The 18th annual public lands law conference in Missoula, Mont., Oct. 24-25, Managing America’s Public Lands: Proposals for the Future, features Forest Service Chief Jack Ward Thomas and Forest Service critic Randal O’Toole of the Thoreau Institute. Contact the Public Land and Resources Law Review at 406/243-6568. This article appeared in the print edition of […]
Books
Posted inOctober 14, 1996: Greens prune their message to win the West's voters
What happens when “True Grit” meets “Easy Rider’
Utopian Vistas: The Mabel Dodge Luhan House and the American Counterculture by Lois Palken Rudnick, 1996, University of New Mexico Press, 416 pages, $35. Lois Palken Rudnick’s Utopian Vistas is almost enough to send me back to my native New York. But it’s probably too late. After more than two decades here, I’m unlikely to […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 1996: Can this man break the right's grip on Idaho?
The Producer/Consumer Connection
Would you like to find a mentor who knows how to run a small farm? The Alternative Energy Resources Organization, a Montana group that links aspiring farmers with retiring ones, is holding its 22nd annual workshop, The Producer/Consumer Connection, Oct. 11-13 on Flathead Lake near Rollins, Mont. To register for the event, contact AERO at […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 1996: Can this man break the right's grip on Idaho?
Wilderness: The Foundation of Culture
To help people understand the ways different cultures look at land that has never been roaded or developed, the New Mexico Wilderness Coalition and the Santa Fe chapter of the Sierra Club are sponsoring an Oct. 5 workshop in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wilderness: The Foundation of Culture. Registration is free. For more information call […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 1996: Can this man break the right's grip on Idaho?
Unplug America: Give mother earth a rest day
Unplug America: Give mother earth a rest day asks people across the country to experience a voluntary blackout Oct.13 by turning off anything that consumes energy, including gas, coal and electric power. Native American environmental groups, including the Seventh Generation Fund, started the event in 1992 to raise awareness of our energy consumption and its […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 1996: Can this man break the right's grip on Idaho?
Literary natural history
Scientists are not well known as communicators but a memorable few have mastered both fields – Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson and E.O. Wilson, for example. The University of Nevada at Reno will pay tribute over the next seven months to similar contemporary scientists through a series of free public readings and discussions titled Literary Natural […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 1996: Can this man break the right's grip on Idaho?
Small is back
Is the small American farm a dying species? Not according to Jeff Rast, founder of the for-profit Center for Small Acreage Farming in Camas County, Idaho. After working on a large-scale farm for 10 years and serving as an extension agent for the University of Idaho, Rast says he has realized his dream of operating […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 1996: Can this man break the right's grip on Idaho?
Not coal alone
-Today’s power industry has nearly all of its eggs in the fossil fuel basket,” says the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies (LAW), a policy group based in Boulder, Colo. Its 19-page report, How the West Can Win: A Blueprint for a Clean & Affordable Energy Future, imagines a different scenario: a lesser but […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 1996: Can this man break the right's grip on Idaho?
Overworked and under-appreciated
Durango, in southern Colorado, has become a mountain biking mecca and popular stop on the Southwest tourist loop. But can you make a living there? For both newcomers and old-timers working in the town’s restaurants, bars and shops, the answer is “barely,” according to a report by two nonprofit groups, Grassroots First and the San […]
Posted inSeptember 30, 1996: Can this man break the right's grip on Idaho?
How to talk Western
Would you like to add some colorful Westernisms to your vocabulary? Look no further than Thomas L. Clark’s new book, Western Lore and Language: A Dictionary for Enthusiasts of the American West: Biscuit shooter – The camp cook for ranch operations (1890s). Bizzing – Hanging on the rear of a moving vehicle on a snow-slick […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 1996: The filthy West: Toxics pour into our air, water, land
Tourism summit
Are herds of tourists just the latest scourge on public lands? Heads of the tourism industry and public-lands managers will converge on Lake Tahoe, Calif., Sept. 24-26 to talk about consensus on such contentious issues as national park overflights, access restrictions and recreation fees. Seeking Common Ground is sponsored by the Western States Tourism Policy […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 1996: The filthy West: Toxics pour into our air, water, land
Two reports set the stage for Sierra Nevada’s future
The Sierra Nevada is a patchwork of dwindling old growth, imperiled species and degraded lakes, streams and rivers. But the seedbeds of its salvation are still intact, according to two reports released this summer, one by a group of scientists, the other by a regional business council. Both conclude there are many reasons for hope […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 1996: The filthy West: Toxics pour into our air, water, land
Bear with us
If you’re a hiker or angler in black bear or grizzly territory, a modest little handbook, Bear Aware: Hiking and Camping in Bear Country, could save your life. It concisely explains the bear essentials of coexistence, such as staying alert in the outback, venturing out only with a large group, sticking to the trail and […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 1996: The filthy West: Toxics pour into our air, water, land
Low cost legal aid
The Department of Defense oversees 25 million acres of public lands and 15,897 contaminated sites. This gives the agency the dubious honor of being the nation’s leading polluter, says the Project for Participatory Democracy, an initiative of the San Francisco-based Tides Center. Citing the government’s poor record on clean-up, the group has produced a legal […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 1996: The filthy West: Toxics pour into our air, water, land
Recycling gets rapped
Is recycling really a stupid idea driven by people too willing to believe that their minute actions can change a culture built on conspicuous consumption? Writing in the New York Times Magazine June 30, John Tierney answers “yes.” In fact, he says, “Recycling is garbage.” Citing studies by conservative think tanks such as the Cato […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 1996: The filthy West: Toxics pour into our air, water, land
Getting Beneath the Surface of Public Lands Issues
The Foundation for American Communications is conducting a conference for journalists, Getting Beneath the Surface of Public Lands Issues, Oct. 4-6, in Englewood, Colo. Speakers include journalists, professors and HCN publisher Ed Marston. Call 213/851-7372, or e-mail at facs@facsnet.org. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Getting Beneath the […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 1996: The filthy West: Toxics pour into our air, water, land
Conservation and Conservatism: Reflections on clean water
The Montana Environmental Information Center’s annual rendezvous, Conservation and Conservatism: Reflections on clean water, will focus on water, pollution and politics Sept. 21 in Three Forks, Mont. The keynote speaker is Gordon Durnil, author of The Making of a Conservative Environmentalist; the rendezvous also features a flyover of the Golden Sunlight Mine and music by […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 1996: The filthy West: Toxics pour into our air, water, land
Bear of the Land, Bull of the River: Protecting Ecosystem Indicator Species
The Missoula-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies will hold its 11th annual rendezvous, Sept. 27-29, at the Teller Wildlife Refuge in Corvallis, Mont. The theme is Bear of the Land, Bull of the River: Protecting Ecosystem Indicator Species. In addition to discussions about grizzlies and bull trout, the schedule includes workshops and updates on regional […]
Posted inAugust 5, 1996: Disappearing railroad blues
Will the real West please stand up?
Review by Joe B. Stevens We live by myths, by the stories we tell. If these are flawed, we’re in trouble. Writers such as the late Wallace Stegner have offered convincing arguments that many of our stories are flawed, that what we think is real gets confused with what we want reality to be. An […]
Posted inAugust 5, 1996: Disappearing railroad blues
We love our parks
Congressional hopefuls take heed: It pays to support national parks. Three-quarters of voting Americans say their representative’s record on parks is important, according to a 1996 survey conducted by Colorado State University for the nonprofit National Parks and Conservation Association. The 46-page survey, American Views on National Park Issues, found that only 4 percent of […]