IDAHO Locked in a custody battle over the southern third of Lake Coeur d’Alene, the Coeur d’Alene tribe and the State of Idaho are arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court. Idaho says the entire lake falls under its aegis. The tribe, however, claims partial ownership under the 19th century treaty that established its reservation. “It’s […]
Kirsten Bovee
Posted inJune 4, 2001: Tribal links
Battling for the Bear River
When newspaper photographer Dan Miller covered a protest against a highway project near Logan, Utah, he saw a demonstrator brandishing a sign with the timeworn slogan “Think Globally, Act Locally.” The sentiment hit home. “I realized I needed to be thinking backyard, neighborhood, community,” he says. That meant turning his attention toward the Bear River […]
Posted inMay 21, 2001: Quenching the big thirst
Will the Met wring the desert dry?
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story. With California’s Colorado River binge nearing an end, the state is looking for new ways to bring water to its desert cities. The Metropolitan Water District (the Met) has its eye on the sun-scoured Mojave Desert, where a series of underground aquifers lie waiting […]
Posted inMay 7, 2001: Back into the woods
Tribes scale salmon harvest
NORTHWEST Although treaties guarantee the Yakama, Nez Perce, Umatilla and Warm Springs tribes the right to harvest salmon, contentious negotiations over just how many fish will come out of the river often end up in front of a judge (HCN, 12/20/99: Tribes cast for tradition, catch controversy). That’s about to change. In February, tribes and […]
Posted inApril 23, 2001: The Big Blowup
Islands hung out to dry
IDAHO Idaho irrigators gave a sigh of relief when, on Feb. 23, the Idaho Supreme Court denied the federal government’s attempt to secure water rights for a wildlife refuge composed of 94 islands in the Snake River. The federal government had hoped to reserve a steady flow of water for the Deer Flats National Wildlife […]
Posted inApril 23, 2001: The Big Blowup
Benigna’s Chimayo: Cuentos from the Old Plaza
And then Grandma sits down on an old wooden wheel, leans on her knees, tucks her skirt between her legs, and begins her favorite of the old stories. I listen, watching the dust motes float in shafts of sunlight … To a young Don Usner, summers in the New Mexican hamlet of Chimayo meant chili […]
Posted inApril 23, 2001: The Big Blowup
Monuments caught in the crosshairs
Will Clinton’s designations crumble under Republican attacks?
Posted inMarch 26, 2001: Teach the children well
Two laws collide in the Northwest woods
IDAHO, WASHINGTON Federal legislation designed to protect Alaska’s wild areas may enable a timber company to build at least 21 miles of new road through endangered species habitat on public and private lands in the Selkirk Range of Idaho and Washington. Stimson Lumber Company says it is guaranteed access to its checkerboard of national forest […]
Posted inMarch 26, 2001: Teach the children well
Salmon feel the heat
NORTHWEST Salmon in the Snake River are in hot water, and so is the Army Corps of Engineers. On Feb. 16, a federal judge gave the Corps 60 days to come up with a plan to reduce temperatures and dissolve gas content along the river. The court ruled that the Corps violated the Clean Water […]
Posted inMarch 26, 2001: Teach the children well
Watershed Wars
“Rather than follow a time line, I’ve followed the river, pursuing an upstream journey that began in Wind River Canyon and will end at the headwaters near the Continental Divide.” With these words, former High Country News editor Geoffrey O’Gara embarks on a meandering course through Indian dispossession, legal wrangling, floundering farm communities, and reservation […]
Posted inMarch 26, 2001: Teach the children well
Not your average Paul Bunyan
Not all forest workers wield axes and chainsaws. In the oral history compilation Voices from the Woods: Lives and Experiences of Non-timber Forest Workers, 32 mushroom harvesters, tree planters, medicinal herb gatherers, and wild huckleberry harvesters articulate their lives and work in the forests of the Pacific Northwest (HCN, 2/15/99: An entrepreneurial spirit). Antonio Perez […]
Posted inMarch 12, 2001: Divided Waters
Colorado program axed
COLORADO For 23 years, staffers of the Colorado Natural Areas Program have cataloged the state’s rare plant and animal habitat, notable geologic formations, and fossil-rich lands. But they may be out of work by summer, when CNAP’s state funding is set to dry up. The program negotiates voluntary agreements with landowners and works with public […]
Posted inFebruary 26, 2001: Return of the natives
‘Zero-Cow’ initiative splits Sierra Club
Are urban members ignoring rural range life?
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
Owl things considered
SOUTHWEST After eight years of legal wrangling, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has settled one of the Southwest’s most embittered endangered species debates – or has it? On Jan. 18, the Fish and Wildlife Service designated 4.6 million acres in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah as critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl. […]
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
Sex-swappin’ salmon
Puzzling piscine sex reversals have left salmon researchers scratching their heads. A study released by the University of Idaho and Washington State University reported that of the female salmon sampled, 84 percent tested positive for a male genetic marker, suggesting that these females actually began life as males. Sex reversals could hold clues to declining […]
Posted inFebruary 12, 2001: Mr. Babbitt's wild ride
Assessing Sunbelt sprawl
A recent poll found that nearly half of Phoenix’s residents would pack up and leave tomorrow, if given the chance. Two-thirds think the region is doing a “poor” or “fair” job of preserving the desert or open space. With this harsh assessment of the city’s quality of life in mind, a team of university researchers, […]
Posted inJanuary 29, 2001: Power on the loose
Roadless plan slides to safety
Dombeck stakes out his vision for federal forests