Summer in the West’s deserts always feels a bit chaotic. This summer, it’s more than just the seasonal wildfires and strange cactus blooms — it’s also obvious in the federal government’s waffling on energy policy. Clean-energy advocates were stunned on May 29, when the Bureau of Land Management announced that it would not accept any […]
Ray Ring
Posted inJune 23, 2008: Peace on the Klamath
Two weeks in the West
It may have surprised some people, but really it was as inevitable as sunrise: After seven years of denial, the Bush administration can no longer ignore the biggest environmental problem facing the West and the entire planet. Thirteen federal agencies, led by the Department of Agriculture, acknowledged reality in a thick May 28 report signed […]
Posted inMay 12, 2008: Boom! Boom!
The gospel according to Ron Gillett
Fiery advocate against wolves connects with a small farm town
Posted inMarch 31, 2008: My Crazy Brother
My Crazy Brother
A personal look at the West’s suicidal tendencies
Posted inMarch 17, 2008: Seeking the Water Jackpot
Bush brings more green into the green movement
“Bush has been good to us,” says Kevin Lind, director of the Powder River Basin Resource Council, a small Wyoming environmental group that pressures coalbed-methane drillers to behave responsibly. Lind doesn’t mean that President George W. Bush has suddenly become benevolent or relaxed his hard-line anti-green stance. Rather, he means that during Bush’s reign in […]
Posted inMarch 17, 2008: Seeking the Water Jackpot
Finding beauty in devastation
Chris Peterson might be the best wildlife photographer you’ve never heard of. With quiet effort over many years of working for the Hungry Horse News, a weekly based in Columbia Falls, Mont., Peterson has honed his craft – stalking birds, bears, gravity-defying mountain goats and the other denizens of Glacier National Park. He captures them […]
Posted inFebruary 18, 2008: Reluctant Boomtown
Two weeks in the West
“God gave man the ability to manage wildlife.” — Wayne Wright, an Idaho Fish and Game commissioner, in the Idaho Statesman. The political animals – the kind that walk on two legs and thump their chests while exhaling promises – could fill this page. But hip-deep in the campaign season, you might like a break […]
Posted inJanuary 21, 2008: An energy oasis in the political desert
A political speech the West needs to hear
“One of our most urgent projects is to develop a national energy policy. The United States is the only major industrial country without a comprehensive, long-range energy policy. Our program will emphasize conservation … solar energy and other renewable energy sources. … We must face the fact that the energy shortage is permanent. There is […]
Posted inDecember 24, 2007: Last chance for the Lobo
Tireless and tenacious storytelling
NAME: Lori Edmo-Suppah AGE: 48 HOME BASE: Shoshone-Bannock Tribes’ Fort Hall Reservation, Idaho DESCRIBING HERSELF IN A NEWS STORY: “She enjoys her job even though she gets grouchy at her computer when fonts don’t work or files get corrupt. Her camera was stolen at the Festival last year … However, she says life goes on and she’ll eventually […]
Posted inDecember 10, 2007: Rebels with a Lost Cause
Rebels with a lost cause
A movement of property-rights lawyers emerged from the sagebrush in the 1970s to fight a wave of environmental regulations. They are still fighting in courtrooms across the West, but their role remains ambiguous.
Posted inNovember 26, 2007: Beetle Warfare
Two weeks in the West
November is the most political month, for better or worse, even in odd-numbered years. Thus we’ve just learned that two more of the West’s top Republicans are quitting: Wyoming Rep. Barbara Cubin and Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo both announced that they won’t run for re-election when their terms expire next year. They’re joining a crowd […]
Posted inNovember 12, 2007: L.A. Bets on the Farm
Tractor politicking
Dennis McDonald pulls Montana to the left
Posted inOctober 29, 2007: Which Way West
‘Men standing in the shadows began to weep’
Two authors explore wildfire deaths and liability
Posted inWotr
Just put an asterisk on the whole region
I wrote this column in 2 minutes and 17 seconds. I typed more than 300 words per minute, including the time spent getting the ideas out of thin air and editing myself, running the spell-check, and the ultimate writer’s reward, patting myself on the back. It’s a new world record for column writing. How can […]
Posted inAugust 6, 2007: Guns R Us
Guns R Us
Is it time to re-examine the West’s extraordinary fascination with firearms?
Posted inAugust 6, 2007: Guns R Us
An alphabetical speed-load of state-by-state gun facts
(Note: This article is a sidebar to the feature Guns R Us) ARIZONA Generally, by state law, you’re not allowed to carry a gun into a nuclear plant or hydroelectric dam area, or into a polling place on Election Day, or into any other “public establishment” where the host specifically bans guns, or into any […]
Posted inAugust 6, 2007: Guns R Us
Video Interview: Ryan Horsley
Note: the videos linked below accompany the feature story of this issue, “Guns R Us.” Ryan Horsley on the history of Red’s Trading Post: The Growth of Red’s Trading Post Ryan Horsley on the growth of Red’s Trading Post, and why it doesn’t sell machine guns. Ryan Horsley on dealing with the ATF The Bureau […]
Posted inApril 2, 2007: Disposable Workers of the Oil and Gas Fields
Disposable workers of the oil and gas fields
If you don’t have a college degree, it’s the best job in the West. Unless you die, unnoticed.
Posted inApril 2, 2007: Disposable Workers of the Oil and Gas Fields
Fatalities in the energy fields: 2000-2006
NOTE this list is a sidebar to the main story — “Disposable Workers of the Oil and Gas Fields.” — At least 89 people died on the job in the Interior West’s oil and gas industry from 2000 to 2006, in a variety of accidents, including 90-foot falls, massive explosions, poison gas inhalations and crushings […]
Posted inNovember 27, 2006: The West: A New Center of Power
The West: A New Center of Power
Moderation in the pursuit of office is no vice, and nine other lessons to take away from the midterm elections