The Sundance Film Festival is underway at Park City, Utah. This year the annual event is being covered by the alternative media news program Democracy Now!. Today, Democracy Now aired an interview with Sundance founder and LA native Robert Redford. Redford was asked to describe Utah where he owns land and a home. He did […]
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Tribal push to regulate Native ceremonies
When I first saw the headlines coming out of Arizona regarding a push to regulate tribal ceremonies, I couldn’t help but think tribal sovereignty might be in danger. But then I learned that the effort is coming from tribal leaders themselves in response to the three Sedona, AZ deaths and 19 illnesses that took place […]
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Venison a la plomb
Deer hunting season is over in the West. And if you were a good aim, your freezer is chock full of venison — looking a lot like the meat section at Costco. But be warned, new research suggests that eating game shot with lead bullets may expose you and your family to lead, a poisonous […]
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Timber Corporations, Real Estate and Community Forests
Weyerhauser – the nation’s largest timber company – has announced that it will convert itself into a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). The company’s stock rose about 7% when the conversion was announced in December. The Weyerhauser announcement came as no surprise to those familiar with western forest management; it has been under discussion for […]
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Ray Ring, Andy Stahl and the Clinton Roadless Rule
Ray Ring’s response to Andy Stahl’s letter (12-21 & 1-4 edition) taking exception to a point in Ray’s article on the Clinton Administration’s roadless area rulemaking ( 11-9 edition) was not adequate. While there are partisans within the Forest Service on each “side” of the roadless debate, anyone who works closely with the agency knows […]
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Welcoming Energy Production Home
In 2007, the Oxford American Dictionary named “locavore” the word of the year. As most High Country News readers know, locavores are people who choose to consume food that is locally grown, harvested, or produced, usually within 100 miles of the purchase point. The locavore movement came into being after a small group of people […]
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Does the Forest Service Truly Believe in Collaboration?
Recently, the U.S. Forest Service announced another attempt to revise its planning regulations. While the agency takes aim at making its decision-making more collaborative, at the same time it’s running into conflict from other planning processes at the state level. Many readers are probably familiar with the Forest Service’s saga of revision, as the agency […]
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We are all preservationists now!
If you have yet to read Jonathan Thompson’s feature Wind Resistance in the December 09-January 10 edition you have a treat in store. By describing in vivid detail the politics surrounding wind power development in Wyoming, Jonathan elucidates what may be the largest cultural change which the West has experienced in this century so far […]
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A roller-coaster decade
By David Frey, NewWest.net guest blogger, 12-29-09 The last 10 years in the West was a wild roller coaster ride, a decade of explosions and implosions: nine years of mostly up, up, up and one year of solid down. Here are five top trends that shaped the region in the first decade of a new […]
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What’s next for Indigenous people facing climate disruption?
Terri Hansen, a correspondent for Indian Country Today, attended the Copenhagen climate talks. She followed the story of how of indigenous rights, including those of American Indian tribes, were left out of the COP-15 talks, and filed this report for the HCN Grange blog. Indigenous peoples face big climate problems but had little say at […]
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Joshua Tree Landfill Victory
Joshua Tree National Park’s Eagle Mountains conjure up images of remote desert peaks, a boundless blue sky and the namesake bird of prey that soars above pristine canyons. But for many of us, Eagle Mountain brings to mind the ongoing battle over the proposed Eagle Mountain Landfill, to be located on lands belonging to Kaiser […]
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California’s Carbon Game
As the world focuses on the Stockholm Climate Change Conference, how California is addressing climate change is generating conflict. In late November the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued a draft of what are likely to be the first government regulations in the nation for carbon trading. Two environmental justice organizations – Communities for a […]
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How to Deal with a Deer Invasion
My mother has a tough decision to make. Her recent city newsletter informed her that the deer must die, and it’s up to her to decide how they croak. Bountiful, Utah has a mule deer problem—they’ve invaded. When I visited home this summer, I’d probably see at least one deer every week. They’d dart across […]
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Indian Trust, settled at last
By Courtney Lowery, Newwest.net guest blogger, 12-08-09 The Obama Administration today announced that it will settle in the landmark class-action lawsuit against the Interior Department that alleged gross mismanagement of American Indian trust accounts. In a press conference, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder said the settlement will mean $1.4 billion will […]
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Seek bliss … and work together
What do we want in a health care system? It’s a question Dr. Donald Berwick asked an audience of 5,000-plus people at the Institute for Health Care Improvement’s National Forum in Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday. Such an easy question. I can quickly rattle off answers: I want health care for my family. I want to […]
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What the Nuclear Boosters Don’t Tell You
On its surface, Grants doesn’t look like the Gateway to the Nuclear West. Its shuttered buildings, dilapidated store fronts, and overgrown vacant lots are what’s left of the promised prosperity from the last uranium boom. To really understand Grants’ and the region’s past and potential future, you’ve got to go below the surface. From the […]
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Health care reform helps tribes
A generation ago Indian Country wasn’t included in the conversation about health care reform. When Congress enacted Medicaid and Medicare it pretended that the Indian Health Service didn’t exist. It was as if it had never occurred to the government, that it, too, ran a major health care delivery system. Say what you like about […]
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The Pesticide Wars
If the American Farm Bureau Federation has its way, the issue of whether herbicide spraying over water requires a Clean Water Act permit will be heard by the Supreme Court. A coalition of agricultural groups led by the Federation has petitioned the nation’s highest court to reverse an appellate court decision which found that such […]
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Reader Photo – Cowboy Up
This week’s reader photo is a classic Western image from a great photographer who’s shared a bunch of neat shots up on HCN’s Flickr Pool. Check them out and add yours!
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Wyoming – the Uranium State?
They’re calling it a “uranium renaissance.” Wyoming is prepping itself for what is slated to be another boom in uranium mining for the fourth time in 60 years. Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West are all too familiar with energy boom and bust cycles. Just ask all the people who lost jobs in the oil […]