“When I saw the night sky for the first time in the Mojave National Preserve I felt like a layer of film had been peeled away from my eyes,” says David Lamfrom, the Barstow based field coordinator for the National Parks Conservation Association. “I want the kids who live in the high desert to realize […]
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A Western Town, Contaminated
Bryce Andrews of the Clark Fork River Coalition, reports from a Superfund Meeting at the Opportunity, Mont., Community Center I drove in just before 7 pm, down a little spur road that headed west a few miles after Warm Springs. Ahead of me the Anaconda Stack, lit up by amber lights around its base, slipped […]
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Reader Photo – Red Aspen Leaves
I pondered featuring this reader photo a couple weeks ago, but ended up with a different choice. Today, though, the sparkling vermilion of these aspen leaves, now blanketing forest floors across the West, brought me a bright remembrance of Colorado’s autumn moments, which I wanted to share with you. Across most of the West it’s […]
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Big Ag wins big in California
Depending on who you listen too, sweeping water-related legislation recently enacted in California is either a solution to the states water conflicts, a recipe for increased conflict and the domination of corporate water brokers, or a partial step forward that will succeed or fail depending on future legislative and administrative actions. Here’s how Lester Snow, […]
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When Consensus Doesn’t Mean Consensus
A few days ago a letter [pdf] written by scientists at Brigham Young University — a traditionally conservative school — plopped onto the desks of Utah’s governor and state lawmakers. The letter is being called a “stinging rebuke” and criticizes how, in a recent session, legislators gave equal value to fringe, skeptical climate change views […]
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Back at the Table, Again
The creation of Washington State’s current logging regulations may have been less spectacular that the infamous spotted owl timber wars of the early 90s (the President didn’t have to intervene, for instance), but they were still righteously complicated. Ten years ago, when salmon hit the endangered species list, stakeholders sat down to create a multi-trick […]
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Can a border wall ever truly be removed?
It’s been 20 years this month since the Berlin Wall was dismantled, marking the beginning of the end for the Iron Curtain that once separated Eastern Europe from much of the western world. But according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, some of the region’s wildlife still hasn’t forgotten the man-made boundary that interrupted […]
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Reader Photo: Ice on Hall Mountain
This week’s HCN Reader photo looks like a magical sunrise in a winter fairyland. Although much of the West remains cloaked in the fall-to-winter transition, bits of winter peek through here – we thought this image offered a nice preview of what’s to come. Add your photo to our reader pool on Flickr – we […]
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All Science is Political
Earlier this month, I was privileged to be part of a keynote panel at the 10th Biennial Conference for research on the Colorado Plateau. I chose, in part, to talk about the relationship of science and public policy making, because I had just finished writing an essay on that topic for the soon-to-be-published science assessment […]
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A Halloween Horror
This is my first Halloween as a dad. As the October days have waned, I’ve grown increasingly excited to check out the nearby Halloween costume store to find a perfect trick-or-treat outfit for my new baby girl. The other day, with permission from baby’s mama, we finally went. The ghoulish masks, wicked wigs, and gory […]
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More gas, less grouse
By Courtney Lowery, NewWest.net guest blogger, 10-27-09 A new study shows that sage grouse, up for Endangered Species listing in February, will face even bigger population declines in the Mountain West if energy development progresses as Bureau of Land Management expects it to. The three year study, published earlier this month in the peer-reviewed PLoS […]
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The debate that drags on
How long will the health care reform debate drag on? The Hill newspaper says “deep into December and possibly beyond by a lengthy floor debate.” If that seems like a long time, consider that the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act has been pending since 1999. Last week hearings were held in the […]
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The Delta Blues
There is a saying in the West that water flows toward money. That saying seems to be playing out in California this fall.The California legislature is currently considering legislation that some say will fix California’s water woes and others say is intended to result in more North State Water going to powerful agricultural corporations and […]
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Reader Photo – Basque Dancers
This week’s reader photo seemed to all-too-perfectly match the theme of the latest issue of High Country News, which focuses on “cultural collisions” and those bringing new traditions to the West. While our recent reporting highlights cultures new to the West, this image, from the Trailing of the Sheep festival in Idaho, shows cultures that […]
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HCN Reader Photo: Yellowstone Thermal Pool
I’m continually amazed and inspired by the beauty captured and posted in photographic form by High Country News readers at our HCN Flickr Pool. Not only are readers capturing the beauty of the West, they’re cataloging their fascinating explorations and keen observations of the landscape they call home. It’s getting harder and harder to choose […]
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Native voting rights and the West
Of the many findings presented in a recent American Civil Liberties Union report, which concludes that many Indians face discriminatory policies and actions that deny them their constitutional right to vote, poor circumstances facing western tribal citizens tend to stand out. One of the most shocking cases of disenfranchisement highlighted in the report, titled “Voting Rights […]
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Reader Photo: Angel Peak
We’re loving the variety and beauty of the many photos HCN readers are posting up on our Flickr group. This week’s selection was tough, since there are so many amazing images. But the old-timey feel of this image makes it an instant classic – it seems like a snapshot you’d find in an old shoebox […]
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New Pew database tracks government subsidies
The Pew Charitable Trust has launched a new effort and website which “aims to raise public awareness about the role of federal subsidies in the economy. Subsidyscope should be useful to Westerners who want to know the details of where federal subsidies are distributed around our region. it has long been observed that – while […]
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Time for the cows to come home
On October 1st, we trailed 136 cow/calf pairs down Dry Cottonwood Creek and settled them in a stubble field near the Clark Fork River. This cattle drive marked the end of the 2009 grazing season and the beginning of our shift toward winter management of the ranch and herd. Now, with the days getting […]
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HCN Reader Photo: A Still Moment at Navajo Arch
Fall, for me at least, is the time of still moments, of stepping back and watching silently as the light shifts and the colors change. This photo, by Flickr user juliaahbell, while black and white, seemed to capture that feeling perfectly. High Country News picks a reader photo each week (approximately) – join our Flickr […]