Klamath Riverkeeper’s letter in the 7/21 edition portrays PacifiCorp (owner/operator of the Klamath Hydroelectric Project) as an example of “multinational corporations perpetrating underpublicized acts of environmental injustice against rural communities.” Wow! Maybe so; but I am struck by the fact that this is precisely the way many “rural communities” portray Klamath Riverkeeper and other “environmental […]
Communities
Posted inHeard Around the West
“Meet a black guy”
The weekly Farmer’s Market in Corvallis, Ore., has an unlikely hit on its hands. It’s the “Meet a black guy” booth, where white folks can chat about race relations with two young men skilled at improvisational comedy, reports the Corvallis Gazette-Times. Jeff Oliver, who is black, and Sean Brown, who is white, say they “just […]
Posted inArticles
War of Fog
Fighting the West Nile Virus and a culture war in a small Colorado town
Posted inWotr
The end of an affair
I hate to say it, but it’s true: I’m in love with my lawn. My love affair began romantically in the promising early days of spring, as regular rain showers turned my backyard in Wyoming into something very Southampton-like. My lawn was worthy of a respectable English cricket game: A cushy playground for bare feet. […]
Posted inGoat
On Truth, Fiction and White Guilt
It was good to see HCN publish two long letters commenting on Matt Jenkin’s “Peace on the Klamath” feature in the 6/23 edition. As a Klamath River activist since 1986 I was deeply disturbed by Jenkin’s piece which omits complex Klamath realities in favor of the West’s Holy Grail – “Peace” between cowboys (agriculture) and […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2008: Hostile Takeover
Advice from a rancher: The risks make it fun
The other day I heard a newsman refer to “these perilous times” for businesspeople. No kidding, I thought. The gloomy picture featured rising costs, increased property taxes, deepening recession, employee demands for more insurance and benefits, market risk — the list went on. I thought of the risks we’ve faced in ranching, with more to […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2008: Hostile Takeover
It’s a wilderness, not a mall
Regarding wilderness designations, there is no guarantee that just because a place exists all humans have to be allowed in, nor given special access to all parts of all places (HCN, 6/23/08). I speak as a physically challenged person who cannot go down the Grand Canyon or hike the Appalachian Trail, and I do not […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2008: Hostile Takeover
Making a hand
What’s rarely noted and is missing in this discussion about the cowboy myth is that taking care of animals requires commitment to their welfare and a lot of knowledge (HCN, 6/09/08). Without this, you’re unemployable as a cowpoke and an outfit can’t survive economically. If you can’t handle feed and supplement needs with changing seasons, […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2008: Hostile Takeover
Riders and writers, hobos and fauxbeaux
Riding Toward EverywhereWilliam T. Vollmann188 pages, hardcover: $26.95 Ecco, 2008. Embittered by the policies of the Bush administration, disillusioned by the general fear growing within our society and slowed by age and poor health, National Book Award Winner William T. Vollmann sets out on a series of freight trains through the Western United States. He […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2008: Hostile Takeover
Stewards of the world?
In response to Jeffrey A. Lockwood’s article “Why the West Needs Mythic Cowboys” (HCN, 6/09/08), I disagree that “stewardship, in the deepest Biblical sense” should be an ideal. Stewardship is a perverted notion borne out of a fundamental misconception of humanity’s place in the world. It is we who belong to the world, not the […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2008: Hostile Takeover
Wake up and smell the cowboy coffee
I love the myth of the cowboy. It gives me respite from the realities of life. Still, it is a myth. The marvelous article by Jeffrey Lockwood also is a myth (HCN, 6/09/08). It reads well and makes excellent points but is based principally on fictitious characters. Conagher was born in the mind of Louis […]
Posted inWotr
Saddling up for a good cause – at last
I accidentally set my brother, Walt, on fire when I was 3. In fifth-grade, I swiped his buffalo-head nickel collection, blowing it on candy and RC colas. During college, I unintentionally sank a drill bit into his thumb, sending him to the emergency room. After 50 years of my shenanigans, you’d wonder why he still […]
Posted inGoat
The many faces of rural America
Rural America is no longer Norman Rockwell’s version, if it ever was. Such is the lesson of a recent report by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, a policy research center that focuses on rural communities. The report, entitled Place Matters: Challenges and Opportunities in Four Rural Americas, makes clear that it […]
Posted inJuly 21, 2008: A fractured party
‘Si, se puede’
Activist continues to inspire after 50 years
Posted inGoat
Land grant claims won’t go away
Some of my neighbors in northern New Mexico call this region “occupied Mexico.” They’re only half joking. Heirs of community land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments are still arguing – 160 years later – that the U.S. did not honor its obligations under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty promised […]
Posted inGoat
Of vocabulary and the Fourth
Many small towns promote an “Old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration,” and mine is no exception, starting with an afternoon parade and concluding with fireworks after dusk. Judging by old newspapers and the memories of old-timers, we miss several “old-fashioned” aspects of the celebration: modern kids don’t enjoy much access to potent fireworks like silver salutes […]
Posted inArticles
PRO: The Tejon agreement is a true conservation victory
Anyone reading about the Tejon Ranch — California’s largest contiguous private property — has probably heard about the three controversial development projects: Tejon Industrial Park, the Tejon Mountain Village and the Centennial Planned Community. But have you heard about the Tejon Golf and Hunting Resort, or maybe the Whitewolf Village and Shopping Center? People haven’t […]
Posted inJune 23, 2008: Peace on the Klamath
Dewey Bridge: In memoriam
When old Dewey Bridge was burned to death in April by a 7-year-old playing with matches, it was almost more bad news than I could bear to hear. One relic after another of the rural West’s past has vanished, but this was one I thought would survive. The bridge was originally brought in pieces from […]
Posted inArticles
CON: A housing development that’s a tragedy for condors
In recent weeks, several high-profile environmental organizations have been celebrating a deal they call “perhaps the greatest victory for conservation that many of us will see in our lifetime.” If only this were true. Sadly, it is not; the deal in question represents a major setback for conservation. The “deal” does result in permanent preservation […]
Posted inJune 23, 2008: Peace on the Klamath
Credo: The People’s West
How citizens and communities can reinvent their relationship with the American landscape Lifelong locals know their home. They understand the land’s intimate cycles from decades and generations of living in place, a miracle of stability and identity. We can never hope to restore or sustain landscapes and watersheds without the cooperation of local citizens. They […]