Former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne donated about $3.5 million to the University of Wyoming, and in return UW named a 20,000-square-foot center in Cheney’s honor. The Cheney International Center will house the university’s international programs, which include the study of global economic systems, international culture and social issues, international development and […]
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Victorious in Victor
Students and teachers at the Teton Valley Community School in Victor, Idaho, are heading back to school with a new spring in their step. That’s because their design won the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom–a competition hosted by Architecture for Humanity, selected from more than 400 qualified entries from over 65 countries, which I blogged […]
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Medic!
Picture yourself on the front lines of a massive wildfire — soot smeared into the creases of your face, your clothes stiff and itchy with days-old sweat, your palms blistered from grubbing a fire line through duff and brush with a Pulaski. What dangers might you face? Falling snags? A fire sweeping uphill faster than […]
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It Happened in the Shrubbery
Last weekend, as the Station wildfire on the northern edge of urban Los Angeles doubled, and doubled, and then doubled again – it has now grown to 250 square miles in the Angeles National Forest – I sat down to re-read “Fire Management of California Shrubland Landscapes” by Jon E. Keeley of the U.S. Geological […]
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Obama’s speech to students
Whipped up by right-wing talk shows, conservatives are criticizing President Obama’s back-to-school speech — which will “challenge students to work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning,” according to the U.S. Department of Education — as “indoctrination.” The Associated Press reports that: Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna requested additional information […]
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“Nuclear whack-a-mole”
Last week, attorneys for the state of Utah joined the fray against nuclear-waste disposal company EnergySolutions by filing an appeal against a ruling that would allow the company to import foreign nuclear waste to the state. EnergySolutions, a Salt Lake City-based company that disposes of low-level radioactive waste from other states, has been in talks to import up […]
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Hunters become the hunted
Yesterday, on the opening day of Idaho’s first wolf season in decades, at least two hunters made quick use of their recently purchased wolf tags. The hunt began amidst whirling debate, after Montana Federal Judge Donald W. Molloy delayed ruling on a lawsuit brought by 13 environmental groups to halt the hunt. Concerned that the […]
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State Parks Spread the Wealth
The Road-Warrior anarchy that may await some state parks in the West (see “Lawless Future” in this week’s issue) if funding cutbacks close park gates may not have much of an impact on overall state revenues. Despite what many good-hearted park defenders argue, state parks don’t rake in piles of cash. Only 13 of California’s sexiest state […]
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The River Dry
If we keep sucking down Colorado River water the way we have been (likely), and if climate change reduces the amount of water in the system (also likely) there’s a fifty-fifty chance that the system’s reservoirs will hit bottom by the middle of this century. That’s the stark conclusion of a new study released in […]
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Today’s best fire pics
This morning, the fires continue to burn in California, Utah, Arizona, Colorado and elsewhere. And the haunting yet beautiful fire photos continue to make their way into the Intertubes so that those of us who are lucky enough to be far away from the fires can experience them vicariously, and safely. The L.A. Times probably […]
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Summer’s almost over (and fire season is here)
Yowch. It’s hot out and it’s dry and it’s smoky. Often, in this part of Colorado, the end of August marks the tail end of the wet monsoon season. This year, the monsoons were rather feeble, if they arrived at all, and during the last two weeks we’ve experienced some of our hottest days of […]
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Eenie meenie (money) moe
In this era of hyped-up security concerns about our southern border, why would a remote Montana border station with a daily average of three travelers get $15 million of stimulus money? Montana Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus say it’s because they asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to fund projects in their state, whose […]
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Funding to fight domestic violence
In recent weeks, the Obama administration has made safety on Indian reservations a major priority, doling out a slew of grants to tribes all over the West. “The Department of Justice is well aware that Indian Country is struggling with complex law enforcement issues involving violent crime, violence against women and crimes against children, and […]
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Down and out
Joe Griego hasn’t worked in nine months. He hasn’t been able to do much since a bull crushed his ribs and damaged his spinal cord while he was on the clock at a New Mexico dairy. He hasn’t been sitting around milking workers’ compensation checks while he recovers, either. In fact, Griego’s had little help […]
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Milk: It doesn’t always do a body good
If you haven’t read Rebecca Clarren’s excellent HCN cover story on the West’s immigrant dairy workers and the on-the-job dangers they face, do it now! If you have read it and want to learn more, you should check out the story’s hefty (and heavy) sidebar: A comprehensive list of deaths and injuries in the West’s […]
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Fighting the fire
“A healthy, fit firefighter is a safe firefighter.” This is what Stan Palmer, a member of the Northwest Wildfire Coordinating Group’s Safety and Health Working Team tells me when I ask about firefighter fatalities (See the related infographic on the top five causes of firefighter deaths since 1910). Over the years, firefighters in the West […]
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Pot season in the parks
High Country News reported this phenomenon four years ago, in a piece by Adam Burke called The Public Lands’ Big Cash Crop. But this year the story is making big headlines around the West as huge gardens of marijuana are discovered and destroyed on public land from California to Colorado. The Denver Post reported today […]
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Classroom innovation
In eastern Idaho, one small rural school recently gained international fame. In late July, the Teton Valley Community School of Victor, Idaho, was recognized as one of eight finalists in the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom. The competition, sponsored by Architecture for Humanity, received 400 submissions from 65 countries. Finalists included two other U.S. teams […]
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Nestle water plan approved
Last week, Nestle received approval to tap mountain spring water and haul it to Denver for bottling and distribution under its Arrowhead label. The approval came from a unanimous board of Chaffee County Commissioners, following months of deliberations and lengthy hearings. Chaffee County, with about 15,000 residents, sits along the Arkansas River in […]
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“Don’t lie for the other guy”
Sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, a new campaign aims to slow the flow of guns bought in Arizona and smuggled into Mexico. “Don’t lie for the other guy” is currently emblazoned on 92 […]