The devastating floods that swamped Oregon early this year could be reduced in the future by restoring former wetlands and woodlands in the Willamette River floodplain. That’s the conclusion of a study commissioned by River Network, a Portland, Oregon-based conservation group. The 60-page study, written primarily by Kevin Coulton of Philip Williams & Associates, an […]
Water
Posted inApril 15, 1996: Raising a ranch from the dead
Last chance for wetlands
Is the marsh in your neighborhood in danger of being bulldozed for a strip mall? In fast-growing Washington state, where experts estimate 33 to 50 percent of wetlands has been lost, that scenario isn’t farfetched. But the Washington Wetland Network (WETNET), founded by the Seattle Audubon Society, can help. WETNET is composed of more than […]
Posted inMarch 4, 1996: Who owns these bones?
Idaho just says no to hydro dam
Twin Falls, Idaho – In the end, it wasn’t even close. On Feb. 13 the state’s five highest elected officials unanimously rejected a proposed dam on the Snake River at Auger Falls. The vote came despite developer Steve Harmsen’s state water quality permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. What led the Idaho Land Board, […]
Posted inFebruary 19, 1996: Can a Colorado ski county say 'Enough is enough'?
For seven days, it will flood
For one week this spring, the Colorado River will rage through the Grand Canyon much as it did before Glen Canyon Dam tamed its flow. The remedy for the canyon’s eroding beaches and silted backwaters was recommended in the 1995 Glen Canyon Dam Environmental Impact Statement. “The ecosystem of the Grand Canyon is based on […]
Posted inFebruary 19, 1996: Can a Colorado ski county say 'Enough is enough'?
BuRec gets a new leader
The Bureau of Reclamation, slimmer now after former chief Dan Beard cut 1,500 from its workforce and $107 million from a $911 million budget, has a new boss. “I don’t have any agendas,” says Commissioner Eluid Martinez, who worked as New Mexico’s state engineer for four years. “I just want to do a good job […]
Posted inFebruary 19, 1996: Can a Colorado ski county say 'Enough is enough'?
Dams be damned
DAMS BE DAMNED Activist Yvan Rochon wants to see two dams, built early in the century on Washington’s Elwha River, demolished (HCN, 9/18/95). “They went up as progress and we want to take them down in the name of progress,” says the 35-year-old medical researcher. Rochon and his group, the Elwha Dams Removal Fund, are […]
Posted inFebruary 5, 1996: Lack of enchantment: Santa Fe's boom goes flat
Montanans take to the ballot
In Montana, where author Norman Maclean was haunted by moving waters, a new coalition of sportsmen, ranchers and environmentalists hopes voters will approve a fall ballot initiative toughening the state’s water quality laws. If passed, the initiative could create significant new challenges for two large-scale mining projects, one proposed for a site near Yellowstone National […]
Posted inJanuary 22, 1996: At Hanford, the real estate is hot
Clogged channel sends a river over its bank in Washington
SHELTON, Wash. – When the Skokomish River floods, Mark and Laurie Sleeper can watch salmon swimming through their front yard. They move their six kids to drier ground and try to keep their possessions from floating away. In lesser floods, the Sleepers park their car on the side of the highway and wade home. Although […]
Posted inDecember 11, 1995: Hunting: Its place in the West comes under attack
Thou shalt not build a dam
After a several-week delay, the Roman Catholic bishop of Pueblo, Colo., has spoken, and not to the liking of backers of the Animas-La Plata water project. In early November, a nine-person citizens’ group, the Human Development Commission of the Pueblo Diocese, blasted the project proposed for southern Colorado as wasteful and destructive (HCN, 11/27/95). Outraged […]
Posted inDecember 11, 1995: Hunting: Its place in the West comes under attack
The plumber’s guide to the Colorado Basin
When John Wesley Powell rafted down the Colorado River, he was probably not thinking of plumbing. But that’s the metaphor the Dinosaur Nature Association brings to life in a poster of the dams, reservoirs, and aqueducts that have transformed the rivers of the Colorado Basin. Based on Lester Doré’s illustration from HCN’s book, Western Water […]
Posted inDecember 11, 1995: Hunting: Its place in the West comes under attack
How rivers really run
