One man’s quest to unshackle a rural economy
Archive
Land grants under the microscope
Scrutinized from all sides, they defend their turf and look for new ideas
1995: Cecil Andrus knew how to take a stand
Cecil Andrus tells the story about how, as a young logger in Orofino, Idaho, he would skid logs down streambeds because it was the easiest way to move them. Skidding, for those who don’t know the rough-and-ready truths about logging, rips up the land and streams. “Those of us in logging in those good old […]
The wolves are back, big time
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – Badged officers blocked traffic as the lengthy motorcade approached. Reporters and photographers crowded both sides of the road, and satellite dishes atop television stations’ trucks stood ready to beam the scene to the rest of the world. At a “media center’” occupying a cavernous gymnasium, banks of telephones were ready […]
In surprising ways, wolves will restore natural balance
When wolves arrived in Yellowstone last month, it was as though a boulder were tossed into a lake: the ripples began to spread, and eventually they will touch everything. As trucks carrying the predators entered the park, coyotes nearby began to howl; now they yip and sing almost every hour near the wolf pens. “I […]
Hikers can bear grizzlies
Restoring grizzly bears to Washington’s North Cascades and Idaho’s Selway-Bitterroot ecosystems won’t interfere with hunters, hikers or horseback riders, says a conservation group in Bellingham, Wash. The group, Greater Ecosystem Alliance, examined closures of trails and campgrounds caused by grizzlies in 11 national forests and two national parks. All had little effect on recreation. Blocked […]
A climbing plan for Devils Tower
One hundred and one years ago, when William Rogers and Willard Ripley were the first climbers to top Wyoming’s Devils Tower, they also started a controversy. In the following decades the tower became a climbing mecca. Yet to some Native Americans it has always been a sacred place. To try to satisfy both interests, the […]
Ranchers arrested at wildlife refuge
The arrest of rancher Dwight Hammond for running cattle on a wildlife refuge provokes a wise-use backlash in Oregon.
An agency icon at 50
CAPITAN, N.M. – Dear Boys and Girls: I’m writing this letter in a beautiful forest where Smokey Bear was born. I came because I’d read that he turned 50 years old in August, and I wanted to see his old stomping grounds. You won’t believe what I found. First of all, everything is named after […]
The Southwest’s writers are terrified liars
One of the best modern novels about the real Southwest is in technicolor. It takes place in Prescott, Ariz.: A rodeo performer returns to his hometown, finds out that his brother is bulldozing the home ranch and slicing it up into ranchettes and subdivisions, that his dad is about to hit the road for prospecting […]
This boom will end like all the others – in a deep, deep bust
In 1982 a plumber named Jeff Everett and I competed to see who was the greater fool. I won. The competition centered on a 1,000-square-foot building we owned at 124 Grand Avenue, on Paonia’s two-block-long main street. It had been home to Betsy’s and my first newspaper – North Fork Times; by 1982 it stood […]
Home, home on the range … where neo-Nazis and skinheads roam
John Trochman calls himself a “Christian Patriot” and defender of the American Constitution. The soft-spoken man with a Robert E. Lee beard is also a field general in the “Militia Of Montana,” a paramilitary survivalist organization formed to fight what it perceives as oppression by the federal government. The number one threat to freedom, Trochman […]
A life to fry for: hot on the trail of bighorn
Night slides down the mountainside, and the temperature in the Tule Desert sinks to 108 in the shade. A bighorn sheep 50 yards away gawks at me while I nervously work down a steep stone slope. I can see amusement in her big, dumb eyes. Suddenly, my backpack nicks a boulder. I hear a horrible […]
Butte, Montana, seeks a new life
Butte wants to transform its Superfund mine cleanup into a tourist attraction. (To read the full text, click on the “View a PDF from the original” link below, or download this HCN issue in PDF format.) This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Butte, Montana, seeks a new life.
Ranchers block public land in Wyoming
Ranchers block hunter access to a federal grazing allotment in Wyoming despite a BLM mandate. (To read the full text, click on the “View a PDF from the original” link below, or download this HCN issue in PDF format.) This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Ranchers block public […]
Mining reform: Searching for common ground
Gold miner John Livermore, and Sierra Club mining expert Glenn Miller join forces to find a solution to Nevada’s mining troubles. To read this article, download this HCN issue in PDF format. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Mining reform: Searching for common ground.
How to get there from here
Tips for hitchhiking in the West. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/25.13/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
Clinton vs. Foley
As President Clinton unveils his plan for protecting the old trees and declining species in Northwest forests, he disturbed a big bear on the trail: Democrat Thomas S. Foley, the longtime congressman from Washington state. To read this article, download this HCN issue in PDF format. This article appeared in the print edition of the […]
Clinton flinches under Western pressure
Environmentalists’ euphoria over President Bill Clinton’s Western policies came to an abrupt end in late March, when the White House pulled public land reforms from its new budget. To read this article, download this HCN issue in PDF format. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Clinton flinches under […]
BLM may adopt grazing incentive plan
Prodded by stinging internal audits” and the likelihood that Congress will pass a sweeping reform bill in 1993, Bureau of Land Management officials are pushing a new grazing fee policy they hope will resolve the controversy over use of public lands by livestock. Download entire issue to view this article: http://country-survey-collabs.info/issues/24.24/download-entire-issue%3C/p%3E
