western election wrap-up 5 | a serious “freizeitbeschÄftigung” 11 | hard labor 29 ... ·...

WESTERN ELECTION WRAP-UP | 5 | A SERIOUS “FREIZEITBESCHÄFTIGUNG” | 11 | HARD LABOR | 29

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HighCountryNewsFor people who care about the West

HighCountryNewsFor people who care about the West

ULTIMATESOLUTION?Desalination may finally be coming of age in a thirsty West. Take it with a grain of salt.

By Tony Davis. 4.

ULTIMATESOLUTION?Desalination may finally be coming of age in a thirsty West. Take it with a grain of salt.

By Tony Davis. Page 14.

2 HighCountryNewsNovember 24, 2008

Just a few months ago, you couldwalk into the local hangout inany little Western town and hearthe hanger-outers talk dramati-cally about “peak oil,” that long-awaited moment when petroleumproduction would decline enough

to throw the world into turmoil. Someone elsemight have brought up “peak water,” too, whatwith global warming and so many people movingto the desert. Another might mention the rushto carve more coal out of the hills to feed ourappliances, or more copper or molybdenum tofuel China’s irrepressible growth. But there wasa common theme: Unlimited growth was goingto run up against the limits of our naturalresources, and economic and social calamitywould result.

Today, those same hangouts are still filledwith talk about economic collapse. Only now it’snot imminent, it’s happening. And lack of water,oil or coal is not the problem. Instead, it’s creditthat has vanished. The world (or at least itsfinancial well-being) is indeed ending, but it’snot with a loud resource-imploding bang.Instead, it’s with a whimper — all that’s leftafter an economic bubble pops.

Last January, copper was selling for morethan $3 a pound, and an economic developmentofficial in Miami, Ariz., crowed to me that theresurging mining economy was insulated fromeconomic downturns by the fact that most of thedemand came from China, where growth wouldnever end. It didn’t occur to him that even China

could be dragged down by the over-eagerness ofPhoenix bankers to hand out mortgages to hope-ful homeowners. Today, copper’s selling at $1.50a pound. Instead of wringing our hands aboutunleashed growth, we’re worried about entireneighborhoods being abandoned in the wake of aforeclosure epidemic. Instead of writing aboutthe rush to gobble up minerals, we’re writingabout the rush to the job lines.

When Tony Davis first delved into the murkysubject of desalination — this issue’s cover story— a few months ago, the economy seemed to bemerely in a slump. Today, West Coast plans fordesalination remain alive, but one wonders forhow long. After all, as growth slows down, sowill our collective thirst.

Ed Quillen argues in his column on page 28that the economic illness has its bright side:The hunger for the West’s lands and resourcesmay diminish somewhat. If so, those who arefighting for the region’s water, air and land-scapes may get a break. Still, we can’t be lulledinto complacency by the bust. Nor should webecome despondent. We have no idea how long itwill last or how bad it will get, but one thing isclear: The “new West” is just as prone to boomsand busts as the old West was. In other words, anew boom is probably just around the corner —and a new bust is just around the corner afterthat. The West has always been a region on aroller coaster. Maybe the rest of the world is justcatching up to us.

—Jonathan Thompson, editor

EDITOR’S NOTE

Peak economyHighCountryNewsEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Paul Larmer

EDITOR Jonathan Thompson

ART DIRECTOR Cindy Wehling

SENIOR EDITOR Ray Ring

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jodi Peterson

ASSISTANT EDITOR Sarah Gilman

ONLINE EDITORMarty Durlin

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSMatt Jenkins, Michelle Nijhuis

WRITERS ON THE RANGE EDITOR Betsy Marston

COPY EDITOR Diane Sylvain

DESIGNER/PRODUCTION ASSISTANTShaun C. Gibson

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MEDIA Ryan Foster

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTORGretchen Aston-Puckett

DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE Alyssa Pinkerton

BUSINESS MANAGER Denise Massart-Isaacson

FINANCIAL ADVISOR Paul Gibb

CIRCULATION MANAGER Kathy Martinez

CIRCULATIONMichelle Anderson, Christine Porter, Tammy York

INTERNS Andrea Appleton, Rob Inglis,Emily Steinmetz

MARKETING AND SYNDICATION MANAGERJoAnn Kalenak

ADVERTISING SALES MANAGERSandra Jarrett-Lance

ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVEAngie Riley

SYNDICATION SALESMarla Bishop

FOUNDER Tom Bell

[email protected] | [email protected]@hcn.org | [email protected]

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Annette Aguayo,Albuquerque, N.M.; Bob Fulkerson, Reno, Nev.;

Wayne Hare, Grand Junction, Colo.; John Heyneman, Flagstaff, Ariz.;

Laura Hubbard, Hailey, Idaho; Daniel F. Luecke,Boulder, Colo.; Felix Magowan, Boulder, Colo.;

David Nimkin, Salt Lake City, Utah; Luther Propst,Tucson, Ariz.; Susan “Tutti” Skaar, Bozeman, Mont.;

Jane Ellen Stevens, Winters, Calif.; Dan Stonington, Seattle, Wash.; Luis Torres, Santa

Cruz, N.M.; Andy Wiessner, Snowmass, Colo.;Florence Williams, Boulder, Colo.

WEB ONLY www.hcn.org

An unlikely senatorgoes to WashingtonDemocrat Jeff Merkley upsetsGordon Smith in Oregon, and talksto hcn.org about his plans to“change the world.”

Democrats rise againin the RockiesWhy the Dems finally succeeded inbreaking the GOP chokehold onthe West

Can the ForestService getback on track?Recovering integrity and efficiencyafter Bush leaves office

The Waiting GameA look at immigrant day laborers in Santa Fe, N.M.

High Country News is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) independent media organization.Our mission is to inform and inspire people toact on behalf of the West’s land, air, water andinhabitants, and to create what WallaceStegner called “a society to match the scenery.”

(ISSN/0191/5657) is published bi-weekly, 22 times a year,by High Country News, 119 Grand Ave., Paonia, CO 81428.Periodicals, postage paid at Paonia, CO, and other postoffices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to HighCountry News, Box 1090, Paonia, CO 81428. 800-905-1155.Articles appearing in High Country News are indexed inEnvironmental Periodicals Bibliography.

All rights to publication of articles in this issue are reserved.Write for permission to print articles or illustrations.Contributions (manu scripts, photos, artwork) are welcomedwith the understanding that the editors cannot be heldresponsible for loss or damage. Enclose a self-addressedstamped envelope with unsolicited submissions to ensurereturn. Articles and letters will be edited and published at thediscretion of the editors.

Subscriptions to HCN are $37 a year, $47 for institutions.Call 800-905-1155 or see www.hcn.org.High Country News is printed with vegetable based inkon recycled paper that contains 30 percent post-con-sumer waste, is elemental-chlorine free and is certifiedby The Forest Stewardship Council.

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“During the past decade, wildlife managers killed 58 federally protected bruinsin northwestern Montana. That makes biologists the biggest source

of human-caused grizzly deaths in the region, ahead of train or car strikes (46),illegal shooting (34), and self-defense (20).”

—Jodi Peterson, “A grizzly situation,” hcn.org/blogs

Tony Davis is the environmentalreporter for the Arizona Daily Star.

J. Katarzyna (Kat) Woronowiczimmigrated to the U.S. from Poland inthe 1980s. She was anewspaper photogra-pher in Sedona, Ariz.,before striking out as afreelancer and settlingin San Diego, Calif.

Rebecca Huntingtonis a freelance writerbased in Jackson, Wyo.She’s a frequent contrib-utor to Wyoming PublicRadio and PBS’s ThisAmerican Land series.

Joslyn Green writesfrom Denver, Colorado.

Ed Quillen lives inSalida, Colo., where hepublishes ColoradoCentral Magazine andis a regular op-edcolumnist for theDenver Post.

Ana Maria Spagna is the author ofNow Go Home: Wilderness, Belonging,and the Crosscut Saw.

Don Waters is the author of theaward-winning story collection DesertGothic. He lives in Santa Fe, N.M..

www.hcn.org HighCountryNews 3

CONTENTS

SPAGNA

WATERS

WORONOWICZ

Ultimate solution? | 14Desalination may finally be coming of age in a thirsty West. Take it with a grain of salt. BY TONY DAVIS

Desperate Measures | 19With water shortages a constant, Westerners are looking at wacky(and not so wacky) ways to squeeze more water out of the sky and land. BY JONATHAN THOMPSON

DEPARTMENTS

LETTERS | 4

TWO WEEKS IN THE WEST| 5

On Obama’s coattails BY RAY RINGThe Dem surge BY RAY RING | 7

AGENCY WATCH

Stuck in the PAWGmire | 8How the BLM failed Pinedale. BY REBECCA HUNTINGTON

UNCOMMON WESTERNER

Weekend Westerner | 11Arthur Kruse rides the range ... in Munich. BY JOSLYN GREEN

THE HCN COMMUNITY | 12A message from Craig Childs, Research Fund, Dear Friends

GREEN GIFT GUIDE/MARKETPLACE | 21

FEATURE CONTRIBUTORS

PERSPECTIVE

Welcome to hard times | 28NEWS COMMENTARY BY ED QUILLEN

ESSAY | 29

Real workBY ANA MARIA SPAGNA

BOOKS | 30

Exodus/Éxodo by Charles Bowdenand Julían Cardona,REVIEWED BY DON WATERSPHOTOGRAPHS BY JULÍAN CARDONA

HEARD AROUND THE WEST | 32BY BETSY MARSTON

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COVER J. KATARZYNA WORONOWICZ

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LETTERS


RISKY GUN BUSINESS

I was shocked by Hal Herring’scommentary on abandoning guncontrol (HCN, 10/27/08). More thanthe inaccuracies about “theDemocrats” being against theSecond Amendment and the clear-ly mistaken judgment thatDemocrats are declining, it wasupsetting to read the absurdnotion that owning guns protectsus against tyranny. Where has thisauthor been for the last eightyears? How long would any of usarmed with a rifle or a handgun oranything else have lasted againstour (thankfully soon-to-be-replaced) tyrannous leaders?

An Associated Press articlereporting the Supreme Court’s 5-4ruling last July, which struckdown the District of Columbia’srequirements that firearms in thehome have trigger locks or be keptdisassembled, noted that half ofgun deaths are suicides. In the late1970s through the early 1990s,several public health researchers,with support from the Centers forDisease Control, investigatedfirearms-related deaths. Theirstudies found that having a gun inthe house increased the risk of sui-cide by 4.8 times. Similarly, gunownership proved to be a signifi-cant risk factor for homicide by afamily member or intimateacquaintance.

Of all firearm deaths involvinga weapon kept in the homebetween 1978 and 1983, 333 weresuicides, 41 were criminal homi-cides, 12 were unintentionaldeaths, two were justifiable homi-cides and seven were self-protec-tion homicides. Another study,using the same Western site (KingCounty, Wash.) and two others,reviewed firearm deaths that werehomicides. It found that gun own-ership, with factors such as age,income, neighborhood and educa-tion controlled, increased the riskof homicide 2.7 times. The publichas been misled about these risksand about many other issuesregarding guns as well.

Roberta HallCorvallis, Oregon

BIG WATER

Regarding your story “LiquidAssets,” this summer at MountShasta I learned from locals thatShasta Dam releases, in August,were running at the equivalent ofthe spring flood stage. Why wouldwe do that during a drought, in aperiod fraught with intense pres-sure to build more dams, canalsand other forms of water infra-structure (HCN, 10/13/08)?

I urge HCN to take a deeperlook at water issues in California.Water banking may be part of thesolution; it certainly is to largewater agencies. And so are watertransfer deals, which you’ve alsoreported on — where farmers getwater at a cheap rate from thestate, and then sell back to wateragencies at significant profits,facilitating development. That,combined with the suite of pro-posed big water projects includingbanks, deserves scrutiny. Whogains? Who loses? The long-termecological welfare of the state, theultimate public good, is at stake.

Our long-term water policy,and the projects we engage in now,should include maintaining ourcherished ecosystems by allocatingappropriate flows to them, andthen dividing up the rest, incorpo-rating serious conservation as astarting point.

Jessica HallLos Angeles, California

IN FROM THE WEB

“SELF-ENTITLED KILL FREAKS”

Ranchers’ complaints about wolfreintroduction I can understand,though I think there’s a great dealof adaptation — dogs, mules andllamas to guard the herd, forexample — that ranchers can dobut choose not to (HCN, 11/10/08).The hunters, on the other hand —you might think they’d at least trynot to sound like self-entitled kill-freaks, but for crying out loud! I’ma hunter; I hunt elk and boar forfood. I do not jet-set into Jacksonwith a tag I expect to have filled bythe weekend, I do not presume tothink that the wildlife should bepunctual and considerate of mybusy schedule in their appearancein my crosshairs, and I do notexpect that the government shouldslaughter more of their naturalpredators to accommodate myrecreational preferences!

William C. Lawton

BACK TO BISON

The ranching and sport-huntingcommunities in Idaho, Montana,and Wyoming exhibit none of thetolerance of the wolf, much less theknowledge, shown by NativeAmericans (HCN, 11/10/08). It ishate, sheer hate, that drives thesecommunities’ actions and led to thedeliberate extinction of wolves inthe last century. If the state wolf“management” plans were left inplace before the latest science- andlaw-based decision to return thewolves to the endangered specieslist, there would have been a sec-ond extinction. How ironic it is

that the large majority of theseranchers get sweet subsidizeddeals on the use of the public landsfor grazing, and yet they vilify theefforts to restore the wolf to thesevery same lands. They claim greateconomic hardship, yet Defendersof Wildlife established a reim-bursement fund for livestock killsproven to be wolf-caused. The lastpart is key, because many morecattle and sheep die from lack ofmanagement (no more range rid-ing and protecting the herds bymodern ranchers), or disease. Thatpart is always left out of the propa-ganda put out by the cattlemen’sassociations.

I think the final solution will beto buy out these grazing permits,and return these public lands to thewild animals that live there. Theranchers there, for the most part,can’t make a living without the wel-fare given to them by the federalgovernment. Most don’t ownenough private land to make it aviable business. Instead, they couldbe innovative, and agree that theonly grazing on these lands be doneby bison. Bison cause much lessecological damage and require lessmanagement. And they are muchbetter at repelling wolf attacks, inaddition to being a healthier redmeat source.

Jim Eischeid

NO FRIENDS OF THE INDIANS

Regarding your story “Power to theFirst People,” in Montana in the2006 election, it was the sevencounties with reservations whichassured Democrat Jon Tester hisnarrow victory over incumbentGOP Sen. Conrad Burns, a charla-tan good ol’ boy tainted by hisassociations with lobbyist JackAbramoff (HCN, 10/27/08). TheDemocrats should never forget thishelp from the poorest, mostmaligned people of the state. Butthey will. The arrogance ofDemocratic politicians reinforcesthe illusion that they are somehowimmune from the realities of con-necting with their fellow humanbeings who have been subjected tothe absolute worse of Euro-American ethnocentrism. Insteadof gratitude, our Native peoplesreceive only more ignorant neglect.

Hank Plummer

GETTING OUT THE (GUN) VOTE

As someone who is a “liberalDemocrat” on most issues and an

Send letters to the editor to Editor, HCN, P.O. Box 1090, Paonia, CO 81428,or [email protected]. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

TAB, THE CALGARY SUN/WWW.CAGLECARTOONS.COM

continued on page 10

Westerners inspired by BarackObama have a right to feel giddy

these days: The history-making wavethat swept the Democrat into the presi-dency Nov. 4 had a lot of impact aroundthe region. It lifted a surprising numberof other Democrats into offices that hadlong been held by Republicans, many ofwhom were seen as obstacles to change.The winning Democrats promise to bebetter on protecting the environment,more supportive of clean energy andmore even-handed on immigration andother Western issues.

