The good news is, there are foxes in my neighborhood. The bad news? There are foxes in my neighborhood. Bad news for my cats, anyway, because I allow them to cruise outside for a few daylight hours on warm weekend days. Recently, like an overanxious mother, I panicked when my favorite lap cat, Sonar, failed […]
Essays
Posted inWotr
Roadkill is a right and privilege, and don’t forget it
Driving through northern Idaho this summer? Bring a fork. A judge in Bonners Ferry recently stood up for the right of people to eat roadkill that even other roadkill fanciers might find inedible. It sounds like one of those jokes bluegrass musicians tell: “How many banjo players does it take to eat a possum?” The […]
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 inWotr
The risky business of fighting fire in the West
The 2004 fire season has not yet truly begun in the Rocky Mountain West, and already three fire-fighting pilots have died in crashes. While investigations into the causes of the accidents are under way, the U.S. Forest Service finds itself crushed between a rock and a hot place. On May 11, with aerial tanker-training in […]
Posted inJune 21, 2004: A Walk Between Worlds
As dams fall, a chance for redemption
I am sitting next to a 200-foot high concrete apparition. Matilija Dam, not far from the California coast, sits astride the narrow canyon of the Ventura River amid the velvet green foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains. At the entrance to the dam site, razor wire conspicuously adorns the top of a fence, just above […]
Posted inJune 21, 2004: A Walk Between Worlds
Revenge of the old-timers: The beavers are back
At a recent barbecue during a breezy Sunday afternoon on the South Fork of the Shoshone River, near Cody, Wyo., I saw the largest beaver I’ve ever seen. It was floating in the river’s current like a big dog. The beaver looked to be about three feet long from nose to flat tail, and must […]
Posted inWotr
Looking for Heroes? Go to Boise, Idaho
If you want an example of real heroes in the “war on terrorism,” go to Boise, Idaho. Look for 12 of your fellow citizens who recently spent long hours on uncomfortable chairs in a windowless room in the local federal courthouse. These are the jurors who recently found Sami Omar Al-Hussayen innocent of terrorism charges. […]
Posted inWotr
Reflections on small towns after a bulldozer rampage
To many of us who know Granby, Colo., or even mountain towns in general, the bizarre explosion last week — a man armoring his bulldozer, mowing down buildings and then shooting himself — was surprising. The explosion itself was not. Some people say they expect violence in cities and not in little towns. But mountain […]
Posted inWotr
Getting rude at the nation’s big funeral
“Could the anti-everything folks have the common decency,” asked a caller to my public-radio talk show in Oregon, “to wait until the body gets cold before jumping on it?” Former president Ronald Reagan was being put to rest, and it was easy to understand how his admirers felt. Those of us outside that category might […]
Posted inWotr
The terrifying saga of the West’s last big dam
The war on terror has a new front in southwestern Colorado. Outside the fast-growing city of Durango, the government has allocated $2 million for terrorism security at the Animas-La Plata Dam construction site. How will that money specifically ward off al-Qaida operatives and increase homeland security? “If I tell you too much, I’d have to […]
Posted inWotr
Driver’s ed from a pedestrian’s point of view
A few of my friends have completely sworn off bike-riding on roads. One too many shoulder brushes with the side-view mirror of a recreational vehicle. One too many dives for the ditch. They can’t take it anymore, and who could blame them? Some are threatening to give up walking as well, since being a pedestrian […]
Posted inWotr
Revenge of the old-timers: The beavers are back
At a recent barbecue during a breezy Sunday afternoon on the South Fork of the Shoshone River, near Cody, Wyo., I saw the largest beaver I’ve ever seen. It was floating in the river’s current like a big dog. The beaver looked to be about three feet long from nose to flat tail, and must […]
Posted inJune 7, 2004: Wal-Mart's Manifest Destiny
I’ve tried, but I can’t eat the view
I’ve given up on one of the great American dreams — owning a home of my own. Why? Because it’s becoming impossible to find affordable housing in the West, even in the non-resort towns. It’s easy to tell that Missoula, Mont., is still a working-class town. Just check out the traffic on the tree-shaded lanes, […]
Posted inJune 7, 2004: Wal-Mart's Manifest Destiny
At home on the range with 10-year-old writers and dreamers
During a spring storm, a group of fourth-graders are considering how their lives will change in the future. I’ve asked them to think about anything that might be different for them tomorrow, or even 30 years down the road. A bunch of hands go up, and the first student I call on looks out the […]
Posted inWotr
Where you live in a small town is somebody’s recollection
“I’m living on Nutting Street now,” a friend told me last week. “You know where that is?” “Of course not!” I responded. “This is a small town! Nobody remembers the names of streets!” When I lived in the city, I knew the old saw that rural people give directions using landmarks that no longer exist […]
Posted inWotr
When it’s ‘deer o’clock’ — watch out
When the sun dips into the horizon during Wyoming’s twilight hours, dangers are suddenly everywhere. In an instant, dark figures begin darting onto the state’s roads, and the sound of squeaking brakes can be heard from Rock Springs to Cody. We call this time of day “deer o’clock,” and we grip the steering wheel just […]
Posted inWotr
Surprise: The bill for a water grab in California may be coming due
Water in the West has never made sense, thanks to states drawn with straight lines and watersheds that won’t stay put. Then there’s California, where hydrology and demography rebound off each other In opposite directions. Two-thirds of the people live in the south, while two-thirds of the surface water is in the north. This mismatch […]
Posted inWotr
Wilderness isn’t a fish farm
For a start, you can blame the enthusiasm of “bucket biologists” in the West. As far back as the 1800s, these avid anglers and fishery managers took it upon themselves to bring fish — and fishing — to lakes and streams in the high country and backcountry of America. A lot of people praised them […]
Posted inWotr
At home on the range with 10-year-old writers and dreamers
During a spring storm, a group of fourth-graders are considering how their lives will change. I’ve asked them to think about anything that might be different for them tomorrow, or even 30 years down the road. A bunch of hands go up, and the first student I call on looks out the window and says, […]
Posted inWotr
Native fish: Some environmentalists don’t get it
This may sound harsh, but it’s true: Environmentalists tend not to see, handle or understand fish, to distrust agencies dedicated to their recovery, and to set up mental spam-filters for facts about short-lived fish poisons. Usually, these poisons are the only tools managers have for saving native trout from being eaten, out-competed or hybridized out […]