The same day President Bush announced his plan to “continue the journey” into space by colonizing the moon and heading for Mars, I stood in line at the grocery store and thought about space exploration as just another excuse to head ever Westward, another distraction for troubles at home, another frontier to conquer and leave […]
Politics
Posted inMarch 29, 2004: Who Will Take Over the Ranch?
Connecting Indian Country: Talk-show host Harlan McKosato
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO — Up on the third floor of Oñate Hall, the broadcast center for radio station KUNM-FM at the University of New Mexico, a pungent, distinctive aroma hangs in the midday air. It seems out of place in the halls of what looks like a nondescript college office building. “Did you smell the […]
Posted inMarch 29, 2004: Who Will Take Over the Ranch?
Bush is a man of his word: He’s audacious, but should that be surprising?
Indulge a small fantasy: It is 1993, and Bill Clinton, about to become the first Democratic president in 12 years, meets with the men who control his party’s majorities in both Houses of Congress. “Mr. President,” say Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and House Speaker Tom Foley, in unison, “you are our leader. We hope […]
Posted inWotr
Judges tie themselves in knots when it comes to the West
Liberals have had their runs at dominating the federal court system, now it’s the Republicans’ turn. It’s not a sport, but it has some spectacular gyrations: Call it judicial flip-flopping. Most recently, it’s played by federal judges in Wyoming and Washington, D.C. — one ordering the National Park Service to ban snowmobiles in Yellowstone Park, […]
Posted inMarch 15, 2004: The New Water Czars
Persistence frees the Mokelumne: River advocate Pete Bell
California’s Mokelumne River flows from a high mountain lake in the Sierra Nevada, plunging down in a series of cascading waterfalls through a steep forest canyon in the foothills. Dams and diversions have reduced the once free-flowing river to a relative trickle. But that is changing, thanks in large part to the efforts of a […]
Posted inMarch 15, 2004: The New Water Czars
President Bush should consider a “land grab” of his own
I flew into the sprawling city of Phoenix recently not expecting a nature experience or a political revelation. My colleague and I rented a car and, after an appointment in the city, fought through an hour of bumper-to-bumper afternoon traffic on our way north to Flagstaff. What a relief it was to finally see the […]
Posted inMarch 1, 2004: The Last Open Range
We’re bickering with our neighbors while the feds spend our money
As John Kerry was firming up his front-runner status in seven Democratic primaries on Feb. 3, Oregon voters were defeating Measure 30, an $800 million package of income tax surcharges, cigarette tax renewals and minimum corporate-tax increases, which was intended to restore funding that has been cut from education and basic services. “Defeat” isn’t quite […]
Posted inMarch 1, 2004: The Last Open Range
Creating immigrant leaders: Labor organizer Ramon Ramirez
WOODBURN, OREGON — Disoriented, poor and unorganized, Latino immigrant farmworkers traditionally have not had a lot of political power in the United States. They often do the low-wage jobs American-born workers won’t do, working in an industry that largely precludes its workers from bargaining through unions. And because many immigrant farmworkers have entered the United […]
Posted inFebruary 16, 2004: Courting Disaster
Tipping the scales
For four decades, the federal courts have stood up for environmental laws. If George W. Bush has his way, that will soon be ancient history.
Posted inWotr
It’s time for voters to look at the whole picture
As John Kerry was firming up his frontrunner status in seven Democratic primaries Feb. 3, Oregon voters were defeating Measure 30, an $800 million package of income tax surcharges, cigarette tax renewals and minimum corporate-tax increases intended to restore dramatic cuts in education and basic services. “Defeat” isn’t quite the word. We crushed it 3-2, […]
Posted inFebruary 16, 2004: Courting Disaster
Solving the puzzle of chronic wasting disease: Veterinarian Beth Williams
LARAMIE, WYOMING — Stacks of histopathologies — gray folders filled with the tissue of dead animals — litter the floor of Dr. Beth Williams’ office at the University of Wyoming’s State Veterinary Lab in Laramie. Crowded into the office with a computer and a microscope table, they leave little room for Williams herself. The morbid […]
Posted inFebruary 16, 2004: Courting Disaster
Jurisdiction shopping made simple
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Tipping the scales.” Dee Benson U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, Utah A former staffer for Sen. Orrin Hatch; appointed in 1991 by Republican George H.W. Bush Quick take Off-road drivers love his courtroom Anti-green cases 1995 — rejected a challenge to ORV […]
Posted inFebruary 16, 2004: Courting Disaster
Congress overrules the courts
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Tipping the scales.” Even when environmentalists do emerge victorious from court, their celebrations are often short-lived: Congress can overturn a court’s interpretation of an existing law by passing a new one. It’s not a new tactic, but it’s one that is especially favored by […]
Posted inFebruary 2, 2004: Mending the Nets
Saving a sacred lake: Zuni activist Pablo Padilla
Pablo Padilla is lying low right now, but don’t expect him to remain quiet for long. The 29-year-old law student at the University of New Mexico and member of the Zuni Tribe was an instrumental player in his tribe’s recent victory against an Arizona energy company (HCN, 8/18/03: Follow-up). He’s now trying to be just […]
Posted inFebruary 2, 2004: Mending the Nets
Generation gap
The laws meant to protect future generations may not last one more
Posted inWotr
The nation’s premier environmental group is target of a coup
Last year, over 750,000 people joined or renewed their membership in the Sierra Club, presumably because they believe in its historic mission to protect America’s public lands and wilderness for future generations. John Muir and a small band of conservationists founded the Club in 1892, and it’s been working for more than a century to […]
Posted inWotr
Why I’m running: Immigration is the ultimate environmental issue
Because I believe that environmental organizations have ducked the immigration-population issue too long, I am running for the board of directors of the Sierra Club. I am not part of a slate; I represent only myself and the issues I care deeply about. One of the most important challenges of public policy is to recognize […]
Posted inJanuary 19, 2004: Two decades of hard work, plowed under
Getting under the desert’s skin: Biologist Jayne Belnap
The scenery of southeastern Utah is hard to miss. Steep redrock canyons plunge into long and lazy riverbends; wind-sculpted stone arches glow pinkly at sunset. But when biologist Jayne Belnap hikes through this famous landscape, it’s not the show-stopping rocks that draw her attention. It’s the algae. “This is not a rocky landscape, this is […]
Posted inWotr
Here’s to an honest man
Chances are you’ve never heard of Jim Alderson, and I’m willing to wager that no toy company is going to model an action figure after him. He’s more than a little balding on top and he’s working on a middle-aged paunch. You won’t find charisma to match that of California’s movie-actor Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But […]
Posted inWotr
No-growthers gain strength in Albuquerque
Albuquerque residents on Oct. 28 voted down a $52 million bond issue — the only bond issue to fail out of 10 on the ballot, and the first one to fail since 1985. The vote grabbed headlines because it meant the temporary defeat of plans to extend roads through a national monument dedicated to petroglyphs […]