An old South Dakota mining town transforms itself by investing in an underground neutrino research facility, upstart kayakers try to get rivers opened to boaters in Yellowstone, mountain goats get paintballed in Idaho, and Southwesterners continue to be utterly fascinated with the possibilities of outer space.
A group of paddlers works to make kayaking legal on Yellowstone’s rivers
Should all national park waters be opened to boaters?
Cosmic Prospecting in Lead, South Dakota
What happens when an old mining town recruits a physics lab and pursues Big Science?
KDNK Radio speaks with Marshall Swearingen
On this episode of Sounds of the High Country, KDNK Radio’s collaboration with High Country News, KDNK’s Nelson Harvey talks to reporter Marshall Swearingen. Swearingen wrote the feature story, “Cosmic Prospecting: What happens when an old mining town recruits Big Science,” in a recent issue of High Country News. Past editions of Sounds of the…
Wilderness found in a BMW
I never feel more Western than when I slide through turns at High Plains Raceway.
Can rocks and paintballs help humans and mountain goats coexist?
An alternative approach to wildlife management in the Olympic National Forest.
Failed secession movements litter the West
Will they ever succeed?
I love guns and coffee
Mishaps and mayhem from around the West.
Mailbox surprise
The staff and board were surprised and deeply humbled by the generous check that arrived in our mailbox last month, a bequest from the late Gerald Hollingworth of Steamboat Springs, Colo. Gerald was a longtime reader who shared High Country News articles with his friends and engaged them in long conversations on many Western subjects, including…
A timeline of our fascination with outer space
The Southwest has long been a locus for space-related activities – and cosmic secrets. Its clear, dark skies are ideal for stargazing, while its isolated deserts are perfect for cutting-edge scientific research and for conspiracy and extraterrestrial enthusiasts. From meteorites colliding with Earth millennia ago to the dream of reaching space ourselves, we have an…
Political theater – with consequences
Suspending regulations? A review of irrational red tape? Boards of experts being replaced by political appointees (“A groundwater legacy on the rocks,” HCN, 10/14/13)? The Republican governor of Indiana used the exact same rhetoric as New Mexico’s governor, and called for the review of environmental regulations by folks with little expertise. These sorts of moves…
Regret and hope
Thanks very much for M. John Fayhee’s story, “Whose Apache Homelands?” (HCN, 10/14/13). What a sad history – doubly so because it’s forgotten and unknown by so many of us, just like nearly all Native American history in the United States. It’s good to know that there are possibilities for moving forward, that some still…
The Latest: California is first state to ban lead ammunition to protect condors
BackstoryCalifornia condors were nearly extinct by the 1980s. Thanks to habitat loss, wanton shooting, egg collecting, and the scavenger’s propensity for eating animal carcasses tainted by lead bullet fragments, fewer than 30 remained. After decades of captive breeding, about 200 condors now fly free in central California, Utah, Arizona and Mexico. But death by lead…
The Latest: NPS creates new winter-use plan in Yellowstone
BackstoryFor years, there’s been fierce debate over snowmobile access to Yellowstone National Park. In the early ’90s, as many as 1,900 snowmobiles swarmed the park daily, boosting local businesses but angering environmentalists concerned about air pollution and disturbed wildlife. Under President Bill Clinton, the park began phasing out snowmobiles altogether. But it changed course under…
The tyranny of technology
The following comment was posted in response to Katie Mast’s Oct. 28 blog, “New satellite technology to detect wildfires an acre in size,” covering advances in remote sensing that could help managers plan and execute firefighting efforts. This sounds great until you consider that advances in technology have helped create the huge wildfires we’re now…
A historic climb revisited
The Seventymile Kid: The Lost Legacy of Harry Karstens and the First Ascent of Mount McKinleyTom Walker304 pages, softcover: $19.95Mountaineers Books, 2013. Many readers know that, 100 years ago, the Hudson Stuck expedition successfully summited Mount McKinley, North America’s highest peak. But fewer are aware of the integral role played by the expedition’s most experienced…
Western towns shaped by industries they pursue
As wacky as it sounds, a bunch of corrupt Arizona politicians in 1885 had a profound effect on my life. Back then, the 13th session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature was dubbed “The Thieving Thirteenth” because its members were unusually prone to graft and beating up opponents. One issue they faced was: Should the territorial…
A review of Our Beautiful, Fragile World: The Nature and Environmental Photographs of Peter Essick
Our Beautiful, Fragile World: The Nature and Environmental Photographs of Peter Essick Foreword by Jean-Michel Cousteau, 122 pages, $34.95. Rocky Nook, 2013. “I know that when people see and feel the beauty of the natural world, they understand in a profound way the need to take care of our water planet,” writes Jean-Michel Cousteau, son…
A survivor, searching for soul
The Old Man’s Love StoryRudolfo Anaya176 pages, hardcover: $19.95.University of Oklahoma Press, 2013. “Letting go of one’s soul mate is not easy.” So writes award-winning author and retired University of New Mexico professor Rudolfo Anaya in his latest novel, The Old Man’s Love Story. Inspired by the death of his beloved wife, Patricia, in 2010,…
An unfair portrait of decline
I was shocked to see a photo of an old motel here in Deming that has been closed for quite some time in a recent issue. It gave the impression that we are approaching ghost town status. We are 17 miles west of Akela Flats, the proposed site of the Apache Homelands Casino, the subject…