Kirk Johnson combines science and art to create an ancient landscape
Wildlife
Posted inJuly 19, 2010: The Ute Paradox
Dust takes a toll
Soil in the West’s air disrupts health, snow cover, even rainfall
Posted inJuly 19, 2010: The Ute Paradox
It’s the science, not the numbers
Hal Herring’s recent article on wolf hunts mischaracterizes Defenders of Wildlife’s position as supporting a population goal of 450 wolves per state, when we do not in fact seek such a target (HCN, 5/10/10). It’s tempting to try to come up with a number of wolves that all stakeholders can agree on, in hopes of […]
Posted inJuly 19, 2010: The Ute Paradox
Native fish vs. native Americans
In reading the issue of June 7, I was rather shocked by the disparity of funding for programs covered. In particular, $120 million for razorback suckers and $1.4 million to help Native Americans integrate into the modern school system. Leon JonesOgden, Utah This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline […]
Posted inGoat
Shutting down the batcave
Like some nightmarish scene from a horror film, bats have been dying by the millions from a pervasive, infectious fungus that causes white-nose syndrome. As Madeline Bodin relates in her recent HCN story “Bracing for White-Nose Syndrome” the fungus looks like powder on the faces and wings of bats and kills them by driving them […]
Posted inRange
The Mojave National Preserve Conservancy
Chris Clarke could see the entire northern part of the Mojave National Preserve from the summit of Kessler Peak. Light from that magical hour around sunset highlighted distant mountains and ridgelines. The view was spectacular. But as the sun dipped below the horizon he realized the path he’d taken to climb to the top was […]
Posted inGoat
Jumping (to) the gun
There may be no verified wolves, yet, in Colorado, but you bet there are in the Beaver State. In the arid northeast corner of Oregon, two packs totaling 14 wolves have appeared and, of late, they’ve been worrying the locals. “You’ve got essentially a social experiment here,” Wallowa County Sheriff Fred Steen told the Oregonian […]
Posted inArticles
Shadowing fishermen’s nets with a robot sub
New research sheds light on life at 90 fathoms
Posted inJune 21, 2010: Immersed in the Wild
An infestation of the imagination, in a bark beetle lab
Trucker trades the open road for beetle research
Posted inGoat
Wile E. wins again
In February, I reported for High Country News on the possible evidence of wolves at the High Lonesome Ranch, an enormous ranch in northwestern Colorado owned by Texas attorney Paul Vahldiek, Jr. During visits over a seven-month period, biologist Cristina Eisenberg, an Oregon State University doctoral student employed by the ranch, had collected scat and seen […]
Posted inRange
Wolf case highlights need for collaboration
Sometimes no news is good news, so I’ll count last week’s relatively uneventful oral arguments as a boon for continued wolf recovery efforts in the northern Rockies. But the mood both inside and outside the U.S. district courthouse in Missoula shows there’s still much work to be done to ensure sustainable wolf management in the […]
Posted inJune 7, 2010: One Tough Sucker
One Tough Sucker
The razorback sucker evolved in a wild Colorado River. Now, humans are its biggest problem — and its only hope.
Posted inGoat
Big Plan on Campus
Not every school has endangered species in attendance. But when you’re the size of Stanford University, you’ve got more than a few enrolled. The university owns over 8,000 continuous acres in two counties, and several cities, much of which is undeveloped oak-studded savanna or forest. Five narrow creeks flow through to the San Francisco Bay, […]
Posted inJune 7, 2010: One Tough Sucker
Bracing for white nose syndrome
Western scientists take precautions against a deadly bat disorder
Posted inJune 7, 2010: One Tough Sucker
Yellowstone bison: Hazed and confused
Park’s buffalo herd caught in gridlock
Posted inGoat
Spray, don’t shoot
The meaning of a recent court case in Wyoming is clear: you can’t kill a grizzly just because you’re frightened. 41-year-old Stephen Westmoreland shot a female grizzly last fall just outside of Grand Teton National Park that showed no sign of aggression. He’d been gutting a deer and was “covered in animal blood,” according to […]
Posted inMay 24, 2010: Accidental Wilderness
Accidental Wilderness
Hanford, White Sands and other ‘wastelands’ are good for bombs—and biodiversity.
Posted inMay 24, 2010: Accidental Wilderness
For wilderness, look to a wasteland
Select DOD and DOE sites in the West