WESTERN VISIONS
“Competing Visions of the New West,” an ambitious symposium on
environment, land use and alternative economic strategies, is set
for the University of Colorado in Boulder, Feb. 5-7. Panels will
examine the “wise use” movement’s recent court cases dealing with
property rights and environmental “takings,” wolf reintroduction,
reform of the 1872 Mining Act, and alternative economic strategies
for the southern Rockies. Keynote speakers are David Brower,
director of the Earth Island Institute in San Francisco, and Tom
Powers, chair of the economics department at the University of
Montana. A pre-conference debate Feb. 3 features wise-use advocate
Ron Arnold, vice president of the Center for Defense of Free
Enterprise, based in Bellevue, Wash., and Tom Lustig, senior
attorney for the National Wildlife Federation’s Rocky Mountain
clinic in Boulder, Colo. For more information, contact the CU
Environmental Center, University of Colorado at Boulder, UMC 331A,
Campus Box 207, Boulder, CO 80309-0207 (303/492-8308).
AVALANCHE ALERT
The high-mountain town
of Silverton, Colo., hosts another avalanche training course next
month. The San Juan Mountain Search and Rescue Team, which has
taught people about the hazards of avalanches for 25 years, will
hold its annual Silverton Avalanche School from Feb. 12-14.
Students, who range from ski patrollers to recreational skiers, pay
$100 to learn how to recognize avalanche hazards, determine snow
stability, run rescue operations and react during emergencies. A
two-day course in January drew participants from California and New
Mexico as well as Colorado. For more information call the Silverton
Chamber of Commerce at 303/387-5654.
WOLVES IN
IDAHO
Members of the Wolf Recovery Foundation
say a pack of six to eight wolves may be in the Boise National
Forest. The trouble, they say, is that no one seems to care. It
took the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over one month to follow up
a Nov. 13 sighting by helicopter pilot Bill Albers, says foundation
member Michael Wickes, a wildlife photographer. “Albers flew within
50 feet of them, so he got a good look. It was really an exciting
lead.” After the Forest Service sent Albers’ report to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service Dec. 7, the agency said logistical
problems kept it from dispatching biologists to the area for
another nine days. “They just sat on the report,” Wickes said.
Frustrated by the government’s delay, Wickes hired a plane to fly
over the area on Dec. 13, but three large canines he saw were
apparently coyotes. Suzanne Laverty, executive director of the Wolf
Recovery Foundation, says that over the years sightings of possible
wolves have mounted to the hundreds. Confirmed wolf-pack activity
could change a federal plan to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone
National Park and central Idaho. Under the current plan, agencies
favor reintroducing wolves to the areas as an “experimental
population.” That allows wolves to be killed if ranchers see them
preying on livestock. Laverty says she fears federal agencies will
ignore the fact that wild wolves may already exist in Idaho; if
they do exist, they are entitled to full protection under the
Endangered Species Act. “It’s not a matter of whether there’s
wolves in Idaho,” she said. “It’s that we don’t have a commitment
from the federal agencies to find out how many there are.” The Wolf
Recovery Foundation can be reached at P.O. Box 793, Boise, ID
83701-0793. To report wolf sightings in Idaho, call 1-800/793-WOLF.
The foundation offers $1,000 for reports that lead to confirmed
wolf-pack activity.
– Arden Trewartha
A TRACKER’S GUIDE
Skiers
are not the only ones rejoicing when a deep blanket of snow covers
the Rocky Mountains. Winter is the best time for trackers, an
enthusiastic breed of naturalists intent on understanding the
private lives of critters. A new guidebook, Tracking and the Art of
Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign , provides 350 color
photographs and detailed descriptions of over 50 mammals. Author
Paul Rezendes will lead novices and experts alike into a wonderful,
richer world. “Ultimately,” writes Rezendes, a professional tracker
and photographer, “tracking an animal makes us sensitive to it – a
bond is formed, an intimacy develops.”
Camden House
Publishing, Inc., Ferry Road, Charlotte, VT 05445. 320 pages.
Photos, drawings. Paper: $19.95.
