Do you have a conservation hero? The National Wildlife Federation wants to know. Every year the federation honors a conservationist or contributing to the future of wildlife, wild places and natural resources. Past winners include Lady Bird Johnson and Morris Udall. Send your nominations by July 10 to the Communications Department of the National Wildlife […]
Books
Posted inJune 21, 1999: The disappearing farm
Sustaining and Enhancing Riparian Migratory Bird Habitat on the Upper San Pedro River
A panel of scientists assembled by an international commission says the San Pedro River in southeastern Arizona is threatened by runaway growth and development (HCN, 4/12/99). The panel’s final report, released in March, recommends aggressive water conservation measures by area residents and nearby Fort Huachuca. For a copy of the 123-page Sustaining and Enhancing Riparian […]
Posted inJune 21, 1999: The disappearing farm
Siuslaw National Forest
Write a 250-word essay explaining why the Siuslaw National Forest is important to you. Do it well enough and you could win an all expense tour with Jim Furnish, former supervisor of the forest (HCN, 11/23/98). Participants must have a Siuslaw National Forest annual pass or an Oregon Coastal Access pass. Send your essay by […]
Posted inJune 21, 1999: The disappearing farm
Can poverty protect the last, best place?
All who care about the non-metropolitan West should be grateful to Montanans. Within the generous confines of that 145,000 square-mile state, they are asking, in the closing days of the 20th century, whether the good life can be disconnected from the economy. They are testing whether a place that in 50 years has plunged from […]
Posted inJune 7, 1999: Mining the past
New tools for bird buffs
Spring in Colorado has brought with it the clatter of bird calls and a few new tools for finding the feathered beasties. In January, the Colorado Bird Atlas Partnership released the Colorado Breeding Bird Atlas, a 636-page book packed with profiles and pictures of birds, and maps showing where in the state they can be […]
Posted inJune 7, 1999: Mining the past
The real thing
Real “country living” means really having the right and opportunity to grow both food plants and animals. A block of apartments plopped into the middle of a cow pasture 10 miles from the supermarket isn’t real “country.” It’s guaranteed commuter clog and developer’s profit (buying cheap agricultural land and turning it into urban-density, perpetual-rent housing). […]
Posted inJune 7, 1999: Mining the past
Mountain plover population
Over the last 30 years, mountain plover populations have dropped by more than 50 percent. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that these grassland birds are threatened by sod-busting, routine plowing and prairie dog control on a giant swath of the high plains between Montana and Texas. To protect the species, the agency has […]
Posted inJune 7, 1999: Mining the past
Environmental Journalism
A workshop at Western State College of Colorado will attempt to raise the bar on environmental journalism. The workshop is co-sponsored by High Country News and will include HCN publisher Ed Marston, Colorado Central publisher and Denver Post columnist Ed Quillen, and Dr. Marilee Long of the Colorado State University journalism program. For more information […]
Posted inJune 7, 1999: Mining the past
Mann Gulch Fire
The Mann Gulch Fire near Helena, Mont., in 1949, took the lives of 13 firefighters and significantly changed how the U.S. Forest Service fought fires. On Aug. 4-5, the Helena National Forest will hold a 50th anniversary commemoration of the fire. Invited speakers include Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt […]
Posted inJune 7, 1999: Mining the past
37th Annual Wilderness Walks
The Montana Wilderness Association is offering its 37th annual wilderness walks this summer. In places like the Bitter Creek Wilderness Study Area, you can enjoy the vast beauty of Montana’s wilderness, learn about no-trace camping skills, and enjoy celestial shows and howling coyotes. Group sizes are limited. For more information contact the Montana Wilderness Association, […]
Posted inJune 7, 1999: Mining the past
Hands On Colorado: Volunteer Opportunities in 1999
To get outdoors and do some good this summer, check out Hands On Colorado: Volunteer Opportunities in 1999. This 64-page guide profiles volunteer opportunities for everything from trail building, to bat monitoring and kids’ fishing derbies. For a free copy, contact Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, 600 S. Marion Parkway, Denver, CO 80209-2597 (303/715-1010, ext. 15), […]
Posted inJune 7, 1999: Mining the past
Can computers solve Indian problems?
This winter, 112 years of sloppy accounting by the Bureau of Indian Affairs fell into Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s lap (HCN, 3/15/99). Now, his department has bounced back with a million-dollar solution. On June 25, the department will unveil the Trust Asset Accounting Management System (TAAMS). The software program is designed to sort out the […]
Posted inJune 7, 1999: Mining the past
Tragedy on the border
Charles Bowden’s recent book Juarez: The Laboratory of Our Future chronicled, in vivid words and photographs, the violent restlessness of sprawling Ciudad Juarez (HCN, 9/14/98). Among the most horrifying, and unforgettable, images were those of the bodies of several young women, all murdered on their way home from low-paying jobs at the U.S.-owned factories on […]
Posted inMay 24, 1999: The last weird place
Not just sheepherders
A Travel Guide to Basque America – Families, Feasts and Festivals, by journalist Nancy Zubiri, is a passionate and well-researched guide to the Great Basin country of the West. Zubiri traces Basque culture from its origins in the Pyrenees to strongholds today in southern Idaho, northern Nevada and California’s Central Valley and Sierra Nevada. Along […]
Posted inMay 24, 1999: The last weird place
Star parties
Exploding stars, colliding galaxies and random nebulae are the new attractions at Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park. There’s even the possibility of seeing the Mir Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope or the occasional spy satellite. “So we can look up at what’s looking down on us,” says Patrick Wiggins, the demonstration specialist at the […]
Posted inMay 24, 1999: The last weird place
‘Duck cops’ ruffle feathers
According to a confidential survey compiled by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), many law enforcement agents at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say their program is corrupt, understaffed and underfunded. “Protection of our resources is not as important as pleasing special groups,” said one special agent in the survey. “Our biologists and refuge […]
Posted inMay 24, 1999: The last weird place
All about salmon
Our society’s struggle to save salmon in the Northwest is documented in daily headlines, but to read about the complexities of saving salmon, you might look to A Snapshot of Salmon in Oregon. This 24-page tabloid from the Oregon State University Extension Service begins with the past, the ancestors of today’s salmon that date back […]
Posted inMay 24, 1999: The last weird place
Recreation doesn’t cut it
Many rural people hope that new industries such as tourism will offset the losses when timber and mining industries pull out of an area. Research conducted by the University of Idaho’s College of Agriculture found that for at least that one small county, recreation is not bringing in enough money to keep suffering economies afloat. […]
Posted inMay 24, 1999: The last weird place
Strategies in Western water law
Strategies in Western water law, from courts and coercion to collaboration, is the theme of the University of Colorado’s 20th annual summer conference, sponsored by the Natural Resources Law Center. Speakers include Patricia Beneke, assistant secretary of the Interior for Water and Science, and Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt. For more information about the June 9-11 […]
Posted inMay 24, 1999: The last weird place
San Juan Citizens Alliance
The San Juan Citizens Alliance is calling on nonprofit and grassroots organizations around the Four Corners region to participate in a festival of community involvement. The celebration will be held at Gateway Park in Durango, Colo., June 19. Contact Carolyn Lamb at 970/382-9609 with questions. This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine […]