“Fancy how I trembled.” That was activist Rosalie Edge’s tongue-in-cheek response to an incident in the 1930s, when an Audubon Society attorney accused her of being a “common scold.” A thorn in the conservation organization’s side for decades, Edge badgered board members and directors for bowing to sportsmen’s influence and ignoring dissenting voices. Although her […]
Laura Paskus
Posted inApril 13, 2009: The Desert That Breaks Annie Proulx’s Heart
Last rites and forgotten landscapes
The murders of 12 young women, and what they tell us.
Posted inWotr
It’s time to abandon Desert Rock
There’s a lot at stake when it comes to energy development in New Mexico: the state’s crystalline blue skies, job opportunities for native people, and a sustainable future for all of those living in the land of little rain. Yet when it comes to weighing in on the proposed Desert Rock coal-fired power plant, New […]
Posted inWotr
Forest Service morale sinks to a new low
When Dave Iverson first came to the U.S. Forest Service’s regional office in Ogden, Utah, in 1980, he was drawn by a love for the outdoors and a desire to do good work on the public lands. But after spending almost three decades on planning and policy, he quit last year just shy of retirement. […]
Posted inDecember 22, 2008: What a mess
Up in smoke
Obama administration will inherit a beleaguered Forest Service
Posted inWotr
I want my vote to count, but will it?
Just the other morning, I mailed off my absentee ballot. I’d carefully colored in all the ovals, signed it, smacked on a stamp and tossed that baby into the mailbox. Civic duty done? Maybe not. Last month, for example, New Mexico’s secretary of State had to admit that incorrect information had been mailed to more […]
Posted inDecember 24, 2007: Last chance for the Lobo
No ordinary stroll
One of the most beautiful books of 2007, The Walk, by William deBuys, tells of life, death, crisis and love in northern New Mexico. It’s a poetic book, to be sure, but one that’s entirely down-to-earth. Sometimes, when writers recount their experiences farming or working the land, it’s hard not to see them as dilettantes, […]
Posted inWotr
How many nuclear bombs do we need?
“When I became conscious, it was a dead city.” The college students in the room are silent as Shigeko Sasamori stands in front of them. It looks as though she wears light pink lipstick. Up close, the scars around her mouth, neck and hands are clearly visible. The morning American pilots dropped an atomic bomb […]
Posted inSeptember 3, 2007: A Climate Change Solution?
Clean energy activist reflects on corporate influence in New Mexico legislation
NAME: Ben Luce AGE: 44 Resume: Ten years at Los Alamos National Laboratory working on nonlinear dynamics; co-founder and former director of the New Mexico Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy; founder, Break The Grip. Minimum number of Task Force seats Governor Richardson appointed him to: Five (all relating to energy.) Minimum number of harmonicas carried […]
Posted inWotr
An EPA staffer fights to the end
Six years into this grand experiment called the Bush-Cheney administration, it’s easy to be blasé about how drastically morale has fallen within the offices of federal agencies. It’s with respect, then, and not flippancy, that I write these words: The political system that destroys the careers and lives of environmentally minded civil servants is about […]
Posted inJune 25, 2007: Predator hunters for the environment
The red, white and blue of ‘red or green?’
New Mexico’s chile industry faces hot competition from global producers
Posted inJune 25, 2007: Predator hunters for the environment
Big dams, big deal
With a title like Big Dams of the New Deal Era: A Confluence of Engineering and Politics, it’s no surprise that this tome is deep on history and long on details. That said, the book is also remarkably hard to put down. It’s well worth the read for those who have ever wondered how structures […]
Posted inMay 14, 2007: Two Views of the Verde
Mirroring the maquila boom
New Mexico looks to build its border industry by attracting suppliers for Mexican manufacturers across the border in Juárez
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I’ll take a double dare any time
I was that moronic kid who would do anything my brother dared me to, even if that involved, say, taking an ice ball to the face (“You flinched! You lose!”). I’m over the need for my big brother’s approval, but I still love a challenge. I took up one recently, after reading an interview in […]
Posted inWotr
Too much can be asked of a river
What do China’s Yangtze, India’s Ganges and America’s Rio Grande have in common? All share the dubious distinction of making a “Top 10” list compiled by the World Wildlife Fund of rivers in trouble. On the lower Rio Grande, where the river forms the border between the United States and Mexico, the challenges include widespread […]
Posted inFebruary 19, 2007: One nation, under fire
New Mexico’s water rebel
Name: Bill Turner Fond Childhood Memory: Listening to the Lone Ranger radio show: “Good will prevail.” Coffee or Tea: Coffee, black, in a to-go cup with a few cubes of ice Resume Excerpts: Firewall riveter for Navy S2F submarine-hunter aircraft (1958); Peace Corps volunteer and geologist in Cyprus (1963-1964); New Mexico natural resources trustee (1995-2003); […]
Posted inFebruary 19, 2007: One nation, under fire
Ode to a public lands experiment
This could have been just another coffee-table volume full of stunning vistas and images of elk grazing in misty valleys. But by refusing to be yet another pretty book, Valles Caldera: A Vision for New Mexico’s National Preserve better serves the preserve’s long history and complicated beauty. The preserve’s abbreviated history goes something like this: […]
Posted inDecember 25, 2006: Confessions of a Methane Floozy
I fell into a burning ring of fire
Some people seek gentle hands to soothe knots from sore muscles. Others get a facial or a pedicure. Still others hold hands and hum around a vortex. In today’s world of indulgence-for-hire and guided leisure, you can practice yoga, Pilates, Nia. Screw that, I say. Play with fire. There’s something restorative about lighting a glowing […]
Posted inWotr
A public-lands experiment needs to re-engage the public
Not long ago, a fat patch of private land lay isolated within the Jemez Mountains, surrounded mostly by Forest Service land. Though off-limits, many New Mexicans knew that this place, the Baca Ranch, supported an enormous elk herd and contained both geological and archaeological wonders. Today, that 89,000-acre private ranch is better known as a […]