As I write, Custer County School in southern Colorado is under the watch of armed sheriff’s deputies. This follows the suicide of a 15-year-old boy last week — the second such tragedy in about a year’s time — and a bizarre rumor that somebody was planning a shooting at the school. This rumor apparently had […]
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Keystone isn’t the only pipeline proposal out there
As XL languishes in political controversy, new pipeline projects gain ground in Canada and Alaska.
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The EPA gets it
Not so long ago, a visit from the Environmental Protection Agency to a ski area meant bad news. In 2000, Aspen was the first resort inspected in what became a raid on the ski industry that seemed to have started alphabetically — we were first, Breckenridge was second, and so on. Humorless agents in suits […]
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Ranch Diaries: Purchasing cattle, writing the business plan
How and when we expect to see returns on our investment.
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Fish and Wildlife whistleblower retaliation case raises questions
A top Texas official reported political interference and scientific misconduct.
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Don’t expect oil prices to rebound anytime soon
Global forces conspire to keep energy prices low, for better and worse.
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An update on Nevada scofflaw Cliven Bundy
The rancher still has influence in some circles, and has seen zero repercussions for trespass cattle and unpaid fees.
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Don’t label me an “outsider”
Granville Stuart first came West with his father and brother in 1852, hoping to strike it rich in the gold fields of California. Granville was born in Virginia, but had called Illinois and Iowa home before traveling farther west. The senior Stuart returned to Iowa after a year, but Granville and his brother had yet […]
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New state and fed efforts to protect sage grouse
Plans aim to keep the wide-ranging bird off the endangered list.
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Marie’s dictionary
The last fluent speaker of Wukchumni creates a dictionary to document her tribe’s language.
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How many more monuments will Obama create?
The recent designation for Browns Canyon has conservation groups ready for more.
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The liberal’s guide to a chainsaw
Fifteen years ago, I moved my young family from the San Francisco Bay Area to Eugene, Oregon, into a small house with a woodstove. I was excited about heating with wood, and resolved to do it safely. I built a woodshed in the backyard, close to a Doug-fir chopping block. I learned to send split […]
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Jim Deacon, pioneering desert fish biologist, dies
But the concept of saving big places through little animals lives on.
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Westerners who prolonged the shutdown showdown
Congress narrowly averted shutting down the Department of Homeland Security, no thanks to these reps.
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A murky bill for national park waterways
A Yellowstone paddling bill raises hopes, suspicions.
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Washington’s wolverines stage tenuous comeback
The carnivores are recolonizing the northern Cascades, but they face an uncertain climate future.
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KDNK interviews HCN intern Kindra McQuillan about the land transfer movement
A Utah bill could set a precedent for transferring federal lands to state control, if it goes forward.
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Demographic shifts and the Native voting block
In 1980, 20 percent of the U.S. population was minority; today, 37 percent is.
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The riddle of the circle of ancient power
“Walk left,” the sign says, at the entrance to the roped-off site. It’s a place that hammers me in the chest. The world spills away, down into the Bighorn Basin, across Wyoming and north into Montana, a huge gallop of space. Brown miles stretch out veined with river courses, serrated with ridges and mountain ranges. […]