When the Bureau of Land Management announced in early May that it would hold forums around the West before changing its mining regulations, both mine operators and mining opponents rallied their troops. GREEN, a program of Defenders of Wildlife, sent an e-mail asking environmentalists to attend the scoping meetings “if it is humanly possible.” Laura […]
Energy & Industry
Posted inJuly 7, 1997: While the New West booms, Wyoming mines, drills ... and languishes
Hanford workers point the finger
Since a May 14 minor explosion at the Hanford, Wash., Plutonium Reclamation Facility, four employees say they are experiencing symptoms associated with toxic chemical exposure. Ten employees were outside the facility in a trailer at the time of the explosion, which was caused by chemicals accidentally allowed to concentrate in one of the plant’s holding […]
Posted inJuly 7, 1997: While the New West booms, Wyoming mines, drills ... and languishes
Not for aggies only
Those who think the phrase “agricultural press’ is an oxymoron should take a look at Oregon’s Capital Press, which covers ag issues in the Northwest with intelligence, perspective and a minimum of hysteria. While the weekly is definitely not an environmental publication, it covers much the same ground in a calm and informative way. Its […]
Posted inJune 23, 1997: On the trail of mining's corporate nomads
On the trail of mining’s corporate nomads
PICURIS PUEBLO, N.M. – Gerald Nailor pulls up in his huge pickup truck looking very cool. He removes his Janis Joplin shades and motions for me to climb in. It is an unseasonably warm March day and the former tribal governor of the Picuris Pueblo is taking us to the top of Copper Hill, about […]
Posted inJune 23, 1997: On the trail of mining's corporate nomads
A fruit-grower opposes mining – and tourism
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. TAOS, N.M. – Over the din of a Taos sports bar where tourists are watching the NBA playoffs and drinking Coronas, orchardist Estevan Arellano is trying to explain the idea of querencia. It means, loosely, a love of home, an anchor to the ground. […]
Posted inJune 23, 1997: On the trail of mining's corporate nomads
Blasting from the past: the 1872 Mining Law
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. 1872 Mining Law – Enacted to lure settlers westward with the promise of access to the nation’s minerals, this law grants hardrock (not coal, gravel, or oil and gas) miners free and open access to all public lands not expressly withdrawn from mining, and […]
Posted inJune 23, 1997: On the trail of mining's corporate nomads
A mine turns two landowners into activists
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. LISBON VALLEY, Utah – All Kay Howe and Claudia Akers wanted was to buy some land where it was cheaper than in Moab – on Three Step Mesa in Lisbon Valley, some of San Juan County’s rare private land. As the realtor showed them […]
Posted inJune 23, 1997: On the trail of mining's corporate nomads
Genealogy of a mining company
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. Tracing Summo USA’s family tree is not easy. The company is wholly owned by Summo Minerals, a Canadian company. Summo Minerals, however, does nothing but own its American company. In fact, all of its offices, employers and operations are in Denver, Colo. Downstairs from […]
Posted inJune 9, 1997: Chaos comes to Costilla County
Forester retreats on grazing rules
With the Idaho congressional delegation breathing down his neck, Sawtooth National Forest Supervisor Bill LeVere withdrew his controversial grazing rules, which were regarded as the toughest in the nation. In March, LeVere told his district rangers to cancel ranchers’ permits if violation warnings went unheeded. But after a roasting in Washington, D.C., from Idaho Reps. […]
Posted inJune 9, 1997: Chaos comes to Costilla County
The Cowboy State gets shook up by 100,000 hogs
WHEATLAND, Wyo. – Scott Taylor looks down into a pit designed to contain 31 million gallons of liquid hog waste, and he sighs. Except for three yellow bulldozers scraping away at the dirt, it’s empty. “I can’t wait to get some pigs in this place,” says Taylor, 35. The production manager of Wyoming Premium Farms, […]
Posted inJune 9, 1997: Chaos comes to Costilla County
The West’s lax rules draw hog factories
Note: This article is a sidebar to one of this issue’s feature stories. Factory hog farms have followed the same trail blazed more than a century ago by American pioneers. The farms started nearly a decade ago in the heart of pig country – Iowa – and in the heart of chicken country – North […]
Posted inJune 9, 1997: Chaos comes to Costilla County
Hogs and a small town co-exist
Note: This article is a sidebar to one of this issue’s feature stories. ALBIN, Wyo. – In this town of just 120 people some 50 miles southeast of Wheatland, hogs have been a part of the landscape for a decade. But the owner of a mini-empire of 11,000 sows, which bear up to 250,000 pigs […]
Posted inMay 26, 1997: The sacred and profane collide in the West
Pressure builds for Yucca Mountain
Pressure builds for Yucca Mountain If the U.S. Senate has its way, more than 30,000 tons of some of the worst stuff on earth will be temporarily stored at Yucca Mountain, Nev. In April the Senate voted 65-34 to amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, thereby designating southwestern Nevada as the temporary resting […]
Posted inMay 26, 1997: The sacred and profane collide in the West
Some fear the Colorado is getting nuked
As the Colorado River crests in early June, activists will gather on its banks at a bend near Moab, Utah, where the river opens up into marshes, 30 miles upstream of Canyonlands National Monument. This is where Atlas Minerals’ 10 million tons of uranium tailings are piled – and where the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is […]
Posted inMay 12, 1997: Planning under the gun: Cleaning up Lake Tahoe proves to be a dirty business
Marathon Oil sues to get into roadless area
In a case that could set a precedent for how citizen-proposed wilderness in Colorado is managed, an oil company is suing the Bureau of Land Management for pulling certain parcels from a routine oil and gas lease sale. The Texas-based Marathon Oil company says the lands do not lie in official wilderness study areas and […]
Posted inMay 12, 1997: Planning under the gun: Cleaning up Lake Tahoe proves to be a dirty business
Potatoes raise a stink in Idaho
Something’s rotten in Ririe, Idaho, a town of less than 1,000 close to Idaho Falls. At least, the residents who live near the Idaho Pacific potato processing plant think so. “You’ve got to hold your breath for at least a half a mile driving out on the road (by the plant),” says LuWayne Gallup. “It […]
Posted inApril 28, 1997: Evangelical Christians preach a green gospel
Yellowstone mine swap is in a very deep pit
Another deadline passed for the New World Mine swap and the only thing traded was blame and doubt. The Crown Butte mining company turned down the government’s offer of $65 million in cash on April 12 in exchange for its proposed gold mine just outside Yellowstone National Park, saying it doubted that the government could […]
Posted inApril 14, 1997: Beauty and the Beast
Cows aren’t “wild and scenic’
For the second time in six months, a federal judge has slammed grazing on public lands. Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Ancer Haggerty ruled that grazing was a “non-point source” of pollution, forcing Oregon cattlemen to comply with the federal Clean Water Act (HCN, 10/28/96). Now, he’s ordered cattle off parts of southeastern Oregon’s […]
Posted inApril 14, 1997: Beauty and the Beast
Bringing back the small family farm
In their mid-40s and newly married, Bob and Bonnie Gregson dropped out and bought a 13-acre farm near Seattle, Wash. in 1988. When the couple left their corporate jobs and city lives, they dreamed of making a “reasonable, community-oriented, non-exploitive, earth-friendly, and aesthetically pleasing living.” They managed to succeed, after some trial and error, as […]
Posted inMarch 17, 1997: Working the Watershed
Babbitt moves on mining reform
After four frustrating years of cajoling Congress to reform the 1872 Mining Law that allows hard-rock mining on public lands, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has decided to see what he can do on his own. Recently he announced a task force that would investigate the ways the administration can prevent some of the environmental damages […]