There are many ways backyard hens can die. If you raise them long enough, you’ll see your share. But buff Orpington chickens tend to be survivors. My first clue to their talent for living came when a Siberian husky sneaked into my backyard. A more efficient chicken-killing machine does not exist. The wolfish canine […]
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Dispatch from Cliven Bundy’s latest gathering
Who showed up at the one-year anniversary of the BLM standoff? Most of them weren’t ranchers.
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Forest Service is still in search of a mission
Perhaps Ken Burns had the right idea when he named his public-television series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Even though I worked for the Forest Service for 34 years, I’m inclined to agree with him about the importance of our nation’s parks. But the national forests are surely our second-best idea, a priceless asset […]
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EPA loophole allows streams of wastewater in Wyoming
Environmentalists challenge permits that result in dumping of toxic chemicals on tribal land.
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Scientists document mega Oregon-Nevada pronghorn migration
Three hikers will track ecological conditions on the route this June.
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Drilling Chaco: What’s actually at stake
It’s the archaeological landscape beyond New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon that is most threatened.
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Are we in a megadrought?
As the dry-spell continues, a radio forum on water security in Western states.
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As drought pervades, can markets make us water-wiser?
Proponents say market tools can better move water where it’s needed.
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Permafrost’s ticking “carbon bomb” may never truly detonate
New research suggests that carbon stored in frozen soil will be released gradually.
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Rural counties to lose the most from defunded lands programs
What happens to local budgets when Congress stops these federal payments.
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Forest Service sticks up for coal mining on roadless lands
The agency will calculate climate impacts of mine expansions in western Colorado.
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At Hart Mountain, the land came back
Cattle are hard on streams. There’s no getting around it. They’re large creatures, they travel in big herds unlike native ungulates such as mule deer and pronghorn, and they love to hang out in streambeds where the living is easy, with plentiful water to drink and delicate plants to munch on. The damage they do […]
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Will the Northwest Forest Plan come undone?
The Forest Service and BLM embark on revising the iconic plan and may allow more logging.
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Ranch Diaries: Tiny living, 23 miles from town
After a chicken coop, a tipi and no electricity, this four-season camper is our most modern home yet.
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A battle for America’s trust
The war between the fossil fuel industry and Big Green may boil down to who can tell the best story.
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Rants from the Hill: Scaling Lone Tree
Learning to see a one-tree forest in the Great Basin Desert.
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A rural utility bucks against its power supplier
In a coal-producing region, this western Colorado co-op fights for renewables.
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Fowl play: California’s drought fingered in bird deaths
Native pigeons and waterfowl fall victim to avian disease.
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Cloud seeding is still a work in progress
Wyoming just spent $14 million and the better part of 10 years on a rigorous scientific experiment to evaluate whether it’s possible to get extra snow from winter storm clouds through cloud seeding. The conclusion? The final results were thin: There was a 3 percent increase in precipitation, but a 28 percent probability that the […]
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Who should manage Grand Teton’s private inholdings?
A dead wolf and jurisdictional confusion in an iconic national park.