Government leaders must more forcefully communicate to the public and municipalities the urgency for water conservation and more efficient water management as Arizona faces a long-term drought, some Valley residents told top state officials Wednesday.

November 18, 2004

Scottsdale must pump more muscle into its environmentalism or see its quality of life erode, says a report on its way to the City Council.

Not long ago, you might have foreseen the Republican pilgrimage to St. Paul, Minn., as having all the brio of the Bataan Death March. Surprise! For all the party's problems, Republicans find themselves with a fighting chance of holding onto the presidency after all. Impressive, that - as was John McCain's gutsy choice of the marvelous Sarah Palin. Maybe this grand old party still has life in it.

Today, a nature education center sits on the banks of the Salt River, fostering a culture of habitat conservation for future generations. At the heart of the $100 million riparian habitat restoration project, along a once dry river bed that divided our community, the center provides a place for the community to come together to enjoy a lush habitat used by many species of birds and other wildlife. The mission of the center is to provide nature education programs to an underserved and socio-economically and ethnically diverse population. The Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Education Center was the vision of many, but a reality made possible by one woman, tirelessly dedicated to the cause.

If you're into butterflies and diverse wildlife habitat, you need to check out Chandler's Veterans Oasis Park. The 113-acre facility - home to the Environmental Education Center, urban fishing lake, wetlands, a water recharge facility and police substation - received two top conservation honors this summer.

The Valley’s chief prosecutor Andrew Thomas ponied up thousands of dollars in public money earlier this month to promote a new book written by a right-wing radio pundit and produced by a Christian publishing house.

Mary Rose is raising money for bird conservation efforts, and she’s headed out on the open waters to do so. Rose will be rowing thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean next summer in the hope that she can be of help to the animal that she admires.

Few municipalities in the Valley embrace nature like Scottsdale. From the McDowell Sonoran Preserve’s heights down to the dirt where native plants are protected, this is a city where the environment is more than just simply scenery.

Conservatives love to complain about Hollywood liberalism, but most of the political films that shuffle through the cineplexes are standard-issue leftie hackwork that neither persuade nor succeed. You can see them coming a mile away. And then you get something like "WALL-E," Pixar's postmodern masterpiece, which is one of the most subversive films I've ever seen.

SALT LAKE CITY — A sprawling cattle ranch in the dramatic canyonlands of southern Utah could play a key role in understanding the effects of climate change around the West.

If the guardian spirit driving Scottsdale's quest to protect its Sonoran Desert environs has a face, it's that of Jane Rau.

Even if this series of winter storms that have been soaking Arizona marks the beginning of the end of the long drought — and it's a big if — we must not stop efforts to ensure our state's water future. If anything, those efforts need to be redoubled, because the long-term challenge is growing as rapidly as our population.

Fewer than 12 Scottsdale residents made up the McDowell Sonoran Land Trust when it formed 14 years ago to advocate preservation of the McDowell Mountains.

February 18, 2005

Jay and Elisa Klock knew it was time to lose the lawn.

The USDA is seeking public input Thursday during one of six regional meetings on natural resource policy issues.

Arizona Corporation Commission members are proposing that six natural-gas companies doing business in the state reduce the amount of fuel they sell by 6 percent by 2020.

When Lindsey Hendricks sees a 10-year-old boy listening intently to the wind blowing through the trees or a cicada buzzing in the air, she can’t help but smile.

ALBANY, N.Y. - Advanced drilling techniques that blast millions of gallons of water into 400-million-year-old shale formations a mile underground are opening up "unconventional" gas fields touted as a key to the nation's energy future.

T.J. Winzeler, superintendent of the Sanctuary Golf Course at WestWorld, has become an unlikely fan of the bobcat ever since a pair of them took up residence and began to eat the rabbits plaguing the links.

Gov. Romney said over and over again that he was severely conservative. Romney supported personhood amendments (to make all abortions and the use of contraception illegal) in Mississippi and the Congress.