The Bighorn Fire.
Author: rondungan
Hiking Aravaipa Canyon
Eddie thought we were crazy. He thought that all that wading on a cold day would end in disaster once the sun went down, but we didn’t listen. The canyon was calling. The forecast called for colder and getting colder, clear to partly hypothermic at night. It was December, and someone, I think it…
Grand Canyon bison saga continues
The latest in the story of the rogue Grand Canyon bison herd: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/too-many-bison-culling-hunting-grand-canyon-beefalo
Up in smoke: Will Arizona escape a major wildfire this year?
Spring is here, and the Forest Service has taken charge. People in the high country are nervous. They talk about a year with no winter. How it’s drier than it was when Rodeo-Chediski blew up. Just before Memorial Day weekend, the Forest took the rare step of closing down sections of various tinder-dry sections of…
Conservationists say BLM living up to its nickname: Bureau of Logging and Mining
Bureau of Land Management employees have begun to wear cards with oil rigs affixed to them, according to media reports. At first glance, the story appears like fake news, but Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility obtained images of the cards and gave them to The Washington Post. The Post reported that it independently confirmed the…
New monuments keep feds busy
The Trump administration’s monument reductions are likely to fail, conservationists say, but that hasn’t stopped the feds from moving forward with new management plans. The reductions came late last year, when the administration announced it would shrink Grand Staircase-Escalante, created during the Clinton administration, and the newly created Bears Ears National Monument. Conservationists, tribes and…
Getting lost in the Maze
Every now and then you need a do over. Years ago, Tom and I paddled down the Green River in Canyonlands National Park, stashed the canoes and backpacked for a couple of days in the Maze District of the park. I won’t go into details, but things went a little sideways up there. We may…
Grand Canyon Escalade dies another death
A proposal to drop a gondola ride into the east rim of Grand Canyon suffered another blow Saturday. The project, known as Grand Canyon Escalade, had a couple of moving parts: a bill before the Navajo Nation Council and a 2012 resolution passed by the Bodaway-Gap Chapter. The council voted overwhelmingly against the bill…
Grand Canyon helicopter crash – how did we get here?
Analysis: A fatal helicopter crash at the Grand Canyon’s west end is the latest chapter in a story that goes back decades. The crash killed three people and injured four others, but dozens have been killed in around Grand Canyon over the years. How did we get here? The short answer is money. The longer…
Grand Canyon helicopter crash – what we know, and what we don’t
Analysis A fatal helicopter crash has drawn attention to the Las Vegas helicopter tour industry, which sends hundreds of flights into the western Grand Canyon on a typical day. Conservationists have been alarmed at the growing number of flights, and although their objections have largely focused on noise in the Canyon, the issue of safety…