When wind turbines threaten his ranch in the Laramie Range, Wyoming oilman Diemer True becomes a born-again conservationist.
The big bonfire
The U.S. already has a de facto climate policy
‘Firebrand ways’
A visit with one of the founders of the Center for Biological Diversity
Life along the Colorado River
See a slideshow of Broussalian’s images of the Colorado River — and its people. The desert Southwest is unlikely to run out of water. But under the pressures of climate change and drought, population and politics, the Southwest is likely to run out of cheap water. The deal of the century will become last century’s…
Food for thought
As 2009 limps to a close, Westerners have plenty of reasons to want to ring in a new — and perhaps better — year. With the economy lagging, folks are trimming budgets, shopping like Scrooge, and turning to federal food programs for a little extra help to put a holiday ham on the table. 395,000…
Little orphan easement?
A look at what happens when a land trust dissolves
“Swimming in circles”
While Emily Underwood did an admirable job writing “The Lost Art of Listening,” there are two comments that are problematic (HCN, 11/23/09). Underwood wrote “… he has been consistently frustrated by what he considers teachers’ and administrators’ failure to implement his methods for teaching Arapaho” and “Greymorning is convinced that the problem lies in teachers’…
Roadless retaliations
Ray Ring’s article “Roadless-less” devotes considerable attention to a March, 2000, Forest Service employees’ union letter opposing the Clinton roadless rule (HCN, 11/9/09). According to Ring and the union, Forest Service employees who opposed the roadless rule faced “threats of reprisal from the (Clinton) administration …” To the contrary, the only such threats of which…
See you in 2010
It’s time for another publishing break in our 22-issue-per-year schedule. Look for the next issue of HCN to hit your mailbox around Jan. 18. May your stockings be stuffed with goodies and may your reindeers’ noses shine brightly all season long.NEW WORKS, NEW JOBSHCN contributors and interns have been busy writing and getting new jobs,…
A frackin’ mess
I am convinced that hydraulic fracturing poses a significant threat to the quality of our drinking water, and that the legal framework governing this practice is piecemeal and inadequate at best (HCN, 11/23/09). As a Colorado resident, I am proud that Gov. Ritter stood up to the weighty industry influence here and demanded more protection…
A search for meaning in the Pacific Northwest
LivabilityJon Raymond272 pages,softcover: $15.Bloomsbury USA, 2009. If you’ve ever imagined that your search for meaning might finally end at an organic farm in Oregon, or on a summer gig at an Alaskan fishery, or with the sale of your first screenplay, you’ll recognize the characters in Jon Raymond’s short-story collection Livability. Livability is a menagerie…
Condors not damned by dams
The article about David Moen (a research associate of the Oregon Zoo) and his search for evidence that condors once nested in the Columbia River Gorge states that “scientists blame its decline largely on deforestation and the impact of dams on salmon” (HCN, 10/12/09). For clarity, we would like to point out that this is…
Creating a precedent for forgiveness
The Crying TreeNaseem Rakha368 pages, hardcover: $22.95.Broadway Books, 2009. The word “forgiveness” conjures up images of long, damp hugs, sobbing and weakness. Our movie theaters, television screens and books are filled with heroes who violently punish evildoers, not people forgiving each other. In real life, our justice system steers clear of reconciliation and dispenses vengeance…
Don’t take Manhattan
How ironic that HCN would publish an essay romanticizing a city that, like San Francisco in the 19th century and Los Angeles in the 20th, symbolizes the inexorable flow of resources and wealth out of the productive lands of the West and into the warehouses and pockets of the merchant elites (HCN, 11/23/09). Zoellner’s piece…
The federal energy two-step
Oil and gas companies are furious with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, but enviros wonder if he’ll go far enough
The messy mix of energy and sage grouse
Will turbines deal a deadly blow to the imperiled bird?
How big is your backyard?
The first time someone called me a NIMBY to my face was more than a decade ago, at a public meeting. The town council was expected to vote in favor of planting a new cell tower at the top of Cedar Hill, my favorite semi-wild place on the edge of town. The mayor at the…
Wind Resistance
Will the petrocracy — and greens — keep Wyoming from realizing its windy potential?
Battle for the core of Wyoming
Sage grouse concerns have pitted fossil fuels against wind