Obama took six of the 11 Westernstates, spreading the Democrats’ appar-ent majority inland from the West Coastto include Colorado, Nevada and NewMexico. He did it with a record-breaking$1 billion national campaign war chest,including hundreds of millions spent byunions on his behalf — a huge financialadvantage over his Republican opponent,John McCain — and by running themost determined Democratic presiden-tial campaign ever in the West.

In Colorado, the Obama campaignhad 51 field offices — many in conserva-tive rural areas — and the spark provid-ed by the Democratic NationalConvention in Denver. Obama himselfmade calls to potential Colorado votersfrom a field office in a Denver suburb.Just a few days before the election, hedrew more than 100,000 people — saidto be the biggest political crowd inColorado history — to a Denver speech.

In Nevada, where Democrats sched-uled a primary in early February tospark enthusiasm, Obama made 20 vis-its in all, including three to the miningcommunity of Elko, where he spoke inthe town park and accepted a shirt bear-ing the name of the high-school footballteam (the Elko Indians). Nevada StateSen. Dina Titus, a political science pro-fessor, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that she won a U.S. House seatthanks in part to Obama’s ground game,“the best she’d seen in 20 years of poli-tics.”

In New Mexico, the Obama campaignopened nearly 40 field offices. In out-of-the-way Montana — where Obama camewithin a few percentage points of a rareDemocratic win — he opened 19 andmade five campaign visits, and his cam-paign dispatched Los Angeles Lakersbasketball star Derek Fisher to speakingengagements on the BlackfeetReservation.

Obama received more votes than thelast Democratic candidate for president,John Kerry, in 404 of the 413 counties inthe West, indicating that a new ordermay be taking command of the region’spolitics. That impression was reinforcedon the congressional level: WesternDemocrats took three Senate seats thathad been Republican (in Colorado, New

Mexico and Oregon). They took at leastsix House seats from WesternRepublicans, while losing no Democraticseats in either chamber of Congress.

Democrats also gained more seats onpublic utilities commissions in Montanaand Arizona, with candidates who vow toput more emphasis on development ofwind and solar energy.

But Obama’s hopeful message, hiscall for fundamental change and unifica-tion, will meet resistance in the Westfrom here on out, especially on the levelof local politics.

REDOUBTS AND FRAGMENTSPolitical pundits use a new word whenthey talk about the post-electionRepublican Party. They say the GOP —due to its hard-line approach to fossilfuels, the Iraq War and deregulation ofeverything — has had its majorityreduced to “redoubts,” mostly inSouthern states. “Redoubts,” accordingto Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, aresmall, enclosed defensive positions.

But the redoubts aren’t all in theSouth; the West has a significant num-ber. Utah, Idaho and Wyoming haven’tvoted for a Democrat for president since1964, and this time, they were amongthe top states in voter percentages forMcCain.

Conservative religious voters arelargely responsible for the redoubts inthose states. On average, the most con-servative voters are either evangelicalChristians or Mormons, whose politicstend to center on opposing abortion andgay rights. About 60 percent of Utahadults are Mormon, and 45 percent ofIdaho adults are either Mormon or evan-

gelical; the only other states with totalsso high are in the South. Politically,Utah and Idaho might as well beSouthern states.

Mormon voters comprise 10 percentof the Wyoming electorate, andRepublican Cynthia Lummis, a conser-vative Lutheran, made a point of reach-ing out to them in her winning campaignto be the state’s next representative inthe U.S. House. (She’s replacingRepublican Rep. Barbara Cubin, whodidn’t run for re-election.)

The politics in other Western statesremain fragmented by similar hard-lineRepublican redoubts. In the West’s liber-al-majority coastal states, the redoubtsare inland. In Washington, for instance,two-term incumbent Republican StateLands Commissioner Doug Sutherland,a friend of timber and mining compa-nies, just lost to Democrat Peter

TWO WEEKS IN THE WEST

On Obama’s coattails BY RAY RING

BarackObama“understandswhat theWesterngovernors ...understand,that the mostimportantenergycorridor onthe planet isnot thePersian Gulf,it’s theAmericanWest.”

—Montana Gov. BrianSchweitzer, quoted in the

Casper Star-Tribune


State Rank Mormons Evangelicals TotalUtah 1 58 7 65Oklahoma 2 0 53 53Arkansas 3 0 53 53Tennessee 4 1 51 52Alabama 5 0 49 49Kentucky 6 0 49 49Mississippi 7 1 47 48Idaho 8 23 22 45S. Carolina 9 0 45 45N. Carolina 10 0 41 41

Top states for politically conservative religions(figures show percentage of adult population)

Barack Obama, Democratic senator from Illinois, greets supporters at a rally in Elko, Nevada,where he stopped three times during his successful presidential campaign. EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

SNAPSHOT

SOURCE: THE PEW FORUM ON RELIGION & PUBLIC LIFE

Goldmark, a rancher and Ph.D. molecu-lar biologist who promises to have betterenvironmental protection policies. Thatjob manages 5 million acres ofWashington’s state land and logging onprivate land. Sutherland carried theinland counties, Goldmark carried thecoastal urban areas.

In general, Western cities, collegetowns and resort towns tended to votefor Obama, while the rural areas wentfor McCain. Even in Nevada, whereDemocratic Sen. Harry Reid has led arevival of his party — there are now100,000 more registered Democrats thanRepublicans — Obama won by carryingthe urban slivers of metro Las Vegasand Reno, even though he lost in the restof the state.

In Arizona, even as Democrats based

in Flagstaff and the Navajo Nation gainedcongressional seats, voters in the Phoenixsuburbs re-elected famous anti-immigra-tion Republican Maricopa County SheriffJoe Araipo to a fifth term; the sheriffpromptly vowed to continue his raids onbusinesses and local governments thathire undocumented immigrants. Arizonavoters also rejected a ballot measure thatwould’ve relaxed the state’s tough penal-ties against businesses that hire undocu-mented immigrants.

In western Colorado, Ed Marston,High Country News’ former publisher anda longtime political centrist, invested morethan a year in running as a Democrat for aseat on the Delta County Commission.Competing on strongly Republican turf,Marston was smeared by ads claiming hewould flood the area with illegal immi-grant criminals and squash gun rights,even though he’d tried to take the gunissue off the table by getting a concealedweapon permit. He lost by a 2-to-1 margin— a typical fate for local Democratic candi-dates in Republican strongholds on thestate’s rural Western Slope.

GRIDLOCK, SLAM-DUNKS AND CONTRADICTIONSIn the legislatures, Republicans still con-trol both chambers in Arizona, Idaho,Utah and Wyoming. In fact, some of theirlocks got tighter in this election.Montana Republicans, led by hard-liners,effectively gained control of theirLegislature. That means state politics inthose legislatures will likely be discon-nected from federal politics — a commonproblem in Western states — becausethe Democrats hold Congress and theWhite House. Meanwhile, Democratshave a lock on legislatures in California,Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregonand Washington.

In six of the states with such one-party locks, the governor belongs to thesame party. Such complete dominanceencourages show-offish slam-dunksrather than a politics of compromise andconsensus.

In states where the governor belongsto the opposite party from the legisla-ture’s majority, the difference frequentlymeans gridlock. Arizona Gov. JanetNapolitano, a Democrat dealing with aRepublican Legislature for her six yearsin office, has vetoed more than 170 billsthat took hard-line stances on immigra-tion, gun rights, abortion and otherissues. California Gov. ArnoldSchwarzenegger, a Republican dealingwith a hard-line Democratic Legislature,vetoed more than 400 bills this yearalone, setting a new California record.Such collisions can eventually force con-sensus, but they waste a lot of time andeffort.

Many more of the Western electionresults seem contradictory. Religiousconservatives succeeded in writing banson gay marriage into the California andArizona constitutions. But they lost inColorado, where voters rejected a toughanti-abortion measure, and inWashington, where voters OK’d a “Deathwith Dignity” measure that allows doc-tors to prescribe lethal drugs to termi-nally ill patients who want to kill them-selves.

Earlier this year, Colorado agencies,spurred by the Legislature, imposedtough environmental regulations on oiland gas companies. But the voters decid-ed not to impose higher taxes on thosecompanies, even though Colorado’s oil-and-gas tax rate is lower than the ratesin neighboring states. Colorado’s infra-structure and its public colleges havebeen strangled by a tax-limit passed in1992, but voters also rejected a measurethat would have relaxed that chokehold.Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter and somemoderate Republicans and businessgroups backed both of those pro-taxmeasures.

TREND TOWARD PRAGMATISM, MAYBESome Western extremists were knockedout of office — most notably, RepublicanIdaho Rep. Bill Sali, who was famouslycalled an “idiot” by one of his party’s

leaders. But high-profile moderates alsogot booted out of federal and stateoffices, including Oregon’s RepublicanSen. Gordon Smith. And at least oneextremist won a congressional seat:Jason Chaffetz, who defeated incumbentUtah Rep. Chris Cannon in theRepublican primary, will take hisuncompromising anti-immigration, anti-tax views to the U.S. House.

Wyoming’s new RepublicanCongresswoman, Lummis, thinks thescience isn’t yet clear on global warmingand wants to extend the Bush tax cutsdespite a federal budget deficit biggerthan the (shrinking) polar ice cap.Democratic Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels,a few days after the election, vowed tocontinue pushing for a ban on handgunsin city parks and buildings, despite oppo-sition from his state’s attorney generalas well as from the hundreds of thou-sands of Washington voters who arestaunchly for gun rights.

Even so, there is an apparent trendin the West toward pragmatism and pop-ulism, and voters seem eager to protector improve local amenities and services.

In Sevier County, Utah, voters took astep toward voting down a Nevada com-pany’s plan to build a coal-fired powerplant in the county: They OK’d a ballotmeasure that gives them the right tomake the final decision. That battleextended as far as the Utah Legislature(which earlier passed a law saying thelocals couldn’t exercise such power) andthe Utah Supreme Court (which ruledthat the law was unconstitutional).

The animal-rights movement madeprogress in California, where voters over-whelmingly approved a measure torequire more humane conditions for fac-tory-farm chickens, pigs and calves.(Arizona, Colorado and Oregon havealready passed modest versions.) InUtah, voters in metro Salt Lake CountyOK’d new taxes for improvements to thecounty’s 48-acre zoo and 8-acre aviary,including new jungle exhibits with birdsfrom Latin America.

Open-space ballot measures contin-ued to be popular: There were 17 majorproposals to impose new taxes for buyingopen space lands and improving parks inthe West, and voters OK’d 14 of them,according to the Trust for Public Land,which worked on many of the proposals.

Mass transit also continued to bepopular: Voters in California, Seattle,Wash., and northern New Mexicoapproved new taxes to expand commuterrail and bus systems. California’s pro-posal is especially ambitious: The stateplans to issue nearly $10 billion in bondsfor a down payment on building a high-speed rail network linking Los Angelesto San Francisco and Sacramento.

Among the other reasons forObamaesque optimism: AmericanIndians won 10 seats in Western legisla-tures. Denise Juneau, a member of theMandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes,fended off racial slurs to earn a

John Lewis andStuart Gaffneywatch electionreturns during aSan Francisco rallyagainst CaliforniaProposition 8. Themeasure banningsame-sex marriagepassed 52 percentto 47 percent.PAUL SAKUMA/AP


The Dem surgeWestern Democrats won three Senate seats and at least six House seats

that had been Republican.

statewide office, Montana school superin-tendent. Lena Fowler, a Navajo, won aseat on the Coconino County Board ofSupervisors in Arizona. Todd Gloria, ofthe Tlingit-Haida tribes, won a seat onthe San Diego, Calif., City Council.

In another sign of diversity, wealthyInternet entrepreneur Jared Polis wonthe U.S. House seat representing theliberal enclave of Boulder, Colo.; Polis isthe first openly gay man elected as afreshman congressman. (Other gays inCongress have come out after they wereelected.)

LOOKING AHEADOn the horizon, the Obama wave maylead to future Democratic wins in theWest and increasing political alignmentof moderates in both parties. Young vot-ers (under 30 years old) went for Obama2-to-1, as did Latino voters (anotherfast-growing segment of the electorate).

But in the short term, it will be diffi-cult for the region — and for any partic-ular state — to truly unify around anyplans to address today’s huge crises,including the global economic meltdown.Many people in the Republican redoubtsapproved of the Bush administration’srelaxation of environmental regulations,and they’re already wary of Obama’splans to restore such rules.

Some of the new players appeardetermined to find middle ground.Oregon’s new senator, Jeff Merkley, isthe “son of a millworker (and) the firstin his family to attend college,” says theAssociated Press. Merkley has proveneffective as a leader in the OregonLegislature, pushing for living wages,affordable housing and consumer protec-tion; AP calls him a “populist.”

The new Democratic congressmanfrom southern New Mexico is oilmanHarry Teague. He’s a high-schooldropout who earned his money in an oil-field services business, and he gives hisemployees good benefits, including col-lege tuition and health insurance. Hecalls himself a pragmatic populist.

Idaho Democrat Walt Minnick wonthe House seat that had been held byBill Sali. Minnick — a former timbercompany executive and onetimeRepublican, who’d received endorse-ments from business groups — is anavowed centrist. The day after he gotelected, Minnick pledged to take a bipar-tisan approach.

Meanwhile, journalists around theWest reported a surge in gun sales rightafter Obama got elected. SomeWesterners fear that Obama and theDemocratic Congress will pass moregun-control laws. They’re buying semi-automatic assault rifles, Glock pistolsand ammo so fast that gun stores arerunning out and manufacturers arestraining to keep up. Apparently, theOld West stereotypes are still alive. n

Jeff MerkleySenateDegrees from Stanfordand Princeton, hasexperience in theOregon Legislature,Defense Department,Congressional BudgetOffice and Habitat forHumanity

Walt MinnickHouseFormer Republican withMBA and Harvard lawdegree, experience astimber CEO, says he’lltake a bipartisanapproach

Mark UdallSenateSon of former ArizonaRep. Mo Udall, cousinof Tom, in House since1999, wants a morecareful approach to oilshale

Betsy MarkeyHouseSoftware entrepreneur,has master's degree inpublic administration,staff experience withthree congressmen,State and Treasurydepartments

Dina TitusHouseAlready a pro: 30 yearsas political scienceprofessor at Universityof Nevada-Las Vegas,20 years in Legislature

Ann KirkpatrickHouseLawyer and statelegislator, raised inMogollon Rim country,she'll represent theFlagstaff area and fourIndian tribes

Tom UdallSenateSon of former InteriorSecretary StewartUdall, cousin of Mark,in House since 1999,pushes wind and solarenergy

Martin HeinrichHouseEngineer and planner,served on AlbuquerqueCity Council, advocatefor open space, publiclands and wilderness

Harry TeagueHouseHigh school dropout,oilfield-services entre-preneur and countycommissioner, hiscampaign ads toldvoters: “He’s one of us”


KEY

REPUB DEM

Before Afterelection election(left) (right)

The pie chartsshow partypercentages in each state’s totalcongressionaldelegation beforethe election andafter.

STILL COUNTING

ind-blowing” — that’s what LindaBaker recalls thinking when shefirst learned that the Bureau ofLand Management wanted to

involve citizens in tracking the impacts of natu-ral gas drilling on the Pinedale Anticline.

“I was so impressed that the BLM reallywanted to hear from the community that wouldbe most affected,” says the soft-spoken Baker, apetite, athletic woman who watchdogs the oiland gas industry from an office above theStockman’s restaurant and bar in downtownPinedale, Wyo. “That’s when I decided that Iwanted to participate.”

It was 2000, and the BLM had just openedthe Anticline — a sagebrush-covered spine ofland in western Wyoming — to 700 gas wells.No one knew how drilling would affect the area’sabundant wildlife and other natural resources,so the agency planned to monitor environmentalimpacts, and make “mid-course corrections” ifnecessary — a practice known as adaptive envi-ronmental management.

