NAME Martin Lockley VOCATION Paleontologist KNOWN FOR Tracking dinosaurs in Glen Canyon HOME BASE Denver, Colorado HE SAYS “Some people go to Lake Powell to eat, drink and be merry, but we go to sweat, toil and bust our knees on the rocks.” On a warm summer evening in southern Utah, paleontologist Martin Lockley is […]
Politics
Posted inWotr
Be a patriot — get your hands dirty
While foraging through my backyard garden the other day for cucumbers, peppers and hot-to-touch chilis, a slogan occurred to me: “Support Our Troops – Plant a Garden.” A garden would demonstrate patriotism because each backyard Eden lessens our dependence upon imported oil. Of course, by itself, imported oil isn’t bad, but an addiction so intense […]
Posted inSeptember 5, 2005: Rangeland Revival
The return of the hodgepodge
That wasn’t just a transportation bill that President Bush signed earlier this month in Illinois. No, the measure — which will spend $286.45 billion in six years on highways, rail and bus service, and bike and hiking trails — has a far more elaborate name. It’s the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act — […]
Posted inWotr
The West shared in a meal of highway pork
That wasn’t just a transportation bill that President Bush signed in early July in Illinois. No, the measure — which will spend $286.45 billion in six years on highways, rail and bus service, and biking and hiking trails — has a far more elaborate name. It’s the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act — […]
Posted inAugust 22, 2005: A Military Town Fights for its Life
His playground pulls fun hogs off the public lands
NAME: Jeremy Parriott VOCATION: Extreme-sports videographer and promoter AGE: 32 HOME BASE: Moab, Utah CLAIM TO FAME: Helping to create “Area BFE,” a private playground for “extreme” off-roaders, mountain bikers and climbers. HE SAYS: “Public lands around here are getting pretty bombarded with use — why not bring it to a private place?” Standing […]
Posted inAugust 8, 2005: The Gangs of Zion
She builds new words in an ancient tongue
Name: Reba Teran Vocation: Language coordinator, Shoshone Cultural Center in Fort Washakie, Wyoming Age: 50 Known for: Compiling a 9,000-word audio dictionary of the Shoshone language She says: “We’re trying to save our culture without a language. But you can’t have a whole culture without language.” It’s not easy to translate a modern word like […]
Posted inWotr
Who will call the shots in Sandy, Utah?
After battling city officials all the way to the Utah Supreme Court over whether enough petition signatures had been collected to force a referendum, the residents of Sandy, Utah, will decide the fate of “big box” retail development at the ballot box. In a state where controlling growth often is equated with communism, the court […]
Posted inJuly 25, 2005: The Many Faces of Richard Pombo
As Washington waffles, Western states go green
Legislatures boost wildlife and clean energy, while bucking the nuclear and oil industries
Posted inJuly 25, 2005: The Many Faces of Richard Pombo
Will the real Mr. Pombo please stand up?
Rep. Richard Pombo, known as the Jerry Falwell of the property-rights movement, has threatened to dynamite the nation’s bedrock environmental laws. Now, he says, he’s learning to compromise.
Posted inJuly 25, 2005: The Many Faces of Richard Pombo
Wolf man John
NAME John Morgart TITLE Mexican wolf recovery program coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service HOME BASE Albuquerque, N.M. AGE 53 HE SAYS “I’ve known what I wanted to do with my life ever since I was 3 or 4 years old. I just always knew I wanted to be a wildlife biologist.” John Morgart has […]
Posted inJuly 25, 2005: The Many Faces of Richard Pombo
Pombo’s power grows — and so do the scandals
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Will the real Mr. Pombo please stand up?“ Richard Pombo had a relatively trouble-free career in Congress until 2003, when he became chairman of the powerful House Resources Committee. Since then, he has been linked to a number of scandals. “The problem with Pombo […]
Posted inWotr
The race for president is already on
Washington, D.C. — It’s not too early to start thinking about the 2008 presidential elections. It’s too late. At least as far as the Democratic nomination goes. At least according to the Democratic insiders here in that fabled land known as Inside-the-Beltway. “It’s going to be Hillary-Bayh, Hillary-Warner, maybe even Hillary-Obama,” said one of them, […]
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
This mayor sees a different shade of green
NAME Greg Nickels VOCATION Mayor of Seattle, D, elected in 2001 AGE 49 NOTED FOR Starting a mayoral “green team” to combat global warming HE SAYS “If we expect (people in) the community to change their habits, we need to lead by example.” Early this year, while the Pacific Northwest endured one of the […]
Posted inJune 27, 2005: Reflections on a Divided Land
Writing a comment letter? Better make it good
Agencies say mass e-mails and form letters don’t mean much
Posted inJune 13, 2005: Owning a Piece of Paradise
In a run-down neighborhood, there’s lots of love
A Denver activist fights for her community
Posted inWotr
It’s time for the West to speak up
Howard Dean, former Democratic presidential candidate and now the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, traveled to Montana a few days ago to speak to the Western Democratic Caucus. He found Western Democrats heartened by their recent electoral gains, especially in Colorado and Montana, and he asked them to bring that Western energy to bear […]
Posted inMay 30, 2005: Write-off on the Range
A glimpse of the past in a grain of pollen
NAME Cathy Whitlock VOCATION Montana State University paleoecologist AGE 51 HOME BASE Bozeman, Montana NOTED FOR Discerning ecosystem changes over the last 20,000 years SHE SAYS “It’s a great puzzle trying to figure out how an ecosystem works.” “For me, it’s about solving a big mystery,” says Cathy Whitlock, describing her work as a paleoecologist […]
Posted inMay 16, 2005: Unsalvageable
Protecting the treaty, saving the fish
NAME Kat Brigham VOCATION Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Board of Trustees member HOME BASE Umatilla Reservation, near Pendleton, Oregon CLAIM TO FAME Fighting for tribal fishing rights on the Columbia River, as well as for the health of the river’s fish. SHE SAYS “I like fish any way — baked, smoked, fried, dried or […]
Posted inMay 2, 2005: The Great Energy Divide
For this logger, twisted trees are the future
In a corner of his airy shop near Silver City, N.M., Gordon West is working out the kinks in Southwestern forestry. In a small way, of course: Everything he does is intended to work in a small way. West, a middle-aged logger, woodworker and builder, is testing a long metal machine that resembles an overgrown […]
Posted inApril 18, 2005: What Happened to Winter?
Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America’s Superstate
Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America’s Superstate Robert Bryce 327 pages, hardcover $26.00. PublicAffairs, 2004 “I’m all for business. I’m all for government. I just don’t want them to be the same thing,” says Robert Bryce, taking on the state of Texas and its enormous political influence over American life, from […]