NEW ARRIVALS The HCN family has grown by two in recent weeks. Laura Paskus, HCN’s Southwest editor, gave birth to a baby girl on Sunday, Jan. 29. Lillian Jane arrived at 11:38 p.m., weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and measuring 19 1/4 inches long. Laura and her husband, Hollis Lawrence, report that Lillie is “ridiculously […]
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Posted inFebruary 6, 2006: The Killing Fields
Dear friends
WELCOME, JANIEC! Janiec (rhymes with “Denise”) Gutierrez is the newest addition to our marketing department and is responsible for advertising sales. Janiec, a native of Southern California, moved to town last May after becoming engaged to a Paonian she met in Germany, where they were both working in the outdoor industry. She enjoys the pink […]
Posted inJanuary 23, 2006: Timberlands up for grabs
Dear friends
Welcome, new interns! Sarah Gilman arrived in Paonia for a winter internship, still smiling after a summer of trail work on Colorado’s 14,421-foot Mount Massive. A native of Boulder, Colo., Sarah is no stranger to the Paonia area. She spent two summers working at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, just over the hill in Gothic, […]
Posted inDecember 26, 2005: A New Green Revolution
Dear friends
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM HCN Thanks to all our friends and subscribers for attending HCN’s annual holiday open house on Dec. 7. Thanks also to those who brought a holiday treat. The HCN staff is taking a much-needed break for two weeks, to bake fruitcake, guzzle eggnog, and celebrate with family and friends. The next issue […]
Posted inDecember 12, 2005: The Final Energy Frontier
Dear friends
VISITORS Longtime subscribers Charlie and Shelley Calisher of Red Feather Lakes, Colo., a town smaller than Paonia, dropped by in mid-September after failing to catch fish on the Dolores River. Writer Susan Tweit (a frequent contributor to these pages) and her husband, Richard Cabe, left a postcard on our door after hours, on their way […]
Posted inNovember 28, 2005: Gold from the Gas Fields
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HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE The staff of High Country News cordially invites all readers and friends to our holiday open house. It will be at our Paonia, Colo., office at 119 Grand Avenue on Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Feel free to bring a treat to share; we’ll provide beverages. PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS […]
Posted inNovember 14, 2005: Back On Track
Dear friends
THANK YOU The cottonwood leaves are piling up along the North Fork of the Gunnison River, not far from the HCN headquarters. Inside, contributions to the Research Fund have been fluttering in. Many thanks to all who have contributed to the fund so far this fall; it’s what pays our writers, editors and photographers to […]
Posted inOctober 31, 2005: The Public Lands' Big Cash Crop
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WELCOME, LUTHER! HCN welcomes new board member Luther Propst, the executive director of the Sonoran Institute. The nonprofit institute works with Western communities to promote stewardship, conservation and local economies. VISITORS University of Denver associate geography professor Don Sullivan dropped in with a pack of students after being snowed off nearby Grand Mesa, where the […]
Posted inOctober 17, 2005: The Ghosts of Yosemite
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HELLOS AND GOODBYES The High Country News board of directors met in Santa Fe in late September, bidding farewell to two longtime members, and inviting five new people to join. Leaving the board are Emily Stonington and Michael Fischer. Emily, a state senator who raises sheep outside Helena, Mont., was one of the main forces […]
Posted inOctober 3, 2005: Out of the Four Corners
Dear friends
HELP! SEND BOOKS! Our hearts go out to all those suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. We’ve recently learned about an unusual — and imaginative — way to assist the hard-hit region: Former New Orleans resident and author Janis Owens has created Books for Folks to send books to relief centers, libraries and schools […]
Posted inSeptember 19, 2005: Squeezing Water from a Stone
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High Country News recently helped host Forest Service whistleblower and sustainability advocate Gloria Flora, who spoke at the Paonia Town Hall on Aug. 26 during a tour through the West. Flora is best known for banning oil and gas leasing on Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front in 1997, when she was a forest supervisor (HCN, 10/13/97: […]
Posted inSeptember 5, 2005: Rangeland Revival
Dear friends
Change in the Air Last month, we bid farewell to Laura Paskus, who has been HCN’s assistant editor for three years. But this isn’t really goodbye: Laura has moved to Albuquerque, N.M., where she will work part-time as our Southwest editor. The move is part of an ongoing effort to put HCN on the ground […]
Posted inWotr
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SUMMER VISITORS We’re always a bit surprised (and pleased) that so many of you manage to find us, since Paonia, Colo. — HCN’s hometown — is really not on the way to anywhere. Rick and Susie Graetz from Helena, Mont., came by with two young friends from nearby Crested Butte. The couple founded Montana Magazine […]
Posted inAugust 8, 2005: The Gangs of Zion
Dear friends
SURPRISE! The West, as we like to say around here, is more than just a pretty picture. It is a growing, changing, contentious and often uncomfortable place where society’s decisions, for better or worse, are writ large on the landscape. We pride ourselves on finding the stories behind the scenery and telling them well through […]
Posted inJuly 25, 2005: The Many Faces of Richard Pombo
Dear friends
VISITORS We’ve had a steady stream of summer visitors. Christopher Peterson, executive director of the Glen Canyon Institute, stopped in while stumping for the effort to drain Lake Powell. Dan Stonington, nephew of HCN board member Emily Stonington, came by on a trip to check out the sights that have recently emerged from the drought-stricken […]
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Dear friends
SUMMER BREAK This will be the last issue of HCN that you’ll receive for a month. The staff is taking an issue off to spend time with family and friends and enjoy the sunny Paonia summer. Look for the next issue to hit your mailbox around July 25th. CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS We’d like to make […]
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
Dear friends
HEADING WEST The High Country News board of directors joined the staff in Paonia in May for the spring business meeting. Some of the more lively — and frank — discussion came when small groups of board and staff members took turns riffing on what they think of the paper, and how it needs to […]
Posted inMay 16, 2005: Unsalvageable
Dear friends
WELCOME, JASON HCN has a new development associate to help with raising money, planning events and board meetings, and producing a newsletter for former interns. Jason Nicholoff, the eldest son of Circulation Manager Gretchen Nicholoff, grew up in Paonia. After graduating from Ohio’s Oberlin College with an English degree, he did environmental work and grant-writing […]
Posted inMay 2, 2005: The Great Energy Divide
Dear friends
ANIMAL PLANET Here in Paonia, we’ve been having various critter adventures. JoAnn Kalenak, our production assistant, recently adopted a beagle named Darcy. In mid-March, though, the dog disappeared while chasing rabbits. Three weeks later, a neighbor called to say that Darcy had been vacationing at her farm a few miles away the entire time. Meanwhile, […]
Posted inApril 18, 2005: What Happened to Winter?
Dear friends
KIDS THESE DAYS … Nature, with a capital N, is going to hell — or so we’re told. The venerable wilderness warhorse Dave Foreman recently e-mailed around an essay detailing exactly how it’s doing so, and why. Among other culprits, he blames High Country News (too preoccupied with “happy little resource-extraction communities”), The Nature Conservancy […]