Hiking
The People You Meet on the Trail
There are many reasons why I go hiking.
Just as John Muir encouraged, I go to the mountains and seek their good tidings. I go to witness the short-lived wildflower blooms, the commanding power of a family of mountain goats straddling a pinnacle, the expansive view of mountain peaks, jewel-toned lakes and the roll of the plains, and the feeling of release that comes from hours of putting one foot in front of another on the trail.
WyoFile Feature
Sex, Sunsets, and Sandlin
As his latest novel, Lydia, was being shipped to bookstores this spring, Tim Sandlin sent a mysterious crate to the sales staff at Sourcebooks in Illinois.
“It contained liquor bottles—many bottles—of Koltiska,” a spirit made in Sheridan, said Todd Stocke, Sandlin’s editor and vice president of Sourcebooks. “Tim wrote in a note: One of my writer friends said that if you want the sales department to get worked up about a book, you have to bribe them with liquor.”
[more]Guest Opinion
Pollsters Call Conservation Funding a “Shell Game”
What gets voters agitated when they talk about the federal budget?
Sure, voices rise one moment over “spending like drunken sailors” while at the next moment, voters howl over potential cuts to a host of government programs, most notably Medicare. But get past those now predictable, first-blush comments and you’ll hear that what’s really bothering American voters is the distinct notion they have been conned.
[more]New West Feature
Unemployment, Foreclosures Hit Rockies Children Hard
Utah, usually the only Rocky Mountain state among the nation’s top 10 in an annual assessment of how children are faring, did less well in this year’s report.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2011 Kids Count places Utah seventh, down three places from last year. Idaho ranks 22nd, Colorado 25th, Wyoming 28th, Montana 33rd, and New Mexico 46th.
[more]Berrying
Who’s That Behind the Bush?
Last week, I accompanied my guy on a business trip to Lincoln, Mont. Although it’s probably most famous as the location of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski’s hideout (the cabin has since been moved), this rural community remains noteworthy for its beef jerky, which is produced locally and sold under the Hi-Country brand.
It’s also an easy distance from prime berry country, so naturally we were prepared to grab a few wild huckleberries during the journey home.
[more]New West Feature
Despite Best Efforts, Poaching Still Plagues the Rockies
More than 5,000 reports have been received of poaching in Colorado since 1981, resulting in more than 900 convictions, for which about $800,000 in fines were levied, and $150,000 paid to citizens for reports of suspected poaching, a recent summary asserts.
Studies show that poachers kill almost as many animals as legitimate hunters do during legal seasons in various states, says the report, from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). It points out that poachers steal not only revenues generated by legitimate hunting, but kill threatened, endangered and non-game species.
[more]Guest Column
Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act Misses on Weeds and Wilderness
The Coalition to Protect the Front supports the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act as a means of “protecting the Front”. It justifies the legislation by the “threat” noxious weeds make to the native plant communities of this magnificent landscape. Weeds, by displacing native plants, reduce the carrying capacity of the Front for native wildlife—which everyone agrees is one of the special attributes of the Front.
Unfortunately, the Heritage Act only proposes a paltry 67,000 acres as wilderness. While any new wilderness on the Front is welcome, the Heritage Act misses an important opportunity to protect the bulk of the wildlands that exist here, including the Badger Two Medicine and other important roadless lands. Indeed, on their web page, the Coalition sees the threat of more wilderness as one of the reasons for supporting their plan. So to prevent the “threat” of wilderness, locals want to designate the majority of land along the Front as “Conservation Management Areas.” What a misnomer that name is.
Mountaineering
On Top of Mount Agassiz
The Uinta Mountains of northeastern Utah have so many peaks worth summiting, it’s hard to know where to begin.
Make it easy on yourself, go alphabetical. “A” is for Agassiz, as in Mount Agassiz. This often-overlooked behemoth can be done as a long day hike, or turned into a tremendous overnight trip.
NRDC Study
Oil Shale Mining Would Suck the West Dry, Report Warns
At a time when management of the Colorado River Basin water supply is facing unprecedented challenges due to over allocation and climate change, energy companies are proposing to move forward with oil shale development—a water-intensive, inefficient source of energy that could become a major producer of greenhouse gas pollution.
A new report from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Between a Rock and a Dry Place, explores the potential impacts of oil shale development on water supplies in the basin and on the region’s agricultural economy, water quality, protected species and natural environment.
New West Feature
Blame the Weather on Peru
Montana State University (MSU) researchers have been busy in the discovery department lately.
Three scientific papers out of the university that were published recently range from the effects of Peru’s ocean temperatures on Montana weather, to a shortage of oxygen in the lungs, to dinosaurs at the South Pole.
