually it disappeared, drowned […]
Posted inWotr
What the West needs is an honest discussion
Life was much simpler when I viewed the battle to “save” the West through a black-and-white lens. As a young environmentalist, it was easier to condemn my adversaries’ beliefs without scrutinizing my own. And it was easier to attack my adversaries when I didn’t know them. I have agonized over this for years now. At […]
Posted inMarch 21, 2005: An Empire Built on Sand
A look at the West, in the funhouse mirror
Life was much simpler when I viewed the battle to “save” the West through a black-and-white lens. As a young environmentalist, it was easier for me to condemn my adversaries’ land ethics and beliefs when I was unwilling to honestly scrutinize my own. And it was easier to attack my adversaries when I didn’t know […]
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Bewitched and bewildered near Moab, Utah
If there’s a doubt in anyone’s mind about the rapidly changing rural West, look no further than the latest controversy to grip Moab, Utah. It doesn’t get much stranger than this. A few months ago, Robbie Levin, owner of Sorrel River Ranch, a luxury lodge north of Moab, applied for a cabaret license from the […]
Posted inWotr
A Utah rancher’s secret was a gift to us
Trying to keep a secret is almost impossible these days, but rancher Waldo Wilcox kept a good one for half a century. Last month, when his secret was finally revealed, it became the second biggest global, online news story of the day. Here’s what it was: Since 1951, Wilcox has protected one of the most […]
Posted inWotr
Ruminating on cows
I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with cows. I’ve cursed them loudly when they turned my favorite mountain meadow into a cow-pie strewn wasteland. But then, they taste so good. I’ve inched my way through a herd of these stupid beasts on some highway as their cowboy masters moved them to summer range or to […]
Posted inAugust 18, 2003: Where the Antelope (and the Oil Companies) Play
If you’re not outraged, you’re not a true optimist
A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with a cheery woman I love to be around. She’s an artist, still a diehard Ralph Naderite, and a dedicated organic gardener. But one day, when I was ranting about some ongoing environmental disaster or another, she stood up in her broccoli patch, gave me a withering […]
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A national park in Utah should not allow laissez-faire climbing
In 1927, a gathering of huge sandstone windows in Utah was set aside by presidential proclamation and named Arches National Monument. Now a national park, its 75,000 acres welcome almost 800,000 tourists a year, who come from all over the world to look with awe. This marvelous place must be well protected by federal laws […]
Posted inWotr
It’s good to be impassioned!
A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with a cheery woman I love to be around. She’s an artist, still a diehard Ralph Naderite and a dedicated organic gardener. But one day, when I was ranting about some ongoing environmental disaster or another, she stood up in her broccoli patch, gave me a withering […]
Posted inAugust 2, 1999: Jon Marvel vs. the Marlboro Man
‘Bureaucrabloat’ and other occupational hazards
Dear HCN, Regarding Randolph F. Edwards’ brutal attack on my “dumb poorly drawn cartoon” of park rangers with deformed heads, Mr. Edwards must realize that I doodle from experience. I was a park ranger at Arches National Park for 10 years and the consensus among field rangers (the ones who actually work in the park, […]
Posted inMarch 29, 1999: Wheeling and dealing
Cantankerous and contradictory: Remembering Ed Abbey
Edward Abbey changed my life. He saved me from becoming a Republican. Twenty-five years after a friend of my father’s handed me a worn-out copy of Desert Solitaire and a decade after his death, Ed Abbey is, to me, an honest hero in a time and a world where we don’t allow heroes. He’d throw […]
Posted inOctober 16, 1995: In the heart of the New West, the sheep win one
Advice from Jim Stiles
Dear HCN, I’d like to respond to William Corcoran’s attack on guidebook critics like myself (HCN, 10/2/95). Mr. Corcoran says I should spend more of my energy on Planned Parenthood “instead of preaching perfection to an imperfect world” and in part he’s right. The fact is, there are just too damn many people out there. […]
Posted inAugust 7, 1995: Fighting fires, and indignities
A little sarcasm, a lot of love
I love tourists. I love everything about them. They are the mainstay of our economy and the joy of my life. They buy my newspaper even when I pick on them. What? Me pick on tourists? For example, I love the way they turn left onto Center Street from the right-hand lane on Main. I […]
Posted inAugust 23, 1993: Timber theft: Logging firms rob a lax agency
In the New West, herds of cattle are being replaced by hordes of tourists
An essay about changes in Moab, Utah, describes how tourism affects the town. To read this article, download this HCN issue in PDF format. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline In the New West, herds of cattle are being replaced by hordes of tourists.
Posted inNovember 2, 1992: The nuclear age: 1945, the beginning; 1992, the beginning of the end
In Utah, pavers hit speed bump
In yet another chapter of the Sagebrush Rebellion in southeastern Utah, two rural counties are trying to a force the federal government to allow construction of the Book Cliffs Highway across some of the state’s wildest land. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/24.20/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inAugust 1, 1988: City slickers strike it rich in South Dakota
Rangers are dangerous: Do not annoy or feed them
This is a practical survival guide to the national parks, with down-to-earth advice on how to co-exist with park rangers. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/20.14/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E