Ranchers and farmers in New Mexico are urging New
Mexico State University to turn down “tainted” money from the Ted
Turner Foundation because the group also funds environmentalists,
reports the Associated Press. Russ Miller, general manager of
Turner’s ranches, reminds the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Board
that Turner is a rancher, too. In fact, he is probably New Mexico’s
biggest rancher; Turner’s three ranches make up 1.5 percent of the
land in the state …
An anonymous e-mail
communication accuses the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund of
treading on the grassroots reputation of Earthlaw, a Colorado-based
environmental public interest law firm, by changing its name to
Earth Justice. (SCLDF is often confused with the Sierra Club but
although SCLDF represents the club in about half of its cases, the
two groups are not connected.) Victor Sher of SCLDF says he will
not “dignify that e-mail with a response” and that the name-change
will be announced publicly this summer …
In
an apparent attempt to soothe bumbled relations with Utah
politicians, President Bill Clinton nominated a Salt Lake City
lawyer to head the Bureau of Land Management. If approved by the
Senate, Patrick Shea will manage the BLM’s 270 million Western
acres, including the new Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument. Clinton also named attorney Kathy Karpan, from
mining-dependent Wyoming, as director of Surface Mining Reclamation
and Enforcement. Last November, Karpan lost to Republican Mike Enzi
in her bid to be Wyoming’s senator …
A letter
that “mysteriously got out” has three environmental groups puzzled.
Sent May 12, the letter denied their petition to bid on a logging
contract if the intent was not to cut the trees down. When
contacted, Agriculture Undersecretary James Lyons said, “I don’t
know how this happened, but the letter does not reflect Clinton
administration policy.” The letter was signed in Lyons’ name by a
machine and mailed to the Oregon attorney for the Oregon Natural
Resources Council, Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, and the Southwest
Center for Biological Diversity …
No sooner
did Colorado pass Amendment 16, giving the state’s land board a
more environmental focus, than its director, Max Vezzani, quit to
run the Soil Conservation Board. Colorado is looking for someone to
manage 3 million acres of state trust lands …
Colorado used to have two papers that circulated statewide: the
Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post. Now only the Post
circulates outside the metro counties. But the statewide
circulation isn’t backed by a statewide staff. Former regional
reporter Pat O’Driscoll left the Post to open the Rocky Mountain
office of USA Today. Jim Carrier has been reassigned to a business
beat. That leaves the paper’s third, and last, regional reporter –
Kit Miniclier – to cover whatever happens outside of the Denver
metro area.
” Heather
Abel
Ranchers and farmers in New Mexico are urging New Mexico State
University to turn down “tainted” money from the Ted Turner
Foundation because the group also funds environmentalists, reports
the Associated Press. Russ Miller, general manager of Turner’s
ranches, reminds the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Board that
Turner is a rancher, too. In fact, he is probably New Mexico’s
biggest rancher; Turner’s three ranches make up 1.5 percent of the
land in the state …
An anonymous e-mail
communication accuses the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund of
treading on the grassroots reputation of Earthlaw, a Colorado-based
environmental public interest law firm, by changing its name to
Earth Justice. (SCLDF is often confused with the Sierra Club but
although SCLDF represents the club in about half of its cases, the
two groups are not connected.) Victor Sher of SCLDF says he will
not “dignify that e-mail with a response” and that the name-change
will be announced publicly this summer …
In
an apparent attempt to soothe bumbled relations with Utah
politicians, President Bill Clinton nominated a Salt Lake City
lawyer to head the Bureau of Land Management. If approved by the
Senate, Patrick Shea will manage the BLM’s 270 million Western
acres, including the new Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument. Clinton also named attorney Kathy Karpan, from
mining-dependent Wyoming, as director of Surface Mining Reclamation
and Enforcement. Last November, Karpan lost to Republican Mike Enzi
in her bid to be Wyoming’s senator …
A letter
that “mysteriously got out” has three environmental groups puzzled.
Sent May 12, the letter denied their petition to bid on a logging
contract if the intent was not to cut the trees down. When
contacted, Agriculture Undersecretary James Lyons said, “I don’t
know how this happened, but the letter does not reflect Clinton
administration policy.” The letter was signed in Lyons’ name by a
machine and mailed to the Oregon attorney for the Oregon Natural
Resources Council, Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, and the Southwest
Center for Biological Diversity …
No sooner
did Colorado pass Amendment 16, giving the state’s land board a
more environmental focus, than its director, Max Vezzani, quit to
run the Soil Conservation Board. Colorado is looking for someone to
manage 3 million acres of state trust lands …
Colorado used to have two papers that circulated statewide: the
Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post. Now only the Post
circulates outside the metro counties. But the statewide
circulation isn’t backed by a statewide staff. Former regional
reporter Pat O’Driscoll left the Post to open the Rocky Mountain
office of USA Today. Jim Carrier has been reassigned to a business
beat. That leaves the paper’s third, and last, regional reporter –
Kit Miniclier – to cover whatever happens outside of the Denver
metro area.
” Heather
Abel
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The wayward West.
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