That’s where the citizens’ advisory team —known as the Pinedale Anticline Working Group(PAWG) — came in. Composed of drillers,

ranchers, conservationists and local governmentofficials, the group would oversee monitoring,make recommendations to the BLM and discloseresults to the community.

But eight years later, the working group rep-resents, for many, a broken promise. It has hem-orrhaged citizen experts, bogged down in litiga-tion and bureaucratic red tape, and failed tofunction for extended periods. Meanwhile, theBLM has allowed drilling to continue full throt-tle despite declining wildlife and unprecedentedair pollution. This September, the agency signeda new plan to allow 4,400 more wells on 600wellpads and eliminate most seasonal protec-tions for wildlife.

“We were told when I was there, ‘The cus-tomers are the companies,’ ” says StevenBelinda, a former BLM employee who served asa liaison to the working group’s wildlife subcom-mittee. The BLM’s PAWG simply “kept everyonedancing while industry got everything it wantedout in the field.”

A company consultant says that PAWG par-ticipants expected more authority than thegroup was allowed. Conservationists, however,say the BLM disregarded citizen input, and they

blame much of the trouble on an industry law-suit that left the group playing catch-up.

“The PAWG process on the face of it was not an honest effort,” says Rollin Sparrowe, aparticipant in one of the subcommittees. “I thinkit was doomed to failure from the beginning.”

WHEN THE BLM FIRST APPROVED theAnticline gas field, it ushered in a new era

of drilling. The area holds more than 21 trillioncubic feet of natural gas — enough to heat 12.5million homes for 20 years — trapped in tinypockets of nearly impermeable rock. A combina-tion of new technology and high gas prices madeit profitable to go after these reserves. But tap-ping them meant developing a much denser net-work of wells, roads and pipelines across theAnticline’s 200,000 acres of rolling sagebrush —crucial seasonal range and forage for thousandsof migratory mule deer and pronghorn as well asnesting and breeding habitat for sage grouse.

Because of all the uncertainties involved, theBLM suggested that the working group overseethe process in exchange for the agency gainingmore flexibility to manage on the fly. The group,in turn, divvied up its responsibilities for moni-

“M

4 HighCountryNews June 23, 2008


AGENCY WATCH

Stuck in the PAWGmireHow the BLM failed Pinedale

BY REBECCA HUNTINGTON

toring and mitigation plans to subcommittees onwildlife, water and air quality, transportation,cultural resources and reclamation.

But before the citizen groups could get off theground, Yates Petroleum Corp., a New Mexico-based operator drilling on the Anticline, sued theU.S. Department of Interior over the BLM’s deci-sion to impose mitigation measures on drilling ifnecessary. The lawsuit also argued that the citi-zens’ group violated the Federal AdvisoryCommittee Act, or FACA, which sets rules for fed-eral advisory committees in order to keep theiradvice open and accessible to the public. The gov-ernment responded by ordering the Pinedalegroup and its subcommittees to cease work.Energy companies, meanwhile, continued drilling.

According to Gene George, a Yates consult-ant who participated in PAWG subcommitteesfrom 2000 to 2007, the company wanted to makesure that the advisory group did not overridethe government’s legal decision-making authori-ty. “They jumped off immediately and decidedthey would also start advising on the (NationalEnvironmental Policy Act) process and all sortsof other things and that’s where it kind of gotastray,” George says.

Although a U.S. District Court for Wyomingdismissed Yates’ complaint, the BLM decidedthat the Pinedale group needed to be charteredunder FACA anyway. The agency took fouryears to resolve the suit, write a charter andappoint new members. Under FACA, theInterior secretary must approve those new mem-bers — a lengthy process that still hinders thegroup today.

By the time the new PAWG convened in2004, hundreds of wells had been drilled. TheBush administration told the working groupthat it could not pick up where it left off, butwould have to start over, writing new monitor-ing plans.

Meanwhile, the BLM had started working ona proposal from Questar Corporation, an Anticlineoperator, to lift seasonal restrictions on drilling incrucial mule deer winter range. Although theagency asked for input, PAWG members say whatit really wanted was a rubber stamp of approval.The group’s wildlife subcommittee had neither thetime nor the baseline monitoring data to properlyevaluate the proposal.

The Yates lawsuit wasn’t entirely to blamefor the problems, says Dennis Stenger, whoinherited the beleaguered group in 2006 whenhe took over as Pinedale BLM field manager. Itwas also a struggle for the agency to find volun-teers willing to commit to the time-intensiveworking group. “You couldn’t even get a quorumthere in the end,” he says.

But critics say the BLM drove away volun-teers by ignoring their advice. For example,PAWG member Kirby Hedrick famously quitafter concluding that the BLM had no interestin listening to him. A former vice president ofproduction for Phillips Petroleum and a U.S.Department of Defense consultant, Hedrick had

urged the BLM to limit habitat disruption byrequiring that more wells be drilled directionallyfrom fewer pads. But he got little response.

“This is one of the smartest groups of peopleI have ever seen working together. If the BLMdoesn’t listen to the advice of this group, theyare making a big mistake,” Hedrick said beforehe walked out of his last meeting in August2005. “I get the impression the BLM wished thisgroup would go away.” (Hedrick declined to com-ment for this article.)

Belinda, who worked for the agency at thetime, backs up Hedrick’s critique. “I was innumerous (BLM) meetings where people said,‘We wish this (the PAWG) would just go away,’ ”says Belinda, who ultimately quit in frustrationand went to work for a conservation group.

Stenger, who is now retired, says the group’slegal charter limited its authority. The groupwas allowed to comment only on decisions out-lined in the 2000 plan, not on the newer propos-als under consideration by the time it recon-vened. BLM officials were careful to considerhow their interpretation of the charter might seta precedent — opening the door to special inter-ests — for other field offices, Stenger says.

“Out of this PAWG, you have certain people,they have a goal and there’s no wavering fromthat goal,” he explains. “Sometimes that gets inthe way of what should actually be done on theground.”

BOB BARRETT, AN AVID sportsman whorepresented the “public at-large” on the

group, now wishes he’d followed Hedrick’s lead.“I could have made a grand exit and probablyshould have as Kirby did,” he says. But hestayed on to try to get some protections in placefor wildlife.

In particular, he supported the work of theWildlife Task Group, which Rollin Sparrowe had

been asked to lead when the PAWG reconvenedin 2004. Sparrowe had 22 years of experienceworking as a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service, with jobs ranging fromresearch scientist to deputy assistant directorfor wildlife and refuges.

When his group got to work, it discoveredthat the BLM had yet to review data collectedby industry-funded researchers to see whatimpact drilling was having on local wildlife.Given the group’s late start, Sparrowe tried tomake the most of the existing information. Onestudy showed that drilling had displaced 46 per-cent of the nearly 6,000 mule deer wintering onthe Anticline. So the task group proposed thatthe BLM maintain current deer populations andforbid development on what undisturbed winterhabitat remained.

But despite unanimous agreement betweenPAWG members, including an oil and gas indus-try representative, Stenger rejected the recom-mendations. He offered a counter-proposal tomaintain “the viability of the herd,” whichwould allow for further declines in deer num-bers. Stenger says now that the working groupoverlooked the other factors besides drilling thatcan affect deer numbers, such as drought, severewinters and hunting.

When the BLM chose to ignore science thatclearly showed energy development was hurtingdeer, Sparrowe says, it seemed there was nopoint in working on protections for sage grouseand other species on which drilling’s impactswere still murky. So the group disbanded formore than two years, before reconstituting thisMarch.

OTHER SUBCOMMITTEES also foundered.Linda Baker served on the air-quality group,

which found that the BLM did not monitor nitro-gen oxides for four years despite committing in


AGENCY WATCH

Roads and natural gas wellpads (facing page) crisscross the Pinedale Anticline gasfield, just outside of Pinedale,Wyo. Linda Baker (above) stands in front of compressors and a drill rig on the Pinedale Anticline, today one of themost productive natural gas fields in the West. Baker was a librarian when she first joined the Pinedale AnticlineWorking Group to help oversee energy development on the Anticline. Now she watchdogs industry as communityorganizer for the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. TED WOOD

2000 to track the pollutant, which contributes toozone. The agency has since begun monitoringagain. Last winter, the town of Pinedale — whichstill doesn’t have a single traffic stoplight — hadits first human health warnings for air pollutionthat exceeds federal standards.

But some subcommittees have madeprogress. The BLM refined and expanded itswater-quality monitoring based on that group’sinput, George says. And the water-quality groupnotified the public in August of the contamina-tion of a stock well. Likewise, the agency hiredadditional archaeological staff and a lawenforcement officer to help protect culturalresources. The new drilling decision includesprotections for the historic Lander Trail, a spurof the Oregon Trail.

For conservationists like Sparrowe, who nowworks with the Theodore Roosevelt Conserva-tion Partnership, of which he’s a founding mem-ber, those successes are not enough. In June,the wildlife advocacy group filed suit against theBLM, saying the agency failed to follow throughon its commitment to change management ofthe gas field despite clear evidence that drillingwas harming area wildlife. The group recentlyamended the complaint to challenge the BLM’slatest expansion plan.

Although Pinedale Town Councilor NyllaKunard echoes those complaints, she’s still a

PAWG member and wants to see the group sal-vaged. She’s optimistic about the current BLMfield manager, Chuck Otto, who took the posi-tion just last year. “I just felt like at least hewas listening,” she says.

Despite the eight years of turmoil, Otto saysthe group still plays a vital role as a venue for

citizens to communicate with the BLM. Hepromises to more actively forward the group’sconcerns to decision makers.

Sparrowe doesn’t think Otto can make a dif-ference. “Many BLM employees tried to do whatthey knew was the right thing to do,” he says.“According to those employees, they were oftenoverruled from either Cheyenne or Washington.”

In any case, Otto’s actions will be dictated bythe BLM’s plan to expand drilling on theAnticline. That document resets the baseline formule deer and sage grouse at the diminished2006 levels and allows further declines to occurbefore triggering changes to drilling operations.The decision also reduces the role of thePinedale group by following the example of theneighboring Jonah gas field. Under the newplan, drilling companies have promised to pay$7,500 per well into a wildlife mitigation fund. Anew group — made up of government agencyrepresentatives — will decide how that moneygets spent to offset impacts to wildlife. TheBLM, meanwhile, will evaluate the Pinedalegroup annually — instead of every two years —to decide whether it should continue. The choicewill rest with the Obama administration.

Former PAWG member Barrett, however, hasgiven up. “I think they should just stick a stakethrough the heart of it and just be done with it,”he says. “Why continue the charade?” n


Abe Lincoln “conservative” on oth-ers, I believe it has been a profoundmistake for the Democrats to throwaway the gun owner’s vote as theyhave for years (HCN, 10/27/08). Igrew up in Ohio plinking with mydad’s .22. I’m a gun owner with acollector’s license for curios andrelics, and a life member of theNRA. I disagree with them aboutmost political issues and find themextreme. When I ran for Congressin 2006, I got a questionnaire fromthem that would likely have failedme in their eyes, had I sent it in. Istill do not believe in free andunfettered access to .50 caliberrifles with a range of over a mile!This is a weapon that should beallowed but controlled, with restric-tions on subsequent transfer. Inreading the various states’ versionsof the Second Amendment prior tothe ratification of the Constitutionin 1787, it is clear that “the right tokeep and bear arms” is an individ-ual, not a collective, right. It is theone area that I disagree with othermembers of the ACLU, the groupthat sticks up for all of our otherconstitutional rights, with the soleexception of the SecondAmendment. They unfortunately— and wrongly — look upon theSecond Amendment as the only col-lective right, among all the individ-ual rights, in the Bill of Rights.

Stevan Thomas

CAN’T SEE THE FORESTFOR THE GUNS

I’m frankly flabbergasted that, inan era so defined by crises of theenvironment, energy, and econo-my, that folks are still voting onuseless wedge issues like guns andabortion — and voting for folksthat are hopelessly deficient onthe first three but who pander onthe last two (HCN, 10/27/08).These issues were made issues byRepublicans for the express pur-pose of creating single-issue voterswho will cheerfully forget anyother problem that affects theirquality of life simply to vote for anissue of very little real importancethat they have been browbeatenand cajoled into caring deeplyabout. In that sense, I agree withthe writer; it makes sense for theDemocrats to de-emphasize thesenon-issues to pull the fangs of theRepublicans who depend on themutterly.

All of that said, Obama andBiden are not going to be takinganybody’s guns away. I guaranteeit. Regardless of their personalpositions on the matter, they’regoing to be too busy attending tostuff that actually matters — theeconomy, energy crises — to both-er themselves with an issue that’sonly raised in times of relativeprosperity and peace. Don’t gam-ble on our ability to face those realcrises because of your carefully

stoked fears about your “singleissue” — a single issue that is solow on the priority list that thenext president will never touch it.

William C. Lawton

“HOMOSEXUALS ARE NOT SOME CABAL”

As a gay former Mormon whogrew up in Idaho Falls, “Prophetsand Politics” perfectly articulateswhy this issue is just as importantoutside of California (HCN,10/27/08). It pains me to see mychildhood friends who attendBYU-Idaho spending so much timeand money on this issue with theendorsement of the LDS church. Ialways hoped that my friendshipand trust with the people I grewup with and knew in Idaho wouldhelp them see the human elementat stake with gay rights and gaymarriage. I hoped that finally see-ing and knowing a person who isaffected by laws like California’sProposition 8 would help themunderstand that homosexuals arenot some cabal seeking to overturnthe dinner tables of heterosexuallyparented families. I hoped thatputting my face on this issue forthem would make them thinktwice. Sadly, my trust and friend-ship with countless numbers offriends and family has been shat-tered over the past few monthsbecause of this issue. ... So much

for protecting families, eh?To those who feel like this arti-

cle portrays eastern Idaho orMormonism in a negative light, sowhat? It is the honest view of anoutsider. If you’re going to prideyourselves on being “in the worldbut not of it,” then you can onlyexpect that there will be peoplewho find Mormon strongholds likeRexburg peculiar and strange.Like any other outsider, they aregoing to view your life in Idahothrough their own lens. And theymight conclude that they don’t likethe way you do things in Idaho.Good for them. Move on.

It made me laugh to see thisarticle discuss the gay brunchevery Sunday at the Dixie Dinerin Idaho Falls. Who knew ourweekly tradition would reach suchan audience? The only thing that Iwould add to this article in termsof the Idaho Falls gay communityis that it is much more than justan inclusive, tight-knit group. Inso many aspects, they really aremore of a family than most biologi-cal families I know. And I knowthat without these people, I wouldmost certainly be just anotherhomeless gay youth statistic.Instead, because of those peoplementioned in this article, I havemy life together and I’m a con-tributing member of society.

T. Turner

LETTERS continued from page 4

“The PAWGprocess on theface of it wasnot an honesteffort.“

—Rollin Sparrowe,a participant in one of the

subcommittees

“We were toldwhen I wasthere, ‘The customersare the companies.’ “

—Steven Belinda, formerBLM employee

HU

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4 HighCountryNews June 23, 2008

ost weekends find Arthur Kruse riding outinto the forest or down to the river. Withhis white handlebar moustache, customboots from Livingston, Mont., a hat from

the Bitterroot Valley, and a jacket from Texas, hemakes a fine figure on a quarter horse.

Several times a month, Kruse does some targetpractice with his 44.40 Henry rifle or his ColtPeacemaker revolver and throws tomahawks andknives with his friends. Not averse to the occasionalwhiskey, he also enjoys socializing over beer and barbe-cue down at the saloon.

In Kruse’s case, though, the rifle and revolver areItalian copies, the tomahawks and knives were made inGermany, and the range he rides is rented from thecity of Munich, Germany. For the past 20 years, Krusehas been a member of Cowboy Club München — thebiggest of eight cowboy clubs in the city, one of 160such clubs in Germany, and, at 95 years old, the oldestWestern club in Europe.

