Acting on a recommendation from the state’s Water Development Commission, the Wyoming legislature recently approved a $30 million appropriation to build the Sandstone Dam (HCN, 12/27/93). The commission okayed the project despite conflicting evidence regarding the geologic suitability of the site. Mike West, a geologist hired by opponents of the dam, says he found irregularities […]
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Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Renewable energy festival
Democracy will be celebrated, but energy independence is the main theme of the first annual Freedom Festival July 3 in Glenwood Springs, Colo. The event features an array of renewable and sustainable energy products. Reggae music, alternative health care and craft booths will also share Two Rivers Park on the shores of the Roaring Fork […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Oil, feathers and EPA
Thousands of birds flying across the Western plains each year fatally mistake oil pits for bodies of water. Once the birds land, their feathers become coated and they die. In its first attempt to address the problem, the Environmental Protection Agency recently fined Texaco Refining and Marketing Inc. and four other companies $300,000 and ordered […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Millions for furniture
Between 1990 and 1992, the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon spent $5.4 million intended for reforestation on staff salaries, new furniture and remodeling buildings, a federal audit reports. Eventually, this misallocation could cost taxpayers up to $200 million from lost timber harvests. The 21-page report also found that since 1990 the Oregon BLM has […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Agency takes out a cabin
Jerry Holliday wasn’t pleased when he found out that Forest Service workers blasted down the walls of his cinderblock cabin in southern Utah’s Manti-La Sal National Forest. “Hell, you just don’t blow somebody’s property up and walk away,” Holliday told the Salt Lake Tribune. Holliday and co-owners Gene and Kenny Shumway had built the cabin […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Reading the West
-Reading and writing the West: explorers, adventurers and civilizers’ is the title of an intensive two-week course July 17-29 at the University of Nevada, Reno. Designed for teachers and others who want to learn about Western problems and issues from an interdisciplinary perspective, the course will explore the Truckee River Basin from Lake Tahoe to […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Who will lead the Navajo Nation?
Six candidates for the Navajo Nation presidency are officially in the running for the August 8 primary. Only two will face off in the November general election. For now the list of candidates reads like a directory of tribal leaders. Current tribal president Peterson Zah is seeking a third term. Running against him are tribal […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Summer camp for grown-ups
From June through August the Teton Science School in Jackson Hole, Wyo., offers day- and week-long natural history seminars for adults. Instructors such as photographer Bruce Thompson, artist Hannah Hinchman and naturalists Larry Livingood and Norm Bishop will offer their expertise on wildflower photography, field journals, alpine butterflies, wolf recovery in Yellowstone and scores of […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Grand traffic problems
Vacationers bound for Grand Canyon National Park may want to take the train this summer. Park superintendent Boyd Evison says 3,800 cars are currently arriving each day, and 6,400 vehicles will pack the park during the peak months of July and August. With only 1,600 parking spaces in the South Rim Village, that means drivers […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
Wind in the West
New wind turbines that produce electricity almost as cheaply as new coal- or natural gas-fired plants have spurred four wind power projects in the West. San Francisco-based Kenetech, the nation’s largest developer of wind energy, proposes three projects featuring turbines that adjust to wind speeds while still creating energy at a uniform rate. Two of […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
Our West
Perhaps the best way to understand the West is to live it. That’s the guiding philosophy behind the “Our West: Loving the Land” conference hosted by Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, June 19-25. Conference participants will live on a ranch and explore the Wind River Mountains with local environmentalists. There will also be […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
Suit halts coyote killings
Suit halts coyote killings When the federal government refused to shoot coyotes from the air last year, ranchers in Idaho appealed to the state Department of Agriculture for help. The agency responded by issuing seven aerial permits to gunners, who killed 193 coyotes. This year was different: Idaho’s attorney general recently shut down the state’s […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
Changing the law of the river
The Bureau of Rec-lamation has released a draft plan to change the way the Colorado River is managed within Nevada, Arizona and California (HCN, 2/21/94). “The lower Colorado River needs to meet the water needs of more people,” says commissioner Dan Beard. “In the past, we have managed the river primarily to serve agricultural and […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
Power plant disappears
Was it a hoax? Nine months after residents of Show Low, Ariz., fervently debated a proposal to build a 900-megawatt nuclear power plant in the nearby White Mountains, the proposal is dead. “It all just went away,” Show Low City Manager Patrick Sherman told the Arizona Republic. Last June, Phil Downing, then executive director of […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
Sharing the land
The Jackson Hole Alliance for Responsible Planning and the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative will host a conference on preserving biological diversity surrounding Jackson Hole June 3-5. “Sharing the land: Preserving Jackson Whole,” at Snow King Resort, features field trips, lectures, roundtable discussions and workshops offered by writers and educators. Speakers include wildlife researchers Tim Clark […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
Mushrooming business is curbed
The Forest Service has developed new rules to get a handle on the Northwest’s booming mushroom industry. During the last three years agency officials in Oregon and Washington have seen violent conflicts break out among pickers, as well as damage to forest lands (HCN, 6/28/93). Mike Rassbach, special forest products coordinator for the region, says […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
All eyes on cows
Every Bureau of Land Management district in the West will hold simultaneous public hearings June 8 on Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s Rangeland Reform “94 proposal. Most hearings will start with a workshop to explain the new grazing plan, then open for public testimony. The BLM wants to hear comments on two documents: proposed grazing regulations […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
Recycling attracts Utah tribe
In a move to create jobs and build a stronger economic base, the Skull Valley Goshute Tribe in Utah has joined forces with two environmental engineering firms to form a company called EnviroSolutions. “The largest markets in the 1990s and beyond are going to be in the environment,” says tribal attorney Danny Quintana. EnviroSolutions recently […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
Endangered waters
The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone is the most endangered river in North America, reports the environmental group American Rivers. The wild and scenic river, which runs through Montana and Wyoming, is threatened by a proposed gold mine two-and-a-half miles from Yellowstone National Park. The project includes a 90-foot dam designed to hold millions of […]
Posted inMay 30, 1994: Can mining come clean?
International park draws fire
Supporters of an international park said, “Nature knows no borders,” but protesters at a recent Seattle conference didn’t agree. Two hundred park demonstrators marched and chanted, “What do we want? No park!” while United States and Canadian park representatives talked about joining recreation areas and parks in the 11 million-acre North Cascades ecosystem. Protesters fear […]