Over 80 conservation groups are sending representatives to the 1998 National Wilderness Conference in Seattle, Wash., May 29-31, where David Brower is the featured speaker and Walkin” Jim Stoltz the balladeer of lands prowled by grizzlies and wolves. Contact the National Wilderness Conference, 12730 9th Avenue NW, Seattle, WA 98177 or e-mail wildcon@twsnw.org. This article […]
Books
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Buffering buffalo
BUFFERING BUFFALO Don’t expect brucellosis to disappear from the Yellowstone area anytime soon, says a draft report issued by the National Academy of Sciences. The disease, common among bison and elk, led the state of Montana to shoot or slaughter nearly one-third of the Yellowstone bison herd last winter when the animals moved outside park […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
New in the watershed
When the nonprofit Western Ancient Forest Campaign (WAFC) sent Brian Vincent to California to set up a new office, he had a lot of terrain to choose from. He settled on Nevada City, Calif., one evening during a Watershed Council meeting, impressed by the sight of local Sierra Club and Earth First! members coming together […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Program gets a C
When the 1993 Northwest Forest Plan reduced timber production in California, Washington and Oregon, the Clinton administration began the “Jobs in the Woods’ program to retrain timber workers. It sounded like a great idea: Former loggers would work with the Forest Service and other agencies to close abandoned roads and restore streams for native fish, […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
No nuclear jeopardy in Wyoming
Will a nuclear waste dump be Wyoming’s economic salvation? No way, says the Wyoming Outdoor Council. Its new report, Nuclear Jeopardy: A Citizen’s Guide to Understanding High Level Radioactive Waste in Wyoming, spells out the group’s opposition to a proposed private dump site. Not only would the Owl Creek Energy Project damage the state’s tourism […]
Posted inMay 11, 1998: The working West: grassroots groups and their newsletters
Wilderness Walks
The Montana Wilderness Association will lead 93 hikes on public lands during its 36th annual Wilderness Walks program from May through September. There’s a frog safari, a wildflower walk and even a hike led by a backcountry cooking expert – samples included. Group size is limited; advance reservations are required. For more information, call the […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Scat Spot, scat
Man’s best friend is helping the Wolf Education and Research Center in Boise, Idaho. Hounds with a hankering for fetching are being retrained to sniff out bear, lynx, wolverine and even rhino scat, resulting in less need for tagging and radio-tracking (HCN, 2/16/98). A trained dog can survey a livestock depredation site for scat, which […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Grizzlies on staff
If the old adage, “Once you’ve studied something long enough, you become it,” holds true, the Glacier Institute has a grizzly bear, a glacier and a wildflower or two on staff. For 15 years, the nonprofit educational organization has recruited wildlife experts and artists to take students of all ages traipsing about Glacier National Park […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
All that glitters…
A citizens’ group in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., is trying to drum up opposition to a proposed open-pit gold mine a few miles from town. Royal Gold Inc. has been conducting exploratory drilling on Forest Service land, and a full-scale operation may begin once the price of gold increases. Resident Bill McNeill, who founded the new […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Partial measurements
Nothing is more elegant and simple than a Parshall Flume. The concrete or sheet metal devices, when properly built, measure how much water flows through a ditch. While water courts adjudicate, it is Parshall Flumes that actually measure out the water. Unfortunately, they’re unlikely to do an accurate job. According to Colorado State University, only […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Playing by the rules
When Steamboat Springs, Colo., snowmobiler Christian George was airlifted out of the backcountry in January after being lost for four days, he said he had survived with two cigarette lighters and a candy bar. Next time, he told the Denver Post, he’ll take more lighters. Jackson, Wyo., film producer Sava Malachowski adds a few more […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Mine your jewelry box
The Missoula, Mont., group Women’s Voices for the Earth has an alternative to a proposed gold mine on the Blackfoot River: Mine Your Jewelry Box, Not the Blackfoot. The group started collecting gold jewelry last May to support public education and lawsuits aimed at stopping the McDonald gold project (HCN, 12/22/97). So far, people have […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Outdoor Recreation: Promise and Peril in the New West
The Natural Resources Law Center at the University of Colorado will hold its 19th annual summer conference, Outdoor Recreation: Promise and Peril in the New West, June 8-10. Panelists will talk about conflicts among visitors to public lands and the effect of outdoor recreation on Native American sacred sites. Speakers will include Agriculture Department Undersecretary […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
California Water Map
It’s not quite Cadillac Desert, but the updated California Water Map goes a long way toward explaining the state’s complex network of water projects. The large color map, published by the Water Education Foundation, shows the location of dams, reservoirs, aqueducts and wild and scenic rivers around the state. The nonprofit educational foundation also publishes […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
The Western Ancient Forest Campaign
Join the directors of the Hells Canyon Preservation Council and the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance June 1 for a benefit float trip down the Snake River through Hells Canyon in wooden dories. Oars/Dories guides will pilot the five-day whitewater trip, prepare meals and donate all proceeds to the organizing groups. Contact the Hells Canyon Preservation Council […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Hells Canyon benefit float trip
Join the directors of the Hells Canyon Preservation Council and the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance June 1 for a benefit float trip down the Snake River through Hells Canyon in wooden dories. Oars/Dories guides will pilot the five-day whitewater trip, prepare meals and donate all proceeds to the organizing groups. Contact the Hells Canyon Preservation Council […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
National Audubon Society biennial convention
The National Audubon Society will hold its biennial convention July 6-11 in Estes Park, Colo. The conference theme is “Celebrating Successes” and sessions will address topics such as sanctuary management and wildland preservation. There will also be several birding field trips, including a seven-day “Grand Tour of Western Colorado.” For more information, write to the […]
Posted inApril 13, 1998: Oil clashes with elk in the Book Cliffs
Getting it right: a policy agenda for local population activism
Getting it Right: A Policy Agenda for Local Population Activism is the topic of a provocative paper by Judith E. Jacobsen, a member of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development. She advocates adding issues of natural resource consumption and unwanted pregnancies to community development agendas. Copies of the 56-page paper are $5 from University of […]
Posted inMarch 30, 1998: A bare-knuckled trio goes after the Forest Service
High Desert Conference
The 20th annual High Desert Conference, “On the Cusp of Change: Charting a New Century in the High Desert,” is slated for April 30-May 3 at the Malheur Field Station near Burns, Ore. The Oregon Natural Desert Association, Committee for Idaho’s High Desert, and Friends of Nevada Wilderness will host the weekend of field trips, […]
Posted inMarch 30, 1998: A bare-knuckled trio goes after the Forest Service
20 years with the Arapaho
Often photographs of Native Americans stereotype them as victims of poverty or “beads and feathers’ powwow performers, says Lander, Wyo., photographer Sara Wiles. For that reason, she photographs Arapaho people in their everyday lives, both in moments of celebration and moments unadorned. “If I wanted to pick out pictures that made Arapaho tribal members … […]