For Kruse, being a Westerner is “eine seriöseFreizeitbeschäftigung” — a “serious hobby.”

When he was a boy in Germany in the 1940s, Krusedid what many German boys back then did: He nourishedhis imagination on the adventure stories of German writerKarl May (1842-1912). Though May himself never ven-tured west of the Mississippi, he imagined the West of the1860s so vividly and told such riveting stories about coura-geous, honorable Old Shatterhand and Shatterhand’sApache friend, Winnetou, that his books have sold morethan 100 million copies in German.

Kruse graduated to James Fenimore Cooper andSunday afternoons watching Western movies, grew up,went to work selling high-pressure compressors for aGerman manufacturer, married, had children. For 25years, his hobby was scuba-diving. Then, at age 50, Krusedecided he was ready for a change. Encouraged by a friendwho served as the Cowboy Club’s president, he finallylearned to ride a horse and became a weekend Westerner.For four years, Kruse was the club’s stable master. Thenhe served as its sheriff for five years and then as presidentfor another five. Today, he is the treasurer.

“I wasn’t born a cowboy,” says Kruse. “I can only tryto be a cowboy.”

With each visit to the American West, he grows moreconvinced that being “a Westerner in the old form” is theright hobby for him. On his most recent visit in 2006,Kruse stayed at Tiger Mountain Ranch in

Henryetta, Okla. “He’s an amazing man,” says ranchowner Sharon Glidden, who refers to him fondly as “PapaBear.” Whereas Americans often come to the ranch look-ing to be entertained, Glidden found jovial, animatedKruse and his group “interested in why we live the waywe live. They wanted to know how we check the cattle,how we work with cowboys, how we operate the ranch.”

“What about the Old West draws you to it?” sheasked Kruse. She still remembers his response: “To us,the cowboy and the Indian in the Old West faced lifeand danger one-to-one,” said Kruse. “That’s the ulti-mate show of courage.”

On winter weekends, Kruse and the other club mem-bers like to gather around campfires at the old-styletrappers’ lodges the Cowboy Club has built in its rentedforest. Sociability draws them to the campfire’s “commonground,” says Kruse. But authenticity also matters tothese Munich cowboys. So Kruse takes pleasure in wear-ing the fringed leather jacket that a fellow club membermade for him using a historically accurate pattern, andhe treasures the bison-fetish necklace that a NativeAmerican friend in Oklahoma gave him.

Yes, Kruse enjoys riding horses, target practice,dressing the part of an old-time Westerner, and saying“Howdy.” But his hobby goes much deeper than that.Seeking the right words to sum up its appeal inEnglish, he says, “I am dreaming very often from theOld West in America … and I try to empathize thiskind of live.”

BY JOSLYN GREEN

NAME Arthur Kruse

AGE 69

HOMETOWNMunich, Germany

OCCUPATIONConsultant to the high-pressure compressor company where he was sales manager for 32 years.

STILL MOURNED“Flites Gentleman,” Kruse’s quarter horse, whohad to be put down aftera bad fall on ice justbefore Christmas Eve fouryears ago.

OTHER CLUB MEMBERSAbout 50 men and 35women — a mix of blue-collar workers, profession-als, and businesspeople.Some of the men maketheir own belts, chaps, hol-sters and scabbards, andsome of the women maketheir own dresses, bonnets,beaded leather jerkins anddance-hall frou-frou cloth-ing inspired by historicphotographs and draw-ings.

WeekendWesterner

UNCOMMON WESTERNER

M

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COURTESY ARTHUR KRUSE


Arthur Kruse on the range in Oklahoma(above) and with the Cowboy Club Munchen

in Germany (below).

12 HighCountryNews November 24, 2008

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The West is not New York orWashington, D.C., and itrequires dispatches from theinside. News here is generatedby a distinct landscape, cultureand compendium of issues.Getting the story depends ontireless reportage by writersand photographers who are notstrangers to their subject, butwho live in the thick of it. HighCountry News does this job —and does it well — with pas-sion, insight and integrity. It isnot a high-budget operation.While working on stories I haveat times slept on the side of theroad — rather than taking a room — in order to save money. Despite the lowoverhead, a powerful and necessary product is created. Walk into the HighCountry News offices, and you immediately sense that this is a publication ofeagerness and spirit. These are good people doing good work, willing to questionthemselves, ready to take on new ideas, and always feeling the pulse of this land.They are the ones you want delivering the story.

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Craig Childs is a writer who focuses on natural sciences archaeology, and mind-blowingjourneys into the wilderness. He is a commentator for National Public Radio's MorningEdition and has written several books, including The Animal Dialogues, House Of Rain,and The Secret Knowledge Of Water. His articles and op-eds have appeared in severalpublications besides High Country News, including the New York Times, the L.A. Times,Men's Journal, The Sun and Outside. He began working as a river guide at the age of 18and has held numerous jobs: beer bottler, gas station attendant, jazz musician, and a visit-ing writing professor at the University of Montana. You can learn more about his work atwww.houseofrain.com.

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HCN is happy to announce that Wayne Hareand Jane Ellen Stevens recently joined our boardof directors.

A long-ago transplant from the East, Waynebecame a “native Westerner” while working asa ranger with the Bureau ofLand Management in westernColorado, patrolling theColorado River and McInnisCanyons National ConservationArea. Prior to that, he spentseveral years as an interpretiveranger and later worked as abackcountry ranger with theNational Park Service atCanyonlands and RockyMountain national parks.Wayne has served as a team-building instructor for OutwardBound in Boston and as assis-tant director of OutdoorPrograms at DartmouthCollege in New Hampshire.Before he was a ranger, Wayneworked on several projects with the NationalPark Service to increase the cultural diversityof both staff and visitors to natural parks. Hehas written and spoken about the lack of diver-sity on public lands and its causes and effects.

A journalist for 30 years, Jane began hercareer at the Boston Globe. She founded a syndi-cated science and technology feature service with20 newspaper clients worldwide, including theWashington Post and Asahi Shimbun’s AERAMagazine. She lived and worked in Kenya andIndonesia. Jane has written for magazines,including National Geographic, and was amongthe first group of videojournalists at New YorkTimes Television. She’s done multimedia report-ing for the New York Times and DiscoveryChannel. Jane taught the first multimediareporting class at the University of California,Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, andhelped set up the Knight Digital Media Center’smultimedia reporting workshops. She hasworked with several news organizations in theprocess of transitioning to Webcentric news-rooms, including the Ventura County Star,National Public Radio and High Country News.Jane is currently a Fellow at the Donald W.Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Universityof Missouri.

PRAISE FOR A “YUCKY” STORYPeter Friederici’s story “Facing the YuckFactor” was recently recognized by the Societyof Environmental Journalists in its 2007-2008contest. The story, which ran in the Sept. 17,2007, issue, got second place in the OutstandingSmall Market Reporting category. Friedericidescribed how some Western cities are startingto recycle effluent into drinking water as popu-lation growth and climate change stress watersupplies. The intial reaction from the judges,according to SEJ, was, “ ‘Wow! How yucky isthat!’ It was immediately followed by the recog-nition that Friederici had eloquently shown thefuture face of water conservation: somethingthat is cute when the astronauts do it, but hardto contemplate down here.”

—Jodi Peterson for the staff

Welcome, new board members

HARE

STEVENS

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

ne after another, city councilmen,legislators, farmers, businessleaders, tourism promotersand water managers tooktheir turn at the dais andspoke. Everybody agreed: SanDiego County faces a water cri-

sis, and desalinated ocean watershould be part of the solution. Withdrought and climate change a reality andimported water supplies threatened, resi-dents need a reliable local water source.Conservation is important, they all said,but it can’t do the job alone.

For 10 hours last November, the talkwent on. But when the hearing was over,the decision was left in the hands of theCalifornia Coastal Commission. Thegroup has made enemies of developers foryears and built a reputation as one of thetoughest environmental bodies in thecountry. But when it voted 9-3 to tenta-tively approve the largest desalinationplant in the Western Hemisphere, it didso over the objections of at least a half-dozen environmental groups as well asthe commission’s own staff. Their con-cerns about potential fish kills and green-house gas emissions from the plant weredrowned out by the vocal support of just

about every politician and water districtleader from Southern California.

“I hope you make your approvals sowe can get on building the damn thing,”said Carlsbad Mayor Claude “Bud”Lewis, in one of many hearings, summingup the general sentiment of his col-leagues.

Now, after numerous hearings and adecade of planning, Lewis may get whathe wants. Last November’s vote clearedthe way for Connecticut-based PoseidonResources to build the $300 million plant.By this fall, the plant had secured all butone of its needed approvals. The SanDiego Regional Water Quality Board stillmust sign off on Poseidon’s plan to offsetthe plant’s effects on fish, but thatshouldn’t be a problem.

Desalination was once regarded as apipedream in the West, like towing ice-bergs from the Arctic or building canalsto divert the Columbia River southward.But the technology has since improved,and now, with the population growingand fresh water supplies threatened bydrought and global warming, all sevenColorado River Basin states are lookingseriously at it. So are Florida, Texas andeven the Northeast. Some officials call it

the ultimate solution. Nowhere is desalination more popular

than in California, where nearly 20 plantsare in the works. It’s not hard to see why:Southern California’s population has near-ly tripled to 21.7 million since 1960, butits water supplies are shrinking.

Today, Southern California gets about600,000 fewer acre-feet of water from theColorado River each year than it did adecade ago. And with the San FranciscoBay Delta’s ecosystem collapsing fromdiversions, drought, invasive species andpollution, a federal judge has orderedcuts in water deliveries to SouthernCalifornia to protect the threatened Deltasmelt. Southern California farmers tooka 30 percent water cut this year, and citydwellers will face reductions next year if,as expected, the judge decides to protectmore imperiled fish. This spring, Gov.Arnold Schwarzenegger, R, declared adrought. By this fall, reservoirs had sunkto their lowest levels in 14 years, andofficials were warning that they mayhave to cut statewide water deliveriesfrom the California State Water Projectby 85 percent next year.

Although desalination offers a guar-anteed, drought-proof local supply, it

FEATURE | BY TONY DAVIS


U L T I M A T E S O L UDesalination may finally be coming of age in a thirsty West. Take it with a grain of salt.

O


needs more energy — and churns outmore greenhouse gases — than virtuallyany other water source in the state. Thepipes that suck seawater into many desalplants kill billions of fish larvae annual-ly. And because desalinized water costsso much, some activists worry that it willput this basic necessity out of reach ofthe poor.

Desalination plants are fiendishlycomplex. Tom Pankratz, a Houston-basedexpert, calls desalination “the most com-plicated kind of infrastructure there is.”The plants have to both pre-treat andtreat water to render it drinkable. OneLong Beach official calls the city’s pilotplant “an O&M (operations and mainte-nance) nightmare.” It took three years forCarlsbad city officials and Poseidon justto come to terms on how to run their pro-posed plant.

But the appeal of salt water won’t goaway. After all, it comprises 94 percent ofthe world’s water supply, and it isn’t run-ning out.

BUD LEWIS, THE MAYOR ofCarlsbad, is a balding, mildly blus-

tery man who has lived in Carlsbad formore than half a century. The Korean

War vet and former high school teacheronce told an interviewer that his greatestpassions are “the love of my wife andfamily, the love of Jesus Christ, and mylove for the city of Carlsbad.”

When Lewis moved to this placidstretch of Southern California coastlinein 1954, there were 3,000 people here. Hewas first elected to the Carlsbad citycouncil in 1970 and became mayor in1986. During his tenure, Carlsbad’s pop-ulation has exploded; today, 103,000 peo-ple live on 42 square miles. Fifteen golf-gear manufacturing companies callCarlsbad home, along with 65 high-techand biotech firms. There are 3,000 hotelrooms in the city, with nine new hotelson the way.

In the early 1990s, growth anddrought collided in Southern California,and water use was slashed by up to 30percent. Lewis began to think seriouslyabout meeting his city’s water needs. Hewas an architect of the city’s growth-management plan, which caps the popu-lation at 120,000. But stopping growthalone, he says, is not enough to solve thecity’s water problems. In recent years,Lewis has learned a lot about water; heserved on the boards of the Metropolitan

Water District of Southern California andthe San Diego County Regional WaterAuthority. And for the last decade, hehas also been one of the biggest boostersof Poseidon’s desalination plant.

“I told environmentalists that if I hadit my way, I would kick all of you peopleout. But you can’t do that. You have toplan for the future. Water is planning forthe future. This plant takes care of 10 per-cent of our water needs, and it is truly ablessing,” Lewis says. “But talking aboutit is one thing and getting it is another.”

Lewis put his political muscle behindthe plant, even arranging for buses totake dozens of project supporters to pub-lic hearings. Poseidon has done its partas well. The company has spent about$595,000 on lobbyists in Sacramentosince 2001. And it gave nearly $2,000 toSan Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders’ 2006and 2008 election and re-election cam-paigns. Poseidon is also tied to the SanDiego mayor’s office through a politicalconsulting firm that has worked closelywith both the company and MayorSanders.

The proposed plant — which wouldpump out 50 million gallons a day,enough to quench the thirst of 300,000

L U T I O N ?

p The EncinaPower Station inCarlsbad, Califor-nia, site of the proposed CarlsbadDesalinationProject, whichwould turn saltwater from thePacific Ocean intodrinking water.J. KATARZYNAWORONOWICZ


The companypredicts thatover time, asdemandgrows, thecost ofimportedwater willultimatelysurpass thecost ofdesalination.But environ-mentalists andother criticsremaindubious.

people — would lie just north of the giantEncina Power Station’s dark gray stack.It would suck water from a serene-look-ing neighboring estuary, Aqua Hedionda(“stinky water” in Spanish) Lagoon,which hosts oyster and mussel farms.

Poseidon’s plant would join some13,000 desalination facilities worldwide,which collectively produce almost 15 bil-lion gallons a day, a number that’s grow-ing by about 10 to 15 percent each year.There are over 2,100 such plants in theUnited States, but they’re generallysmall facilities that treat brackishgroundwater rather than ocean water.Together, they provide less than one-halfof one percent of all U.S. water supplies.

If the Carlsbad plant is built and itsoperation proves financially feasible, how-ever, it could open the door to new facili-ties up and down the coast. As a result,the battle over the plant has become thefront line in the nationwide war overdesalination.

The company chose a good location tomake its stand. Not only is the regionthirsty, but Carlsbad is also home to 35desalination-related companies, employ-ing more than 2,000 people.

“San Diego County is to desalinationand reverse osmosis as Silicon Valley isto computer chips,” says PeterMcLaggan, Poseidon’s executive vicepresident. The company’s promotionalvideo says the plant will boost Carlsbad’sdesalination economy by bringing 2,100construction jobs, more high-tech andbiotech employers and $37 million a yearin revenue. It also warns that if thewater shortages aren’t fixed, thousandsof local jobs will be lost.

Flashing back and forth from testimo-nials to scenes of surf, sand and sun, thevideo points out that half of San DiegoCounty’s residents live less than 10 milesfrom the ocean, making it a growing mar-

ket for seawater. And it says Poseidonwill dedicate nearly 15 acres around thelagoon to hiking trails, a fish hatcheryand beach access.

The video also contains an assurancefrom Scott Jenkins of the ScrippsInstitution of Oceanography. A marineengineer who works as a consultant toPoseidon, Jenkins says that “the environ-mental impacts of these plants have beenstudied all over the world … providingscientists with a vast body of data whichhas confirmed that these plants do notharm the marine environment.”

Finally, the video explains that theplant’s filters will remove impurities sosmall they can’t be seen by the naked eye.“The membrane converts sea water intotwo streams: ultra high-quality drinkingwater and concentrated sea water, whichis then mixed with sea water leaving thepower station to the ocean. The entireprocess takes 20 minutes.”

