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 […]
Recreation
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
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 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 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. […]
Posted inJanuary 29, 2001: Power on the loose
Monumental changes
With only three days left before George W. Bush would become president, the Clinton administration pressed forward with its land-protection plans and created seven new national monuments. The Sonoran Desert National Monument in Arizona is the largest of the pack, encompassing over 486,000 acres of desert northeast of Organ Pipe National Monument. The area will […]
Posted inJanuary 29, 2001: Power on the loose
Park Service bans Jet Skis
A recent settlement between the National Park Service and Bluewater Network, a San Francisco-based conservation group, may eliminate personal watercraft from the entire park system by 2002. Last March, the National Park Service banned Jet Skis from all but 21 of its units. The watercraft are now restricted to 11 national recreation areas – including […]
Posted inJanuary 29, 2001: Power on the loose
Agency will try to track trails
The Bureau of Land Management has a new nationwide strategy for off-highway vehicle management. The plan, released Jan. 19, calls for local environmental analyses of vehicle impacts, saying that some endangered species habitat may need further protection from OHV use. It also broadens BLM’s definition of off-highway vehicles, which will now include snowmobiles, personal watercraft, […]
Posted inJanuary 29, 2001: Power on the loose
Paul Fritz left a unique legacy for the Park Service
We have reached a time when many conservation legends of the 20th century are disappearing. David Brower, the environmental giant, is a recent example. Now we’ve lost a lesser-known but very influential conservationist. Paul Fritz died quite suddenly on Christmas Eve from an undiagnosed brain tumor. He was 71. Fritz’s generation possesses a pure conviction […]
Posted inJanuary 29, 2001: Power on the loose
Montana, feds find common ground for bison
Greens find no good news for the animals
Posted inJanuary 29, 2001: Power on the loose
Ski area arms race dirties the water
Colorado critics say snowmaking should not be allowed