Cross-posted from The Last Word on Nothing. He surely didn’t know it, but journalist David Dobbs recently put his finger on a problem that’s been bugging me for some time. Writing in his Wired blog, Dobbs made the observation that, In my own life, many if not most of my most vital social connections — […]
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Clean coal still mostly a dream
By Paige Huntoon, Guest Writer at NewWest.net ABOUT THIS SERIES: Students from The University of Montana School of Journalism, with the help of American Public Media’s Public Insight Network, reported and wrote stories for New West on the energy economy of the Rocky Mountain region. The project originated as part of the Green Thread initiative […]
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It’s getting hot out here
By Heather Hansen, Red Lodge Clearing House The numbers are in and—it’s official—our new “normal” is warmer. Starting this month, when a day is declared colder, snowier or hotter than usual, it won’t mean what it used to. Up to this point, the U.S. Climate Normals have encompassed a three-decade period from 1971 to 2000. A […]
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The Visual West — In Praise of Skunk Cabbage
On a recent trip to the Grand Mesa in Colorado, my eyes kept returning to the amazing stands of what many locals call skunk cabbage unfurling from the recently snow-covered meadows. The species, Veratrum tenuipetalum, is not related to the Eastern skunk cabbage. Other folks call the plant corn lily, though it is not a […]
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Rural counties dying off
By Kenneth Johnson, the Daily Yonder Editor’s Note: Kenneth Johnson, a demographer at The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, has published a study of natural decreases in U.S. communities. The full study can be found here. Below are excerpts from Johnson’s report. Carsey Institute. Data from Census Bureau and National Center for […]
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Doing the unspeakable
Can the U.S. take a big bite out of its greenhouse gas emissions without muttering the words climate change? The Obama administration is betting it can. And it’s testing the political waters with a new round of vehicle emissions rules to cover cars made between 2017 and 2025. From the Washington Post’sJuliet Eilperin: Heather Zichal, […]
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An idea of Eden
I’ve been lucky enough to spend the past several days in paradise, which for me is the rough, unforgiving backcountry to southeastern Utah. Everyone has their own idea of Eden, shaped by individual as well as cultural ideals. These can shift and evolve due to circumstance, inclination, and, sometimes, tragedy. I haven’t always appreciated pinyon/juniper/sagebrush […]
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Can YOU carry a concealed weapon without a permit?
“Starting Friday, Wyoming will join three other states in allowing individuals to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.” Which inspired me to make this flow chart to help you decide if YOU can carry a concealed weapon without a permit. Can you? Read the flow chart to find out… View the flowchart in its […]
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Out of their mines
By Heather Hansen, Red Lodge Clearing House In a narrow canyon, not far above where I live in Boulder, is the old, abandoned Captain Jack Mill. In its heyday in the late 19th century, gold and silver were processed there, after being blasted from their hiding places in several area mines. Nowadays, contaminants from those efforts, including […]
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SEC Loosening of Rule Let Natural Gas Firms Recalculate Reserves, Potential Profits
Marian Wang, ProPublica Editor’s note: This blog post was originally published at ProPublica, an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Natural gas has been widely promoted across the political spectrum as a key to solving U.S. energy problems. “The potential for natural gas is enormous,” President Obama said recently, referencing […]
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The crow knows your nose
Cross-posted from The Last Word on Nothing. Crow diving at a masked researcher in Seattle. Photo by Keith Brust I have a running joke with my husband’s cousin, Roger. At family reunions, I tell him how much I like crows. He tells me how much he likes to shoot them. Hilarious, right? Here’s the satisfying […]
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With Heavy Government Help, Solar Continues Expansion in West
By Michael Beall, Guest Writer at NewWest.net ABOUT THIS SERIES: Students from The University of Montana School of Journalism, with the help of American Public Media’s Public Insight Network, reported and wrote stories for New West on the energy economy of the Rocky Mountain region. The project originated as part of the Green Thread initiative […]
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New Mexico wildfire poses a double threat
Although I don’t live in New Mexico, I worked as a journalist in Colorado’s part of the Four Corners region for a while, and spent a fair bit of time in the northern part of the Land of Enchantment. This connection is perhaps one reason why, on Monday, I became obsessed with the Las Conchas […]
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The wacky world of immigration
I love the printed word, love having something informative and solid and paper at ready in my hands when I recline on my patio with a nice IPA. But as a magazine writer, I have to say: There are serious drawbacks to being constrained by a tight print schedule. Sometimes, right after your story goes […]
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Throw away the old playbook
Idaho’s Bannock County is considering an ordinance that would create an “overlay” zoning district on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The idea is that the county would “serve” non-Indians who live on the reservation, while the tribes would then be limited to zoning its own members. This is a script from an old playbook. Basically, […]
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Spotties get a new plan
The gigantic Wallow fire now searing Arizona and New Mexico has burned a lot of things, including several thousand acres of habitat for the threatened Mexican spotted owl (not to be confused with its more notorious cousin, the Northern spotted owl, once blamed for the demise of logging in the Northwest). Now, the U.S. Fish […]
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To Drill or Not to Drill is Not the Only Question
By Anne Fahey, Sightline.org This post is part of the research project: Word on the Street A while back I wrote about how public opinion data are informed in great part by how survey questions are framed. Nothing shocking there. I used the American public’s increasing support for offshore drilling as an example. It turned out […]
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Portland’s water managers need to grow up
Editor’s note: David Zetland, is a senior water economist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands who trained in California. We cross-post occasional content from his blog, Aguanomics, here on the Range. “Apparently the “End of Abundance” hasn’t hit Portland yet,” says HG in the email that brought me this story: For the administrator of the […]
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How Bark-Beetle Infestations Could Intensify Spring Runoff
By Matthew H. Davis As the spring runoff leaves behind a trail of destruction in parts of the the northern Rockies, a new University of Colorado study points to how beetle-infested trees—which have affected more than 4 million acres in Colorado and southern Wyoming alone—could lead to deeper snowpack and speed up snowmelt in the […]
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Subsidized crop insurance: the next ag boondoggle?
Over the past few weeks, the House of Representatives has been hacking away at the budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The dollars cut and kept in these negotiations set a baseline for the spending in the 2012 Farm Bill debate, and since the farm bill is the primary way agriculture policy is determined […]