Politics
Posted inWotr

Wolves: The debate is seldom rational

by Wendy Beye

The wolf pot continues to boil in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Now, another state has been added to the stew.  In Oregon, environmentalists are protesting the piecemeal removal of wolves from the Endangered Species list, hunters want less competition from wolves, and ranchers complain that wolves are killing their livestock. In eastern Oregon, where there […]

Posted inJuly 19, 2010: The Ute Paradox

Border creep

by Michel Marizco

Surrendering U.S. turf : That’s the impression given by new signs on some Bureau of Land Management land in southern Arizona. The signs — which warn people to avoid the area south of Interstate 8 — were installed after a local sheriff’s deputy was reportedly shot by a Mexican drug trafficker in late April. “We […]

Posted inRange

Push polls in the Rockies

by Ed Quillen

I had read about “push polls,” but until last week, I had never been exposed to one. A “push poll” may sound like a real poll at first, but as the questions proceed, it’s obvious that the pollster is trying to influence your thinking, rather than find out what you’re thinking, which is what legitimate […]

Posted inRange

Environmental Law’s Greatest Tragedy

by Eric Jantz

Ask John or Jane Q. Public about how the environmental laws in this country are implemented, and you’re likely to get a blank stare. No one really knows, but with the BP spill and Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant leaks in the headlines, people are sure the system isn’t working. As a practicing environmental lawyer, […]

Posted inGoat

New face, old body

by denvern

The dissolution of the Minerals Management Service has led to a revival of two venerated bureaucratic traditions: infighting and hoarding of office supplies. While BP-owned oil continues gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, the section of the Department of the Interior tasked with regulating offshore drilling and collecting royalties has been dissolved and divided into […]

Posted inGoat

Should Salazar resign?

by Stephanie Paige Ogburn

In the wake of a major disaster like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, resignations like the recent departure of Elizabeth Birnbaum, director of the Minerals Management Service, are a de facto form of political appeasement.   Environmental groups aren’t satisfied with Birnbaum’s head, though, and a group of them, led by WildEarth Guardians, are circulating a letter […]

Posted inBlog

What about Watt?

by Robyn Morrison

Whenever the national media turns its attention to the Interior Department, I can’t help but think of James Watt. Since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig and the ensuing gush of undersea oil, the agency has certainly been in the spotlight. As the Interior Secretary under the Reagan administration, Watt’s brash quips, unabashed partisan […]

Posted inGoat

The great Colorado non-scandal

by Ed Quillen

Last week, I talked to one of my daughters in Oregon, and she asked me about “the Romanoff scandal,” adding that it was much in the news out there and so it must be a really big deal in Colorado.  It hasn’t been getting that much play in Colorado — I don’t recall anyone bringing […]

Posted inGoat

Cheap grass

by Cally Carswell

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

by Ray Ring

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 […]

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