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ED MARSTON

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Ed Marston has been the publisher since 1983 of High Country News, a regional newspaper covering the western United States for 20,000 subscribers (P.O. Box 1090, Paonia, CO 81428; www.hcn.org; subscription rate: $32 for one year). He and Betsy Marston, the editor of HCN, founded and ran a local weekly newspaper, North Fork Times, from 1975 to 1980, and a regional biweekly, Western Colorado Report, from 1982 to 1983. Ed has written or edited three books: The Dynamic Environment (John Wiley and Sons, 1975); Western Water Made Simple (Island Press, 1987); and Reopening the Western Frontier (Island Press, 1989). His "A Colorado Memoir" appears in Colorado: 1870-2000, by W.H. Jackson and John Fielder (Westcliffe Publishers, 1999). Ed serves on the advisory council of the Rocky Mountain office of the Environmental Defense Fund, and he is president of the board of the Delta-Montrose Electric Association, a rural electric co-operative serving 25,000 families and businesses in Delta and Montrose counties.

Three books that have helped me understand the West and its public lands are:

Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets off a Struggle for the Soul of America by J. Anthony Lukas (Touchstone Books, 1997). "This very long book tells the story of the murder by bombing at the turn of the century of a former Idaho governor, with suspicion immediately falling on the leaders of the mine workers' union. Three leaders, including Big Bill Heywood, were kidnapped to Boise for trial and defended by Clarence Darrow. The book tells us a lot about the violent labor past of the western United States, but Lukas also tells us an immense amount about the West generally at that time, and its relation to the larger nation. Fans of Teddy Roosevelt who want to hang on to their affection for him should avoid this book."

The Hedghog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History by Isaiah Berlin (Elephant Paperbacks, 1953). "This eminent, elegant Brit philosopher never visited the West, but his insights into history and political ideas apply fully to our region. I most treasure him for two concepts. First, that when a nation or people commits to a single idea, and stamps out competing ideas, it is on the way to disaster. That applies whether the idea is industrialization, or Manifest Destiny, or, presumably, environmentalism (we've never had a chance to do this latter experiment). Second, he says it is impossible to maximize a society for all goods. For example, if we want justice, we must trade away a certain amount of mercy in our criminal justice system. If we want great wealth, we must put up with a certain number of Bill Gateses, and not expect flat income distribution. Surprisingly, Berlin was a buoyant man, who wrote with clarity. His death two years ago led to the publication of several reprints of his works, including a collection of his essays — The Proper Study of Mankind — which is probably the best place to begin reading him. It includes "The Hedgehog and the Fox," his most famous essay."

Uphill Against Water by Peter Carrels (University of Nebraska Press, 1999). "This book describes the battle against the Oahe water project in South Dakota. The major work in this arena, of course, is Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert. But Carrels brings Marc's book down to a single project and shows in detail how the water development machine worked. It's a wonderful book for those who like irony. Former South Dakota Senator George McGovern worked hard to suppress a revolt by farmers in his state who were opposed to Oahe, even as he was fighting for South Vietnam farmers' right to determine their destiny."

Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets off a Struggle for the Soul of America J. Anthony Lukas Simon & Schuster/ Touchstone Books paperback, 1997 (875 pages) Abridged version also available on audio Uphill Against Water: The Great Dakota Water War Our Sustainable Future Series, Vol. 2 Peter Carrels University of Nebraska Press, 1999 (280 pages) The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History Sir Isaiah Berlin Simon & Schuster/ Elephant Paperbacks, 1953 (86 pages) The Proper Study of Mankind: An Anthology of Essays Isaiah Berlin Henry Hardy and Roger Hausheer, editors; foreword by Noel Annan; introduction by Roger Hausheer Chatto & Windus (London), 1997 (667 pages)

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