During the waning years of the Bush administration, officials with the U.S. Department of Interior got a little too cozy with — hold on to your Sierra Club card — environmentalists. So says a recent report by the department’s Office of Inspector General. The investigation looked at the National Landscape Conservation System, which was created […]
Politics
Posted inArticles
The roadless rule’s ground game
Earthjustice editor Tom Turner’s book provides more details
Posted inArticles
The Wicked Witch of the West
Harriet Hageman could be roadless proponents’ worst nightmare.
Posted inGoat
Commitment issues
Today, for the first time in 15 years, leaders from the United States’ 564 federally recognized Indian tribes met with political leaders in DC to discuss the problems that blight their communities: lack of adequate health care, lack of adequate employment, lack of, well, a lot of things. The day-long summit began with opening remarks […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
Armed and drunk
It’s not a joke, though it sounds like one: A new law signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, R, allows people to walk into a bar carrying concealed weapons, though once there, they can’t order a drink. The National Rifle Association’s Todd Rathner insists the law makes perfect sense: “Any time law-abiding gun owners can […]
Posted inNovember 9, 2009: Roadless-less
Is the BLM practicing unsafe CX?
More than 6,000 drilling permits issued under questionable provision
Posted inArticles
The roadless rule ground game
Earthjustice editor Tom Turner’s book provides more details
Posted inNovember 9, 2009: Roadless-less
Roadless-less
The campaign to protect unroaded forests gets torn apart by a Wyoming judge in ‘half-assed retirement’
Posted inRange
The debate that drags on
How long will the health care reform debate drag on? The Hill newspaper says “deep into December and possibly beyond by a lengthy floor debate.” If that seems like a long time, consider that the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act has been pending since 1999. Last week hearings were held in the […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
Sit down and shut up
Paul Rolly seems a jolly fellow, at least judging by the picture that accompanies his column in the Salt Lake Tribune. On second thought, that amused look might mask a certain fed-upness. Here’s what’s bugging him lately: A state legislator who professed to be an expert on the U.S. Constitution proposed a bill saying “any […]
Posted inNovember 23, 2009: After the Floods
Avalanche education for all
Janet Kellam tackles an “urban” snow problem
Posted inArticles
Court decision leaves tribes dangling
Critics say the Supreme Court continues to give justification to gut treaties and rob tribes of their land.
Posted inOctober 26, 2009: The newest Westerners
Socialism and the West
This region was built on government subsidies and aid
Posted inGoat
Utah climate clash
When University of Utah professor Jim Steenburgh and a team of climatologists issued a scientific report on climate change in 2007 to then-Governor Jon Huntsman, they emphasized their “very high confidence” that humans were mostly responsible for recent warming patterns. But many Utah lawmakers didn’t take their word for it. And while the state’s new […]
Posted inRange
New Pew database tracks government subsidies
The Pew Charitable Trust has launched a new effort and website which “aims to raise public awareness about the role of federal subsidies in the economy. Subsidyscope should be useful to Westerners who want to know the details of where federal subsidies are distributed around our region. it has long been observed that – while […]
Posted inOctober 26, 2009: The newest Westerners
The good seats don’t come cheap
More proof that if you’ve got power, you probably have money that helped you get it. Sixteen Westerners are among the 50 richest Congressfolk, according to Roll Call’s annual ranking. The math, however, amounts to lowball estimates: On financial disclosure forms, lawmakers report in ranges ($1 million to $5 million, for example), so the totals […]
Posted inGoat
Good reading
If you need to stay indoors because it’s cold, wet and windy outside, or because you worry about being mistaken for an elk if you go outdoors, here’s some good reading. In the New Republic, Jackson Lears provides a thought-provoking essay that combines review of six environmental books, among them an anthology of […]
Posted inGoat
The changing face of the West
Last Monday, I drove over McClure Pass to Carbondale, Colo., to join NPR reporter Jeff Brady, Rocky Mountain Community Radio correspondent Bente Birkeland, Aspen Times columnist Paul Anderson, and KDNK community radio News Director Conrad Wilson for a lively (and live) discussion of Western issues and how they play out in Colorado. You can find […]
Posted inGoat
Harvesting grievances
All summer long, farmers in California’s Central Valley have complained about their parched fields—one even likened their communities to tumbleweeds about to blow away—and they blame their thirsty crops on fish. Endangered Species Act protections for smelt and salmon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta limit the amount of water pumped out of Northern California, much […]
Posted inArticles
Place-based Forest Law
Questions and Opportunities Presented by Senator Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act