Some TEXAS MONTHLY Stories on Environment

The hybrid of my dreams.
by Jim Atkinson [December 2008]

Pliny Fisk III, 63 & Gail Vittori, 53 green urbanists, Austin
[February 2008]

Sewerage is the cornerstone of civilization, the sine qua non of urban life, and the best possible window into how we live, what we eat, and who we are.
by Nate Blakeslee [December 2007]

Rain, rain, go away.
by Pamela Colloff [September 2007]

Facing an energy crisis, Texas is on the verge of a solution that will belch about five billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the next forty years. Breathe deeply—while you still can.
by S. C. Gwynne [January 2007]

How the fire to end all fires obliterated Ringgold—and how residents of the tiny North Texas town are putting their lives back together.
by Katy Vine [April 2006]

Why buying a beach house in Galveston may not be the best long-term investment.
by Gary Cartwright [September 2005]

Why the mighty Rio Grande isn't so mighty anymore: a twisted tale of international politics, water rights, and environmental reality (with a drought thrown in for good measure).
by Jan Reid [January 2003]

A kayaking trip offers close encounters with the ecosystem of the wetlands near Port Aransas, where still waters run shallow.
by Charlie Llewellin [October 2002]

When the City of Marshall wanted to pump millions of gallons of water out of Caddo Lake and sell them to the highest bidder, the state said, "Sure." Residents of Karnack, Uncertain, and other tiny northeast Texas towns said, "Hell, no." Guess who prevailed (for now)?
by Joe Nick Patoski [October 2002]

A new ad campaign hopes to get drivers to stop littering by getting up-close and personal with trash.
by Elisa Bock [May 2002]

All over Texas, ranchers are putting up eight-foot fences to keep their deer from roaming so they can charge more for hunting leases. Purists say shooting such deer doesn't amount to "fair chase." Biologists say penning them in causes disease. I say it's the best thing that could happen to the land.
by Joe Nick Patoski [February 2002]

And you’re going to need it, eventually, since Texas’ most precious natural resource is being depleted at an alarming rate. His plan is to pump vast amounts from his land in the Panhandle and pipe it to parched cities like El Paso and San Antonio—for a hefty price, of course. But other powerful interests have the same idea. Let the battle begin.
by Joe Nick Patoski [August 2001]

What Texas should learn from the California energy mess.
by Patricia Kilday Hart [March 2001]

Back when I was a hippie pacifist in Northern California, I never thought I'd kill an animal for sport. Then I married into a South Texas ranching family, and in time I managed to pull the trigger and bag a buck. My emotions were decidedly mixed, but I knew that I had become a Texan at last.
by Michael DiLeo [December 2000]

Thirty years ago J. David Bamberger bought "the worst piece of land in Blanco County," then cleared the cedar and planted native trees and grasses. Today his ranch is a haven for birders, environmentalists, and students— and he is a revered guru of land stewardship.
by Joe Nick Patoski [October 2000]

Laugh not, wretch, at the man in the tights: Twenty-five years after George Coulam founded the Texas Renaissance Festival, it hath been a big success.
by Jordan Mackay [November 1999]

How the fight over a toxic waste dump has changed the lives of three West Texas activists.
by Joe Nick Patoski [July 1999]

Why a Seguin writer is all fired up.
by Patricia Sharpe [May 1999]

It’s unpalatable to cattle, an invader of grasslands, and a water hog. So why can’t I just get rid of it? Because it’s a vegetative Vietnam.
by Joe Nick Patoski [December 1997]

It’s almost certain that Hudspeth County will soon be the site of a nuclear-waste dump—but officials in neighboring Presidio County think they’re the ones getting dumped on.
by Joe Nick Patoski [March 1997]

Ninety-four years after the Goliad Tornado killed 114 people, why do we still ignore the warnings until it’s too late? A reflection on Texas’ worst twisters.
by William Hauptman [July 1996]

By the end of May, the weather in the Panhandle finally turned nasty, and two real-life tornado trackers cut to the chase.
by Joe Nick Patoski [July 1996]

From water rationing to stricken crops, the current drought may be as devastating as the one in the early fiftiesÑthe time it never rained.
by Elmer Kelton [July 1996]

Air pollution from Mexico has descended on Big Bend big time and while officials on both sides of the border dither, our last unspoiled frontier is slipping away.
by Joe Nick Patoski [March 1996]

Offshore drillers are finding mammoth reservoirs in places that were once considered barren, which is why the Gulf of Mexico is booming again.
by Helen Thorpe [February 1996]

Black bears have returned to Big Bend National Park, and our author is determined to find one.
by Gary Cartwright [December 1991]

Take 3 million acres, add politicians, lumber companies and Time, Inc., and what have you got? A very small park, or no park at all.
by Al Reinert [July 1973]

Although the environmentalists won at the polls, the promoters of the nation's largest public works project may still turn the tide.
by Dave McNeely and Lyke Thompson [June 1973]

A look at both sides of the 13-year skirmish over the North Expressway.
by Herbert Molloy Mason, Jr [April 1973]