It was all over the papers recently that a border collie named Rico recognized 200 human words. That prompted owners of other breeds to write letters to the editor in defense of their breeds. One trainer said motivation is critical. Another observed that border collies are “acutely sensitive to motion.” I think they all got […]
Energy & Industry
Posted inWotr
We’ve seen enough destruction from mining
On Nov.2, Montanans will vote on Initiative 147, which would repeal the state’s ban on cyanide heap-leach gold and silver mining. The ban was passed by voters for a good reason: Montana, and Indian Country in particular, will suffer for many decades from the pollution caused by mining operations. Zortman-Landusky Gold Mines, for instance, has […]
Posted inOctober 25, 2004: Window Shopping: Part-Time Paradise
How to deal with oil and gas development
As America’s thirst for petroleum and natural gas grows, energy companies are scouring the West for new sites to drill. Now, there’s a new guidebook and Web site, Oil and Gas at Your Door, that gives landowners a preparedness primer for the day that an oil and gas company man comes knocking. Produced by the […]
Posted inOctober 25, 2004: Window Shopping: Part-Time Paradise
Election-year environmentalism
The Bush administration throws enviros and hunters some bones
Posted inOctober 25, 2004: Window Shopping: Part-Time Paradise
Californians take a stand on GE crops
Farmers fear a ballot initiative may takedown a tried-and-true rice variety
Posted inOctober 11, 2004: The First Family of Western Conservation
The Udall bloodline is consistent
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “The Coyote Caucus Takes the West to Washington.” Throw a stick around the West’s public offices and institutions, and the odds are decent you’ll hit a member of the extended Udall clan. Joining Mark Udall and Tom Udall in Congress is their second cousin, […]
Posted inOctober 11, 2004: The First Family of Western Conservation
University gets smart about food
In May 2003, two environmental studies graduate students at the University of Montana in Missoula teamed up with the university?s Dining Services, a $2.5 million-per-year business, to start the Farm to College program. Since then, the efforts of Crissie McMullan and Shelly Conner have made large-scale local food purchasing a reality: The university has bought […]
Posted inOctober 11, 2004: The First Family of Western Conservation
Biotech companies engineer a ‘superweed’
Genetically engineered golf course turf could creep to public lands
Posted inSeptember 27, 2004: Life After Old Growth
Energy companies rush the West
Wyoming applies the brakes, but the leasing spree continues
Posted inSeptember 13, 2004: When a Boom is a Bust
Colorado voters hold the cards on renewable energy
In the state Legislature, utilities have had the upper hand — but now the choice is up to voters
Posted inAugust 30, 2004: How Long Will it Flow?
Mining research tool debuts on Web
A new Web site provides a comprehensive look at who owns mining claims on public lands in the West, along with a scathing analysis of the legacy of the 1872 Mining Law in 12 Western states. Produced by the Environmental Working Group, “Who Owns the West,” allows the user to scroll through regional, state and […]
Posted inAugust 30, 2004: How Long Will it Flow?
Will a mining-reform victory hold water in Nevada?
Long-term cleanup trust fund may get shortchanged
Posted inWotr
Western utilities beware: Coal is a risky business
It wasn’t long ago that I got one of those flyers about rates that comes with my bill from Xcel Energy, formerly Public Service Co. and now one of the country’s largest utilities, serving much of Colorado and several other Western states. I knew that Xcel was planning on building a huge and expensive coal-fired […]
Posted inWotr
Who took the ‘farm’ out of the Farm Bureau?
It’s an organization “preying upon the very people it claimed to help,” said Frances Ohmstede, 40 years ago, about the American Farm Bureau Federation. “Its policies lead rural America further and further into debt and poverty,” said her husband, Bryce. “It’s a financial empire built for their own benefit,” added Alfred Schutte, the Ohmstedes’ friend […]
Posted inAugust 16, 2004: Journey of Rediscovery
Court says Yucca Mountain design unsafe
The site’s 10,000-year safety standard is ruled arbitrary, but the Energy Department is undeterred
Posted inJuly 19, 2004: They're Here: Global Warming's Unlikely Harbingers
BLM gags an archaeologist to get out the gas
Critics say a slew of new projects could endanger Indian rock art and ruins
Posted inWotr
A Colorado corporation throws its weight around in Montana
When Montanans first employed the ballot initiative in 1912, all four of the measures they passed had a single aim: to curtail the political power of Amalgamated Copper, the state’s mining giant. So it’s no small irony that in 2004, a mining corporation is using the initiative process to try to reverse the expressed will […]
Posted inJuly 19, 2004: They're Here: Global Warming's Unlikely Harbingers
Drilling done right?
‘Responsible’ gas development gets put to the test in northern New Mexico
Posted inWotr
Why I won’t tell the BLM what I think about Otero Mesa
There’s going to be a decision soon about how much of our publicly owned land the Bureau of Land Management will lease to the oil and gas industry on Otero Mesa in New Mexico, but I don’t think I’ll be among those sending public comments. I’m thinking, instead, about writing a private letter to Linda […]
Posted inJune 21, 2004: A Walk Between Worlds
Mining law claims mountain
COLORADO For nearly 30 years, the people of Crested Butte, Colo., have fought mining claims on Mount Emmons, known locally as “the Red Lady” — a beloved backcountry skiing spot and the town’s breathtaking backdrop. The town’s determination to save the Red Lady heralded a shift in values in Western mining communities, from resource extraction […]