– Florence
Williams
NEVADA’S WATER
FUTURE
Winter storms of near-biblical
proportions have dampened talk of a seventh year of drought, but
water remains a fighting word in Nevada. To foster debate, if not
consensus, a series of 30 public forums on water policy will be
kicked off at the annual Nevada Water Resources Association meeting
Feb. 10-11 at the Peppermill Hotel in Reno. The gathering of state
water officials, consultants, project managers and proponents will
be the first to experience the Nevada Water Forum, a format
designed to provoke discussion of public policies. Participants
will analyze four options: maintaining the status quo of the prior
appropriation doctrine and the czar-like powers of the state water
engineer; letting the market decide by allowing water to be traded
as a commodity; legislating water as a public good and
strengthening citizen participation in decision-making; or
outlawing transfers of water between basins to make people go where
water is instead of bringing water to cities. A briefing book,
Nevada’s Water Future: Making Tough Choices, provides essential
facts, figures and background on the controversy. Ballots will be
available so that participants can vote on “how we the people want
to manage and allocate scarce water resources to have the kind of
Nevada we want over the next 20 years,” says organizer Jean Ford.
Results will be presented to the Nevada Legislature. Contact Jean
Ford, c/o Women’s Studies, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557
(702/784-1560).
SEEDS OF CHANGE
Five hundred years
ago Columbus stumbled upon the “New World” cuisine and changed
tastes worldwide. This is the focus of Seeds of Change, a book that
recreates a traveling Smithsonian exhibit. It examines the massive
changes arising from contact between the continents: Potatoes, corn
and sugar were shipped to Europe while horses, cows and sheep came
to America. Europeans also introduced diseases such as smallpox and
cholera, which killed 75 percent of the Indian population and
enslaved Indians and Africans on sugar plantations. Ultimately, the
book focuses on the high human and ecological costs of building a
new industrial empire. Smithsonian Institution Press, Department
900, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294. Paper: $24.95, 278 pages,
illustrated with photos. The exhibit travels to the Salt Lake City
Public Library, 209 E. Fifth S., Jan. 30 through Feb. 28. For
information contact Colleen McLaughlin at 801/524-8234.
– Arden Trewartha
QUEEN SALMON TOURS NORTHWEST
Those who
love the outrageous and odd, prepare for the Washington and Oregon
tour of Queen Salmon: A Biologically Explicit Musical Comedy for
People of Several Species. Presented by the Human Nature troupe,
the plot turns on a rural town’s struggle to save its declining
salmon runs. Characters include loggers and hippies, biologists and
business men, and even salmon and spotted owls who squabble and
stir things up in their efforts to preserve home. Dubbed by the San
Francisco Guardian “one of the most entertaining ecology lessons
you’ll ever encounter,” Queen Salmon provides a rallying point for
people interested in protecting the places they live. For dates,
places and times, contact Human Nature, P.O. Box 81, Petrolia, CA
95558 (707/629-3670).
FOREST WATCHDOGS IN MONTANA
A recently formed forest-watchdog group won the
first round in its fight to protect a unique stand of low-elevation
timber on state lands near Missoula, Mont. The 100-member Gold
Creek Resources Protection Association, composed of mostly
Missoula-area residents, was formed in August 1991 to stop the
proposed Burnt Bridge Timber Sale. The group filed suit against
Montana last July, and in December a district judge ruled that
Montana could not sell the timber until 180 days following the
completion of a revised environmental assessment or full EIS. The
association successfully argued that the original assessment failed
to fully consider the impacts of timber cutting on elk habitat and
educational and recreational values. “Of the 5 million acres the
Department (of State Lands) administers, surely they can set aside
a few hundred for educational and recreational purposes,” said
association spokesperson Tarn Ream. A revised environmental
assessment is expected by spring; the Montana State Board of Land
Commissioners is responsible for making a decision on the proposed
sale. For more information about the Gold Creek Association,
contact Tarn Ream at 406/243-5722 or 406/549-7933.
MUTUAL AID
The Environmental Resource
Center in Ketchum, Idaho, needs two interns to coordinate and run
an “Eco-Summer Camp.” The Wyoming Outdoor Council hopes an intern
will conduct some recycling research. Making a Change: A Student
Guide to Social Change Internships in the Northern Rockies
describes more than 40 internships in a new 78-page booklet.
Published by the Northern Rockies Action Group, it lists
internships with groups involved in natural resources, low-income
communities, women’s issues and public policy. The booklet helps a
prospective intern’s search by giving advice on how to evaluate and
select a stint as well as how to prepare an application. The guide
costs $3.50, plus 75 cents for postage, from the Northern Rockies
Action Group, 9 Placer St., Helena, MT 59601.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A tracker’s guide.
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