http://www.newwest.net/index.php/city/main/C429/L/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2011 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:55:46 MST Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:55:46 MST http://www.newwest.net/city/article/you_can_always_blame_coyote/C429/C429/ Wed, 17 Jan 2007 10:20:01 MST Poor Coyote. He gets blamed for everything. The Crow say Coyote created the world. The Wasco say Coyote left two grizzly bears and two wolves in the sky to form the Big Dipper. The Colville say Coyote dug a hole in the Cascade Mountains to create the Columbia River Several tribes claim that Coyote brought the world fire, like Prometheus. Coyote's most popular role in tribal stories is as Trickster, the rebel against authority, the breaker of taboos. He is the sacred clown, buffoon, lecher, poacher, cheater. He's also very crafty at destroying his enemies. So Coyote was at it again last week, making the town of Baker, Montana and the organizers of an annual coyote hunt look foolish with his antics. Billed as a tourist attraction, organizer Jerrid Geving also wrapped the event in the rural flag when he offered the hunt up as an effort predator control: "they do a lot of damage to livestock." http://www.newwest.net/city/article/fresh_snow_fresh_tracks_and_the_wilderness_close_by/C429/C429/ Mon, 15 Jan 2007 06:29:00 MST "What first caught my attention was the large imprint in the snow... Then I saw the blood, still a brilliant shade of red." There will always be something special about being that first person to venture out into freshly fallen snow, especially when that snow is in your own backyard. My new favorite pastime, though, comes in the days to follow, as the snow slowly collects evidence of the wilderness around us. Last week, I followed the same set of deer tracks for three miles. It was the same route I'd taken numerous times before, but the addition of these tracks captured so perfectly in the snow made it seem new -- almost magical. I found myself wondering, are the deer just as enthralled when they get to follow our tracks? I doubt it. As we focus our attention on the rate of development and urbanization happening all around us, it's easy to forget just how close we are to the "call of the wild." Paving a place, however, does not take it outside the realm of the wilderness, and it certainly does not make it ours. I received a relatively gentle reminder of this today. It was a little after 1 p.m. when I set off with my dog for the Twin Tunnels trail... http://www.newwest.net/city/article/central_oregon_snow_parks_see_crowds_violators/C429/C429/ Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:36:00 MST Although the full-throttle madness of the holiday season has passed, the upcoming three-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend is bound to bring another swath of tourists and powder hounds to Central Oregon. For added incentive, more than 100 inches of snow at Mt. Bachelor and other surrounding peaks has already fallen this season, with more precipitation in the forecast through Monday. Chris Sabo, the trails manager for Deschutes National Forest, told the Statesman Journal there has been an unwelcome influx of parking violations near Mt. Bachelor and episodes of snowmobile drivers breaking set boundaries. I'm no genius, but when a sign in the forest states "Motor Vehicle Use Prohibited Beyond This Point" it means that you can't take a snowmobile there. Right? Apparently the rules are negotiable to some. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/what_happens_next_predictions_for_2007/C429/C429/ Thu, 11 Jan 2007 05:26:00 MST This time of year you see lots of writers reflecting on what happened during the year just ended, but how hard is it to look into the past and be a visionary? Being a forward-looking sort of guy, I prefer to look ahead and predict what will happen instead of looking back to predict what did happen. As far as wildlife and outdoor issues in the New West, and in particular to the subjects I've covered in my column, I predict the following will be the biggest stories of 2007--and what will or will not happen in the coming year. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/new_years_resolutions_for_fun_hogs1/C429/C429/ Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:27:00 MST You've probably heard about people who never do today what they can put off to tomorrow. Well, I've been guilty of that of late. I've been putting it off for months, but I finally made myself go back and look at my new year's resolutions, posted precisely a year ago, to see how I was progressing in my self-improvement efforts. And it seems like a good time to make a few more resolutions that really matter for 2007. First, as promised a year ago, here are last year's New Year's Resolutions for Fun Hogs and my truly honest status report. