Them on Us: Woe is Wyoming

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

By Jake Nichols

Pronghorn get love, none for pika
The Obama administration recently declined to add the pika to the Endangered Species Act for protection despite claims that global warming has severely threatened the high-country critter’s habitat.

The American pika, that diminutive relative of the rabbit, likes it cold. Alpine hikers are familiar with the animal’s high-pitched squeaks from boulder fields and talus slopes in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. The pika’s thick coat keeps it warm in the winter,  but summer temperatures of 78 degrees Fahrenheit or greater can be deadly.

The second longest land migration route for pronghorn antelope in the Western Hemisphere will remain open thanks to a conservation easement worked out between conservationists and a ranching operation, according to the Gillette News-Record.

The easement secured by The Conservation Fund protects 2,400 acres of the Carney Ranch in Sublette County. The ranch lies along the migration path that hundreds of pronghorn antelope use every spring and fall to move between their summer habitat in Grand Teton National Park in northwest Wyoming and their winter grounds to the south in the Green River Basin.

Skiing in JH: totally American
Toyota’s president of North American operations, Yoshimi Inaba, never imagined himself testifying before Congress to explain his company’s recent safety issues. The 63-year-old executive had barely mastered the English language during his college education at Northwestern University in the 1970s.

The turnaround for Inaba began when he decided to immerse himself in American culture. A process, Inaba said involved playing softball, golfing, taking in the Indianapolis 500, and taking a ski trip to Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Working in JH: total anonymity
“When he was on top, he was Dominic Carter, the boxy political anchor for NY1 and longtime host of the cable news program Inside City Hall,” wrote New York magazine. Carter is one of New York City’s most prominent African-American journalists and a well-liked political interpreter of the New York City scene, often called upon to explain New York’s power elite to Chris Matthews or Charlie Rose.
That was all before the anchorman’s fall from grace last fall when the New York Post broke the story of Carter’s spousal abuse. Carter told the NYC glossy there were dark times when he wanted to escape it all.

“I thought about moving to Jackson Hole and getting a job at their supermarket. Part of me, even when I was on the top, wanted a life where nobody would know who I was,” Carter said.

Wyoming down on itself
Wyoming ranked most pessimistic according to the latest Gallup poll regarding economic confidence. Residents of all 50 states and the District of Columbia were asked to rate current economic conditions as “excellent, good, fair or poor.” The follow up question asked whether respondents thought conditions were getting better or worse.

Despite dreadful job losses in Michigan, that state was edged out of the bottom spot by Wyoming, whose respondents were most despondent. JHW

Courtesy photo
American Pika

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Them on Us: Woe is Wyoming | Planet JH News Article: General News

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