Maps from Washington state’s Department of Natural Resources show more than a thousand miles of the state’s streams contain no fish. But they’re wrong. This distinction is important because state law requires that loggers and developers leave protective corridors of vegetation for erosion control next to fish-bearing streams. But biologists fear the mapping mistakes have […]
Patrick Dowd
Posted inDecember 9, 1996: Motorheads: The new, noisy, organized force in the West
Locally owned in Great Falls
-The toughest part of reporting for a newspaper is talking to people that you know are lying to you.” * Lauran Dundee, community weekly publisher The Great Times, a weekly newspaper with offices in downtown Great Falls, Mont., was born Sept. 18, 1996. “It’s based on the old-fashioned concept of what a paper should do,” […]
Posted inNovember 25, 1996: Pollution in paradise
Clean air for a price
Owners of the Centralia Coal Plant in Washington want as much as $80 million in state tax breaks to stop polluting the air over Mount Rainier National Park and Mount Saint Helens National Monument. Although the Clean Air Act requires the coal plant to install state-of-the-art scrubbers worth $300 million, officials at PacifiCorp, the primary […]
Posted inNovember 25, 1996: Pollution in paradise
Reservoir unleashes more than water
Biologists braved a morass of mud and fish carcasses in early October while investigating a section of the Poudre River near Fort Collins, Colo. More than 4,000 fish were killed when an irrigation company drained its reservoir to check water gates at the bottom of the dam. Mike Cola, a dam-safety engineer for the Colorado […]
Posted inNovember 11, 1996: Cease-fire called on the Animas-La Plata front
Through Hells and high water
Jetboats will be banned for 21 days each summer on a 21-mile stretch of the Snake River through Hells Canyon, according to a Forest Service plan that’s been a decade in the making. Environmentalists and recreationists who float the river between Idaho and Oregon praised the restriction as a long-overdue first step toward returning quiet […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Helping hands
-They treat you just like gold,” says Stan Banta, who at 79 works for Idaho’s Targhee National Forest as part of the Older American Program. Started 25 years ago by the Department of Labor, the program offers retirees some income while their labor props up cash-poor parks parks, says coordinator Marsha Phillips. To be eligible, […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
A “down time” for Utah environmentalists
Note: This article is a sidebar to a feature story. With the possible exception of Democrat Ross Anderson, Utah won’t field many surprises this November. The state’s lone Democrat, Rep. Bill Orton, is expected to hold on to his seat in the 3rd Congressional District, even though Democrats fare poorly in Utah. Polls show Orton’s […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Nevada: Who hates nuclear waste most?
Nevada’s two congressional districts seem a lot like Mutt and Jeff: Covering two-tenths of 1 percent of the state’s land mass but containing half its population, the 1st Congressional District encompasses Las Vegas. The other 99.8 percent of the state is the 2nd Congressional District. In a tight race for the Las Vegas seat are […]
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
Brown air could lead to greener state politics
Note: This article is a sidebar to a feature story. Even though Republican Gov. Fife Symington is facing a trial next March for bank fraud, Arizona Republicans say they don’t anticipate a backlash in the upcoming elections. Of the six U.S. House seats now held by Republicans, only the 6th District seat is competitive. Republicans […]