How should a “recent extinct volcano” greet visitors in the future? The National Park Service invites the public to help plan the management of Capulin Volcano National Monument in northeast New Mexico. To comment or to receive a newsletter, contact the National Park Service, Capulin Volcano National Monument, P.O. Box 40, Capulin, NM 88414 (505/278-2201 […]
Staff
Posted inJune 8, 1998: Don't fence me in
Bringing a ghost town to life
By 1935, recurring flash floods had washed everyone out of Grafton, Utah, except vandals and an occasional Hollywood producer. Then this April, those living near the ghost town staged a fund raiser to repair the combined school and church that dates from the town’s Mormon settlement 139 years ago. “The buildings are in advanced stages […]
Posted inJune 8, 1998: Don't fence me in
Defending the dunes
Shifting sand dunes might be the fastest-moving thing in the coastal town of Florence, Ore., population 6,200, and some residents would like to see it stay that way. But as the area’s timber and fishing industries die off, a new kind of development is moving in to take their place. In the spring of 1997, […]
Posted inJune 8, 1998: Don't fence me in
A family preserves the West
If not for Tom Wetherill’s deathbed wish, paper wasps might still be nesting in the century-old photo albums collected by his grandfather, one of five brothers who made the modern discoveries of Mesa Verde and other Indian ruins in the Southwest. Though later archaeologists ignored the Wetherills, maligning their work as insufficiently rigorous, the family […]
Posted inMay 25, 1998: Tackling tamarisk
Seaside dinosaurs
Theropods – meat-eating dinosaurs that walked on their hind legs – once preyed on small animals near Wyoming’s prehistoric Sundance Sea. To his surprise, geologist Erik Kvale found the dinosaur tracks preserved in fossilized mud along the BLM’s Red Gulch/Alkali National Back Country Byway near Shell, Wyo. While exploring the rippled sandstones last summer, Kvale’s […]
Posted inMay 25, 1998: Tackling tamarisk
Survey says: Go wild!
Most supporters of wilderness are just espresso-sipping urbanites, right? Not so, according to a survey of 500 Colorado voters, released in April by a coalition of environmental groups. “We’re talking about four out of five Coloradans,” says Elise Jones of the League of Conservation Voters’ Boulder office. “These are pretty bomb-proof numbers.” The poll, conducted […]
Posted inMay 25, 1998: Tackling tamarisk
Glen Canyon Institute’s expanded Web site
The free-flowing past – and future – of the Colorado River is explored at the Glen Canyon Institute’s expanded Web site, www.glencanyon.org. The Salt Lake-based nonprofit group, dedicated to the restoration of Glen Canyon, has added an online bookstore featuring water issues in the desert Southwest. Also available are “Restore Glen Canyon” bumper stickers, and […]
Posted inMay 25, 1998: Tackling tamarisk
Star Valley Historical Society
Wyoming’s Star Valley Historical Society hosts a “summer trek” June 26-28 for state Historical Society members. Walking tours near the Idaho border will lead to museums, emigration trails, geysers and historic factories for everything from guns to cheese. Registration forms appear in the May Wyoming History News and can also be obtained from the Star […]
Posted inMay 25, 1998: Tackling tamarisk
Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig
Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard and Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, both Republicans, aren’t happy about the Colorado BLM’s recent reinventory of potential wilderness areas, and they’ll be in Grand Junction, Colo., June 6 to talk about it. Their public meeting will be held at the Avalon Theater from 8-11 a.m.; on the night before, the nonprofit […]
Posted inMay 25, 1998: Tackling tamarisk
Natural Resource Laws and Public Lands Protection Conference
If the law of the land confuses you, look for answers at the Natural Resource Laws and Public Lands Protection Conference in Bozeman, Mont., June 12-13. The conference, sponsored by American Wildlands and the Law Fund, will discuss laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Freedom of Information […]
Posted inMay 25, 1998: Tackling tamarisk
Summer Fishtrap Gathering and Workshops
Eastern Oregon’s 11th annual Summer Fishtrap Gathering and Workshops July 6-12 will explore the nature of work in an age of increasing automation and the ways that people write about it. Stephanie Coontz, award-winning author of The Social Origins of Private Life: A History of American Families, will deliver a keynote; for more information write […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
No nuclear jeopardy in Wyoming
Will a nuclear waste dump be Wyoming’s economic salvation? No way, says the Wyoming Outdoor Council. Its new report, Nuclear Jeopardy: A Citizen’s Guide to Understanding High Level Radioactive Waste in Wyoming, spells out the group’s opposition to a proposed private dump site. Not only would the Owl Creek Energy Project damage the state’s tourism […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Wilderness Walks
The Montana Wilderness Association will lead 93 hikes on public lands during its 36th annual Wilderness Walks program from May through September. There’s a frog safari, a wildflower walk and even a hike led by a backcountry cooking expert – samples included. Group size is limited; advance reservations are required. For more information, call the […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Southwest Citizen Mining Activist Conference
Is your community fighting the 1872 Mining Law? Grassroots activists will get together at the Southwest Citizen Mining Activist Conference in Durango, Colo., May 29-31, to share war stories and talk about community organizing, national networking and technical mining issues. The conference is free to activists, and some travel scholarships are available. Call Aimee Boulanger […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Uniting Communities Concerned About Nuclear Contamination
Being neighbor to a nuclear lab or waste dump isn’t easy; Fight Back! Uniting Communities Concerned About Nuclear Contamination aims to bring activists together with scientists and radiation health professionals in Roswell, N.M., June 5-7. For details, write Center for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping (CARD), 144 Harvard SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106 (505/266-2663). This article appeared […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
A Culture to Sustain Us: Creating a Center that Holds
The Island Institute, located in the town of Sitka on Alaska’s Baranof Island, will host its 15th annual symposium on human values and the written word, June 18-24 , this time devoted to A Culture to Sustain Us: Creating a Center that Holds. Speakers include Cecilia Martz, a bilingual Cup’ik Eskimo educator, and Ray Rasker, […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Sheep is Life
A celebration of Shepherds and Weavers: Sheep is Life (Dibe-Diné bi½ iina½ in Navajo) invites those interested in Navajo-Churro sheep, wool processing and weaving techniques to spend June 25-28 at San Juan College in Farmington, N.M. Speakers include Lyle and Nancy McNeal, directors of the Navajo Sheep Project, and ecologist Gary Paul Nabhan, from the […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
National Wildlife Federation
The National Wildlife Federation likes to recognize young people, educators, the occasional legislator and others who contribute significantly to protecting the natural world. The process is not complicated; contact the group’s Communications Dept. at 8925 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22184-0001 (703/790-4085). The deadline for nominations is July 10. This article appeared in the print edition […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Green and Gold
The University of California at Santa Cruz will host Green and Gold, July 31-Aug. 2, a conference to commemorate both the 150th anniversary of the 1848 discovery of gold and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. For information call Carolyn Merchant at 510/642-0326, or check the conference Web site at www.cnr.berkeley.edu/departments/espm/env-hist/. This article […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Philosophy, History and Ethics of the Hunt
Orion: The Hunter’s Institute and Montana State University will host a Philosophy, History and Ethics of the Hunt conference July 25-Aug. 1 in Bozeman, Mont. Writers Mary Stange and Ted Kerasote are among those who will lead workshops on the role of hunters and hunting in the modern conservation movement. For more information, call 406/994-6683. […]