The land trust may be one of the last defenses Western communities have against the rapid development of private lands. The Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts will hold an Oct. 8-9 workshop in Estes Park, Colo., to help land people stay abreast of the latest tools of the trade. Hosted by the Estes Valley Land […]
Books
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Sue the cattle
Open range, one of the West’s oldest prerogatives, needs to be retired, according to a new activist group, the Alliance for Property Rights. The alliance, based in Hailey, Idaho, is collecting horror stories from people whose property has been trampled or who have suffered car wrecks due to wandering livestock. “Clearly this is an ongoing […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Dueling studies
Will an injunction prohibiting grazing on eastern Oregon’s Wallowa-Whitman and Umatilla national forests devastate the local economy? Yes, says Oregon State University economist Fred Obermiller. No, says Pacific Rivers Council, the environmental group whose lawsuit forced the injunction to protect habitat needed by endangered salmon. The dueling studies respond to a July federal court ruling […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Return of Compound 1080?
One of the most lethal poisons ever used in the West’s war on predators may be staging a comeback. President Richard Nixon banned Compound 1080 in 1972 following its widespread misuse and the death of untold numbers of birds, animals and even humans. Now the Texas Department of Agriculture wants the EPA to allow its […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Save a river
Have you ever wanted to save a river from a dam or pollution but felt frustrated by not knowing how to begin? David M. Bolling effectively channels this passion in his book How to Save a River: A Handbook for Citizen Action. Full of case studies from successful fights to stop dams on rivers such […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 1994: Flame and blame in the Northwest
Green buzzword
The Grand Canyon Trust and the National Park Service will hold a three-day symposium to explore the untested concept of ecosystem management as it applies to public and private lands in the West. “Ecosystem Management: Buzzword of the “90s,” which runs Oct. 6-8 in Flagstaff, Ariz., features National Park Service Director Roger Kennedy; Ray Rasker, […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Wild watching in Nevada
WILD WATCHING IN NEVADA Nevada has joined the “watchable wildlife” program that is spreading across the West. A new Nevada Wildlife Viewing Guide, written by Jeanne Clark, describes viewing spots around the state that recently have been posted with the binocular symbol of the “watchable wildlife” program. Guidebooks in this series list viewing areas by […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
A wilderness proposal for Colorado
A WILDERNESS PROPOSAL FOR COLORADO Forty-nine conservation groups ranging from the Sierra Club to the Sheep Mountain Alliance have proposed the creation of 1.3 million acres of additional wilderness in Colorado. Instead of high-elevation rock and ice, these lands are primarily desert and canyon country managed by the Bureau of Land Management. In a recently […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
New river watchers
Some members of Amigos Bravos, a conservation group in New Mexico that focuses on the Rio Grande and Rio Bravo rivers, have broken away and formed a new group, Rio Grande Restoration. The group’s quarterly newsletter, the Rio Grande Riverkeeper, says Rio Grande recreationists such as rafters pumped $4.6 million into local economies in 1992. […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
No new roads
New rules proposed by the Interior Department limit the ability of states and counties to build highways across public lands. The rules clarify Revised Statute 2477, an 1866 law that granted rights-of-way on federal lands (HCN, 3/21/94). The law was repealed 18 years ago but it did not nullify any earlier rights-of-way. Since then, some […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Incoming
The U.S. Army still plans to eject missile debris over Utah, but wants to adjust its aim. Many residents of Moab, Utah, as well as environmentalists from elsewhere, protested an earlier plan to drop 1-ton missile boosters northeast of a heavily visited area in Canyonlands National Park (HCN, 4/19/94). Now the Army proposes to allow […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
From sacred to suburb
A neighborhood group in Boise, Idaho, is trying to raise $75,000 to protect Native American burial sites from residential development. The East End Neighborhood Association wants to buy land sacred to Shoshone, Bannock and Paiute tribes near Castle Rock, a mile from downtown Boise. For centuries, the tribes say, their sick and wounded came to […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
Whose public lands?
The evolving battle over management of the West’s vast public lands is the focus of a three-day conference sponsored by the University of Colorado’s Natural Resources Law Center. “Who governs the public lands: Washington? The West? The community?” features Western heavyweights from academia, industry, environmental groups and federal agencies discussing everything from grazing reform to […]
Posted inAugust 22, 1994: Whose fault? A Utah canyon turns deadly
The NIMBY factor
If you live in a rural area with no zoning, and if one day a pesticide manufacturing plant announces plans to build in your neighborhood, you might want to consult Not In My Back Yard: The Handbook. Anthropologist and activist Jane Anne Morris details how to launch and win a grass-roots battle against LULUs, defined […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Agency cuts timber cut
Timber cuts in the heavily logged Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota will plummet 25 percent under a revised forest plan released last month. Forest staff studied eight alternatives and recommended setting the allowable timber harvest at 86.7 million board-feet per year for the next decade, almost 30 mmbf less than the current plan […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Idaho wilderness bill fails
Idaho Rep. Larry LaRocco, D, abandoned his attempt to push an Idaho wilderness bill through Congress this year. LaRocco struggled for 18 months to formulate a bill, but shelved it this July. “Once you get into the summer months and closer to November … the people who like to kill things become active,” said LaRocco […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Colorado water map
To help end the chronic battling over water in Colorado, a group has formed to provide impartial information on water issues. The nonprofit Colorado Water Education Forum is made up of 33 volunteers representing virtually every water interest in the state, ranging from farmers and dam builders to environmentalists and wildlife agency staffers. The group’s […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Pesticides linger in Northwest
A report commissioned by the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides found major groundwater contamination in five Northwest states. Neva Hasanein, the author of Uncovering the Legacy of Pesticide Use: What We Know About Ground Water Contamination in the Northwest, gathered information from researchers and government agencies in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and northern California. […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Eating the scenery
Communities throughout the rural West worry about their futures, as wealthy urbanites buy property for vacation homes and speculation. Will congestion, pollution and increased property values destroy the very qualities that make these areas attractive? A report by CHEC, an Oregon economics consulting firm, says that it doesn’t have to be this way. Rural communities […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Ferrets to find new homes
The endangered black-footed ferret may be hunting down prairie dogs in South Dakota as soon as September. The National Park Service recently approved release of at least 38 ferrets onto 42,000 acres of wilderness area in Badlands National Park. But there may be a hitch. Joe Zarki, public information officer for the park, says similar […]