Perhaps. But getting a plant built andrunning properly — even in Carlsbad —will take much, much longer.

“THIS IS GOOD STUFF,” PeteMcLaggan says as he downs a cup-

ful of freshly desalinated water from hiscompany’s pilot project, a miniature ver-sion of the proposed Carlsbad plant. Hehands me a cup, too, and I notice aslightly sweet taste. Between the oceanand my cup, the water had to go througha reverse osmosis system, including aseries of filters to remove debris, andthen 8,000 highly pressurized mem-branes that remove salt.

Because of such technologicalimprovements, desalination today costsabout a third of what it did 30 years ago.Poseidon is so confident about the eco-nomics of desalination that it has prom-ised that its customers will never have topay more for desalinated water than for

imported water. As a result, Carlsbadand eight other cities and water districtshave signed contracts with the company.

It’s a stiff challenge. Colorado Riverand State Water Project water costs any-where from $250 to $700 per acre-foot(325,851 gallons). Poseidon, meanwhile,estimates that it can produce water at$946 per acre-foot, and it will get a $250per acre-foot subsidy from the SouthernCalifornia Metropolitan Water District(ultimately paid for by water consumersin six counties). That figure is hotly dis-puted, however, in part because of highenergy prices: The Coastal Commission’sstaff warns that today’s desalination costis closer to $1,400 an acre-foot. (In fact,water from a host of new desalinationplants in Australia costs twice that.)

The company predicts that over time,as demand grows, the cost of importedwater will ultimately surpass the cost ofdesalination. But environmentalists andother critics remain dubious, and warnthat Poseidon could ultimately costratepayers much more than they bar-gained for.

Take the Tampa Bay region on theGulf Coast of Florida, for example. In1996, the court ordered a reduction ingroundwater pumping by more than 30percent by 2008, because it was dryingup wetlands and allowing saltwater toinvade freshwater aquifers. Three yearslater, Tampa Bay Water, the regionalutility, opted to build a desalination plantabout half the size of the proposedCarlsbad plant. It was to open in 2002 ata production cost of less than one-fourththe cost of the plants coming on line inAsia, the Middle East and the Caribbean.Poseidon was put in charge of the project.

But in the next four years, three ofthe plant’s contractors went bankrupt.Some filters lasted only four days, andmembranes that should have lasted five


to seven years had to be replaced aftertwo years, recalls Ken Herd, the plant’sdirector from 2002 to 2008. In May 2002,after the second bankruptcy, Tampa BayWater decided to take control of the near-ly half-finished plant. But the problemscontinued. By the time the plant wasready to operate in December 2007, thewater district had sunk another $48 mil-lion into it, and the cost of the water hadnearly doubled.

Who was to blame? Nobody couldagree. But officials in Carlsbad say they’llinsulate themselves from the kind ofproblems that plagued Tampa by givingthe company total control. Still, that putsa crucial public resource into privatehands, which critics say is dangerous. “Asa utility, you can shift the financial riskto the private sector,” warns TampaBay’s Herd, “but you can’t shift theresponsibility of providing drinking waterto your customers to the private sector.”

CRITICS OF THE CARLSBAD pro-posal, from the Sierra Club to coastal

environmental groups like San DiegoCoastkeeper and Surfrider, worry about aWest Coast repeat of the Tampa Bay fias-co. But they have an even bigger concern:billions of dead fish.

In the early 1970s, researchers dis-covered millions of dead fish near powerplants in the East and the Deep South.The kills were blamed on the practice ofpulling power-plant cooling water out ofthe ocean with large intake pipes, distrib-uting it to the plant through a condenserand discharging it back into the sea atelevated temperatures.

So California fish biologist PeteRaimondi wasn’t surprised when, 15years ago, as he started studying howmarine life responded to the state’s 22coastal power plants, he saw oodles ofdead fish. Some fish, birds, marine mam-

mals and other large organisms getpinned against or otherwise caught inhuge intake pipes. Others squeezethrough the intakes, but die inside thefacilities, from the heat or from high-speed collisions with one another or bysmashing against the sides.

“Everything that goes in, dies,” saysRaimondi, a University of California atSanta Cruz biology professor who hasreviewed Poseidon’s plans for the CoastalCommission.

The San Onofre nuclear power plantnorth of Camp Pendleton kills an estimat-ed 6 billion to 7 billion fish larvae annual-ly, Raimondi says. Another 4 billion a yeardie at the Carlsbad power plant, as well asat the one in Huntington Beach.Desalination plants can take fish on asimilarly fatal ride; in fact, many desalplants share water intake systems withneighboring power plants.

Power plants have tried to mitigatekills by putting screens on intake pipes,and they’ve tried to offset damage byrestoring wetlands elsewhere. SouthernCalifornia Edison, which operates the SanOnofre nuclear plant, is building a 150-acrewetland restoration project in Del Marnorth of San Diego. Meanwhile, Poseidonhas agreed to construct a 55-acre wetlandrestoration, but it has yet to specify a site,and critics are dismayed by the fact that ithas up to seven years to complete it.

Then again, the San Onofre nuclearpower plant didn’t even start building itswetlands until 2006, decades after it start-ed operating. Today, the company isroughly half-finished restoring a tidal wet-land in and around the city of Del Mar,bringing back to life an area that has beenall but destroyed by roads, freeways, anairport and subdivisions. Biologists for theCoastal Commission hope this project willserve as a model for Poseidon.

“We’ve had some disagreements, but

all in all, I think they are doing a master-ful job,” Raimondi says of the San Onofrewetlands restoration. He adds thatPoseidon’s wetlands restoration, if it goesas planned, will compensate for theplant’s effects on fish. “The wetlandsalong the coast are so degraded, we needto fix them. This may not be the p.c. wayto do them, but it may be the only way.”

A recent federal court ruling, howev-er, says those efforts may not be enough.The 2007 Riverkeeper II ruling curbedthe freewheeling use of seawater intakesto bring in power-plant cooling water,and required the “best technology avail-able.” Plants must recycle the seawater,or install a dry cooling system that runsboiler steam through radiator-like coils.The ruling also made it clear that creat-ing wetlands or other manmade projectsto offset the fish kills wasn’t enough.

As a result, the Encina Power Plant,for one, plans to modify its plant with adry cooling system in the next few years.A quarter of all coastal California plantshave said they’ll shift to less damagingcooling methods, says Tom Luster, aCoastal Commission staffer.Unfortunately, desalination plants willnot be able to piggyback onto those sys-tems because the dry cooling technologywon’t supply enough water. Instead, thenew desalting plants will have to rely onthe same fish-inhaling intake pipes thatthe old power plants did.

Whether Riverkeeper applies todesalination plants is still up in the air;the ruling doesn’t specifically mentionthem. But an analogous state law doescover desalination plants, and it isstronger than the federal Clean WaterAct. Environmentalists have sued to getRiverkeeper applied to Poseidon, and ifthey succeed, it will likely put the kiboshon the plant.

“There’s so few fish left,” says Conner

t The Carlsbadpilot desalinationproject. From left,the area wherepipes would bringwater from theAqua HediondaLagoon into theproposed desalina-tion plant; operat-ing engineer DanMarler drawing aglass of water fromthe pilot project;filter for thereverse osmosisprocess; desalinat-ed water fresh fromthe plant ispumped back intothe lagoon.J. KATARZYNAWORONOWICZ

By simplycutting itswater use toL.A.’s levels,Carlsbad alonecould savesome 5 milliongallons ofwater eachday, reducingthe need toturn oceanwater intodrinking water.

Everts, a Santa Monica activist who grewup in Southern California during the1950s and ’60s. “When I was young, wewere catching yellowtail, bonita, halibutand sand bass off the piers out here. Yourarely see those anymore. The stuff theycatch now — Spanish mackerel, croaker,Tommy cod — they are small fish that wewould have thrown back or used for bait.”

EVERTS IS DIRECTOR OF THESouthern California Watershed

Alliance and co-chair of a coalition of envi-ronmental groups that questions desalina-tion. He works in a cubbyhole of an officespace in the back of a Santa Monica store-front. He was schooled in conservationback in the 1970s, when he worked on theMaine homestead of back-to-the-land pio-neers Helen and Scott Nearing. He laterworked for the city of Pasadena as a con-sultant. While there, Everts engineered ahost of conservation programs during anextended drought, bringing the city’s totalwater use down by 27 percent from 1986to 1991. His staff installed low-flow toiletsand worked with commercial laundries,the Rose Bowl, golf courses and restau-rants to get them to conserve.

Conservation, he says, is the answerto Carlsbad’s water problems, not desali-nation. Each person in San Diego Countyuses between 175 to 185 gallons per day,he says, compared to 128 daily inside thecity of Los Angeles. By simply cutting itswater use to L.A.’s levels, Carlsbad alonecould save some 5 million gallons ofwater each day, reducing the need toturn ocean water into drinking water.

Proponents of the plant see things dif-ferently, however. For them, every drop ofocean water that’s desalted results inanother drop of water that is not imported

from elsewhere. Less water would need tobe pumped from the north or the east,meaning reduced demand on the ColoradoRiver and California Delta, less energyuse, and a decrease in the quantities ofgreenhouse gases spewed into the air.

Still, the 4,000 kilowatt hours or morethat it takes to desalt an acre-foot ofocean water is about twice the power ittakes to get an acre-foot of ColoradoRiver water to San Diego County, accord-ing to the Pacific Institute, an environ-mental and economic think tank. So tomake up for the difference, Poseidon saysit will also rely on solar power and investin a variety of carbon offset projects.

Critics, however, point out that anyimported water that is given up by theutilities that opt for desalination willsoon be gobbled by growth here or else-where. After all, throwing water atSouthern California and asking it not touse it to grow is akin to throwing oxygenand tinder-dry brush at a wildfire andasking it not to burn it up. So even agiant desalination plant producing at fullcapacity may not ultimately reducedemand on other water sources.

“We know we are at a historicdrought that is the result of climatechange,” said San Diego Coastkeeperdirector Bruce Reznick at one of thePoseidon hearings. “Why in God’s namewould we approve the most energy-dependent and energy-intensive projectto create local water and exacerbate thevery problems we are trying to fix?”

Such arguments were whisked asideby the Metropolitan Water District, how-ever. The massive utility agreed to subsi-dize Poseidon’s plant by $14 million annu-ally because the water agencies using thedesalinated water will forgo the use of an

equivalent amount of imported water. InAugust, the full Coastal Commission fol-lowed suit, voting overwhelmingly to sidewith Poseidon on that issue and on thewetlands mitigation plan.

Afterward, Everts decided to go towork with the Los Angeles Departmentof Water and Power, promoting landscap-ing water conservation. He was drawn tothat agency because this year it droppeddesalination from its long-range plans infavor of conservation and wastewaterrecycling. Even after getting $1.5 millionin state and federal grants to design apilot desalination facility, the departmentdecided a plant would be too energy-intensive, and would cost several milliondollars more to build and have more com-plex environmental issues than expected,a department spokeswoman said.

“There is enough water to be savedout there, and when you save water,you’re not only saving energy, you’re cut-ting down on runoff,” Everts says. “You’refulfilling multiple objectives, and you’regetting multiple benefits. When you dodesal, you are creating impacts and onlycreating high-cost water.”

STILL, SOME DESALINATIONPLANTS have run into less resistance.

For 10 years, the city of Long Beach hasworked on its own pilot plant. Since 2005,it has run 300,000 gallons a day throughthe plant — enough to supply a town ofabout 4,000 people. Because officials areregularly varying the water’s quality fortesting purposes, it is not used for drink-ing; it’s simply routed back to sea.

Long Beach doesn’t expect to operatea full-scale plant until about 2015, and itwill produce no more than 10 million gal-

u San DieguitoRiver Park in Del Mar,California, part ofSouthern CaliforniaEdison’s mitigationfor environmentaldamage caused by itsSan Onofre nuclearplant. J. KATARZYNA WORONOWICZ

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Tamarisk removalTamarisk — which infests some 1 million acres in the

West — chokes out willows and cottonwoods, and ruinsbeaches. It also slurps up lots of water — some say a singletamarisk drinks 200 gallons per day. Estimated cost toremove it? $3,000 per acre, though newer methods, suchas tamarisk-eating beetles, are cheaper.

Logging for water In 2002, as Colorado was racked by drought, the

state proposed something drastic: Clear-cutting its foreststo increase runoff. Fewer trees, the theory goes, wouldresult in more snow on the ground — it was proven on asmall scale in Wyoming. Most people just laughed at theidea because of the high cost and environmental impacts.

The Big StrawHear that sucking sound? This scheme would have

had a 200-mile pipeline carrying Colorado River waterfrom the Utah border back, uphill, to the Front Range ofColorado. The idea was born in the 1980s, discarded,then reborn during the 2002 drought. It’s dead again, atleast until the next devastating dry spell.

“Oregon’s Oil”The Colorado River provides water to about three

times the population of Oregon and Washington com-bined, but it has less than one-tenth the water of theNorthwest’s Columbia River. So why not pipe water fromthe Columbia down to the Southwest? It’s been consid-ered since the 1960s, and just last year, Oregon State Sen.David Nelson began pushing the idea in earnest again togenerate revenue for his state. He figures sending some 1million acre-feet of water southward would net his stateabout $3 billion per year. The salmon may not like theidea, but if it’s not done, says Nelson, “Oregon willbecome the Appalachia of the West.”

Pipe dreamsThe idea of funneling water from one river basin to

another is pretty old hat. But these days, thirsty Westerncommunities are getting more ambitious. Utah’s proposedLake Powell Pipeline would move 100,000 acre-feet ofwater across 177 miles to three booming counties in south-western Utah at a cost of at least $1 billion. There’s alsothe Southern Nevada Water Authority’s $2 billion-$3.5 bil-lion proposal to pump up to 167,000 acre-feet of ground-water from the state’s basin and range country through327 miles of pipeline to Las Vegas. In Colorado, business-man Aaron Million has proposed a privately financed $2billion-$4 billion, 400-mile-long pipeline that would trans-port water from Utah’s Flaming Gorge Reservoir throughWyoming to Colorado’s Front Range cities.

Bagging itDuring dry 2002, Alaska businessman Ric Davidge

proposed filling giant poly-fiber bags with 13 million gal-lons of water each from Northern California’s GualalaRiver, and then towing them with barges and tugs all theway down the coast to San Diego. The Gualala localsweren’t so happy, and when the California CoastalCommission voted to oppose the measure, Davidge with-drew the plan.

Strange brewConceived in the 1950s, the North American Water

and Power Alliance would have moved water from Canadato the Southwest and Great Plains via an ambitious networkof pipes and canals, including a giant pump in Montana toclear the Rockies. It actually gained favor on a federal levelin the 1960s, but faded into wacky water obscurity by the1970s. In recent years, the idea has surfaced again.

Bonanza!While studying the source of a couple of wells,

Sandoval County, N.M., officials recently discovered anaquifer near the rapidly growing city of Rio Rancho thatcontains some 4 million acre-feet of water, or enough fora city of 300,000 people for 100 years (75,000 peoplenow live in the city). Rio Rancho officials now have visionsof even more growth. Problem is, the water’s brackish, soit must be desalinated. Cost to build the pumping anddesalting facility? $47 million.

Off the roofIn order to harvest rainwater in Colorado, one must

navigate onerous state water laws. Not so in one arid Arizonacity. In October, Tucson became the first city in the U.S. torequire commercial developments to harvest rainwater. Underthe law, which takes effect in 2010, developers will have toget half of their landscaping water from the roof.

