Environment
108 stories
Litter Spotting »
A new ad campaign hopes to get drivers to stop littering by getting up-close and personal with trash.
May 2002 by Elisa Bock
Which Side of the Fence Are You On? »
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.
February 2002 by Joe Nick Patoski
Boone Pickens Wants To Sell You His Water »
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.
August 2001 by Joe Nick Patoski
Power Politics »
What Texas should learn from the California energy mess.
March 2001 by Patricia Kilday Hart
Deer Prudence »
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.
December 2000 by Michael DiLeo
Splendor in the Grass »
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.
October 2000 by Joe Nick Patoski
Renaissance Man »
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.
November 1999 by Jordan Mackay
Clean Living »
How the fight over a toxic waste dump has changed the lives of three West Texas activists.
July 1999 by Joe Nick Patoski
Hog Wild »
They’re a major nuisance in rural Texas— but, boy, do they taste good.
June 1999 by John Morthland
Inflamed »
Why a Seguin writer is all fired up.
May 1999 by Patricia Sharpe
The War on Cedar »
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.
December 1997 by Joe Nick Patoski
Dumped On »
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.
March 1997 by Joe Nick Patoski
CD and Book Reviews »
December 1996 Edited by Evan Smith
A Shrimp Tale »
After nearly fifty years of working Matagorda Bay, Vernon Bates could soon watch his business shut down for good—and so could the thousands of other shrimpers who make their living on the Gulf Coast.
October 1996 by Robert Draper
Rainpower »
A rain windfall in the Hill Country
October 1996 by Joe Nick Patoski
Fishy »
The Barton Springs salamander goes to court.
August 1996 by Robert Bryce
Blown Away »
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.
July 1996 by William Hauptman
Riders on the Storm »
By the end of May, the weather in the Panhandle finally turned nasty, and two real-life tornado trackers cut to the chase.
July 1996 by Joe Nick Patoski
Bone Dry »
From water rationing to stricken crops, the current drought may be as devastating as the one in the early fifties—the time it never rained.
July 1996 by Elmer Kelton
Eerie Canal »
The Intracoastal Waterway is a marvel of engineering and a boon to industry. It’s also an ecological nightmare, which is why politicians, environmentalists, and business leaders are locked in a battle for the future of the Gulf Coast.
July 1996 by Gary Cartwright
Big Bend, R.I.P.? »
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.
March 1996 by Joe Nick Patoski
Oil and Water »
Offshore drillers are finding mammoth reservoirs in places that were once considered barren, which is why the Gulf of Mexico is booming again.
February 1996 by Helen Thorpe
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