RENO, Nev. – Grace Potorti lives 10 minutes away from the neon lights and slot machines of this “Biggest Little City in the World.” Hers seems an unremarkable home – magnets adorn the refrigerator, two teenage children drift in and out. But from this base, the 40-something Potorti takes on the Pentagon – for the […]
Stanley Yung
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Adopt a stream
Driving the West’s highways, you can’t help but notice the blue “Adopt a Highway” signs announcing who’s agreed to pick up trash beside the road. Now, the Colorado Water Conservation Board has started a similar program to help monitor stream flows. The agency is responsible for maintaining adequate water levels in 1,300 of the most […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Squawking gets squawfish renamed
The squawfish is about to be rechristened. The Names of Fishes Committee of the American Fisheries Society has recommended that all squawfish be renamed pikeminnows. Although the committee is reluctant to change common names for fear of causing confusion, it made an exception this time because “names should not violate the tenets of good taste.” […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Top gun seeks more of the high desert
Two years ago, a remarkable coalition formed in rural central Nevada to halt the spread of Navy war games on public lands. Low-flying jets and the military’s hunger for land withdrawals spurred the Sierra Club, the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, People for the USA, and almost every level of government – from local land-use boards to […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Loggers told to stop cutting
In an unprecedented action against a major timber company, California suspended Pacific Lumber’s operating license this November. The Humboldt County company, locked in confrontation with environmentalists over the giant coastal redwoods of the Headwaters Forest, was cited for numerous violations, including cutting trees too close to streams and driving heavy equipment in spotted-owl habitat. Paul […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Crystal Mountain plans to grow
Ski resort collector Boyne USA is laying the groundwork for a massive makeover of Crystal Mountain in Washington’s Cascade Mountains. Boyne, also the owner of Big Sky in Montana (HCN, 3/31/97), plans to pump $40 million into the resort to keep Seattle-area skiers from fleeing the state to visit other resorts. Improvements include 10 new […]
Posted inDecember 7, 1998: Vail and the road to a recreational empire
Newcomers battle over river resort
MOAB, Utah – Ten years ago, Karen Nelson arrived in southern Utah, drawn by redrock canyons, whitewater and a simpler way of life. A native of California, she moved to Castle Valley, a community of 50 homes nestled above the Colorado River; there, she made a living handcrafting furniture. A stretch of Route 128, called […]
Posted inNovember 23, 1998: A patchwork peace unravels
Amax’s return delayed
The return of a molybdenum mine proposed for Red Lady Bowl near Crested Butte, Colo., has been stalled – temporarily, at least (HCN, 12/8/97). In September, a water court judge postponed a trial to determine whether mining conglomerate Cyprus-Amax can create a reservoir, after the company changed its plans. Cyprus-Amax decided to downsize the mine […]
Posted inNovember 9, 1998: Grizzly war
Lynx stops timber sale
The Canada lynx – proposed but not yet listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act – has stopped a controversial timber sale in southern Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest. Deputy Regional Forester Tom Thompson overturned an earlier decision to allow the 1,473-acre Tie Camp timber sale within a dense forest of lodgepole pine, spruce […]
Posted inNovember 9, 1998: Grizzly war
Trading up to salmon power
The Emerald People’s Utility District near Eugene, Ore., says it will provide “green power” to its customers. The district has agreed to pay 75 percent more to a new partnership between the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and a trio of environmental groups formed to encourage energy production that doesn’t harm air quality or salmon. The […]
Posted inNovember 9, 1998: Grizzly war
Spotted owls vs. jobs?
Does environmental protection really cause timber workers to lose their jobs? An article by University of Wisconsin sociologist Bill Freudenburg says no. His peer-reviewed study tracks employment numbers through three flashpoints of the modern environmental movement: 1964, when the Wilderness Act became law; the advent of Earth Day in 1970; and the northern spotted owl […]
Posted inOctober 26, 1998: The Oregon way
Varmints
Some think of prairie dogs as oversized, furry rats – agricultural pests that compete with cows for forage. Others see them as essential parts of prairie ecosystems. Varmints, a soon-to-be-released documentary from High Plains Films, explores the heated controversy that has mobilized the Sierra Club in defense of the critters, and has spawned the Varmint […]
Posted inOctober 26, 1998: The Oregon way
Guidebook with attitude
After traipsing around Washington state’s wildlands for the past 50 years, Ira Spring and Harvey Manning have put together an eccentric and entertaining guidebook, 100 Classic Hikes in Washington, covering the North Cascades, Olympics, Mount Rainier and South Cascades, Alpine Lakes and Glacier Peak. Unlike other guidebooks, in which environmentalism goes unmentioned, 100 Classic Hikes […]
Posted inOctober 12, 1998: A river becomes a raw nerve
Holding the line
For a diligent review of environmental issues facing Arctic and interior Alaska, you might look to the 27-year-old Northern Alaska Environmental Center and its 20-page, quarterly newsletter, The Northern Line. The title recalls a Gary Snyder poem, “Behind is a forest that goes to the Arctic … and here we must draw our line.” Supported […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Tour the underground
It’s probably not the first place you might think of for a family vacation, but coal mines and electricity-generating plants in North Dakota have packaged a tour of their facilities as the “Energy Trail.” Hitting the trail offers more than authentic coal soot. If you time it right, Thursday at the Freedom Mine in Mercer […]
Posted inSeptember 28, 1998: A senator for the New West in the race of his life
Glacier takes a stand
A draft plan for managing Glacier National Park in Montana for the next 20 years would avoid problems plaguing other national parks by proposing bold moves: banning personal watercraft use and barring commercial air tours. The proposal would also protect historic lodges, gradually improve Going-to-the-Sun Road, increase services for visitors during the winter season, and […]