New York-based copper producer Asarco Inc. said Oct.
25 that it has signed an agreement to merge with Mexico’s largest
copper company, Grupo Mexico (HCN, 4/13/98). Total value of the
deal is $1.18 billion. The copper industry has been consolidating
in reaction to a global oversupply of the metal and record low
prices earlier this year. Phelps Dodge Corp. of Phoenix had a
short-lived deal to acquire rival Asarco; now it will turn its
attention to completing acquisition of Cyprus Amax Mine
Co.
Vail Associates must close a road it built
illegally through a wetland, the EPA said Oct. 22 (HCN, 8/2/99).
The closure means trucks hauling logs from the resort’s
controversial Category III expansion will be rerouted through the
village of Vail. Residents and Mayor Rob Ford are protesting the
EPA’s decision. They claim the increased traffic will tarnish
Vail’s image.
Thanks to Microsoft co-founder Paul
Allen, friends of the Loomis Forest now have the extra $3.4 million
they need to protect 25,000 acres of state forest in north-central
Washington (HCN, 10/25/99). The billionaire provided the funds
through a gift from the Paul G. Allen Forest Protection
Foundation.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and
Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt say the long gridlock over some potential
wilderness areas in Utah may be over (HCN, 7/6/98). Both have
agreed to the basic outline of a wilderness bill introduced by Utah
Rep. Jim Hansen, R. The bill designates about 1.1 million acres of
BLM land in the West Desert as wilderness. The Southern Utah
Wilderness Alliance says it’s not enough. It wants to see 2.6
million acres of the West Desert protected as wilderness.
About 30 endangered black-footed ferrets were
released Oct. 21 near Vernal, Utah, where they can feed on prairie
dogs (HCN, 3/15/99). Once feared extinct, these ferrets remain one
of the rarest mammals in North America.
* Ali
Macalady and
Karen Mockler
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The Wayward West.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
