A series of stories about the way we think about wildfire in the West. Plus, a vanishing Rio Grande fish may foretell the river’s fate; the Supreme Court wants the EPA to consider the costs of new regulations as well as health benefits; and more.
Is aerial firefighting worth it?
Aerial firefighting is dangerous, expensive and environmentally damaging. So why do we do it?
Wilderness vs. mining, Roundup research and Western prisons
Hcn.org news in brief.
When the wildfire season never ends
As fire season gets longer, fire managers scramble to keep up.
Young men and fire
Review of “On the Burning Edge: A Fateful Fire and the Men Who Fought It” by Kyle Dickman.
Bagged lions, fewer bighorns
As discussed by Frank Carroll (“We’re letting another predator go down,” HCN, 6/22/15), many Western states appear to have a war on mountain lions. In Arizona, the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, a trophy ram hunting group, and the state Department of Game and Fish have cooperated on multiple bag limits, which allow a hunter…
Damage from smugglers
As a longtime subscriber to your magazine and someone who values your focus on issues across the West, I do take exception to your “Latest” item about Sen. John McCain’s bill to increase the Border Patrol’s access to the borderlands, (HCN, 5/25/15). I can assure you that, as a retired Border Patrol agent, any environmental damage done while agents…
Does the fate of the silvery minnow foretell the Rio Grande’s future?
Biologists go to great lengths to keep the fish alive, but it’s nearly extinct in the wild.
Entertaining toddlers
Start them young. My 19-month-old grandson, River, is in love with the “Tree of Life” illustration on the June 8, 2015, cover. My thanks to Bryce Gladfelter for an image that can entertain a small child, over and over: birds, bugs, lizards, spiders and so much more to point at. But I must say he…
Finding the quiet West inside
A writer remembers a week spent on a cattle ranch, and an unexpected discovery.
It’s time to end Custer worship
A Montanan faces up to the West’s own history of racism.
Monument-making
John Hart’s essay, “Making a national monument from scratch,” (HCN, 5/25/15) beautifully illustrated the unique history and landscape of the Berryessa Snow Mountain region and the tremendous work it takes to ensure permanent protection for our public lands. It is important to underscore that the effort to designate these lands as a national monument is supported…
New interns and old errors
Get to know Paige Blankenbuehler and Gloria Dickie. Also, a correction and a clarification.
No ordinary fire
On a Friday afternoon in July, a wildfire sparked on Southern California’s Cajon Pass. The brush was dry and the winds were strong, speeding the fire toward Interstate 15 and its weekend traffic. Those who saw it later described what followed as surreal: flames shooting into the air, cars on fire, and semis on fire,…
Protection in name
A recent feature lauds the powers of the president to protect lands by declaring them national monuments (“Monument Man,” HCN, 5/25/15). Meanwhile, in a companion article discussing grazing and oil drilling, the author finds “little has changed on the ground” since Canyon of the Ancients National Monument received its designation. A second sidebar describes a…
Arrival of the cost-benefit state
The Supreme Court wants the Environmental Protection Agency to weigh human health against costs to industry.
A conservative takes Bundy to task, treasure hunters get trapped and a fool meets a rattlesnake.
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Surprise attack
In his letter “High-Flyin’ Hypocrisy,” (HCN, 6/8/15) Robert Michael accuses Kathleen Dean Moore of hypocrisy for considering mankind’s destruction of the world because her plane uses the very fuel being produced by the horrors she observes on the ground beneath her. He might have a point, except for the fact that she never separates herself…
As wildfires get bigger, is there any way to be ready?
After one record-setting wildfire, a Washington county prepares for more.
The Latest: Oregon governor passes ethics reforms
The new reforms bar governors’ partners from using their position for personal gain.
Plants that burn fastest in a wildfire
Lichen burns cool and quick, while spruce burns slow and hot.
Tracing the Yampa River where it flows free
Review of “Colorado’s Yampa River” by John Fielder.