Seeding the cloudsOf all the unconventional solutions to drought,

“seeding” rain clouds with silver iodide to increase precipi-tation is the most widely implemented. Ski areas

fund cloud-seeding efforts in Colorado, power companiessupport it in Idaho and Los Angeles County is forking out$800,000 this year to seed clouds over the San GabrielMountains. Problem is, it may not work: It’s true thatintroducing particles into moisture-laden clouds can helpcreate raindrops, but there’s not enough conclusive evi-dence to determine if and how much extra precipitationthis may create in a specific spot. And if it does work, is itjust stealing rain from those downwind? A five-year studyin Wyoming, costing more than $8 million, is under wayin hopes of answering these questions. Regardless of itsactual effectiveness, it’s valuable as a sort of meteorologi-cal placebo: Ski areas tout cloud-seeding programs in theirmarketing propaganda, and water managers get to saythey’re actually doing something about the weather.Meanwhile, conservation-minded folks say that it wouldmake more sense to spend that money on efficiencymeasures, such as low-flow toilets and showerheads.

PluvicultureModern-day cloud seeding may have its roots in the

mysterious craft of Charles Mallory Hatfield. Back in theearly 1900s, Hatfield built a tower in the San Gabrielsfrom which he disseminated his secret concoction of 23chemicals into the air in order to create rain. After astorm came, local ranchers paid him $1,000 for his “mois-ture acceleration” talents. Later, the city of San Diegohired him. A few days after he set up his tower, a delugestruck, breaking a dam and wreaking havoc. The citynever paid him.

—Jonathan Thompson

DesperatemeasuresWith water shortages a constant,Westerners are looking at wacky(and not so wacky) ways to squeezemore water out of the sky and land.

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DIANE SYLVAIN


“We believethat desal isthe future, andthere’s noarguing theopposite. Butright now, anumber ofmajor issuesare hinderingits develop-ment.”

—Ryan Alsop, govern-ment and public affairsdirector for the Long

Beach WaterDepartment

lons a day. But the finished plant willrun on a new technology, called dual-stage nanofiltration, that’s drawn a lot ofinterest in the water world. In researchslated to be published this fall, thedepartment, working with the Bureau ofReclamation and the Los AngelesDepartment of Water and Power, con-cludes that its new technology — knownas “the Long Beach Way” — is 20 to 30percent more energy-efficient thanreverse osmosis. That’s because its mem-branes are looser and require less pres-sure to push the water through.

Five miles from the plant, city offi-cials have just started testing anothernew technology: underground “beachwells.” The wells are actually perforatedpipes, poking 15 to 20 feet underground,designed to draw in seawater withoutkilling fish. The system is modeled on a13.2-million-gallon a day desalinationplant in Fukuoka, Japan, whose wells lie2,000 feet out at sea underneath 7 feet ofsand and graded gravel.

“We believe that desal is the future, andthere’s no arguing the opposite,” says RyanAlsop, government and public affairs direc-tor for the Long Beach Water Department.“But right now, a number of major issuesare hindering its development. We’re tak-ing the opportunity to build one of thesethings in a measured, transparent way, toposition ourselves for building a larger onewhen the time is right.”

Environmentalists joined the CoastalCommission staff in urging Poseidon tofollow the Long Beach Way. But Poseidonrefused, saying its tests found that itwould need 200 beach wells over sevenmiles. That would have been economical-ly infeasible and also might damage off-shore kelp beds.

Heather Cooley of the PacificInstitute agrees. Beach wells are “very,very site specific,” says Cooley, a seniorresearcher for the Oakland-based insti-tute. “In terms of the very large, 50-mil-lion-gallons-a-day plants, beach wells arenot likely an option.”

ALOT DEPENDS ON WHETHERCalifornia’s drought continues.

Desalting facilities are the norm in placesthat lack other water sources, such as theMiddle East and Australia. The fewplants that exist in the U.S. were origi-nally built during or right after dryspells, but were later mothballed whenthe need for water proved less imminent.Today, however, with water becomingmore and more precious, some of thoseplants may come back to life.

In 1992, a $250 million plant inYuma, Ariz., that treats brackish ground-water was shut down due to flood dam-age almost as soon as construction wascompleted. Last year, the U.S. Bureau ofReclamation tested the 100-million-gal-lon-a-day plant at 10 percent of capacityfor three months. Authorities have found

$15 million worth of cracks in the weldsof many pipes. Nevertheless, they hope torestart the Yuma plant at about one-third of capacity next year. Poseidon hasanother desal plant up its sleeve, as well:a proposed plant up the coast inHuntington Beach for which the companyexpects to get final state approvals bynext summer. Environmentalists willfight it, too, as will many HuntingtonBeach residents, although the city councilsupports it.

In El Paso, Texas, water officialsopened a 27-million-gallon-a-day ground-water plant last year. It’s only running ata fraction of capacity right now, but atfull tilt it should end the area’s long his-tory of water shortages, and guaranteeenough for a huge expansion at neighbor-ing Fort Bliss Army Base. According toTom Pankratz, the desalination consult-

ant, two recently built brackish-waterplants are running smoothly in centralCalifornia, several new seawater plantsare in the works in Florida, two plantsare under construction in Massachusetts,and a wind-powered facility is understudy in Texas.

Yet Pankratz agrees with otherexperts that all desalination plants mustbe handled with extreme care and con-structed at deliberate speed because oftheir cost and complexity.

A variety of researchers have joinedCalifornia officials and the CoastalCommission in endorsing desalination, atleast in theory. Both the NationalAcademy of Sciences and the PacificInstitute, an environmental think tank,say they believe it will be part of theWest’s water future. But they also agreethat a long list of uncertainties about cost,energy and environment must be resolved.

“In the end, decisions about desalina-tion developments will revolve aroundcomplex evaluations of local circum-stances and needs, economics, financing,environmental and social impacts, andavailable alternatives,” says the PacificInstitute in a 2006 report.

Conner Everts says that desalinationis tantamount to a religion in San Diego.That may be so, but with plenty ofheretics worried about fish, energy useand expensive water, it might pay to takedesalination with a grain of salt. n

This article was made possible with sup-port from the William C. KenneyWatershed Protection Foundation and theJay Kenney Foundation.

Desalinationcontinued from page 18

p Conner Everts at the jetty where oceanwater is drawn into the Encina Power Plant forcooling. Warmer water is returned to the sea.

t Carlsbad wouldn’t need a new desalinationplant, and the hazards it brings to fisheries, ifit would conserve water.

J. KATARZYNA WORONOWICZ

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THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE

When our nation wasin the depths of theGreat Depression, anarmy of young menwent to work on ourpublic lands creatingthe visitor-friendlyplaces we have today.This is the story oftheir work on the Colorado Plateau.

WITH PICKS, SHOVELS, AND HOPE:The Legacy of the CCC on the Colorado PlateauWayne K. Hinton and Elizabeth A. Green304 pages, softcover, $30.00Mountain Press Publishing Company, 2008ISBN# 978-0878425464www.mountain-press.com, 1-800-234-5308

The Homeowner’sHandbook providesclear guidelines forimproving the efficien-cy of new and existinghomes. It shows readershow to evaluate theirhomes, embark on sim-ple do-it-yourself proj-ects, and take the firststeps towards reducing their utility costs by50 to 75 percent.

THE HOMEOWNER’S HANDBOOK TOENERGY EFFICIENCYJohn Krigger and Chris DorsiPages 256, softcover, $24.95ISBN: 978-1-880120-18-7Published by Saturn Resource Management, www.homeownershandbook.biz

The letters collected in thisbook document the 50-yearmountaineering career of RuthDyar Mendenhall. “A pricelesscollection of letters andaccounts by one of the firstwomen climbers in America,”says Lynn Hill. MalindaChouinard of Patagonia callsWoman on the Rocks “animportant addition to American women’sclimbing history.”

WOMAN ON THE ROCKS: The MountaineeringLetters of Ruth Dyar MendenhallEdited by Valerie Mendenhall Cohen352 pages, softcover, $18.95Publisher: Spotted Dog Press, Inc. 2007ISBN# 978-1-893343-15-3http://spotteddogpress.com/shopsite_sc/800-417-2790

A place where geogra-phy has defined history,Wallula Gap is that nar-rowing of the mightyColumbia River midwaybetween the RockyMountains and PacificOcean. This new book tells the geological,natural and human history of this remark-able gateway to the Columbia Plateau.

WHERE THE GREAT RIVER BENDS: A natural and human history of theColumbia at WallulaEdited by Robert J. Carson240 pages, 264 illustrations, softcover,$35.00, 11”x 8.5” full colorKeokee Books • November 2008ISBN 978-1-879628-32-8www.KeokeeBooks.com or 1-800-880-3573

Songs for the Earth, ATribute to RachelCarson celebrates themother of the mod-ern-day environmen-tal movement withsongs by Pete Seeger,Tom Paxton, CindyKallet, Tish Hinojosa, Magpie, Walkin’JimStoltz, and many others. All profits go towardgrants that support environmental projects.

SONGS FOR THE EARTH: A TRIBUTE TORACHEL CARSONMusicians United to Sustain theEnvironment (MUSE)CD, 18 songs, $14.00Visit the Web site for MUSE atwww.musemusic.org.

Songs on the aptlytitled Wilderness bearsuch a strong sense ofplace, a connection tothe physical geographyof the land and thepsychological contoursof a restless soul inpursuit of some degreeof grace and definition–– David McGee, theBluegrassSpecial.com.Featuring songwriter/wildlife biologistRandy Riviere and several special guests —including Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of FameMember James Burton.

WILDERNESSMad BuffaloCD, 12 songswww.madbuffalo.com


A historical and personalexploration of NorthDakota’s Sheyenne River:immigration, Indianwars, small towns, grass-lands. “King deftly leadsus from reflections on thepast of the entire GreatPlains to reflections onthe future of the area.” — Linda Hasselstrom

STEPPING TWICE INTO THE RIVER:Following Dakota WatersRobert King203 pages, softcover, $19.95University Press of Colorado, 2005ISBN 0-87081-792-2www.upcolorado.comhttp://robertkingpoet.com

Explore red-rockcanyons, sandstonearches and aspen-covered mountainson the ColoradoPlateau. Visit a regionof 40 national parksand monuments andmillions of acres of public land. Captionsprovide GPS coordinates and road condi-tions to plan your adventure.

2009 EXPLORING THE COLORADOPLATEAU: Thirteen month calendar –January 2009 thru January 2010Jim Ridge, author and photographer:$12.95Light Rain Productions, 2008ISBN# 978-0-09714312-6-3www.extcp.com, 314-651-3607


NOTICE TO OUR ADVERTISERS:Ad submissions must be received no laterthan 5 p.m., Nov. 24, for insertion in theDec. 8 issue. Call Sandra for display ads andAngie for line ads and for the media land-scape at 800-311-5852, or e-mail [email protected]. For more information aboutour current rates and display ad options,select “Download Our Media Kit” atwww.hcn.org/advertising.jsp.

ADVERTISING POLICY: We accept advertising because it helps paythe costs of publishing a high-quality, full-color newsmagazine where topics are well-researched and reported in a balanced, in-depth manner. The percentage of the maga-zine’s income that is derived from advertis-ing is modest, and the number of advertis-ing pages will not exceed one-third of ourprinted pages. We are proud of the profes-sional relationships our advertising staff hascultivated with marketers and strive tobring information on products and servicesthat serve our readership.

All advertisements are subject to thepublisher’s approval upon determinationthat the products or services are in keepingwith High Country News’ philosophy. Thepublisher reserves the right to reject or can-cel any advertisement, insertion order, spacereservation, or position commitment at anytime without cause. The publisher reservesthe right to insert the word “advertisement”above or below any copy.

EMPLOYMENT

ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY — The Crag LawCenter is a nonprofit client-focused lawcenter that supports community efforts toprotect and sustain the Pacific Northwest’s

natural legacy. Crag is hiring an associateattorney with one to three years’ litigationexperience and a demonstrated commit-ment to the public interest for a two-yearfellowship. Visit www.crag.org for moredetails.

“FRIENDS OF THE DESERT MOUN-TAINS,” a land-trust organization in PalmDesert, Calif., is seeking a CEO/ExecutiveDirector. FODM’s mission is “acquire, pre-serve and protect lands in the CoachellaValley area and increase awareness/supportfor these efforts and for the Santa Rosa andSan Jacinto Mountains NationalMonument.” FODM owns 13,000 acres ofland and is involved with 30,000 in landdeals involving millions of dollars. Positionis full-time, salaried, with benefits. Résumésto [email protected].

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES ADJUNCTFACULTY for courses at Prescott College inthe beautiful mountains of Arizona. Issuesof global food production –– spring 2009.M.A/M.S. required. For more details, visitus at www.prescott.edu/jobs.

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND COM-MUNICATIONS, UTAH WILDLIFE ANDCONSERVATION FOUNDATION —Organization: The Utah Wildlife andConservation Foundation (UWACF) is aUtah-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundationfounded in March 2007. UWACF has twoprimary focuses, to promote appreciationand conservation of the Great Salt Lakeecosystem and to ensure the future ofUtah’s 75 “at risk” native wildlife species.Position: This is a new, full-time positioncreated to enhance awareness of the foun-dation and expand and diversify its funding

bases. This individual will have responsibil-ity for establishing and implementing thestrategic and operational direction for thefoundation’s fund-raising and communica-tions programs. For more information onthe position, please e-mail the UWACFExecutive Director, Robert Hasenyager [email protected].

DEPUTY PLANNING ADMINISTRATOR —PICTURESQUE TETON COUNTY, IDAHO,is an all-season recreation wonderlandlocated on the quiet side of the TetonMountains. The county has been experi-encing development pressures, more thandoubling population in seven years. ThePlanning, Zoning, Building and GISDepartment currently has an opening for aDeputy Planning Administrator. This posi-tion assists with the planning and zoningfunctions of the office and requires skill in

land-use regulations; analyzing develop-ment proposals, site design plans, and land-use applications for compliance with regu-lations, standards, and statutes; preparingand presenting staff reports for thePlanning and Zoning Commission andBoard of County Commissioners; compre-hensive and long-range planning processes;customer service and teamwork.Candidates must be highly organized andbe able to maintain effective working rela-tionships with other departments, publicofficials, state agencies and organizedgroups. The position supervises the plan-ning and technical staff of the department.A bachelor’s degree in urban or regionalplanning or a closely related field and threeyears of planning and zoning experience isneeded; a master’s degree in planning orrelated field is preferred. A full job descrip-tion is available on the county Web site.

MARKETPLACE


Starting salary is $55,000 annually. Submitapplication and résumé to the TetonCounty Planning Administrator at 89North Main Street # 4, Driggs, ID 83422 ore-mail to [email protected] can be found at www.teton-countyidaho.gov. Position open until filled.

GIS LANDSCAPE ANALYST, NORTHERNGREAT PLAINS —World Wildlife Fund(WWF), the global conservation organiza-tion leading international efforts for a livingplanet, seeks a GIS Landscape Analyst to beresponsible for contributing to the research,spatial analysis and map-making needs of theNorthern Great Plains Ecoregion Program.This position will maintain a functional andup-to-date GIS database and GIS lab. Willperform periodic updates and general labmaintenance; provide support to programsby doing research and appropriate analyses;

prepare maps, figures and spatial analysesupon request by and in coordination withscientists and other program staff. Assist GISadministrator with developing tools foranalysis, management of information anddissemination of the same to staff. Basicrequirements: An undergraduate degree ingeography, environmental sciences or relatedfield, including appropriate coursework inlandscape ecology, GIS and/or remote sens-ing. In addition, two years’ experience work-ing in GIS and experience developing, com-pleting and evaluating spatial analysis proj-ects required. High-level knowledge of ESRIArcGIS 9.2 and knowledge of other pro-grams that interface with ArcGIS duringanalysis (MS Excel and Access) required.Preferred master’s degree in geography, envi-ronmental sciences or related field, five yearsof related work experience, knowledge of theNorthern Great Plains ecoregion and appli-

cable statistical software (e.g. R, S-Plus, SAS).This position will be based in Bozeman,Mont. AA/EOE. Women and minorities areencouraged to apply. To apply, visitwww.worldwildlife.org/about/jobs.cfm, job#29080.

