Climate change and unregulated wells are depleting the West’s groundwater reserves.
Agriculture
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‘Men like you weren’t meant to own land’
Rural Colorado has a history of discriminatory lending.
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Thirsty crops and vulnerable families vie for California’s precious water
Farmers are pumping until residential wells run dry in the Central Valley.
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Oregon elk vex landowners and game managers
The herds are wary of recreationalists, unwelcome at the refuge and eating into profits.
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The next threat to bees? Organized crime.
As bee numbers decline while facing increasing demand, hive thefts ravage California’s Central Valley and beyond.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Crossing to Safety
Migrant labor activists win lawsuit for foreign shepherds
Ranchers must now bring in immigrant sheepherders under permanent visas.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
California’s Dream has turned into water nightmares
A new book looks at the Golden State’s history to understand its current water crisis.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Crossing to Safety
Undocumented farmworkers could get citizenship from a new bill in Congress
A United Farm Worker organizer reveals the political strategy behind the scenes.
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From the Bundys to cheap burgundy: How myths shape the West
Novelist Frank Bergon meanders through a changing West and traces old stories refreshed.
Posted inOctober 28, 2019: Where Hunting Still Has Meaning
Environmental study of Shasta Dam height halted
Stakeholders disagree over whether raising the dam would offer benefits or detriments.
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Can better broadband and big data save rural America?
Independent farms need better internet to survive, let alone to compete with the large agriculture industry.
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Diseases are spreading with climate change. Panic doesn’t have to.
As illnesses like Valley fever emerge in new areas, health officials keep residents informed instead of in fear.
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Trump’s Fish and Wildlife pick is entangled with industry
Aurelia Skipwith has ties to water interests fighting endangered species protection and worked for ag giant Monsanto.
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Birds of prey wielded as guardians of orchards and landfills
Falconers and bird abatement can be used to protect crops, prevent the spread of disease, and keep refineries and housing developments clean.
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
A water ‘win-win’ in Colorado? Not so fast.
A plan to export water from the San Luis Valley to the Denver Metro area is met with defiance.
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
Colorado farmers fight to save their water and their community’s future
‘We can either wait on Mother Nature — or we can give it a shot ourselves.’
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
Trump’s trade war is draining profits for Montana wheat farmers
Today’s agricultural producers battle both environmental threats and geopolitical conflict.
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I used to raise cattle for slaughter. Now I refuse to eat meat.
Once a holistic rancher, Laura Jean Schneider reflects on her decision to abandon the industry.
Posted inAugust 5, 2019: From Prison to Fireline
A family held their relatives captive; a community set them free
A labor trafficking case shows Westerners can sometimes still count on each other to protect those in need.
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How beef colonized the West and America’s dinner plate
The author of a new book explains how beef consolidation in the late 19th Century shapes our ecology, economy and politics.