For the past few weeks, I have been learning how to sing. I’ve gathered with members of the Unitarian Church, social activists, and climate activists to learn the some of the old protest songs that buoyed up the abolition movement, the civil rights movement, and the peace movement. I won’t lie. It’s a little awkward […]
Politics
Posted inGoat
Crow Tribe to vote on water compact
Federal settlement could fund reservation infrastructure improvements.
Posted inRange
What is ‘Plan B’ for tribes during a government shutdown?
Is there a Plan B? That is the question tribes, Indian organizations and government agencies should be asking — and answering because it looks more and more likely there will be a federal government shutdown early next month. Why is this a concern now? Congress did not pass a budget for this fiscal year. Instead, […]
Posted inRange
The deficit may enable reform of Farm Bill Conservation Programs
I have previously written for the HCN blogs about the “waste, fraud and abuse” which successive USDA Inspector General Reports and Congressional hearings have documented. Prior to that, in a letter to HCN editors, I pointed out pervasive abuse in implementation of the $50 million Klamath EQIP program established by the 2002 Farm Bill. Klamath […]
Posted inFebruary 21, 2011: Palin, politics, and predator control
Craig Medred on predator-prey science
Both proponents and opponents of predator control claim to have science on their side. But as Alaskan journalist Craig Medred tells us in this episode of High Country Views, the actual science — and all of its complexities — is often lost in the debate. You can catch High Country Views approximately every other week. […]
Posted inFebruary 21, 2011: Palin, politics, and predator control
Poisonous language on both sides of the fence
The shooting slaughter in Tucson Jan. 8 and the subsequent national debate about the tone and effect of our political rhetoric came home to roost in San Juan County recently. The media reported that several “Wanted: Dead or Alive” posters, threatening members of the environmental group Great Old Broads for Wilderness had been discovered by […]
Posted inRange
More of the same for the great outdoors
by Laura E. Huggins Earlier this week, the Obama administration released its much-anticipated report on the America’s Great Outdoors initiative. The report is the culmination of 51 listening sessions held over the past year by administration officials to gather ideas on land management and outdoor recreation from across the country. The result, however, is just […]
Posted inWotr
Monsanto wins, for now
The Obama administration struck a blow against freedom for food and agriculture in late January, when the U.S. Agriculture Department deregulated genetically modified alfalfa seed. The agency’s decision threatens to deprive farmers of the right to produce milk and meat free of genetic tampering, and it also threatens the right of consumers to purchase unadulterated […]
Posted inRange
Western brain drain
Western states are among the leaders in a category that isn’t a good one to be a leader in — a “brain drain.” That’s the word from 24/7 Wall Street, which bills itself as providing “Insightful Analysis and Commentary for U.S. & Global Equity Investors.” The firm’s study looked at factors like standardized math and […]
Posted inFebruary 21, 2011: Palin, politics, and predator control
Putting the ‘cow’ back in ‘cow-town’
Thank you so much for the excellent article on poultry slaughterhouses and the local food movement (HCN, 1/24/11). In Denver, Colo., we are trying to remove the disincentives to backyard agriculture that the city and county adopted several decades ago when they successfully transformed Denver from a cow town into a culture-rich city. Now that […]
Posted inFebruary 21, 2011: Palin, politics, and predator control
Salmon got your tongue?
Judith Lewis Mernit’s “Obama and the West” was strangely silent on the administration’s track record on Northwest salmon (HCN, 2/7/11). Maybe that’s because it doesn’t fit neatly into the theme of “slow but steady progress.” Columbia Basin salmon — and the communities that rely on them — have suffered mightily since the nation’s first salmon […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 2011: Obama and the West
Western court scraps intervention restrictions for enviro lawsuits
In mid-January, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals published a 13-page opinion with a simple message: mea culpa. A panel of judges tossed the little-known but long-standing “federal defendant rule,” which had limited or prevented private groups, local and state governments from joining environmental lawsuits. The 9th Circuit, which oversees hundreds of millions of acres […]
Posted inGoat
Quieting the Grand Canyon cacophony
In early February, the National Park Service released a draft plan that promises to restore peace and quiet to big chunks of the Grand Canyon by sharply reducing helicopter and airplane tourism. Since 1987, the Park Service has been trying to cut down on noise from sightseeing flights over Grand Canyon and other parks, which […]
Posted inRange
Caveat emptor with eco-labels
Last September I noted that the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) had drawn the wrong kind of attention when it certified the Fraser River sockeye fishery despite opposition from scientists and environmentalists. The MSC tried to counter its critics, but the controversy instead joined a growing litany of complaints about the substance of its fish labeling […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 2011: Obama and the West
County kickbacks
Though Westerners tend to idealize frontier independence, rural county governments often rely on Uncle Sam. Federal payment programs meant to compensate counties for lost cash from tax-exempt public lands distributed about $900 million nationwide in 2009. One of these programs — the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS) — was barely renewed in […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 2011: Obama and the West
Obama’s record on Western environmental issues
In the late fall of 2008, the staff of the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility gathered at the Airlie Retreat Center in Virginia’s horse country to plot strategies for a new day dawning: Barack Obama had just been elected president, promising fresh progress on issues that had frustrated environmentalists throughout the eight years of […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 2011: Obama and the West
A closer look at Obama’s judges, federal agencies, and his approach to science and secrecy
Federal judges Background Judges strive to be objective, but they’re only human. Studies show that federal judges appointed by Democratic presidents show a slight tendency to rule in favor of environmentalists’ positions, while Republican judges tend toward the opposite. When Obama took office, nearly 60 percent of the active federal judges were Republican. Since a […]
Posted inFebruary 7, 2011: Obama and the West
Judith Lewis Mernit on Obama’s enviro record
HCN contributing editor Judith Lewis Mernit talks with Cally Carswell about how the Obama administration’s environmental policies are impacting the West. You can catch High Country Views approximately every other week. Available via our RSS feed, and for download now through iTunes.
Posted inBlog
From science to action in environmental justice
On the east side of Houston, Texas is the Ship Channel, a narrow vein that gapes into the bay just north of the Gulf of Mexico. Through this waterway, freighters carry Western oil to sea. The banks are tangled with refineries, docks, pipelines, and rails. Fuel tanks stack the shore like poker chips, and when […]