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 […]
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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 […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Real summertime
When southern Arizonans travel during the warmer months of the year, they get looks of sympathy when they reveal their homeplace. “Isn’t it hot down there?” “Isn’t it hard to live without seasons?” But Sonoran Desert dwellers know they have one up on the questioners, with two distinct seasons during what the rest of the […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
The list no Idaho stream wants to be on
Prodded by court order, the EPA has increased its official list of polluted streams and lakes in Idaho from 36 to 800. The agency had been relying on information compiled by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, but the Idaho Conservation League and Idaho Sportsmen’s Coalition sued, claiming that hundreds of polluted waterways had been […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
Children need the wild
In one of the eight essays that make up The Geography of Childhood: Why Children Need Wild Places, Gary Paul Nabhan relates an amusing but poignant scene he witnessed about 10 years ago when he was asked to arrange a meeting between a noted Native American educator in Arizona and a Phoenix television news team. […]
Posted inAugust 8, 1994: Glitz and growth take a major hit in Santa Fe
A Northwest watersheds expo
Everyone from farmers to fishers and scientists to students will gather under one roof to talk about Watersheds “94 in Bellevue,Wash., Sept. 28-30. The conference seeks to create links between people, politics and science in order to create on-the-ground improvements in the Northwest. Speakers include John Bellamy Foster, author of The Vulnerable Planet: A Short […]
Posted inJuly 25, 1994: 'Unranchers' reach for West's state lands
Where wolves roamed
Where Wolves Roamed Under the government’s current wolf reintroduction program, wolf populations in the lower 48 states will reach only 5 percent of their historic numbers at best, says Matt Dietz. A graduate student at the University of Montana, Dietz worked with the Bozeman, Mont.-based Predator Project on a 46-page study of wolf reintroduction alternatives. […]
Posted inJuly 25, 1994: 'Unranchers' reach for West's state lands
Strangelove Park
Strangelove park Tourists on South Dakota’s Interstate 90 may soon visit more than just Mount Rushmore, Prairie Dog Town and the world’s largest drugstore, Wall Drug. Some of the nation’s 1,000 Minuteman missile silos are ripe for historic preservation, says the National Park Service, which is looking at two launch sites adjacent to Badlands National […]
Posted inJuly 25, 1994: 'Unranchers' reach for West's state lands
House of Garbage
HOUSE OF GARBAGE Call it the house that Goodwill built. A recently completed home in Missoula, Mont., carries the concept of second-hand construction materials to new levels. Built by the Center for Resourceful Building Technology, the 2,400-square-foot house showcases dozens of innovative products. Recycled newspaper went into its wall panels, shelving and insulation; light bulbs […]
Posted inJuly 25, 1994: 'Unranchers' reach for West's state lands
House of straw
House of Straw Straw-bale housing construction, known for its flimsy role in the children’s tale The Three Little Pigs, is making a comeback. After a brief period of popularity in the early 1900s, straw bale buildings lost favor in the 1940s. But tastes change, lumber is increasingly expensive and structures built of straw are springing […]
Posted inJuly 25, 1994: 'Unranchers' reach for West's state lands
Big bad bear
Big bad bear An environmental-art group in Portland, Ore., is putting on a special birthday “roast” for Smokey Bear. On July 15, the creative group called Orlo began presenting Smoke Screen: Smokey Bear at 50, a multimedia exhibit featuring artwork and presentations by three dozen artists. The exhibit seeks to debunk 50 years of Forest […]
Posted inJuly 25, 1994: 'Unranchers' reach for West's state lands
Prairie potholes
Prairie potholes When the glaciers retreated from North America, huge chunks of ice left behind made permanent divots in the Northern Plains. These glacial potholes – now prairie wetlands – provide vital habitat for migrating geese. Strategies to protect the rapidly decreasing prairie potholes from increased development and agriculture will be the topic of a […]
Posted inJuly 25, 1994: 'Unranchers' reach for West's state lands
A calm book on diet, health and the environment
A CALM BOOK ON DIET, HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT In the Impacts of Livestock Production, Peter R. Cheeke writes about the animal rights movement, antibiotics in livestock, competition between people and domestic animals for grains, and the environmental aspects of livestock production. He does it in a calm way, without demonizing those who criticize the […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
A new Navajo newspaper
The Navajo Nation newspaper market already has three major papers competing for readers among the reservation’s 200,000 residents. But Deswood Tome, publisher of a new monthly newspaper, Dinéh Tribune, says there’s still room for one more. “We want to be a newspaper that provides more in-depth news. We want to be the news source for […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Renewable energy festival
Democracy will be celebrated, but energy independence is the main theme of the first annual Freedom Festival July 3 in Glenwood Springs, Colo. The event features an array of renewable and sustainable energy products. Reggae music, alternative health care and craft booths will also share Two Rivers Park on the shores of the Roaring Fork […]
Posted inJune 13, 1994: A doomed species?
Millions for furniture
Between 1990 and 1992, the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon spent $5.4 million intended for reforestation on staff salaries, new furniture and remodeling buildings, a federal audit reports. Eventually, this misallocation could cost taxpayers up to $200 million from lost timber harvests. The 21-page report also found that since 1990 the Oregon BLM has […]