The White Rim is a strip of manila sandstone on the edge of the Green River canyon. We’ve been following it for three days now, floating this 60-mile flatwater stretch above Cataract Canyon in Utah, one small raft and a kayak; 20 miles yesterday, 15 or so today. Sometimes delicately thin, sometimes robust and thick, […]
Recreation
Posted inAugust 27, 2001: Restoring the range of light
Four-wheelin’ for fee
COLORADO Known as the “Jeep Capital of the World,” Canyon Creek, just south of Ouray, Colo., leads four-wheel-drive enthusiasts into alpine areas that are world-renowned for their abundant wildflowers and sweeping vistas. But if you’re planning to visit, don’t forget your wallet. This summer, the Forest Service has begun charging $5 per vehicle to enter […]
Posted inAugust 27, 2001: Restoring the range of light
Dangerous parks
National park rangers say inadequate funding is adding new risks to their jobs. Crime in parks is on the rise, and most parks don’t have the money to beef up their law enforcement. To publicize the problem, the U.S. Park Rangers Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police has listed the top 10 most dangerous […]
Posted inAugust 13, 2001: No refuge in the Klamath Basin
Boaters float for their rights
Colorado paddlers confront property owners over river access
Posted inJuly 30, 2001: Not in our back yard
Snowmobile ban stalled
WYOMING A Clinton administration ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks that would start in the winter of 2002 has been stalled, maybe permanently (HCN, 3/27/00: Parks rev up to ban snowmobiles). At the end of June, the Bush administration announced that it wants to re-evaluate the rule because local communities and […]
Posted inJune 4, 2001: Tribal links
Jackson Hole takes aim at helicopter tours
WYOMING There’s a fierce dogfight in progress over the airspace in Teton County, Wyo. Vortex Aviation Services, headed by Gary Kauffman, is gearing up to begin commercial helicopter tours over the county’s scenic areas this summer (HCN, 8/14/00: Whirlybirds will fly over Jackson). The plan has environmentalists and other concerned citizens declaring war. “We don’t […]
Posted inJune 4, 2001: Tribal links
Will the Grand Staircase suffer shrinkage?
UTAH After years of griping about national monuments, Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, wants to create one. The ranking member of the House Resources Committee is hoping to preserve 50 acres of Jurassic-era dinosaur tracks unearthed last year in St. George, Utah. The tracks show uniquely sharp detail of knuckles, tail drags and skin texture. But […]
Posted inJune 4, 2001: Tribal links
A high country whodunit
When gasoline-inspired flames devoured the massive, splendid Two Elk restaurant atop Vail Mountain in October 1998, many people automatically blamed environmental activists. After all, a federal judge had just allowed the Vail ski area, already the nation’s largest and busiest, to expand into an area where evidence of the rare Canada lynx had been found […]
Posted inJune 4, 2001: Tribal links
Intrepid explorer with a cause
Many recent college graduates shoulder their backpacks for a genteel trip to Europe. Not Soren Jespersen. The Northern Arizona University alum hoisted his for a five-month 2,200-mile solo trek around the Four Corners region to raise money for the Center for Humanitarian Outreach and Intercultural Exchange or CHOICE. The Utah-based group, directed by Soren’s dad, […]
Posted inMay 21, 2001: Quenching the big thirst
Mud-boggers get mud in their eye
WYOMING A U.S. magistrate dealt fines to 20 Sheridan, Wyo., four-wheelers for destroying national forest land last June. The incident happened during an annual “Spring Run” across the Bighorn National Forest, says Tongue District Ranger Craig Yancey. “Normally they do it on gravel roads, so it’s not a problem,” says Yancey, “but for some reason […]
Posted inMay 21, 2001: Quenching the big thirst
Hard work in progress
When Dale Shewalter talks about hiking the Arizona Trail, he describes a “sense of elation with what it does for your life.” In the next breath, though, he admits, “I kinda wore out my knees through the years.” Shewalter, who’s long been a fan of long-distance backpacking, started looking for a north-south route across Arizona […]
Posted inMay 21, 2001: Quenching the big thirst
County tax collectors visit public lands
COLORADO For the second time in six years, the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that counties can tax ski areas, park concessionaires and others who use public lands for profit. In a 4-3 decision issued Feb. 21, the court found that a 1996 law granting property-tax exemptions to entities with “possessory interests” in public lands […]
Posted inApril 23, 2001: The Big Blowup
Microwaveable wilderness
CALIFORNIA The infrastructure of the information age is still firmly rooted on the ground – and when that ground is designated wilderness, things can get a little complicated. In Death Valley National Park, a microwave repeater tower, used to relay telephone calls across the rugged terrain, is under scrutiny by environmental groups. The 35-foot high […]
Posted inApril 23, 2001: The Big Blowup
Debate roars over quiet canyon
ARIZONA, NEVADA New rules for sightseeing flights will help restore some tranquility for boaters in the Grand Canyon, but the rancorous debate over where airplanes and helicopters are allowed shows no signs of quieting down (HCN, 1/20/97: It will be noise as usual in Grand Canyon). Last year, after 13 years of deliberation, the Federal […]
Posted inApril 23, 2001: The Big Blowup
Monuments caught in the crosshairs
Will Clinton’s designations crumble under Republican attacks?
Posted inApril 9, 2001: The water empress of Vegas
How Utah got that way
Geology is a hard thing to miss in southern Utah. Unless you travel through the state blindfolded, you have probably wondered about the evolution of the region’s dramatic cliffs, spires and canyons. Maybe that’s why there are so many guidebooks that aim to decipher the area’s layered landscape. Unlike most popular guidebooks, The Geology of […]
Posted inMarch 26, 2001: Teach the children well
Parks test skiers’ green resolve
Backcountry recreators asked to give bighorn sheep some elbow-room
Posted inMarch 12, 2001: Divided Waters
Back on the bus
ARIZONA Each year, close to 5 million tourists flock to Grand Canyon National Park. Rafting enthusiasts have to wait up to 18 years for a chance to boat the Canyon, and on the Rim, solitude – and even parking spaces – are hard to come by (HCN, 12/21/98: Grand Canyon Gridlock). In an effort to […]
Posted inMarch 12, 2001: Divided Waters
Yellowstone’s last stampede
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. – Every morning, Kitty Enboe dons her thick, green National Park Service uniform and breathes thick, green National Park Service air. As an entrance station attendant in this town snuggled up to Yellowstone’s western border, Enboe occupies ground zero in the fight over snowmobiles in America’s oldest and finest national park. On […]
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
Park photo contest comes with corporate baggage
NATION Amateur photographers are now submitting their sharpest national park photos to the National Park Service in hopes of appearing on the 2002 Parks Pass, which allows entry to the nation’s 383 parks. Kodak has agreed to organize and fund the entire contest, including flying the winner and family to any park in the country. […]