SIERRA CLUB OPENINGS, CLEAN ENER-GY/NO COAL CAMPAIGN IN NORTH-WEST AND ALASKA — Sierra Club islooking for talented, experienced organiz-ers and a Senior Campaign Representativefor its Northwest Clean Energy/No Coalcampaign. The Sierra Club strives toreduce carbon emissions 80 percent by2050 and replace dirty fossil fuel energywith clean energy efficiency and renewablesources such as wind and solar. Campaignstaff will work with coalition partners, vol-unteers, the media and government offi-cials to ensure policies that meet thesegoals at the local, state and federal level.ASSOCIATE REGIONAL REPRESENTA-TIVE PORTLAND: Energetic organizerswill recruit, train and involve volunteerson public education campaign to movethe Pacific Northwest beyond coal andachieve clean energy solutions. Write cam-paign materials, plan media events. SEN-IOR CAMPAIGN REPRESENTATIVE(SEATTLE OR PORTLAND): The SeniorCampaign Representative has overall pro-gram management responsibility, and pro-vides experienced leadership and strategicplanning for the Northwest component ofthe Western Clean Energy/ No CoalCampaign. Candidates will have experi-ence developing strategy for public educa-tion campaigns, representing organiza-tions to the public, media and governmentofficials, and experience with budgets andfund raising. SENIOR CAMPAIGN REP-

RESENTATIVE/NATIONAL COAL CAM-PAIGN/ALASKA: Experienced campaignerto lead a team in Alaska that’s creating apath to a new energy future for Alaska bymoving away from coal and energizing thedevelopment of renewable energy.Candidates will have experience develop-ing strategy for public education cam-paigns and evaluating their effectiveness,representing organizations to the public,media and government officials, and expe-rience with budgets and fund raising.Deadline to respond: Wednesday, Nov. 26.For more information, contact DanRitzman [email protected]. Nocalls, please. Send résumés [email protected]. Sierra Club is anequal opportunity employer committed toa diverse workforce. Explore, enjoy andprotect the planet.

FOUR CORNERS SCHOOL OF OUTDOOREDUCATION (FCS) seeks a BioregionalOutdoor Education Project (BOEP) pro-gram manager to be based in Monticello,Utah. BOEP is an award-winning teacherprofessional development program work-ing with teachers/schools in the four-stateColorado Plateau to create sustainableoutdoor, place-based education programsin K-8 public and BIA schools. Candidatesshould have at least a bachelor’s degree ineducation (master’s preferred), teachingcertification, and at least five years of envi-ronmental education experience andadministrative/financial experience. This isa full-time, year-round salaried positionwith benefits. For more information, call1-800-525-4456 and request a hiring pack-et, or download a packet fromwww.boep.org. Applications due Dec. 1;start date Jan. 2.


SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR — The NatureConservancy is seeking a Pacific NorthAmerica Conservation Region (PNACR)Senior Policy Advisor. This position devel-ops, coordinates and implements strategiesto further the work of the Conservancy andits conservation partners through directinteraction with the U.S. Congress and fed-eral agencies. S/he identifies conservationpolicy and funding opportunities, evaluatesthe potential for TNC and NGO partnerinvolvement, and develops and implementsthese strategies at the regional and nationallevel. The ideal candidate will possess abachelor’s degree in political science, publicpolicy, government relations or related fieldand seven to 10 years’ government rela-tions/external affairs experience or equiva-lent education and experience acceptableand experience with current political andconservation trends and issues in theWestern U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. This is aregional position and can be located in SanFrancisco, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Bend, Ore.;or Seattle, Wash. To view the entire jobdescription and to apply, please visitwww.nature.org/careers. Job #10630.Application deadline is Dec. 5. EOE.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – The Jackson HoleConservation Alliance, a nonprofit environ-mental organization at the gateway toYellowstone and Grand Teton nationalparks, seeks a passionate and skilledExecutive Director to lead the organizationinto its fourth decade of partnering for awild and beautiful valley. With 2,000 mem-bers and an annual budget approaching$700,000, the Alliance is a respected andknowledgeable voice, inspiring people tostand up for responsible growth. Our focusinvolves land-use planning and wildlife

management on public and private landswithin the southern portion of the GreaterYellowstone Ecosystem. Responsibilitiesinclude leading a staff of eight in evaluatingand advocating public policy issues; devel-oping strong member, community and gov-ernment relations; fund raising; workingclosely with a volunteer board; and ensur-ing continued organizational success tomaintain harmony between human activi-ties and the area’s irreplaceable wildlife, sce-nic and other natural resources. Salary andbenefits DOE/competitive with similar-sized organizations in the region. Sendcover letter and résumé to: E.D. Search,Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, P.O.Box 2728, Jackson, WY 83001, [email protected]. Deadline: Untilfilled. No phone calls, please.

CARPENTERS — 15 years’ minimum expe-rience. Trim, frame, concrete. Housingavailable. 435-335-7535.

HEAL UTAH SEEKS AN OUTREACHDIRECTOR to engage the public and ourmembership in policy decisions pertainingto nuclear waste and Utah’s energy policy.Full job description athealutah.org/who/jobs. To apply, submitrésumé, cover letter and writing sample [email protected].

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ORIENT LANDTRUST — Orient Land Trust seeks dynamicindividual committed to preserving openspace, wildlife habitat and recreationalresources. ED guides OLT, implementingstrategic plans and adding to our 2,100 pre-served acres. See www.olt.org for missionstatement and operation details. OLT issupported by a broad contributor base who

enjoy outdoor recreation and environmen-tal education. Request job description [email protected]. Applicants: Send cover letter,résumé, and contact information for threereferences to [email protected].

CHARTER SCHOOL EXECUTIVE DIRECTORAldo Leopold High School is a small, inno-vative charter school emphasizing directexperience, inquiry learning, stimulation ofthe creative process, and involvement in thecommunity and natural environment.ALHS is located in Silver City, N.M., thegateway to the Gila National Forest andWilderness Area. Maximum enrollment is120 students. Contract begins July 1, 2009,at the latest. Salary $80K + DOE. Full posi-tion description available atwww.aldoleopoldhs.org. ALHS is an equalopportunity employer.

NATURALIST RIVER GUIDE — Entry-levelRiver Apprentice, camp cook/caretaker, andintern positions for Canyonlands FieldInstitute outdoor education programs inMoab, Utah, and on the Colorado, Greenand San Juan Rivers. Apply NOW forMarch through October 2009. Some hous-ing provided. http://www.canyonlandsfield-inst.org/about_cfi/3about_employ.html.

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT — THEWILDERNESS LAND TRUST is recruiting aseasoned professional to serve as itsDirector of Development. The Director is amember of the Trust’s core managementteam. In conjunction with the president,the Director of Development is responsiblefor the development program of the Trust,which is focused on major gifts. This is anopportunity to grow the program of anestablished, respected and well-funded

national conservation organization. Successwith the Trust requires maturity, independ-ence, high ethical standards and a dedica-tion to preserving the enduring resource ofwilderness. General tasks include develop-ing and stewarding new donor contacts andthe existing donor portfolio across theUnited States to grow donor support tomatch our significant programmatic suc-cess. This is an exceptional opportunity tojoin a very well respected, stable and growingnational organization where individual andteam success matter. Five years of progres-sively responsible leadership in fund raisingand conservation are required. A graduatedegree and specific experience developingmajor gift programs are highly valued. Pleasee-mail a cover letter, résumé and three refer-ences to Reid Haughey, President, [email protected]. Please writeDevelopment Director in the subjectline. For more information about ourorganization and for a full job description,please visit our Web site at www.wilder-nesslandtrust.org. Location is flexible.Applications are due by Nov. 30.

SEASONAL COOK — Remote biologicalfield station in the Chiricahua Mountainsof southeast Arizona needs full-time, sea-sonal, experienced cook (March 1 – Oct.31), groups of 20-75, breakfast, lunch, din-ner. Must have experience cooking for vege-tarians. Housing, meals, medical, retire-ment benefits and salary. For more infor-mation, contact Dawn Wilson,Southwestern Research Station, P.O. Box16553, Portal, AZ 85632; 520-558-2396;[email protected].

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR — TheSouthern Utah Wilderness Alliance seeks a

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passionate professional to lead our develop-ment team. Responsibilities include direct-ing major donor and planned giving pro-grams, directing foundation work carriedout by the development manager, supervis-ing other development activities, and man-aging development and administrativestaff. Send cover letter, résumé and recentwriting sample to [email protected] or visitwww.suwa.org/jobs for more information.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

SUCCESSFUL ENVIRONMENTAL/MULTI-CULTURAL GRANTS AND DEVELOPMENTGROUP now accepting new clients. Twentyyears of experience. Let us help [email protected], 760-949-1518.

WHITEBARK, INC. — Environmental andtechnical service provider. 8(a), SDB,WOSB, HUBZone-certified. PrimaryNAICS codes 541620, 541990,115310.www.whitebarkinc.com.

MS ACCESS DATABASE DEVELOPER —Discounted rates for nonprofits, greenbusinesses, HCN subscribers. Decades ofexperience. Contact MelissaDunning: 720-480-3682, [email protected],www.megalo.com.

FOR SALE BY OWNER

TERRY, MONT. — Enjoy quiet, small-townliving in eastern Montana. Three bedroomon 15 lots/1.4 acres. $43,500. 541-602-2901.

RARE ESCALANTE UTAH PROPERTY ONCREEK — 40 acres, creek water rights,national forest on three sides. New cabin,one kilowatt solar system, 30 gpm well, sep-

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10 PLUS ACRES GEOTHERMAL DEVEL-OPMENT — Three production wells. Elko,Nev. 775-726-3435.

GENERAL INTEREST

COMMUNITIES ON THE EDGE — A Webseries of photo atlases describing land-useissues faced by rural communities on theedge of National Forests. www.spatialinter-est.info.

WANTED — $80,000 for 10 years at 8 per-cent interest. Central Oregon land for col-lateral. 541-602-2901.

LAND PARTNERS WANTED — 40 acresnear Moab. Rural, subsistence lifestyle.Good soil, water. Financial input nego-tiable. 435-260-9561.

CARETAKING, LOW RENT — Comfy, fullyfurnished three-four bedroom home andtwo sweet cats seeking right caretaker(s) forsix months from February through July2009. Try life in best residential neighbor-hood of delightful Sandpoint, Idaho, withaccess to Schweitzer Mountain Resort. Rentnegotiable at $500 to $700/month. 208-265-1522.

FIND LOVE AND SAVE THE PLANET —Photo personals for singles who value theenvironment, green living, natural health,spirituality. For friendship, dating,romance. Free to browse. Free to join.Thousands at www.GreenSingles.com.

NON-EMPLOYED RETIRED COUPLEWANTED AS VOLUNTEER HOSTS atBLM’s Dripping Springs Natural Area andRecreation Site near Las Cruces, N.M. Afurnished residence and stipend are provid-ed. A one-year commitment is required.Contact Cheryl at 575-525-4487 or e-mail:[email protected].

TOURS and TRAVEL

TUCSON RENTAL — Two bedroom, onebath. Full kitchen. Cable TV, Wi-Fi. NearMount Lemmon. 1-800-456-0682. See ourhome pagehttp://azres.com/prop/5465.html.$1,795/month.

VACATION RENTAL — Furnished homefor short-term rental in Bluff, Utah. A quietand safe place in the red-rock high desert.Visit petroglyphs, raft, hike, bike.$450/week or $1,500/month. 505-598-5593,[email protected].

VACATION RENTAL — Holidays onWhidbey Island, Wash. Beachfront cabinamong the firs on Race Lagoon, five milessouth of historic Coupeville. Fully fur-nished two bedrooms, two baths, perfectfor a quiet couple or two. For pictures andmore info, e-mailmanager, [email protected].

SANTA FE VACATION RENTAL — Run byoutdooor nuts. See our home page at lacasasantafe.com. 505-231-6670.

COZY, COMFORTABLE, FRIENDLY HOUSEEverything furnished. Perfect for a greatgetaway. Quiet neighborhood. Dog friendly.Two bedrooms, one bath, beautiful trees,

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PERSPECTIVE

irst, there’s the dark cloud: Theeconomy of the Mountain West isgoing into the tank for a few

years, and there’s not much that any-body — including the DemocraticCongress and President Barack Obama— can do about it. But then there’s thesilver lining: As our regional economytanks, the West will become a betterplace to live.

Consider what has been driving theeconomy of the rural West in recentyears. Start with the “energy boom,”with its oil- and gas-drilling rigs sprout-ing across once-remote areas. Addincreasing demands to develop oil shaleand a lot of prospecting for uranium.

Now look at the price of crude oil,which serves as an indicator for energyprices in general. Crude peaked lastsummer at $140 per barrel, and now it’sbelow $60, with no immediate prospectsfor substantial increase. Americans areconsuming less, and the global economicdecline means less demand from emerg-ing markets like China and India.Hoping to halt the price plummet,OPEC is considering production cut-backs.

A lot of projects that make economicsense when oil is $140 a barrel andclimbing make no sense when it’s $60and dropping. Energy companies willhave to cut back on exploration anddrilling, meaning fewer man camps inour backcountry, less social disruptionin many rural towns, and reduceddemands on school districts and sheriffs’departments — not to mention easiertimes for our now-stressed wildlife.

Oil, natural gas, uranium — they allfollow what economists call the “com-modity price cycle.” As demand rises, sodoes price, until it reaches the pointwhere it’s profitable to invest in newproduction. The new production comeson line. Supplies rise, and prices drop.Companies worry about being able tosell what they’re already producing;they don’t go out prospecting for newsources.

So the current boom will fade,although its collapse might not be asdramatic as that of May 2, 1982, whenExxon, after spending more than $1 bil-lion in western Colorado, pulled theplug on its proposed $5 billion Colonyoil-shale project.

As for mining in general, note thatgold, silver, molybdenum and just aboutevery other thing we dig up also followthe commodity price curve. Their pricessoared, production went up — and nowthe prices are sliding as inventoriesgrow. Don’t look for new mineral booms.

The other major economic driver, theone that preceded the most recent ener-gy boom, is “second-home construction.”

In fact, many of these new houses onWestern acreages are the full-timehomes of retirees rather than vacationretreats, but their construction has thesame effect on local economies.

And that’s a bigger one than weoften realize. A couple of years ago, Iheard Jim Westkott, Colorado’s seniorstate demographer, explain that weshould regard residential constructionas a major industry, something like ahuge mine. The work sites may be scat-tered across the countryside rather thanconcentrated at a portal, but the effectis the same, since this industry employsan army of carpenters, masons, glaziers,electricians, plumbers, architects, land-scapers — everything from heavy-equip-ment operators to interior designers.

How’s the “mortgage meltdown”affecting this industry? My contractorfriend Kirby, who specializes in upscalerural residences, had four houses underconstruction a year ago. Today he hasonly one, with nothing new on theimmediate horizon, and he’s had to layoff most of his employees.

I asked a local realty agent. She saidthe financial collapse hasn’t visiblyaffected those very rich people who wantto build mansions hereabouts. But onceyou move down the financial food chain,you start to see problems.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people whohad been planning to retire to themountains,” she said, “and now they’retelling me that their 401(k)s havetanked and they’re going to have to keepworking, so they won’t be moving hereanytime soon.”

There’s a domino effect on realestate, she said. “A California couplemight want to sell their home for, say,$2.5 million, and move to the Rockies

where they’ll build their dream home.But they’re depending on somebody elseselling his home for $1.6 million to beable to buy their house, and so on downthe line. If values are collapsing there, ifpeople can’t get those mortgage loans,then we don’t have those buyers here.”

So even if there aren’t many foreclo-sures here, she said, “we’re already feel-ing the pinch.” And where there are alot of foreclosures, she said, “then theremight be a solution to the affordable-housing problem.”

