Republicans, Tea Partiers and environmentalists unite against power transmission lines planned for Montana.
Oregon sculptor turns beach trash into meaningful art
South of Bandon, Ore., along Highway 101, there perches a 12-foot-tall bird with wings made of flip-flop soles and a belly of plastic lids. Its fishing-float feet are held in place by knotted plastic fishing line. The bird, which resembles the love child of an albatross, an eagle and a seagull, is just one of…
Montana transmission lines draw opposition from all sides
Whitehall, MontanaGeologist Debra Hanneman lives with her husband, geophysicist Chuck Wideman, in a modest, rambling house on the outskirts of town, a mile or so off Interstate 90. On a blustery morning in mid-January, the view through her glassed front door takes in an expanse of private and federal land, with dun-colored foothills rising toward…
Mount St. Helens: A world apart?
The hummocks of Mount St. Helens’ northern slope look decidedly haphazard. Barren, knuckle-shaped hills alternate with groves of red alder. A straggly willow grows from a mound of rocky soil. Patches of yellow moss are broken by wild strawberry blossoms and the occasional flare of red paintbrush. The effect is unsettling, as if the landscape…
New national forest rule lacks rigor
If you had come upon the U.S. Forest Service’s new draft planning rule in the second week of February and, unable to contain your curiosity, given it a hasty read, you might have come away impressed. Since 1982, the forest planning rule has provided the blueprint for managing 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands;…
Forestry + genetics = a blister rust solution?
In 1926, the U.S. Forest Service first found blister rust, a deadly fungus, on high-elevation whitebark pines in Montana. Since then, the Asian invader has spread through several species of five-needled pines in the West; it was first discovered in Arizona in 2009. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service is now considering whether whitebark pines,…
Domestic violence on the rez
Radmilla Cody and Geraldine Laughter discuss domestic violence and the challenges for enforcement and victim support services on the Navajo Nation. Last year, President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act, which could help improve enforcement and support for domestic violence victims on reservations around the country.
Bigger isn’t always better
The Bureau of Land Management’s Ray Brady says “there is no way a state like California is going to meet its goal of generating 33 percent of its electricity from renewable sources without utility-scale projects (HCN, 2/7/2011).” From my experience, this just isn’t true, and I’m getting tired of seeing it become a mantra. Since…
Crowdsourcing helps tackle environmental injustice in California’s Imperial Valley
The border city of Calexico, Calif. — population 27,000; 95 percent Latino; 25 percent poverty rate — is the kind of place where environmental laws are enforced last, if at all. But a local task force of residents, academics, and environment and health officials hope to change that. Last year, they launched the Imperial Visions…
Grant received, grant given
The Fund for Investigative Journalism recently awarded a $5,000 grant to HCN Contributing Editor Matt Jenkins, to support a reporting project over the next several months. Since 1969, the Fund has given out more than $1.5 million in grants to freelance reporters, book authors and small publications. They say ’tis better to give than to…
Life after lava
Biological diversity thrives around Mount St. Helens
Petroleum High: good or evil?
I appreciated the HCN article on the Taft Oil Technology Academy, even though the tone seemed to “warn” of indoctrination rather than celebrate a creative and effective educational strategy (HCN, 2/7/11). As a past elementary and high school teacher and school counselor, I know of many reliable sources and studies that indicate that the majority…
Thirteen ways of looking at a mushroom cloud
Friendly Fallout 1953Ann Ronald248 pages, hardcover: $24.95.University of Nevada Press, 2010.Friendly Fallout 1953, Nevada writer Ann Ronald’s latest exploration of place, is itself an experiment in fission — the literary kind. Set at Nevada’s Proving Ground, the book splits the telling of history among 12 fictional characters — plus Ronald herself — who witness the…
An Unusual Miss Navajo
Grand Falls, ArizonaRadmilla Cody knows the way home. It’s not an easy journey. The dirt roads are canoe-shaped and gouged by rain. They curl around hills and plunge into deep draws, finally bringing us to the family homestead near Grand Falls, on the Navajo Reservation. Cody grew up on these lonesome sage flats. Her Navajo…
Regaining identity through restoration
Charles Wilkinson’s new book describes how a tribe “terminated” by the federal government fought to regain its identity.
Educate on!
I graduated from Greenville High School in 1997, and I wish the natural resources program had been offered back then (HCN, 2/7/11). We need more of this type of education in our schools — and we need it soon. The more we get kids involved in caring for and studying natural resources, the brighter the…
A rose by any other name …
I’m curious as to why HCN‘s editors printed Craig Childs’ ghostwalking essay (HCN, 2/21/2011). By his own admission, Mr. Childs’ escapade took place in an “off-limits” area, where access was permitted “as long as nobody sees you.” Deliberately entering it was trespassing, pure and simple. Romanticizing Mr. Childs’ blatant disregard for the rights of others…
Predator control’s unsustainable roots
Tracy Ross’ story was a good first look at the politics of predator control (HCN, 2/21/2011). One thing this article missed, however, is the fact that politics also drives the overexploitation of moose and caribou by the hunting industry. Game managers are under intense pressure to allow unsustainable harvests. Add to the mix a for-profit…
More hunters, more dollars
As an avid hunter and wildlife enthusiast, I read your recent feature on Alaska’s predator control program with keen interest (HCN, 2/21/2011). Surprisingly, neither writer seems to have grasped the dirty little secret that underlies modern day wildlife management: It’s not about wildlife, it’s about hunter opportunity. Put simply, anything that negatively impacts huntable populations…