Ever wonder how rivers shape mountains? How to classify stream erosion? Wildland Hydrology Consultants, a firm based in Pagosa Springs, Colo., offers courses from spring through fall in Applied Fluvial Geomorphology, Stream Classification and Applications and River Assessment and Monitoring. The five-day courses for hydrologists, fisheries biologists, and other riparian ecosystem specialists cover urban, agricultural […]
Posted inNovember 27, 1995: Saving the ranch
Dam project called a “bungle’ and a “porker’
A committee of the Catholic Diocese of Pueblo, Colo., surprised everyone, including Pueblo Bishop Arthur Tafoya, by blasting the proposed Animas-La Plata water project as an “environmental, economic and social bungle.” The Human Development Commission of the diocese also asked, “Who is responsible for the continuing agitation to support a project so badly conceived? We […]
Posted inOctober 16, 1995: In the heart of the New West, the sheep win one
Dam project could get a free ride
A Colorado senator wants to make sure the controversial and long-delayed Animas-La Plata water project begins next year. Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell hopes to attach a rider to an appropriations bill that requires Congress to proceed with dam construction “notwithstanding any other provisions of the law.” The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, which has […]
Posted inOctober 16, 1995: In the heart of the New West, the sheep win one
South Dakota pulls plug on Missouri River meetings
Blaming a bureaucratic process that has dragged on for too long without progress, South Dakota officials have withdrawn their state from the Missouri River Basin Association. Nettie Myers, secretary of the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said, “It seems like we have the same meetings over and over, and nothing is accomplished.” The […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
All about river guides
ALL ABOUT RIVER GUIDES Members of Grand Canyon River Guides will gather in Fredonia, Ariz., Oct. 28-29, to share music, food and perspectives on their trade and the future of the Grand Canyon. Their publication, boatman’s quarterly review, chronicles the feisty group’s concerns, including opposition to the Park Service’s proposed requirement that guides wear plastic […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
We need to avoid riparian hysteria
At a recent workshop on riparian ecosystems sponsored by the Tonto National Forest and Arizona Game and Fish Department, biologists dutifully presented their litanies on the inhabitants, histories and importance of steamside environments. Although the theme of this symposium was understanding and not preservation, several speakers offered up the statistic du jour: 95 percent of […]
Posted inOctober 2, 1995: Did Idaho libel the feds?
Congress fights to restore a filthy past
What follows sounds like a nightmare. But it’s not. It’s true. If you have a weak stomach, don’t read it. I grew up in an area of Kansas City, Kan., called Armourdale, which was bordered on the east by two meat-packing companies, on the west by two soap factories, on the north by the Santa […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 1995: The West's fisheries spin out of control
Restoring a watershed
RESTORING A WATERSHED As part of a cooperative effort to restore Idaho and Washington’s polluted Spokane-Coeur d’Alene watershed, the Sierra Club has created a colorful map of the drainage. The region needs help: mining has left pollution and aquifer contamination; logging and farming have eroded soil. The group’s advice includes cleaning up mine wastes, preventing […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 1995: The West's fisheries spin out of control
Economist discovers what a free river is worth
If the two aging dams on the Elwha River in Washington state come tumbling down, salmon will return to 70 miles of the river for the first time since 1911. What’s that worth in dollars and cents? You can’t put a price tag on Mother Earth – or can you? John Loomis, an economist at […]
Posted inJune 26, 1995: Colorado's prison slayer
Dan Beard resigns
With the surprise resignation June 12 of Dan Beard as director of the Bureau of Reclamation, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has lost one of his most effective lieutenants (HCN, 3/20/95). Although Western water has long been a contentious issue, his reign has been quiet, especially when compared with grazing and logging. In announcing his departure, […]