Ex-priest reconstructs a working-class history from Basque arborglyphs
Politics
Posted inGoat
Cheap grass
Grazing fees aren’t exactly bringing home the bacon … er, beef … for the feds. As we pointed out earlier this year, in the past 40-plus years the fee to graze a cow and calf on public land has gone up a measly 12 cents: from $1.23 to $1.35. That increase hasn’t even come close […]
Posted inRay
California voters OK reform of primary system
The biggest message in Western elections yesterday was California’s Proposition 14 — the ballot measure that aims to reduce the power of hardliners in both political parties. More than 54 percent of the California voters — fed up with extremists who cause gridlock — approved the reform. From now on, if the reform isn’t stalled […]
Posted inRange
The 2012 Farm Bill dance has a sad history
Last week the Agricultural Committee of the US House of Representatives began work on the 2012 Farm Bill with a kick-off hearing. I happened to be in DC at the time and I stood in line with lobbyists for farm groups waiting to get a good seat in the wood paneled hearing room. I was […]
Posted inGoat
Regional variations in the GOP
Just as Coastal Democrats differ from Interior Democrats, Republicans come in regional varieties. Or so argues Jacob Weisberg in Slate, an online magazine owned by the Washington Post. He sees three GOP regions: Northeastern, Southern and Western. The Northeastern — the moderate variety — is nearly extinct, though showed signs of life with Scott Brown’s […]
Posted inMay 24, 2010: Accidental Wilderness
Going to extremes
How wacky grandstanders hijack Western politics … and what some reformers plan to do about it.
Posted inRange
Archives and legal precedents
Within the Currents offerings in the April 26th edition Matt Jenkins provide readers with a description (for subscribers only) of one of the West’s most important archives – The Water Resources Center Archive at the University of California in Berkeley. Matt tells us that historian Donald Worster was among those who did research at the […]
Posted inGoat
That old-time separation
Today is the first Thursday in May, which makes it the National Day of Prayer, established by the U.S. Congress in 1952. A federal judge in Wisconsin has found it an unconstitutional establishment of religion by the federal government, but the decision is under appeal and so the events will go forward. It […]
Posted inRange
Measuring progress in Native health
Consider this from a White House memo: “While there have been improvements in health status of Indians in the past 15 years, a loss of momentum can further slow the already sluggish rate of approach to parity. Increased momentum in health delivery and sanitation as insured by this bill speed the rate of closing the […]
Posted inRange
The 2012 Farm Bill dance begins in DC
Last week the Agricultural Committee of the US House of Representatives began work on the 2012 Farm Bill with a kick-off hearing. I happened to be in DC at the time and I stood in line with lobbyists for farm groups waiting to get a good seat in the wood paneled hearing room. I was […]
Posted inApril 26, 2010: Nevada's Pot of Gold
Wilderness by committee
Federal land protection is all about dealmaking
Posted inApril 26, 2010: Nevada's Pot of Gold
Balancing act
A look at how Western states are managing the financial crisis
Posted inRange
Hey forest lovers – time to make your voices heard!
Today, Coloradans have a chance today to shape the future of America’s National System of Forests, some 193 million acres of mountains, grasslands, rivers and lakes all across the country. The U.S. Forest Service is hosting more than 30 national town hall meetings to hear, straight from the people who use these lands, why our […]
Posted inApril 12, 2010: The Butterfly Sting
“Just journalism or hegemonic narrative?”
Thank you for doing a series on environmental justice (HCN, 2/1/10). The successes of the environmental justice movement stand undeniably. After reading the first article in the “Green Justice” series, though, I felt confused and puzzled by your framing of the EJ movement, one of its national leaders, and those who have worked and continue […]
Posted inRange
Privatizing conservation
The State of California is in the middle of a process that will result in the state’s Fish and Game Commission designating an array of near shore marine reserves along the length of California’s coast. The reserves are intended to preserve and restore marine resources including commercially valuable fisheries. The California Department of Fish and […]
Posted inGoat
Public lands “blackmailer” returns
Loathed by government officials, recreationists and environmentalists alike, Colorado developer Tom Chapman is at it again. His latest deal exemplifies his typical modus operandi: buy inholdings in remote backcountry, threaten to develop them, and get big payouts from federal agencies desperate to protect pristine public lands. Now he’s purchased 103 acres of mining claims in […]
Posted inBlog
Un-stimulated
It didn’t take a recession to bring hard times to California’s San Joaquin Valley. Consider these sobering statistics courtesy of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, a group convened by the governor in 2005 to bring the Valley’s limping economy up to speed: *Average per capita incomes are 32.2 percent lower than the […]
Posted inGoat
If all else fails …
The Forest Service announced this week that it’s taking a bold new tack in forest planning — talking to the public. The agency has been trying for more than a decade to modernize its forest planning process, which is supposed to guide the creation of plans for each national forest that specify areas for logging, […]