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How a Flat Expanse of Boring Gravel is Vital to You and the Desert
December 6, 2011 10:11 AM
by Chris Clarke
Commentary:
At first glance, the ground cover in these spots may seem unremarkable, as if someone had just spread a layer of gravel over a dead surface. Look a little closer, though, and surprises emerge.
Hunger Game: A Modest Proposal for a New Thanksgiving
November 22, 2011 9:50 AM
by Char Miller
Commentary:
To put that bird on your table on Thursday (or any other day of the year), a complex, highly specialized, and brutally efficient industry has emerged since World War Two.
Purple Mountains Majesty: No on Tar Sands, Yes on Wilderness?
November 16, 2011 3:15 PM
by Char Miller
Golden Green:
After shutting down the Keystone XL Pipeline, is President Obama finally getting serious about protecting our public lands?
Golden Green:
Our best bet for how to adapt to climate change may be large and vibrant cities.
Down Home: Thinking Locally Means Thinking Like a Watershed
November 2, 2011 3:21 PM
by Char Miller
Golden Green:
To survive on a climate-disrupted Earth we'd better starting thinking about our watersheds--our home ground.
Federal Government Successfully Plays Enviros on Solar Policy
November 1, 2011 12:35 PM
by Chris Clarke
Commentary:
There was one unambiguous piece of good news in the long-awaited draft documents about solar energy development in the Southwest. The rest? Well...
Golden Green:
Small is beautiful. That's Bill McKibben's hopeful prescription for a durable life on a post-climate change Earth.
The Most Astonishing Boring Plant in the Mojave
October 25, 2011 2:49 PM
by Chris Clarke
Commentary:
Blackbrush can live 400 years or more, but will this slow-growth plant survive climate change?
Climate Change Can be Edited Out--Just Ask Rick Perry
October 19, 2011 2:00 PM
by Char Miller
Golden Green:
Rick Perry is a climate-change denier. His wife thinks he's Moses. You decide.
Commentary:
The desert has long been the red-headed stepchild of the environmental movement, the place that few really want to adopt, to protect.
Peak Experience: The Long Fight Over San Bruno Mountain
October 12, 2011 3:45 PM
by Char Miller
Golden Green:
On San Bruno Mountain, butterflies went head-to-head with bulldozers. Forty years later the battle still rages.
Code Green: Are Sustainable Buildings Sustainable?
October 5, 2011 3:25 PM
by Char Miller
Golden Green:
Can college dormitories--once Animal Houses-like hovels--point the way to a greener future? Pomona College is betting on it.
The Mojave Green & Six Other Rattlers: Snake Season Begins in the Desert
October 4, 2011 10:18 AM
by Chris Clarke
Hitched to Everything Else in the Universe: John Muir at the Oakland Museum of California
September 28, 2011 2:52 PM
by Char Miller
Golden Green:
To get a rich feel for the complicated life and legacy of John Muir, visit the new multi-media Muir exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California.
The Persistent Myth of the California Brown Recluse
September 27, 2011 10:11 AM
by Chris Clarke
Commentary:
We have nothing to worry about from Brown Recluses in California. At least that's what the debunkers say. But even though those debunkers are correct, the situation is slightly more complicated than the facts might lead you to believe.
Playing with Fire: Rob Bishop's Sputtering Sagebrush Rebellion
September 21, 2011 5:00 PM
by Char Miller
Golden Green:
Rob Bishop is trying to ignite a Sagebrush Rebellion against President Obama. The Utah Republican might be the one who gets burned.
Dear Texas: Don't Pray for a Hurricane to Stop the Fires!
September 14, 2011 2:00 PM
by Char Miller
Golden Green:
Texas is deep in drought and burning up, but, as happened in 1921, a hoped-for hurricane might proved even more deadly.
Blowing Smoke: The GOP, President Obama, and the EPA
September 7, 2011 2:00 PM
by Char Miller
Golden Green:
Having just gutted its clean-air protections, President Obama insists he unwaveringly supports for the EPA's mission. But he has a funny way of showing it, undercutting the public's health.
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The Back Forty is opinion and news about environmental, land use, rural, and wildlife issues in California.

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