The Big Tesuque, a mountain basin above Santa Fe, N.M., may yet be saved from ski area development. Expansion of the Santa Fe Ski Area into the basin had seemed like a sure bet. Despite vocal opposition from Santa Fe locals, Santa Fe Forest Supervisor Al Defler approved the plan last December (HCN, 2/19/96). But […]
Recreation
Posted inApril 29, 1996: A park boss goes to bat for the land
Hands across the water
More than 30 Japanese volunteers who built a boardwalk and overlook at Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park are coming back this summer to revegetate trampled meadows. While Japan is not known for environmentalism, these teachers, engineers, nurses and other professionals have formed a Tokyo-based group, Japan Volunteers in Parks Association. They responded to a letter […]
Posted inApril 29, 1996: A park boss goes to bat for the land
A park boss goes to bat for the land
MAMMOTH, Wyo. – In late October, during the short lull between the traffic jams of summer and the snowmobile crowds of winter, the world’s oldest national park breathes a short sigh of relief. Only a few visitors climb the steaming mound of hot springs that looms above park headquarters here, and a herd of elk […]
Posted inApril 29, 1996: A park boss goes to bat for the land
Yellowstone’s wintertime blues
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, A park boss goes to bat for the land. Summer visitors aren’t the only ones on the increase in Yellowstone: the number of tourists arriving to see Yellowstone’s ice-crusted trees, virginal snowfields and clouds of hot-spring steam are skyrocketing as well. Four winters ago, […]
Posted inApril 15, 1996: Raising a ranch from the dead
Utah’s Burr Trail still leads to court
A tentative cease-fire over the management of southern Utah’s Burr Trail ended abruptly Feb. 13 when a Garfield County road crew bulldozed a hillside inside Capitol Reef National Park. Garfield County officials say it was “just something that had to be done” to maintain the “county-owned” road. But Terri Martin of the National Parks and […]
Posted inApril 1, 1996: Gambling: A tribe hits the jackpot
Yellowstone: Geysers, grizzlies and the country’s worst smog
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – Wendy Ross traveled the globe before settling into a job at Yellowstone National Park. Now she suffers from what she calls “the worst air I’ve ever breathed.” She and her co-workers at the park’s west entrance depend on air pumped into their glass booths from a port about 75 feet […]
Posted inFebruary 19, 1996: Can a Colorado ski county say 'Enough is enough'?
Eagle County balks at fourth mega-resort
EAGLE, Colo. – Thirteen years ago, Fred Kummer’s dream of building a mega-ski resort outside this quiet Colorado town seemed like money in the bank. The wealthy developer had won the approval of Eagle County and the Forest Service, despite the opposition of a pesky group of locals. The construction industry was poised to throw […]
Posted inFebruary 19, 1996: Can a Colorado ski county say 'Enough is enough'?
Santa Fe ski area growth enrages locals
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, Eagle County balks at fourth mega-resort. If the Forest Service were ever to deny a ski expansion based on protests by locals, the recently approved Santa Fe Ski Area plan would have been the perfect candidate. A local 1994 newspaper poll found that 70 […]
Posted inFebruary 5, 1996: Lack of enchantment: Santa Fe's boom goes flat
Power to the power boats
Northwest Republican lawmakers want to swamp efforts to regulate noisy power boats in Hells Canyon. Claiming that “the use of motorized river craft is deeply interwoven in the history, traditions, and culture of Hells Canyon,” Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, introduced a bill allowing both powerboats and floatboats year-around access to the entire 71-mile stretch of […]
Posted inJanuary 22, 1996: At Hanford, the real estate is hot
Yellowstone’s closure sparks local fury
Note: this article appears in the print edition as a sidebar to another news story, “Who felt the federal furlough?“ CODY, Wyo. – After investing in a fleet of 40 new snowmobiles, Bob Coe was counting on a busy winter at Pahaska Tepee, the lodge he runs just outside Yellowstone National Park. At least 80 […]
Posted inDecember 11, 1995: Hunting: Its place in the West comes under attack
Fire on the mountain
Synthetic rubber, sulfa drugs, nuclear power – those are a few of the better-known medical and technological byproducts of war. Less known is that World War II also spawned the snowmobile, the snowcat and the modern ski industry. Those are some of the stories told in Fire on the Mountain, a film that documents the […]
Posted inDecember 11, 1995: Hunting: Its place in the West comes under attack
Outfitters take aim at four-wheelers
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, Unarmed but dangerous critics close in on hunting. After a poor deer and elk hunt this year, many Colorado outfitters are calling for a thinning of the herds. Not the herds of big game – it’s the all-terrain vehicles that thundered through the state’s […]
Posted inOctober 30, 1995: Nevada's ugly tug-of war
Olympic-sized rip-off
When Salt Lake City, Utah, applied to host the 2002 Olympics, critics warned that nearby ski resorts would attempt land grabs. Now those fears are realized: A bill proposed by Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, would force the Forest Service to exchange 1,320 acres of prime real estate next to the Snowbasin Ski Resort east of […]
Posted inOctober 16, 1995: In the heart of the New West, the sheep win one
Saying please at Devils Tower
Rock climbers routinely conquer obstacles and they don’t take kindly to “no.” But the conflict between rock climbers and Native American tribes over Devils Tower in Wyoming may be easing, thanks to a voluntary climbing ban. The National Park Service says 85 percent of the tower’s climbers complied with the trial ban in June. The […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Bill comes back from the dead
Undaunted by a defeat in the House, Utah Rep. Jim Hansen advanced a park-closing bill by hooking it to other legislation. On Sept. 19, the House voted 231-180 against creating an independent park commission that would recommend parks for elimination. Ten hours later, Hansen tacked the bill on as a rider to the House Budget […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Does Religion belong in national parks?
Karl and Rita Girshman, a Jewish couple from Maryland, happened to be naked in their room at Big Bend National Park in 1993 when suddenly, a lodge employee let himself in with a key. He handed the Girshmans a flier, then invited them to “join in worshipping our Lord and Savior” and to “come as […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Fund raising in parks takes a collection box, and a lawyer
When it comes to First Amendment rights, national parks operate a lot like airports. Park officials cannot discriminate against the speaker or the message, but they do have some discretion over how, where and when the delivery is made. While most decisions are left up to the park superintendent, there are some agency-wide rules, such […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Dinosaur’s monumental quiet is threatened
Visitors to remote Dinosaur National Monument first marveled at the huge dinosaur bones exposed in its Utah quarry back in 1915. In the years that followed, other attributes surfaced. Rafters and hikers visiting the monument straddling the Utah/Colorado border discovered winding river canyons and quiet high desert. But Dinosaur’s serenity may not survive another year. […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 1995: The West's fisheries spin out of control
Parks may get control of their air
In an effort to maintain the peace and quiet national parks are known for, Rep. David Skaggs, D-Colo., has introduced a bill giving the Park Service more control over who flies over its lands. His National Park Scenic Overflights Concessions Act gives power to the secretary of the Interior and the Park Service to regulate […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 1995: The West's fisheries spin out of control
Judge cracks down on Idaho – again
Two years after a federal judge ordered the Forest Service to remove outfitter structures from the Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness in central Idaho, the agency has been hit with a motion for contempt of court. Filed recently by Wilderness Watch in Montana, the suit contends the agency has been lax in forcing outfitters […]