Judge Clarence Brimmer is determined to bring down Clinton’s roadless forest rule, which has been mired in lawsuits ever since its controversial birth.
Return of the pod man
Farming an ancient crop — mesquite
Gone in 60 seconds
Wheelin’ & dealin’ at the world’s biggest Western art auction
Interior scandal: Rated G(reen)
During the waning years of the Bush administration, officials with the U.S. Department of Interior got a little too cozy with — hold on to your Sierra Club card — environmentalists. So says a recent report by the department’s Office of Inspector General. The investigation looked at the National Landscape Conservation System, which was created…
How big should we be?
In late September, the board of directors of High Country News descended on HCN’s hometown of Paonia to pass a new budget, look over a new three-year strategic plan and enjoy western Colorado’s beautiful fall weather. At the meeting, a lively discussion broke out over how many subscribers our print magazine should gain in the…
“Mulroyed”?
Matt Jenkins’ article updating the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s (SNWA’s) pipeline project unfortunately promulgated some myths which SNWA has been pushing in Nevada and Utah (HCN, 10/12/09). Jenkins did hit the target when he linked the negotiations over the Nevada/Utah shared water agreement with the proposed Lake Powell pipeline to St. George. It was the…
Poetry in Montana
HCN is a fine example of the modern writers’ ability to create mental images and to take the reader to places we have not been both in time and space. Jeremy Smith’s essay “A guide to the past — and the future” is a perfect example of prose that almost reaches to the level of…
Public lands, public gain
I agree with Ray Ring that Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns are on to something with the idea that public lands and “resources” ought to be reserved for the public and not allowed to be a source of enrichment for private individuals (HCN, 9/14 & 9/28/09). This theme recurs throughout the “Best Idea” episodes, along…
Put a (GMO) tiger in your tank
I read with great interest the story in the Oct. 12 edition of HCN about Monsanto’s genetically engineered beets and other crops. I think that it is time to put the kibosh on Monsanto’s chemical activities when it comes to our food products. We need to get the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare genetically…
The kindness of hunters
I despise guns. If a Winchester appears in a movie, I gnaw my fingernails, heart galloping. Firearms show a lack of imagination, I think; they slant the playing field, and sometimes threaten to tip the whole thing over. Recently, a student of mine penned a lyrical essay on the spirituality of hunting. I gave him…
A beeting
Many of the most important points about the debate over genetically modified sugar beets were either glossed over or ignored in Matt Jenkins’ story “Biotech beet-down” (HCN, 10/12/09). For example, Jenkins states that Monsanto developed Roundup Ready beets a decade ago but they were put on hold due to public outrage, implying that it was…
‘Yes’ to desire and an end to fear
Some of the Dead Are Still Breathing: Living in the FutureCharles Bowden243 pages, hardcover, $24.Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. But as a desert man, I can only say yes to rain. — Charles Bowden Mulling over decades spent reporting on everything from border crimes to environmental destruction to post-Katrina New Orleans, journalist Charles Bowden declares an…
For farmers, small is beautiful
Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of AgribusinessLisa M. Hamilton309 pages, hardcover: $25.Counterpoint, 2009. Few of the authors behind the recent glut of information on — and the impassioned opinions about — our modern food system have done the obvious: Spend time with farmers. But in her new book, Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in…
Power politics, conservation style
The late David Brower, of Sierra Club fame, once said that no environmental victories are permanent. The warning behind his words –– that those who fight the relentless march of development are underdogs in an ultimately doomed war –– has shaped the tactics of generations of activists. That’s especially true in the West, where industry…
Metalpalooza ’09
Just a year ago, copper, molybdenum and platinum prices plummeted, taking mining jobs and production levels across the West down with them. Now, metal prices are climbing back, which could breathe new life into shuttered mines and shelved expansion plans. Copper behemoth Freeport-McMoRan plans to resume operations at its dormant mine in Miami, Ariz. Idaho-based…
Mesquite Pancake Recipe
Note: this article is a sidebar to another article in this issue, “Return of the pod man.” Tucson volunteer group Desert Harvesters holds an annual mesquite-harvest event every November, providing locals with a hammer mill to grind pods accompanied by a mesquite pancake breakfast. DRY MIX:2 c. mesquite flour2 c. whole-wheat pastry flour1 tbsp. baking…
Is the BLM practicing unsafe CX?
More than 6,000 drilling permits issued under questionable provision
Roadless-less
The campaign to protect unroaded forests gets torn apart by a Wyoming judge in ‘half-assed retirement’