Thus there aren’t nearly as manyconstruction jobs as there were a yearago. But though I don’t like seeing any-body lose honest work, there’s some sun-shine in this gloom.

Illegal immigration will fade as anissue. The Mexican consulate in Dallassays unprecedented numbers of Mexicancitizens are seeking the paperwork toreturn home because they can no longerfind work in America.

Life will get a little easier for thoseof us who stay. When I called Gary thePlumber last year, he said it would be awhile before he could get to me, andobserved that he much prefers new con-struction to contorting himself in mycramped cellar. When I called lastmonth, he was here in a few minutes.

Meanwhile, as our economy recedes,the greedheads who were just here tomake a quick buck will quickly migrateto greener pastures. The people whostay — the folks that Wallace Stegnercalled “stickers” — will be those whoreally want to live in the West, and theywill find a way to make it work.

So there’s a dark cloud over theWest right now as the boom turns tobust. Hard times loom. But we’ll be bet-ter for it, if we stick it out. n

NEWSCOMMENTARY

BY ED QUILLEN

Welcome to hard times

F

WEB EXTRARead more fromQuillen and all ourcommentators on theHCN blogs atwww.hcn.org


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epending on your perspective, mypartner Laurie’s résumé is eitherimpressive or disturbing. In her 20s,she worked as a wilderness ranger,

hiking miles with a too-heavy pack, diggingdrain dips and toilet holes. In her 30s, sheworked on a trail crew, chopping roots, sawinglogs, clearing brush. Nowadays she works in anhistoric apple orchard, pruning, weeding, thin-ning. Not surprisingly, she’s often in pain. Butlike most people who do real work, she rarelycomplains. She didn’t, at least, until last year,when her wrists got so bad — stiff and sore andbone-achy through sleepless nights — that shecould no longer work. Then she faced a dilemma.

She could go to the doctor on her own tab, orshe could put in a worker’s compensation claim.The problem with paying herself wasn’t the costof the visit; it was what the doctor might say.What if it was carpal tunnel syndrome? What ifit required surgery? What if the condition wasdegenerative, debilitating?

“You have to make a claim,” I said.She groaned.Among bureaucrats, an injured worker is too

often presumed a faker, greedy, lazy and tricky.What’s worse, among other workers, a claimantis too often seen as a failure, not tough enough orcareful enough. Real work is about bucking up.Endurance is a source of pride. But Laurie hadbeen bucking up long enough. So she sighed andfilled out a dozen forms. She took a day off, hadX-rays taken, and finally sat in a swivel chair toexplain her job to an overweight orthopedist.

He waited impatiently for her to finish.“You aren’t going to like what I have to say,”

he began. “Your frame is too small for what youdo. Your muscles and your skeletal structure areovertaxed.”

She shrugged. She’d heard it before. We allhad.

LAURIE AND I HAVE lots of friends, menand women, all over the West, who do sea-

sonal work in the woods. We came to the moun-tains from the great ubiquitous suburbs ofAmerica — products of sitcoms and state uni-versities — because we wanted to be outside.Not just some of the time. Who knows wherethe desire came from? Maybe it was somethingin our genes, all those farmer ancestors. Ormaybe it was plain middle-class privilege, thefreedom we had to say: To hell with upwardmobility!

You can see it on our faces in photos: theglee, the luster, the passion. We loved the prettyplaces we landed — who wouldn’t? — and weloved the work: the independence, the chal-lenge, the chance to use both brain and body.

Tools,skills,results.

Atfirst, evenour parentsglamorized it.A summer in thewoods seemed likea healthful way tosow some wild oatsbefore heading home toa mortgage, a marriage,a commute and a cubi-cle. None of them sawthe change coming,the slow shift towardpermanence. None ofus did. Ten yearspassed. Then 20.

After a while, ourfamilies began to ask usgingerly: “But what doyou plan to do with yourlife? What about when yourbody wears out?”

We didn’t answer. We didn’t even listen.Or most of us didn’t.

My friends still stack rocks and saw treesand sleep in the dirt. They get laid off in thewinter and save their money. Some have healthinsurance, and some don’t. They are stubbornas hell. They will not quit.

But I did.After 15 years maintaining hiking trails, I

was restless and sore, and I had the chance, asa writer and an online teacher, to eke out a liv-ing in the woods less painfully. Nowadays,when I run up against a problem at my so-called job, someone always quips: “It was a loteasier sawing up logs, wasn’t it?”

But it wasn’t. Not by a long shot. Sure, realwork is more straightforward: a task you cansee, a task you can finish. But nothing, not onething, you do in front of the computer is as hardas physical labor. The fact that labor is harderthan you ever imagine, harder maybe than yourbody can endure, is what makes it so satisfying.

LAURIE GLARED at the orthopedist.“What can I do about it?” she asked. She

was thinking rest, ice, physical therapy, maybeas last resort, surgery.

“You can get some Mexicans to do thatwork for you,” he said.

Now she was angry. Not just at the doctor.It’s no secret that, anymore, non-whites do allthe physical labor for Americans, whether in aChilean vineyard or a Washington apple

orchard.She was madat the truth: that labor is undervalued. What’sgalling isn’t that she’s underpaid or underin-sured, only that as a white American woman,she is expected to expect more.

Real work is too dirty and difficult. Realworkers are disposable.

“I think I’ll just try some exercises and seehow it goes,” Laurie said.

Laurie’s claim was rejected. The cause ofher pain, wear and tear over 25 years, wasapparently too hard to pinpoint or verify. Shestarted an appeal, but eventually she gave up.The whole ordeal, she said, was taking timeaway from real work.

Giving up the claim was indulgent andprobably stupid. We have friends who have suc-cumbed to chronic pain, to clerking part-time atthe mini-mart, to depending on a spouse forincome. But she didn’t care.

She stood to leave the orthopedist’s office, tohead back to work, to the orchard where shebelonged, pain and lasting damage be damned.

“You’re going to look like hell in 10 years,”he said.

She didn’t say what she was thinking: Youalready do. n

Real workD

BY ANA MARIA SPAGNA

ESSAY

BOOKS

Exodus/ÉxodoCharles Bowden,Julían Cardona312 pages, 115black-and-whitephotos, hardcover: $50.University of TexasPress, 2008.

There are many ways to write aboutillegal immigration. One way is to shuf-fle through Immigration and CustomsEnforcement reports, cherry-pick thelatest data and file an article from asafe distance. Another way is to stepinto the fray, boots-on-the-ground, andact as an eyewitness. Author CharlesBowden and photographer JulíanCardona have chosen to be two suchwitnesses, and their stunning book Exodus/Éxodo is a pointed reminder ofthe heartbreak and struggle at ourback door.

“Mexico,” Bowden writes, “is ourone intimate brush with the majority ofthe planet where people have little ornothing and the future of their home-lands promises even less.”

Both Bowden and Cardona knowour southern border region well.Cardona is based in Juárez, a cityfamous for drug cartel violence and thedisappearances — and deaths — ofhundreds of young women. Bowden,from Tucson, is the author of six nonfic-tion books and dozens of articles on theborder and the Southwest, including a

piece for Mother Jones that formed thebasis for this incredible, well-document-ed journey.

Together, the authors spirit us intothe colonias of Juárez and into thehomes of migrant workers in NorthernCalifornia. They bring us from theplains of Kansas to the thunderousimmigration marches on the streets ofPhoenix, and give us the faces and sto-ries of ilegales crossing the desert.

Bowden frames the journey in apoc-alyptic language. Nowhere along theborder, it seems, is safe. He draws onextreme circumstances, and it’s hardnot to feel shattered by the aftershock.Known for his toughened, grizzledprose, Bowden enlarges the lens, paus-ing for brief moments of fact-dropping— smugglers earn around $1,700 perperson for safe passage across the bor-der, for instance — and then zoomingin on personal stories of tragedy andhope, which is where he excels as a sto-ryteller.

A family’s 17-year-old daughter isfound dead in Juárez while her sister“goes around town painting black cross-

es on pink backgrounds so that peoplewill remember the dead.” In theArizona desert, ragtag groups ofMinutemen gather at night with hol-stered guns and a sense of purpose.Two El Salvadoran men stand at theborder in Nuevo Laredo, heading toNew Orleans. They know they can findwork re-building that destroyed city.

Throughout, Bowden interspersesvignettes from General Pancho Villa’slife during the Mexican Revolution, off-set in italics, portraying him as a revo-lutionary hero and a philanderer, notmuch better than the government thathe fights. Some readers will need abrief seminar in Mexican history tolend context to the seemingly randomanecdotes.

While Bowden provides the book’ssoundtrack, Julían Cardona gives usframes from the movie, distilled intomoments of grace and desperation. Inone picture, he has captured the griev-ing face of a mother at her daughter’sfuneral; in another, immigrant womenare afforded prenatal care in California.Cardona’s 115 black and white photo-

Bearing witness on the border

30 HighCountryNewsNovember 24, 2008<#> HighCountryNewsDate, 2008

Protesters march inthe Great American

Boycott in LosAngeles.

graphs are searing and artful, and veryfew of the faces bear a smile.

The authors don’t offer up pat solu-tions to the immigration crisis, nor dothey find fault with Border Patrol offi-cers, Minutemen volunteers, or immi-grants who “come north rather thandie in place.” The only culprits left toblame are old and familiar ones: inef-fectual U.S. foreign policy, the pres-sures of globalization, and the failureof the Mexican government.

There is a clear sense of outrageand sadness in these words and pic-tures. Bowden, especially, distrusts agovernment that “exports its people,”to the tune, he often reminds us, of $20billion a year in remittances, sent backhome to care for family members andbuild dream homes — homes that oftenremain unoccupied because their own-ers are unable to return safely over theborder.

Exodus/Éxodo is an astonishingwork of witness, documenting how the“biggest migratory phenomenon in theworld” has come head-to-head with the21st century. “They are no longer

migratory workers,” Bowden writes ofthe unstemmed tide. “They arerefugees from a collapsing economyand a barbarous government and theirjourney is biblical and we should call itExodus.”

BY DON WATERS


Relatives of miss-ing Juárez girlswait in the morgueto identify bodies(center).Salvadoran LuisÁngel Ramírezwaits to cross theRio Grande inNuevo Laredo,Tamaulipas (left).He broke his armin a fall from the“train of death” inSan Luis, Mexico.JULÍAN CARDONAPHOTOGRAPHS COURTESYUNIVERSITY OF TEXASPRESS

Three mothers andtheir children stopbefore crossing thedesert, near theborder town ofSásabe, Sonora(above). Women inthe volunteergroup Voces SinEco (“VoicesWithout Echo”)search for mur-dered girls in thedesert near Juárez,Mexico, after aspate of killings(left).


HEARD AROUND THE WEST

WYOMING

The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle in Cheyennefeatured the headline “Which is scarier?”on its front page Oct. 29, followed by asubhead that echoed some of the nastiercampaign literature making the roundsof the region: It asked readers to choosebetween “a black president or a bleakeconomy.”

MONTANA

Dan Cooper, the co-founder and presidentof Cooper Firearms of Montana, a smallgun manufacturing company inStevensville, was forced to resign recent-ly after stirred-up gun advocates calledhim a traitor and threatened reprisalsagainst his business. Cooper’s blunder?He told USA Today that he supported BarackObama for president and had donated to hiscampaign. He also criticized the RepublicanParty for moving too far to the right, and saidthe gun lobby had mischaracterized Obama’sposition on gun issues. Outrage spread fast onInternet gun blogs. Attacks on Cooper grew sointense that the company’s board of directorsissued a statement saying that it did not sharehis political views, reports the Associated Press.Later, the statement was removed from thecompany’s Web site. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, D,offered to help the company and its 40 employ-ees weather any boycott that emerged. He com-pared the political pressure to Halloween, when“a lot of the goblins are out,” and assured thecompany that “things will cool down, theyalways will.”

ARIZONA

A woman in Prescott, Ariz., deserves a prize forpluck: She ran a mile with a fox firmly fastenedto her arm. The fox had run out and bitten thejogger in the foot, reports the Associated Press,and when the woman grabbed it by the neck, itsquirmed and bit her arm. Wanting the animaltested for rabies, she ran back to her car with it“locked on her arm,” then drove herself and the

fox to a nearby hospital, where the animal test-ed positive for rabies. Both the jogger and ananimal control officer — who was also bitten bythe fox — received rabies vaccinations.

THE NATION

Starting in January, you can get paid to ride yourbicycle to work. It’s all thanks to the $700 bil-lion bailout passed by Congress to goose ourfailing economy back to productivity. Workerswho use their bikes as primary transportationto and from their jobs will be eligible for $20 amonth from their employers. In return, employ-ers can deduct the expense from their federaltaxes. Bike advocates have lobbied for the taxbreak for seven years, but it took the bailoutpackage to get the biking benefit “squeezed in,”reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The feder-al government is expected to receive $1 millionless in taxes because of the subsidy.

CALIFORNIA

As Capital Press put it: “Winemaker BudgeBrown is on a mission — to find a cure for breastcancer — and he’s doing it one bottle at a time.”After his wife, Arlene, died of breast cancer threeyears ago, Brown, who grows grapes inCalifornia’s Pope Valley, decided to buy a winelabel called Cleavage Creek and turn it into a

money-maker to fight cancer. Browndonates 10 percent of the gross price ofevery bottle for cancer research, and since2007, he’s featured the photos of smilingbreast cancer survivors on his label. Sixwere chosen this year, and you can readtheir stories on the vineyard’s Web site:cleavagecreek.com. The group, Brown said,is “like a sisterhood of survivors.”

COLORADO

Back-of-the-beyond recreation was recentlycelebrated by Durango’s InsideOutsidemagazine in a 10-year anniversary issue.The southwestern Colorado publicationfeatured dozens of grassroots writers whoshared stories about how they worked aslittle as possible in order to ski, snow-

board, hike, fish, hunt, bike, climb or otherwisehang out. But as Luke Auld-Thomas recalled,living in a tin can of a trailer got less comfort-able as winter set in: “ … every inch of pipe in ithad frozen solid. What’s more, I had three feetof snow filling up my wood stove, and my girl-friend had just left me for someone with a bet-ter heater.” Lisa Jones remembered: “I thoughtthat all the empty space outside my living roomwindow was just for the looking at; the land-scapes are just scenery, rather than places youactually occupy, places from which you need tosomehow make a living.” But one writer urgedliving the dream, no matter the cost. In his“how to” essay on becoming a ski bum, WayneSheldrake said, “It’s better to ask yourself if youreally have the chops to balance skiing and col-lege. If not, save everyone else the headaches —skip college and go ski.”

BY BETSY [email protected]

Betsy Marston is editor of Writers on the Range, a serviceof High Country News in Paonia, Colorado. Tips ofWestern oddities are always appreciated and often sharedin the column, Heard around the West.

WEB EXTRA For more from Heard aroundthe West, see www.hcn.org.

High Country News covers the 11 Westernstates. In addition to its magazine, published22 times each year, High Country Newsproduces a weekly column service, specialreports, books and a Web site. With in-depth,independent journalism, High Country Newspassionately and intelligently covers theimportant issues and stories that are uniqueto the American West. For editorial com-ments or questions, write High Country News,P.O. Box 1090, Paonia, CO 81428, e-mail [email protected] or call 970-527-4898.Find us on the Web at www.hcn.org.

“”

HighCountryNews

For people who care about the West.

The Forest Service can play a decisive role in helping communities and natural landscapes adapt to the effects

of climate change ... In fact, that work should drive everythingthe Forest Service does.

Chris Wood, in his essay “Can the Forest Service get back on track?”from Writers on the Range, www.hcn.org/opinion.jsp

MONTANA Just how grizzly was it? ALLISON LINVILLE

western election wrap-up 5 | a serious “freizeitbeschÄftigung” 11 | hard labor 29 ... ·...

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