NAME Steve Ficklin VOCATION Petroleum Engineering Technician AGE 54 HOME BASE Silt, Colorado KNOWN FOR Keeping drill rigs from blowing up HOBBIES Working brainteaser math problems, fishing, hunting, camping. HE SAYS “Each hole is different. No two wells are identical.” Steve Ficklin doesn’t talk a lot. As he drives along a dirt road outside the […]
Politics
Posted inWotr
Is the great federal land debate over?
Every decade or so, people start pushing the idea of selling off big chunks of public land or transferring that land to state ownership and management. Outside of small parcels, it has never happened, probably because most of us support leaving public lands in federal hands. With the recent pronouncements of Idaho’s own Dirk Kempthorne, […]
Posted inWotr
Just why did Gale Norton leave the interior department?
It seemed so sudden, the way Interior Secretary Gale Norton resigned back in early March. It wasn’t like the other resignations from President George Bush’s cabinet. Everyone in town knew that then-Secretary of State Colin Powell was an odd-man-out before Powell announced he would leave at the end of the first term. As to former […]
Posted inAugust 7, 2006: Is It or Isn't It (Just Another Mouse)?
Why did Norton really leave Interior?
It seemed so swift and sudden, the way Interior Secretary Gale Norton resigned back in early March. It wasn’t like the other resignations from President George Bush’s Cabinet. Everyone in town knew that then-Secretary of State Colin Powell was the administration’s foreign policy odd-man-out before Powell announced he would leave at the end of the […]
Posted inAugust 7, 2006: Is It or Isn't It (Just Another Mouse)?
Where there’s fire, there’s global warming
“I think there was a tendency to think that the overwhelming factor (driving forest fires) was short-term weather. There’s this idea that drought matters, and it does. But it’s taking time and a lot of research to show that climate plays a big role as well.” — Anthony Westerling Six years ago, climate scientist Anthony […]
Posted inJuly 24, 2006: Taking Liberties
Taking Liberties
The salesmen say ‘yes’ is a vote to stop government from taking your land, but this stealth campaign would do far more than that
Posted inWotr
Denial grips the Republican fringe
It’s a sad thing to see the fundamentalist wing of the Republican Party skew its values to line up with those of the money-driven Wall Street wing when global warming is at issue. But it is even sadder to see even the non-religious side of the GOP adopting true-believer doublethink to sustain these monetized values. […]
Posted inWotr
Stealth campaigns threaten our democracy
This election season in the West already looks as hot as a wildfire running on a dry wind. High-profile campaigns target congressional seats and governorships. But beware: The most important campaign runs in stealth mode. It’s the campaign by libertarians who want to cripple your state and local governments. They’re doing it with ballot initiatives, […]
Posted inJuly 24, 2006: Taking Liberties
Saving open land — a taxing problem
Open-space campaigners look for the winning formula
Posted inJuly 24, 2006: Taking Liberties
Raul Grijalva relishes a good fight
NAME Raúl M. Grijalva HOMETOWN Tucson, Arizona AGE 58 VOCATION Serving the U.S. House of Representatives for Arizona’s 7th District HE SAYS “The environment is connected entirely to time: The more time you lose or waste, the less protection you have.” Congressman Raúl Grijalva is a different kind of politician. Plain-spoken and refreshingly unguarded, he […]
Posted inJuly 24, 2006: Taking Liberties
Takings campaigns around the West
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Taking Liberties.” ARIZONA Private Property Rights Protection Act, by the Arizona Home Owners Protection Effort (Arizona HOPE) — Initiative 21 Sources of Major $$ Americans for Limited Government, Chicago area, whose chairman of the board is New York City-based real estate mogul Howie Rich […]
Posted inJuly 24, 2006: Taking Liberties
Dems contract case of self-delusion — or not
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The D Triple C is not targeting Wyoming, but the netroots are agog over Gary Trauner. What’s that? You need a translation? OK, for those not fluent in politicalese, here goes: The D Triple C, or DCCC, is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, an official arm of the Democratic Party whose raison […]
Posted inWotr
Our coyote war in the West reminds me of the war in Iraq
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail,” said psychologist Abraham Maslow. As a wildlife ecologist here in the American West, I can’t help but draw analogies between the Bush administration’s foreign policy in Iraq and one of its proposed wildlife policies in the American […]
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Truth really is no defense
On, May 30, Justice Samuel Alito cast his first deciding vote, and in doing so struck a blow for muzzling public servants at all levels of government. The 5-4 majority in Garcetti v. Ceballos held that public servants have no First Amendment rights in their role as government employees. This decision makes it easier to […]
Posted inJune 12, 2006: The Perpetual Growth Machine
Interior’s new secretary — general or foot soldier?
Will Kempthorne’s deal-making prowess be enough to get something done?
Posted inJune 12, 2006: The Perpetual Growth Machine
‘Miss Fish Hatchery’
Name Jenn Logan Vocation Wildlife conservation biologist Age 33 Home Base Alamosa, Colorado Known for Her efforts to protect and save endangered fish She says “I love the challenge of persuading a person to care about suckers or toads.” The very walls were chirping: There were crickets in every crack and cupboard of Jenn Logan’s […]
Posted inMay 29, 2006: 'Clinging Hopelessly to the Past'
Craig’s excellent adaptive adventures
Name Craig Kennedy Age 33 Vocation Adaptive adventure-travel writer and accessibility consultant Home Base Steamboat Springs, Colorado Noted for Writing adventure-travel guides for disabled hikers, bikers, boaters, campers, paragliders … He says “(Accessibility) could always be happening faster. I’m just happy it’s happening at all. There are a lot of places we can go. ” […]
Posted inMay 15, 2006: The Immigrant's Trail
Isn’t it time to bury the hatchet?
It’s time to take a blockhead to lunch – and listen to what he has to say.
Posted inWotr
War protesters never die, they just keep on protesting
The third anniversary of America’s invasion of Iraq was March 19, so I joined a small group of people who met in Riverside Park in Salida, Colo., to state our disagreement with the war. It was a cold and cloudy day, appropriate for the occasion. There were the usual homemade signs. I wore my Army […]
Posted inMay 1, 2006: Magic Valley Uprising
Burning down the house
Bush administration proposes sweeping cuts to community fire programs