A Basque writer transplanted to Nevada takes a critical look at American culture.
Sierra Standish
Posted inSeptember 27, 2004: Life After Old Growth
Forgotten borderland
From space, the Black Hills of South Dakota take the unmistakable shape of a heart, marking a region that some consider the spiritual center of the world. But driving into Bennett County, S.D., is more like entering a legal Twilight Zone. This checkerboard of private, tribal and federal land seems to belong to everyone — […]
Posted inSeptember 29, 2003: Harvesting Poison
Living in two worlds
Like many American Indian children, Viola Martinez — a Paiute Indian from California’s Owens Valley — was taken from her family and sent to a government boarding school in the early 20th century. There, she was to be “civilized” and trained as a maid. But instead of giving in to the system, she decided to […]
Posted inJuly 7, 2003: Invasion of the rock jocks
‘New Homestead Act’ would boost dwindling towns
Law aims to attract young entrepreneurs to the West’s depopulating fringes
Posted inMay 26, 2003: A losing battle
Road-builders pay for archaeological damage
Even in “wild and woolly” Catron County, N.M., you still have to pay if you’re caught damaging archaeological sites on public land. In 1999, a private landowner hired a construction company to clear a dirt road through a national forest to a patch of private land. In the process, the bulldozer plowed through three prehistoric […]
Posted inMay 12, 2003: Planting time
Farmland protection may dry up
As California faces its largest budget deficit ever, a nearly 40-year-old farmland-protection program could go to the chopping block. Reacting to a burst of mid-century sprawl, the state legislature passed the Williamson Act in 1965. Under the act, farmers promise to keep their land in commercial agriculture in exchange for county property tax breaks. The […]
Posted inMay 12, 2003: Planting time
Historic preservation vs. tourism?
Colorado’s ancient petroglyphs and pioneer-era courthouses might soon be left to the ravages of time. State Treasurer Mike Coffman wants to boost the state’s economy by redirecting funds earmarked for historic preservation to promote tourism. In 1990, Colorado voters approved a constitutional amendment that legalized gambling in three towns — Black Hawk, Central City and […]
Posted inMay 12, 2003: Planting time
Nevada: A diamond in the rough
Our country’s driest state does not treat humans gently. “The desert was one prodigious graveyard,” wrote Mark Twain about his arrival in Nevada in the 1860s. “And the log chains, wagon tires, and rotting wrecks of vehicles were almost as thick as the bones.” Today, many people perceive Nevada as a gambling mecca surrounded by […]
Posted inMay 12, 2003: Planting time
Nation’s largest tribe keeps casinos out
Note: in the print edition of this issue, this article appears as a sidebar to another news article, “Tiny tribe bets its community on casino.” The Navajo Nation may have found a way to get gambling profits without gambling’s pitfalls. Last November, Arizona voters narrowly approved Proposition 202, and opened a new way for tribes—including […]
Posted inApril 14, 2003: Change comes slowly to Escalante county
Westlands farmers sell out
After being locked for years in a legal battle with farmers in California’s Central Valley, the federal government has decided to buy its way out. Westlands Water District irrigates more land than any other district in the country. But the salty, selenium-laced ground has grown increasingly less productive, because the district lacks adequate drainage for […]
Posted inApril 14, 2003: Change comes slowly to Escalante county
Tribes, residents find a solution in the Sandias
Congress has settled a long-standing dispute between an Indian tribe, the federal government and private landowners over the western face of the Sandia Mountains (HCN, 11/9/98: Who controls the sandias?). Starting in 1976, Sandia Pueblo fought to reclaim about 10,000 acres of private and national forest land. Citing a 1748 Spanish land grant, the tribe […]
Posted inMarch 17, 2003: Bracing against the tide
Parasite could help save salmon
Endangered salmon may get help from a strange source: Blood-sucking, eel-like fish called lampreys. On Jan. 28 a coalition of environmental groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect four species of lamprey under the Endangered Species Act. Two of the species are parasitic, latching onto salmon and other ocean-going fish to feed […]
Posted inMarch 17, 2003: Bracing against the tide
Coastal open space gets a boost
Score one point for endangered steelhead and the threatened California red-legged frog: The 82,000-acre Hearst Ranch, on the Pacific Coast just south of Big Sur, may be forever protected from development. Famous for Hearst Castle, the elaborate mansion built for media tycoon William Randolph Hearst early in the 20th century, the sprawling, hilly ranch includes […]
Posted inMarch 17, 2003: Bracing against the tide
Backcountry adventure in the comfort of your living room
Armchair horseback riders can hit the trail with Don West’s Have Saddle, Will Travel: Low-Impact Trail Riding and Horse Camping. The book features West’s personal stories, poems and “Don’s Daily Dozen,” 13 of the author’s favorite exercises to keep riders in top form. As readers relive West’s wilderness adventures — which include chasing down frightened […]
Posted inFebruary 3, 2003: The death of the Super Hopper
Dear Friends
Survey results are in Living in a small town, it’s easy to make generalizations about your community. It’s a little harder to make sense of a community that’s spread across the million-square-mile West — and all the way to Washington, D.C. — as are the readers of High Country News. Sure, we send out a […]