Colorado’s ancient petroglyphs and pioneer-era courthouses might soon be left to the ravages of time. State Treasurer Mike Coffman wants to boost the state’s economy by redirecting funds earmarked for historic preservation to promote tourism. In 1990, Colorado voters approved a constitutional amendment that legalized gambling in three towns — Black Hawk, Central City and […]
Communities
Posted inMay 12, 2003: Planting time
Heard Around the West
A typist at the Herald Journal in Logan, Utah, misread a letter to the editor, and the result was a howler, particularly since the letter dealt with public misconceptions about wolves. The word “wolves” was transmogrified into “wives,” and somehow got through copyediting without a hitch. Here’s how the sentence appeared in the paper: “Wives […]
Posted inApril 28, 2003: Indian Power
Mary Colter discovered
Mary Colter, like other female artists of the Southwest, was inspired by the region’s vivid landscapes and indigenous cultures. But unlike Georgia O’Keeffe or Terry Tempest Williams, Colter remained largely unknown to the public and her peers during her lifetime. Following her death in 1958, she sank further into obscurity — until recently. Arnold Berke’s […]
Posted inApril 28, 2003: Indian Power
Hit the audio road in Nevada
“I wasn’t sure what I had found, but I knew it was Nevada,” says Jon Christensen, as he drives the so-called Extra-Terrestrial Highway in eastern Nevada. The road flanks Area 51, the top-secret military facility where scientists are rumored to be studying captured aliens. Originally a series on Nevada Public Radio, Nevada Variations is a […]
Posted inApril 28, 2003: Indian Power
Heard Around the West
Don’t mess with Monterey; it plays hardball. For the next 15 years, no cruise ship from Crystal Cruises will be allowed to enter the California city’s harbor. What’s more, if one city official had his way, the company would be banned “forever” – because one of the cruise line’s ships, the Crystal Harmony, dumped 36,000 […]
Posted inApril 28, 2003: Indian Power
A desert’s stolen secrets
It caught my eye, like a ruby someone had dropped on the ground. I was already looking for something, a handhold maybe, a place to step as the two of us scrambled up this route of cliffs and ledges in the Utah desert. I squinted into the shadow of a leaning boulder and saw the […]
Posted inWotr
On the road, where everything falls away
There is nothing like being on a road trip, especially a Western road trip. On the road, anything is possible. The rest of life falls away into another dimension. If it isn’t a frontier of possibility, it’s at least a paved ribbon of it. On a trip years ago, I remember stopping in Truth or […]
Posted inWotr
He taught us to see — but not the whole picture
One of the most celebrated photographers in American history began his career by snapping the kind of family vacation pictures that betray no hint of visual genius. This should hearten any teenager whose early accomplishments with pen, camera, guitar or paintbrush seem inadequate to support dreams of artistic triumph. Ansel Adams was 14 when he […]
Posted inApril 14, 2003: Change comes slowly to Escalante county
Heard Around the West
Watch out, Satan, your number may be up. Route 666 in northwest New Mexico has been called the Devil’s Highway, Satan’s Highway and the highway to Hell — because 666 is “the number of the beast,” in the biblical book of Revelation. It’s also been called downright dangerous, reports the Albuquerque Journal: At least 15 […]
Posted inWotr
New Urbanism is just growth by another name
It’s hard to tell whether New Urbanism best fits the definition of a cult or a conspiracy. It has elements of both. Either way, my advice is not to drink the Kool-Aid. Embracing a politically correct excuse for growth is suicide for the West’s small towns. New Urbanism is the name given to a collection […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Motorheads sue over park’s seasons
Proposal would keep snowmobiles humming year-round
Posted inWotr
A message from women, witnesses in black
Today, in the short space of one hour, I was cursed, yelled at and repeatedly shown the finger. One man pulled down his pants and stuck his rear out of a car window. Why? Simply because, together with seven other women, I donned all black clothing and a veil and stood silently on a sidewalk […]
Posted inWotr
Looking at sprawl in familiar faces
Soon, it will be goodbye to the Colorado Front Range. The moving van is reserved, and Heather and our 4-year-old son, Josiah, will soon aim north and west from Boulder to the Missoula area in western Montana. It will be an adventure. We don’t know where we will live, maybe in a condo or a […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
The Latest Wrinkle
Dubois, Wyo., has announced a name change. The town council voted in February to change the name of the community to “Doo Wah Diddy.” “We thought it sounded more American — you know, patriotic,” explained Mayor Roy Bungee. “We want our men and women in uniform to know we’re not a town full of Frenchies.” […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Forest Service fights red tape
When Philip Dechain-Saw, the supervisor of Colorado’s Big Fir National Forest, tried to approve a 30,000-acre clear-cut in 1997, his efforts to “bulletproof” the final decision against environmentalists’ appeals and lawsuits took a horrific personal toll. First, he experienced dizziness and ringing in the ears; now, he’s suffering full-blown “analysis paralysis.” Unable to cook meals […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Emmet Gowin: Changing the Earth
The word “beauty” does not normally come to mind at the mention of bomb testing, open-pit mining, chemical disposal, or the marks these activities have left on the Western landscape. But Changing the Earth, a book and traveling exhibit of Emmet Gowin’s aerial photographs, lends rich texture and a mysterious vitality to the Hanford Nuclear […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
The Underground Heart: Return to a Hidden Landscape
I loved the desert when I lived in El Paso, but as a native, I had no environmental concerns. There was no such thing back then. We were too busy growing up in a vast landscape that could never change. — Ray Gonzalez, The Underground Heart Ray Gonzalez grew up on the Mexican border, in […]
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
The hunt is on for a mystery killer
Leukemia cluster has Nevada town thirsty for answers
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
A small-town mayor challenges developers
Community discovers that once you’re on the growth train, it’s hard to get off
Posted inMarch 31, 2003: Tinkering with Nature
Heard Around the West
Open a Wenatchee, Wash., phone book and you might want to take a bite out of it. A fragrance strip has been applied to the front cover, and instead of perfume, this one sends out succulent molecules of green-apple aroma. That’s fitting, says Jim Hail, co-owner of Hagedone Directries Inc., who came up with the […]