I am 88 and have seen a lot of change over the decades, but I do not think anyone living now has ever faced a more serious threat to life than the threat of global climate change. As President Obama said recently, “More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke. They’re a threat […]
Tom Bell
Posted inWotr
Era of the sage grouse is coming to an end
Sage grouse were an important part of this Wyoming ranch kid’s early life. My dad’s place included a range of sage-covered hills, and on those hills and many more between the ranch and foothills of the Wind River Mountain Range, there were thousands of sage grouse we sometimes called sage hens, or sage chickens. The […]
Posted inWotr
The biggest environmental issue is staring us in the face
Tom Bell says we’d better connect the dots that reveal global warming.
Posted inSeptember 30, 2002: Delta Blues
Farewell to Dave Love
Dear HCN, One of the authentic icons of 20th century Wyoming and the West is gone. Dr. J. David Love, known to many as a great geologist and to many others as simply a friend, died Aug. 23 (HCN, 9/16/02: A legend of the land). He was 89. His humble beginnings as a ranch boy […]
Posted inMarch 27, 2000: The last wild river
High Country
Gov. Stanley K. Hathaway was criticized last week for siding with the mineral industry in Wyoming. It was not an unusual situation. I was doing the criticizing and he was doing the reacting. The governor said of me, “He hasn’t had anything good to say about this administration for six years.” In which he was […]
Posted inMarch 13, 2000: Libby's dark secret
Tom Bell: The rancher’s dominance is over
Dear HCN, Wyoming’s illustrious Senate president, Mr. Twiford of Douglas (HCN, 2/28/00: A prof takes on the sacred cow), needs to creep out of his cave, somewhere in the wilds of Converse County, and smell the roses. This is the 21st century, not the 1890s, and the times they are a-changin’. I flew with the […]
Posted inAugust 21, 1995: HCN's founder fights his last fight, yet again
Tom Bell
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, HCN’s founder fights his last fight, yet again. Tom Bell: “The issue of the proposed Altamont natural gas pipeline being constructed through historic South Pass in Wyoming should be a case study in how government should not work. Thanks to rogue agencies and rogues […]
Posted inOctober 10, 1988: Environmentalism triumphant
Tourism beats logging in Wyoming
In theory, every U.S. citizen has an equal say in the management of public lands. In fact, residents of small towns dotted across the rural West exert a disproportionate control over those lands. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/20.19/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inMay 14, 1984: A stripmine clashes with an ancient Anasazi ruin
Taking the broad geographical view
Tom Bell reflects on HCN’s move from Lander, Wyo. to Paonia, Colo., saying that HCN is a useful voice, still needed, wherever it’s situated. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/16.9/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inJuly 19, 1974: Coal shifts to West
Coal shifts to West
A curious thing is happening on the way to energy independence: an east-to-west shift in coal production is actually going to be putting western coal into power plants in West Virginia and Ohio. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/6.15/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inJune 21, 1974: It's chicken power tomorrow
It’s chicken power tomorrow
Digesting human, animal and vegetable wastes to produce methane is sure to become and important source of energy in the future. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/6.16-1/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inMay 10, 1974: Water dictates Western future
Water dictates Western future
Water — the lack of it and the need for it — looms ever larger in the West’s developing energy situation. Water is used in huge amounts to generate electricity in coal-fired plants, to gasify coal, to liquify coal, and to develop oil shale. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/6.10/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inApril 26, 1974: To dam a river
Lost — a chance to be different
The re-design and re-building of the Wyoming Governor’s mansion was a chance to celebrate energy efficiency and alternative energy, but the selection panel chose the conventional option. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/6.9/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inNovember 23, 1973: The crisis in energy: Water comes up short
The crisis in energy: Water comes up short
In Wyoming and eastern Montana, plans for harnessing the Powder River Basin’s coal to ease the energy crisis are running into the realities of limited water supply. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/5.23/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inOctober 26, 1973: Black clouds gather
Black clouds gather
As the energy crisis deepens, the clear skies of Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains are threatened by the extraction of vast deposits of coal. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/5.21/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inSeptember 14, 1973: Our land is finite ...
Our land is finite …
Viewed in historical perspective, the disruption of our western landscape by second home developments may be of far greater importance than any other factor — more even than strip mining for coal, oil shale and uranium. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/5.18/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inJune 8, 1973: Popo Agie to be considered
Popo Agie to be considered
A hearing slated for Lander could determine how much of the Popo Agie Primitive Area in Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains will be set aside as future wilderness. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/5.12/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inApril 27, 1973: 'Landmark' case heard
‘Landmark’ case heard
In a hearing concerning Wyoming’s Teton National Forest, environmental groups argued that the U.S. Forest Service had not complied with the National Environmental Policy Act or its own regulations in awarding timbering contracts. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/5.9/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inMarch 30, 1973: Thanks! (to our dedicated readers)
Thanks! (to our dedicated readers)
What has happened to High Country News this month is nothing short of miraculous: new subscribers and donations have put High Country News on strong footing. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/5.7/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Posted inFebruary 16, 1973: The crisis in energy: strip-mining laws
The crisis in energy: strip-mining laws
As Montana and Wyoming struggle to enact protective legislation in the face of ever-expanding strip mining, landowners, environmentalists and an awakening public are being pitted against the energy lobby. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/5.4/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E