A landmark legal ruling is starting to put the splintered pieces of Indian Country back together. Plus, a look at the small herds that could be bison’s big step forward and developers aim to make money on Grand Canyon’s popularity.
We the people, and public lands
I appreciate Hal Herring’s candid description of his personal longing for freedom and his disappointment in the low intellectual content of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupiers’ motivations (“Making Sense of Malheur,” HCN, 3/21/16). Half a lifetime ago, I would have had more sympathy with the malcontents. Even now, I think that while the Hammonds…
Can a legal victory make Indian Country whole again?
For over a century, federal law has split Native American land holdings into tiny pieces. A settlement unites some of the splinters, but at a steep cost.
Where hope lingers like sagebrush on the wind
In his latest collection of Western tales, Percival Everett searches for the good in range life.
A photographer turns his lens on small-town bliss
A new exhibit in Denver, Colorado, looks at happiness in the rural West, focusing on Bliss, Idaho.
Worlds apart
Hal Herring writes thoughtfully and deeply about a misled and misdirected tragedy of ignorance (“Making Sense of Malheur”). His frustration at the lack of discussions of substance is what so many of us experience when trying to have a meaningful give-and-take dialogue with people who care not about any history other than that they’ve constructed…
A quiet revolution
Forty-five years ago, John Echohawk, a Pawnee who grew up in New Mexico among Navajos, Hopis, Utes, Apaches, Latinos and Anglos, got in on the ground floor of a revolution. While attending the University of New Mexico, he was encouraged to enter a new program focused on training Indian lawyers. It was a novel idea…
You want to develop clean energy on tribal land? Here’s how.
Across North America, fossil-fuel extraction and production has long been robbing tribal communities of clean water, clean air and a secure future. The Navajo of the Southwest, the Houma of the Gulf of Mexico, and the Dene of Alberta, Canada, are some of the tribes sacrificing ancestral homes to oil and gas fracking projects, coal…
Crime’s punishment out West and BLM patrol cuts
HCN.org news in brief.
Developers look to cash in on the Grand Canyon’s popularity
The landmark stands at a crossroads, as tourism booms and more development seems inevitable.
HCN founder Tom Bell to receive honorary degree
We have no idea how it happened, but March is already behind us. Our staff is still hoping for a little more snowfall before we put the skis away and break out the camping and hiking gear — though we’ve also begun shaking the dust from our packs, smearing on sunscreen and venturing onto the…
In bison recovery, scientists start small
A new approach to bison conservation focuses on many small herds on a patchwork of public and private land.
In the shadow of Silicon Valley, a new crop of tech-savvy farmers
Jacob Martinez, founder of Digital NEST, is teaching young Latinos the tech skills they’ll need in a new era of agriculture.
Latest: Arch Coal ends its pursuit of Otter Creek coal
The coal company has declared bankruptcy and is backing away from a project that sparked environmental concerns.
Latest: Wyoming drafts a Yellowstone grizzly management plan
The plan could eventually include regulated hunting of the bears.
Menace at the edge of sanctuary
In “The Animals,” a wildlife rescuer faces his ugly past.
No need for new parks
I lived in the Los Alamos area for over 26 years, and I am very dismayed and saddened to see what has become of the beloved Valle Grande (“A park ‘in the raw’,” HCN, 3/7/16), now Valles Caldera National Preserve. It was always so special to know that there was at least one place where…
Ranger danger, a case of mistaken fish identity and tiny-house dating
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Take a page from the mountain goats
A parent contemplates risk assessment with kids in the mountains.
Trailing away
The Oregon Trail was my introduction to the West (“Oregon’s Trail Through Time,” HCN, 3/7/16). In 1975, I embarked on an auto trip along as much of the trail as I could manage, using the late Gregory Franzwa’s The Oregon Trail Revisited as my guide, along with a huge roll of county road maps at…