When I was 10 years old, my mother’s boyfriend had a push mower. Every weekend during the summer, he’d drag the rusty thing off the porch and shove it around our weedy lawn. It scraped, jammed on every twig and left dandelions still waving tall and insolent while he sweated and struggled to make muscles […]
Writers on the Range
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John Muir, go home
Any experienced summer traveler through the West might have pointed to my wife and me as classic examples of clueless tourism: “See what you get when you travel without an itinerary? When you think camping has something to do with owning a tent?” I can hear them stifling their snickers, trying to sound sympathetic but […]
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Backpacker beware: don’t boldly go where you don’t belong
I was dismayed when I read Backpacker magazine recently. I worked for the National Park Service for eight years, and I’ve been a guide in Yellowstone National Park. I know there are some places we can hike to and camp at safely, and some places we should leave alone. But now we have Backpacker magazine, […]
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Free advice for tourists traveling West
The West’s drought has made us so desperate for moisture, we go outside to sweat. Even sagebrush, a Western icon, is in danger. Experts estimate that 600,000 acres is dead or dying in Utah alone. But come West, Podnuh! Step up to that gas pump, pretend that nozzle is a Colt .45, and pump away […]
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Lake Powell: When drought becomes opportunity
Drought is a rude reminder that in any given year the interior West is but a storm or two from that hydrological tipping point where farming, ranching and the presence of cities become not merely ill-advised but — impossible. The region is being reminded of this now in a big way: Five consecutive years of […]
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Living with wildlife in an urban setting
The good news is, there are foxes in my neighborhood. The bad news? There are foxes in my neighborhood. Bad news for my cats, anyway, because I allow them to cruise outside for a few daylight hours on warm weekend days. Recently, like an overanxious mother, I panicked when my favorite lap cat, Sonar, failed […]
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Enough is enough
The announcement this June that Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal opposed new oil and gas leases in the Upper Green River Valley startled both conservation groups and the oil industry. After all, Wyoming is one of the few states fortunate enough not to face a budget crisis because of oil and gas royalties. Yet, in the […]
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Roadkill is a right and privilege, and don’t forget it
Driving through northern Idaho this summer? Bring a fork. A judge in Bonners Ferry recently stood up for the right of people to eat roadkill that even other roadkill fanciers might find inedible. It sounds like one of those jokes bluegrass musicians tell: “How many banjo players does it take to eat a possum?” The […]
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Why I won’t tell the BLM what I think about Otero Mesa
There’s going to be a decision soon about how much of our publicly owned land the Bureau of Land Management will lease to the oil and gas industry on Otero Mesa in New Mexico, but I don’t think I’ll be among those sending public comments. I’m thinking, instead, about writing a private letter to Linda […]
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The risky business of fighting fire in the West
The 2004 fire season has not yet truly begun in the Rocky Mountain West, and already three fire-fighting pilots have died in crashes. While investigations into the causes of the accidents are under way, the U.S. Forest Service finds itself crushed between a rock and a hot place. On May 11, with aerial tanker-training in […]
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Looking for Heroes? Go to Boise, Idaho
If you want an example of real heroes in the “war on terrorism,” go to Boise, Idaho. Look for 12 of your fellow citizens who recently spent long hours on uncomfortable chairs in a windowless room in the local federal courthouse. These are the jurors who recently found Sami Omar Al-Hussayen innocent of terrorism charges. […]
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Reflections on small towns after a bulldozer rampage
To many of us who know Granby, Colo., or even mountain towns in general, the bizarre explosion last week — a man armoring his bulldozer, mowing down buildings and then shooting himself — was surprising. The explosion itself was not. Some people say they expect violence in cities and not in little towns. But mountain […]
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Getting rude at the nation’s big funeral
“Could the anti-everything folks have the common decency,” asked a caller to my public-radio talk show in Oregon, “to wait until the body gets cold before jumping on it?” Former president Ronald Reagan was being put to rest, and it was easy to understand how his admirers felt. Those of us outside that category might […]
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The terrifying saga of the West’s last big dam
The war on terror has a new front in southwestern Colorado. Outside the fast-growing city of Durango, the government has allocated $2 million for terrorism security at the Animas-La Plata Dam construction site. How will that money specifically ward off al-Qaida operatives and increase homeland security? “If I tell you too much, I’d have to […]
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Driver’s ed from a pedestrian’s point of view
A few of my friends have completely sworn off bike-riding on roads. One too many shoulder brushes with the side-view mirror of a recreational vehicle. One too many dives for the ditch. They can’t take it anymore, and who could blame them? Some are threatening to give up walking as well, since being a pedestrian […]
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Revenge of the old-timers: The beavers are back
At a recent barbecue during a breezy Sunday afternoon on the South Fork of the Shoshone River, near Cody, Wyo., I saw the largest beaver I’ve ever seen. It was floating in the river’s current like a big dog. The beaver looked to be about three feet long from nose to flat tail, and must […]
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Where you live in a small town is somebody’s recollection
“I’m living on Nutting Street now,” a friend told me last week. “You know where that is?” “Of course not!” I responded. “This is a small town! Nobody remembers the names of streets!” When I lived in the city, I knew the old saw that rural people give directions using landmarks that no longer exist […]
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When it’s ‘deer o’clock’ — watch out
When the sun dips into the horizon during Wyoming’s twilight hours, dangers are suddenly everywhere. In an instant, dark figures begin darting onto the state’s roads, and the sound of squeaking brakes can be heard from Rock Springs to Cody. We call this time of day “deer o’clock,” and we grip the steering wheel just […]
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Surprise: The bill for a water grab in California may be coming due
Water in the West has never made sense, thanks to states drawn with straight lines and watersheds that won’t stay put. Then there’s California, where hydrology and demography rebound off each other In opposite directions. Two-thirds of the people live in the south, while two-thirds of the surface water is in the north. This mismatch […]
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Native fish: Some environmentalists don’t get it
This may sound harsh, but it’s true: Environmentalists tend not to see, handle or understand fish, to distrust agencies dedicated to their recovery, and to set up mental spam-filters for facts about short-lived fish poisons. Usually, these poisons are the only tools managers have for saving native trout from being eaten, out-competed or hybridized out […]