Quagga mussels – an extraordinarily prolific and costly invasive species – have appeared in Lake Mead, and no one is sure how to keep these unwanted newcomers from infesting the West.
Also in this issue: Condor 134’s harrowing experience with lead poisoning exemplifies these endangered birds’ greatest challenge – which some advocates hope to ease by banning lead bullets in California.
A moment of silence for our meat
Laura Paskus’ article on the traveling butchering unit in Taos seemed very insensitive. “Beginning this spring, cattle, pigs, lamb, goats, even bison, will trot up the ramp leading into the back of the Mobile Matanza, where they’ll be met by …” This line is complemented by a picture of a man sharpening a large knife.…
The once-over on overgrazing
Please do not take the editorial advice from Mark Salvo concerning the use of the word “overgrazing.” It is ironic that Salvo portrays himself as being on the side of “rational discourse” when he appears in fact to be one of those zealots who believes that any grazing in that nonexistent monolith he calls “the…
Let’s start with a Kennecott Mine
The “Condemned” article stated that “private parties” like corporations can condemn private property, bypassing government, for “public use” in five Western states. If that is the case, then why can’t “private parties” like incorporated environmental groups condemn the private property of corporations for “public use”? Rather than fight to change the state constitutions, use existing…
Labels are for pickle jars
Looking at the 2008 election in “Two Weeks in the West,” Jonathan Thompson appropriately pointed out the condescending nature of the New York Post’s headline about a New Mexican politician tossing his “sombrero” into the presidential ring. He then went on in the same paragraph to use the same inappropriate style by including the religious…
When analogies go bad
Too bad Matt Jenkins ruined an otherwise well-researched, well-written article, “The Efficiency Paradox,” with his out-of-line comments in the sixth paragraph from the end. “Doddering snowbirds”… come on. Do doddering snowbirds walk three miles a day or hike to the bottom and back of Bryce Canyon in 90 degree heat at over 9,000 foot altitude?…
Our sincere apologies
Your amusement in “Heard Around the West” concerning the Idaho Statesman headline about a missing councilman is not at all amusing. This is a local gentleman that stopped to assist a driver at the side of the highway, and as a result it is assumed that he was hit by a passing vehicle or jumped…
‘Taking Liberties’ on the High Plains
As a longtime HCN subscriber, I want to congratulate Ray Ring on winning the (George) Polk Award (I just got your e-mail notice of the award at The Chadron Record, where I am editor and publisher). “Taking Liberties,” his article on the Libertarian election initiatives, was a great example of how even a small paper…
Don’t send a check, send yourself
When I first visited “Carnage Canyon” in the 1970s, it was clear to me how it got its name. The place was a mess. It had become a racetrack for racing bikes and motorcycles that zipped up and down the sides of the canyon. A few years later, people dragged in old refrigerators, cars and…
Welcome to the Homogocene
The snow has started to melt off the pasture behind our house, revealing an emerald-green carpet of grass. It’s a welcome sight, but how, you might wonder, could the grass already be green in mid-February? Because it is cheatgrass, an exotic Eurasian species that springs up and matures faster than any of the West’s native…
A geography of the imagination
At first glance, Home Ground resembles a straightforward encyclopedia of geography. But crack the book open, and you find yourself in unexpected territory, a geography of the imagination that blends literature, science, folklore and history. Author and editor Barry Lopez got the idea for the book after a frustrating attempt to find a definition for…
The knowledge of mules
I know more about mules than I want to. I know the scent of their sweat mixed with their steaming breath at 3 in the morning. I know the sight of a fully packed mule string, nine animals long, under the light of a full moon. I know the taut sound of a manila breakaway…
Two weeks in the West
This is the way the world ends: Not with a bang, but a whimper
Getting the lead out
A proposed ban on lead ammo in California could save condors
Stream leases languish
Efforts to privatize instream-flow protection fall short
A wolf’s life
NAME: B7 WEIGHT AT RELEASE: 74 pounds AT DEATH: 97 pounds ESTIMATED WEIGHT IN HIS PRIME: 120 pounds RELEASED: Indian Creek, Idaho, Jan. 20, 1995 ESTIMATED AGE: 13.75-14.75 years old ORIGINAL PACK: The Oldman River, Alberta KNOWN FOR: Being the last of the 29 wolves introduced into the U.S. from Canada in 1995 EMBARRASSING FACTS:…
Battling over ballast
The zebra mussel’s aptitude as an invader is rivaled only by its skill as a lobbyist. In 1990, while the mussels’ mischief on the Great Lakes reached its height, Congress passed a law aimed at regulating ballast water — the water, hauled by empty ships for stability and balance, that is also the mussels’ most…
Don’t move a mussel
Whether you raft, kayak, fish or swim in Western waters, you can make sure quagga mussels — and other aquatic invasives — don’t travel with you. Here’s how. Before leaving any body of water: Inspect your boat, trailer, clothing and any other wet gear for plants, fish or animals, and remove them on site. Wash…
Wish You Weren’t Here
Quagga mussels — an extraordinarily prolific and costly invasive species — jump from the Midwest to Lake Mead. Dealing with them will be anything but a vacation.
We’re Honored
High Country News Northern Rockies Editor Ray Ring has won the 2006 George Polk Award for Political Reporting for his story, “Taking Liberties,” an in-depth look at a secretive libertarian campaign to cripple land-use planning in six Western states. One of the most prestigious prizes in American journalism, the Polk Award was established at Long…
Heard around the West
THE NATION Pity Gail Kimbell, the first woman appointed chief of the U.S. Forest Service. On Feb. 5 — her first day of work — President Bush proposed cutting her budget by 2 percent and eliminating more than 2,100 Forest Service jobs. A week later, Kimbell’s job got even more uncomfortable when she had to…