Part 1: Colorado, Idaho, Montana and New Mexico

Best Western Books of 2008

It's time for my second annual Best Western Book list, and as I did last year, I'm going to focus on books set in this region (with a few exceptions for excellent books written by writers from this region but set elsewhere), naming my favorites from each state. I managed to read 53 books this year, and these are the books from our region that most impressed me. Please add your favorites in the comments section. Today I’ll discuss Colorado, Idaho, and Montana, and New Mexico and tomorrow it’s on to Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, and other Western states.

Colorado

The biggest book story this year in Colorado, and heck, just about the whole country, is the phenomenal run of David Wroblewski's The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (Ecco, 562 pages, $25.95). Wroblewski, who lives in Westminster, Colo. discussed how he made the transition from software engineer to novelist in my interview with him this summer. Buoyed by extremely positive word of mouth among independent booksellers, book buyers, and other book industry people, as well as glowing blurbs from Richard Russo and Stephen King, Sawtelle hit the New York Times bestseller list on June 29 and has remained there since, getting an additional boost from Oprah, who selected it for her Book Club in September.

WILL IT END OR EXTEND THE WILDERNESS DROUGHT?

The Beaverhead-Deerlodge Partnership: Right Idea, Wrong Bill

For four years, I've been writing about what I've coined the "Wilderness Drought," 25 years of frustration and infighting since we've seen a single acre of Wilderness designated in Montana. Now, several mainstream groups have joined forces with representative of the wood products industry in a grand attempt to end it.

The political reality of today requires this collaborative, "bottom-up" approach because politicians are so gun-shy about Wilderness legislation. They only want lay-ups with all stakeholders already on board, which is the motivation behind this upcoming legislation. After decades of nothing, Montana wilderness advocates have decided to play the new, quid pro quo game to have some chance of success.

Regrettably, this flawed bill looks more like a half-court shot for our congressional delegation and could extend instead of end the Wilderness Drought.

NEWWEST.NET Exclusive

Canadian Farmers’ Cooperative Buys Sportsman’s Warehouse

UPDATE: At the end of the article, I've posted a release I received on 11-26-08 from UFA.--Bill Schneider

Rumors of financial troubles at large outdoor retailers, including Sportsman's Warehouse, have been swirling around for months. Now, it looks like "America's Premier Outfitter" has become "North America's Premier Outfitter." The largest outdoor retailer in the New West is being purchased by Calgary-based UFA Co-operative Lld.

And it looks like UFA has the cash to do it. On its website, UFA describes itself as "a progressive, multi-billion dollar organization committed to serving rural communities."

THE CONFESSIONS OF A REGULAR NUT

What I’ve Learned from Gun Nuts

I'm not a gun nut. I'm a regular nut who owns guns, but only to hunt, not to defend my home and family, join the militia or fight the forces of tyranny.

Gun nuts don't scare or intimidate me. Instead, I'm learning a few things from them. You can, too.

Election '08

Western Republicans: Soul-Searching Time

The sweeping Democratic victory across much of the West has state Republican Parties in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and even Idaho questioning their leadership and direction. In Colorado, some predictable sniping at the tactics of the party leadership is accompanied by a deeper argument over whether the party should turn to the right, as Tom Tancredo is urging, or move to the center, reports the Denver Post. Meanwhile, in the Pacific Northwest, Republicans are facing population trends (i.e. in-migration and urbanization) that look grim indeed, reports Floyd McKay at Crosscut. Oregon now has no statewide officeholders from the GOP for the first time ever. In Idaho, Republicans remain in firm control and the state party considers Tuesday to have been a fine day.giving some pause on both sides of the aisles.

FIRST AND ONLY ON NEWWEST.NET

Dan Cooper Answers Questons About Canceled Orders

If you've been following the Cooper Firearms story (202 comments so far), you might be wondering who was telling the truth. Did Cabela's and Sportsman's Warehouse cancel orders following the controversy, as I originally reported--or not, as the representatives of the mega-retailers claim.

Well, I finally tracked down Dan Cooper this morning, and we had a little chat--and the answer is: Everybody is telling the truth.

New West Poetry Book Review

Jane Augustine’s “A Woman’s Guide to Mountain Climbing”

A Woman's Guide to Mountain Climbing
By Jane Augustine
Marsh Hawk Press,118 pages, $15

It's hard to think of poetry and mountain climbing in the American West without thinking of the Beat poet and the mountain-climbing hero of Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums, Gary Snyder. All of us who see mountain climbing as a bit more spiritual than the average weekend recreation owe a little something to Snyder and the Beat generation’s vision. In a certain sense, poet Jane Augustine also owes a lot to Snyder: like him, she is an enthusiastic mountain climber, a devoted student of Buddhism, an erudite reader of world literature, and a poet who, despite traveling the world, has maintained her roots in the West where she was born. In her poetry, likewise, she shares Snyder's penchant for the short free-verse lyric.

Augustine's latest book of poetry, A Woman's Guide to Mountain Climbing, however, is not one of the awkward homages to the Beats that are still being published. As its playful title suggests, it is an assertive testament of one woman's life in the West that should be read as both a tribute to, and a gentle poke at, the spirit of Snyder and the (often exclusively male) literary counterculture that claimed the landscapes of the mountain West for their own. In these lyrics, which manage to embody both the elegiac and the celebratory, the confessional and the mystical, Augustine confronts traditional myths of Western life by defying our expectations about what poetry that celebrates the West should be.

NO CANCELED ORDERS

Cabela’s and Cooper Firearms

My special Wild Bill column on Monday covered the statements and campaign contributions made Dan Cooper, president and co-founder of Cooper Firearms in support of President-elect Barack Obama. As his statements caused a firestorm of criticism from his customers on gun websites and blogs, Cooper resigned from the company and said he was worried about the future of his company because two of his biggest retail accounts, Cabela's and Sportsman's Warehouse, had canceled their orders.

Which turned out to not be true.

Obama-Mania Hits Boulder

Partying Like It’s 1992

Ohio was the turning point. When Barack Obama won the crucial Midwest state last night it popped the release valve on eight years of pent-up outrage, frustration, and shame for millions of Democrats and independents across the U.S.

Up to that point the several hundred Obama supporters gathered at the Boulder Theater had reacted with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety as early returns were reported by MSNBC and CNN on the big screen.