Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, The West sings the Denver airport blues. Excerpts from a free-ranging interview with two of the most effective critics of Denver International Airport. PAUL EARLE: We have to keep buying new file drawers, shifting them around to make room for more. We’ve got more […]
Ray Ring
Posted inJanuary 23, 1995: What a long strange trip it's been
The West sings the Denver airport blues
It was billed as a black-tie gala: Denver’s finest coming together to celebrate the grand opening of the city’s new international airport. Nearly 4,000 people were trying to breathe life into the cathedral-like terminal building, where banquet tables had been set on a granite floor meant for the footsteps of millions of air travelers. A […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Mothering a good forest fire isn’t easy
MEEKER, COLO. – The helicopter flew us toward the smoke. Even in the air, we wore heavy leather boots, jumpsuits and gloves made of Nomex – nothing that would ignite or melt easily. We had to be prepared in case of a forced landing. The Nomex felt surprisingly lightweight: thin protection. We topped the ridge, […]
Posted inJuly 25, 1994: 'Unranchers' reach for West's state lands
‘Unranchers’ reach for West’s state lands
Well aware of the irony, conservationists in the West are gearing up for a land grab they can call their own. They’re reaching for what have been the most obscure public – or at least semipublic – lands of all. The definition itself is up for grabs. There are about 40 million such acres, or […]
Posted inJuly 25, 1994: 'Unranchers' reach for West's state lands
Utah kids benefit from state land reform
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, ‘Unranchers’ reach for West’s state lands. Inevitably, any disagreement over state-owned lands raises the spectre of schoolchildren in need. In Utah, where spending per pupil ranks lowest in the nation, that dismal statistic has spurred reform. State lands have never generated fat revenues for […]
Posted inDecember 16, 1991: Are the bison coming?
Death and anarchy above Tucson
A head-on. From the skid marks it looked like the Camaro had been cutting the inside of the curve, way over the double-yellow centerline … Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/23.23/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inJuly 3, 1989: Tumbleweeds triumphant
Tumbleweeds triumphant
How the Russians conquered the West.
Posted inSeptember 1, 1986: Ski area proposal goes smash
The next time your radiator boils over, make soup
If your car is as hot as an oven, use it for one. Give a whirl to the newest summer craze — car cookery. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/18.16/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inJune 23, 1986: Where's the market?
Get the public off the public lands
Back in 1986, as environmentalists rallied to push ranchers off public land, nobody could have predicted how the issue would finally be resolved. A new movement was born: the most powerful and sweeping ever seen in natural resource management. It was born with the battle cry: “Get the public off public lands.” Download entire issue […]
Posted inNovember 11, 1985: One man's indictment of forestry in Arizona
One man’s indictment of forestry in Arizona
Investigative journalist Ray Ring digs into Forest Service reports to explain why Arizona has been logged more intensively than any other Western state. To read this article, click the “View a PDF from the original” link below, or download the entire issue: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/17.21/download-entire-issue This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the […]
Posted inJuly 8, 1985: A fruitgrower falls prey to his poisonous sprays
The Grand Canyon is filled — with noise
The mechanized world of the late 20th century is intruding in an unexpected way in the wilderness of Grand Canyon National Park. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/17.13/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E