For those who like a little rhythm and rhyme, the Western Folklife Center holds its 15th Cowboy Poetry Gathering Jan. 23-30, in Elko, Nev. Besides public radio star Baxter Black and other outdoor poets, there are workshops on everything from sewing boots to estate planning for ranching families. For information, contact Western Folklife Center, 501 […]
Staff
Posted inDecember 21, 1998: Grand Canyon Gridlock
North American Interdisciplinary Conference on Environment and Community
John Elder, Stephen Trimble and C.L. Rawlins will be featured speakers at the North American Interdisciplinary Conference on Environment and Community at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, on Feb. 11-13. Organizers are looking for participants from a variety of backgrounds to discuss the relationship between nature and society. For more information, contact Mikel Vause […]
Posted inDecember 21, 1998: Grand Canyon Gridlock
Grand Canyon Timeline
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. 1869 John Wesley Powell’s first expedition 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt makes Grand Canyon a national monument. 1911-12 Emery and Ellsworth Kolb make a movie of a river trip. 1919 Grand Canyon becomes a national park. First airplane overflight. 1922 Phantom Ranch is built. 1935-36 […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Land Trusts
The last decade has been a good one for the West’s land trusts. A census conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Land Trust Alliance reveals that the number of land trusts that serve the Rocky Mountain states has risen from 20 to 52, and the Southwest shows similar growth. Nationwide, these private nonprofits, whose primary purpose […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Concerned Coloradans comment
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. J. Francis Stafford Former Catholic Archbishop of Denver, 1994 Pastoral Letter: “The time when the Western Slope could be overlooked as a reserve of empty, if beautiful, solitude, has long since passed. The current explosion of Front Range growth has its parallel in communities […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Anger on the Web
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. Michael Lewinski, writing in the Unofficial Stop SuperVail Website, bcn.boulder.co.us/environment/Vail/, says that after the Oct. 19 arson at Vail, e-mail poured in. “I’ve been called some extremely nasty names,” he writes. – ‘Nazi” seems the most popular so far. “Ours is not the first […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Colorado: Snow = skiers
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. Inches of snowfall per year at selected Colorado ski resorts: More than 300 Number of days of sunshine: More than 300 Acres at Vail, Colorado’s – and North America’s – largest ski area: 4,644 Number of U.S. ski areas in 1967: 1,400 Number in […]
Posted inNovember 9, 1998: Grizzly war
9th Headwaters Conference, “Relationships Between Learning and Locality’
The collision between rural society and academia is the subject of the 9th Headwaters Conference, “Relationships Between Learning and Locality,” at Western State College in Gunnison, Colo., Nov. 13-14. Presentations include a one-man docudrama about philosopher John Dewey and a role-playing exercise about “fractious mountain valleys.” For information contact George Sibley, Western State College, Gunnison, […]
Posted inNovember 9, 1998: Grizzly war
From Watersheds to Watertaps
Community activists from the Rocky Mountain states and the Dakotas are invited to attend From Watersheds to Watertaps, a workshop Jan. 9 in Denver on the new Safe Drinking Water Act. The workshop will combine strategies for protecting both watersheds and safe drinking water. Contact Carmi McLean at 303/839-9866 or denvercwa@cleanwtsaer.org. This article appeared in […]
Posted inNovember 9, 1998: Grizzly war
Renewable Energy Policy Project
The Washington, D.C.-based Renewable Energy Policy Project’s August Research Report suggests a way to boost the small market for water heaters powered by the sun. Instead of relying on public subsidies to stimulate sales, the report says, manufacturers could borrow techniques from the insurance industry, giving salespeople a commission on every heater they sell. The […]
Posted inNovember 9, 1998: Grizzly war
Bull Trout Workshop
The mysteries of the bull trout, recently listed as threatened on the Blackfoot River, will be revealed Nov. 16-17 at a Bull Trout Workshop hosted by the American Fisheries Society’s North Pacific-International Chapter. To be held in Nelson, B.C., a three-hour drive due north from Spokane, Wash., the symposium will explore recovery and management techniques. […]
Posted inNovember 9, 1998: Grizzly war
Big Sky or Big Sprawl?
As cities swallow countyside, two upcoming conferences will consider ways to protect open and agricultural land from urban growth. Montanans meet in Helena Nov. 20-21 for Big Sky or Big Sprawl? Montana at the Crossroads: Montana’s First Statewide Summit on Growth. Call or write AERO, 25 S. Ewing, Suite 214, Helena, MT 59601 (406/443-7272), or […]
Posted inNovember 9, 1998: Grizzly war
Bare facts
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. * An adult male grizzly can stand eight feet tall, weigh up to 1,000 pounds and run as fast as a racehorse – 35 miles per hour – uphill or downhill. Females are just as fast as males, but may be half their size. […]
Posted inOctober 26, 1998: The Oregon way
Yellowstone’s wandering bison
The interagency team developing a plan for managing Yellowstone’s wandering bison (HCN, 9/28/98) is extending the deadline for public comments on its draft environmental impact statement to Nov. 2. For a copy of the draft EIS, or to comment on the plan, write Bison Management Plan EIS Team, National Park Service, Sarah Bransom, DSC-RP, P.O. […]
Posted inOctober 26, 1998: The Oregon way
Rock Talk
Rock Talk isn’t about music, it’s the Colorado Geological Survey’s new quarterly newsletter. Geared toward the general reader, each free, 12-page issue covers a facet of the rocky world. October’s issue concentrates on avalanches, with a brief history of Colorado’s Avalanche Information Center, practical advice about avalanche hazards in the backcountry, and county-by-county avalanche death […]
Posted inOctober 26, 1998: The Oregon way
Northwest Mining Association’s 104th Annual Meeting
Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski, R, will be a speaker at the Northwest Mining Association’s 104th Annual Meeting, Nov. 29-Dec. 4, in Spokane, Wash. The “Exploring New Opportunities’ conference offers educational sessions. Call the Northwest Mining Association at 509/624-1158 or e-mail nwma@nwma.org. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Northwest […]
Posted inOctober 26, 1998: The Oregon way
Oregon statistics
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. Annual per capita income in urban areas: $24,697 … in rural areas: $19,381 Percentage of Oregon adults with a high school degree: 91 Number of one-teacher schools in Oregon: 8 Estimated daily number of visitors to the 43,000-square-foot Powell’s Books in Portland: 6,000 Unemployment […]
Posted inOctober 12, 1998: A river becomes a raw nerve
World Oil Forum
The World Oil Forum in Denver, Oct. 30, considers the future of the world supply of petroleum. Experts from advocacy groups, industry and government will discuss the timing and consequences of oil production’s impending decline. Contact the Community Office for Resource Efficiency, P.O. Box 9707, Aspen, CO 81612 (970/544-9808). This article appeared in the print […]
Posted inOctober 12, 1998: A river becomes a raw nerve
Trails and the American Spirit
Tucson, Ariz., plays host to this year’s National Trails Symposium, Nov. 13-17. “Trails and the American Spirit,” sponsored by American Trails, features keynote speakers Royal Robbins, the adventurer and outdoor clothing baron, and Tom Whittaker, the first disabled person to summit Everest. Contact American Trails at 520/632-1140 or visit www.outdoorlink.com/amtrails. This article appeared in the […]
Posted inOctober 12, 1998: A river becomes a raw nerve
Solar power is booming
After lagging for decades, solar power is booming; its growth rate of 16 percent per year from 1990-1997 ranks it as the world’s second fastest-growing energy source after wind power. Worldwatch Institute attributes the boom to declining manufacturing costs and subsidies. Japan, Europe and the United States, for example, have instituted programs to encourage use […]