Is the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) a pawn of the mining industry? The Denver-based Citizens Coal Council says “yes’ and points to documents it obtained by filing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The Citizens Coal Council, a federation of 48 citizens’ groups in 21 states, sued the OSM to release its files. […]
Keri Watson
Posted inAugust 30, 1999: Who's stopping sprawl?
The Wayward West
A golf course planned for a national forest has landed in the rough. In 1998, the Sierra Club legally challenged a 1997 decision allowing Dempsey Construction to expand Snowcreek Golf Course onto 95 acres of national forest (HCN, 2/16/98). This month, Inyo National Forest Supervisor Jeff Bailey withdrew the permission. “We have determined that there […]
Posted inAugust 16, 1999: Standing up for the underdog
The Wayward West
A railroad must pay for illegally dumping toxic waste in Montana in the 1970s and 1980s. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Co. used the Park County landfill to dump perchloroethylene, a solvent that can cause cancer and birth defects. The discarded barrels were marked “non-hazardous.” On July 21, a Montana jury ordered the railroad […]
Posted inAugust 16, 1999: Standing up for the underdog
America’s Redrock Wilderness
America’s Redrock Wilderness “I’m here to disprove the lie that local people don’t want wilderness; the truth is that most southern Utahns are frightened by runaway growth and want to see as much land protected from development as possible.” * Linda Wood, Cedar City, Utah, testifying at Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt’s 1995 hearings on wilderness […]
Posted inAugust 16, 1999: Standing up for the underdog
Day of 6 billion
The United Nations predicts that on Oct. 12, 1999, the 6 billionth human will be born. The U.S. Census Bureau says it happened last month. Regardless, the number is already having a big impact. To find out more, the U.N. recommends two Web sites: the National Audubon Society Population and Habitat Program (www.earthnet.net/~popnet) and the […]
Posted inAugust 16, 1999: Standing up for the underdog
Dams must go
Can salmon be saved? A free, 15-page report, Returning Salmon by Restoring Rivers: The Case for Partially Removing Four Dams on the Lower Snake River, says yes. Prepared by the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition, which includes 230 conservation groups, Indian tribes and others, the report says breaching the dams is the best way to […]
Posted inJuly 5, 1999: The new faces of the West
Governor floats a wilderness bill
In May, Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt announced a 1 million-acre wilderness proposal for the West Desert, the latest step in what he calls an “incremental approach” for BLM lands. But while his proposal is supported by the Department of the Interior, it’s drawing criticism from county politicians, and it’s only a small part of the […]
Posted inJune 7, 1999: Mining the past
Can computers solve Indian problems?
This winter, 112 years of sloppy accounting by the Bureau of Indian Affairs fell into Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s lap (HCN, 3/15/99). Now, his department has bounced back with a million-dollar solution. On June 25, the department will unveil the Trust Asset Accounting Management System (TAAMS). The software program is designed to sort out the […]