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/when_is_extreme_too_much/C429/C429/ Fri, 29 Dec 2006 11:57:00 MST Writer Temira Wagonfeld and fellow windsurfer Travis Ronk, both well known Gorge athletes, spent a bitter day on the Columbia some weeks ago. Below Temira considers the wisdom of "extreme." Photos courtesy of Jon Malmberg Hood River serves as an outdoor sports Mecca for local and visiting extreme athletes. In many cases, resident athletes sport the muscles and VO2 max scores of professionals. As ultra-fit Americans, reveling in their superiority over the flab-covered masses, Gorge extreme sports enthusiasts tend to think of themselves as near immortal; In their minds, Mother Nature's theoretical worst is no more troubling than the buzzing of a fly. The truth of the matter is this: there is such a thing as "too much." Even extreme sports, where "too much" is almost part of the definition, have a safety threshold. Too often, though, extreme athletes think they're exempt from nature's limiting factors. Windsurfers try to sail in hurricane force winds. Kayakers paddle boats down flood-stage rivers. Mountain bikers ride at the edge of cliffs and launch themselves over huge jumps. Mountain climbers, including Brian Hall, Kelly James and Jerry Cooke, who lost their lives on Mt. Hood recently, climb in weather that's too stormy or too conducive to avalanches. We, the residents of the Gorge, have a tendency to forget the "too" in the equation for our favorite sports. Too often we lose a talented local to a climbing accident, a mountain biking wreck, a kiteboarding crash or some other overindulgence in sport. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/comments_worth_repeating_2006/C429/C429/ Thu, 28 Dec 2006 05:16:01 MST As I'm sure many of you have noticed, NewWest.net has engaged readers who take the time to make excellent comments that frequently add value to stories. This week, I read through the hundreds of comments I've received on my weekly columns this year and picked out some gems worth repeating. The hard part was narrowing down the list of insightful, well-written comments to a manageable size. Even though there are obviously many more comments worth repeating, here, in chronological order, are some of my favorites from a whole year of Wild Bill columns. Enjoy. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/the_most_pro_wolf_state_of_them_all/C429/C429/ Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:27:00 MST Mirror, mirror, on the wall. What is the most pro-wolf state of them all? What state has done more for wolf recovery than any other? What state made it possible to have twice as many wolves than even avid wolf fans expected? What state wants the feds to keep the wolf on the endangered species list for years longer than expected. What state prevented state agencies from unleashing aerial gunners to kill more than half of the wolf population? And most of all, in a wolf lover's dream-come-true, what state is making it possible for the wolf to expand its range into Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Utah where it will be considered endangered for many years into the future? My answer might surprise you. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/a_mountain_of_risks_and_mirrors/C429/C429/ Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:30:00 MST It's strange what fascination the mountains hold for humans. Nearly two weeks ago, three climbers climbed Mount Hood. We all know their names and details by now, how they appeared to have summitted, but suffered some injury, and been slammed by the ferocious storm that roared through the Northwest. It looks increasingly like none of them made it safely through that. We all know, too, about the media eruption that followed the lost climbers. The grim-faced television reporters, with their breathless nightly news accounts. The extra-bold headlines. Climbers should carry insurance, say many in the letters to newspapers, on the street, and in the Internet fora. Maybe they should be hit with a rescue bill, too -- well, you know, if they're found. On Metafilter, the popular talk-about-everything site, the climbers-must-pay thread has drawn 200 comments, more than any other recent topic. And at least one national TV program went out of its way to highlight the cost of the search -- as if to say, "See what these bozos are costing us?" There's no word on how much the average viewer has cost the mountain climbing community, though. You know, Mr. and Mrs. Public? The ones with the high-fat diets and coach-loafing lifestyle, who vastly outnumber climbers and cost them higher taxes and health care prices? How many mountain searches would it cost to treat one uninsured person with chronic heart disease?... http://www.newwest.net/city/article/rocky_mountain_front_not_saved/C429/C429/ Thu, 14 Dec 2006 05:14:00 MST Last week, the old purple Congress did something unusual. They actually worked on Friday. December 8 was the last day of the 109th Congress, so I guess it seemed like they should actually do something. Our political leaders passed a tax extender bill with a load of riders and earmarks on it. One rider banned fossil fuel leasing on public land on the famed Rocky Mountain Front in west central Montana, which is great news for anybody who enjoys outdoor activities on the Front. Immediately after passage, the main ball carrier, Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) had this to say: "We finally got it done," Baucus proclaimed in an interview with the Associated Press. "We finally protected the Rocky Mountain Front forever. Thirty years from now, our kids and grandchildren will thank us." Yes, Max, I'm sure our grandchildren appreciate what we will not do to the Rocky Mountain Front, but we still have a lot of work to do. We have not saved it forever. Not yet.