A sheepherder speaks out about labor and environmental concerns.
Agriculture
Posted inApril 4, 2016: A Land Divided
In the shadow of Silicon Valley, a new crop of tech-savvy farmers
Jacob Martinez, founder of Digital NEST, is teaching young Latinos the tech skills they’ll need in a new era of agriculture.
Posted inArticles
Interactive timeline: Livestock grazing in the West
Whether grazing on public land is a ‘right’ or a ‘privilege’ is one of the region’s most contentious issues. Here’s why.
Posted inArticles
Ranch Diaries: Dispatch from a confab of women in agriculture
When holistic management is too land-focused, the needs of the people on the land gets lost.
Posted inArticles
Can food hubs make small farms economically feasible?
A new effort near Tahoe, California, brings farmers and food buyers together to buck the system.
Posted inFebruary 22, 2016: Fractured
A dry future weighs heavy on California agriculture
Something’s got to give in Central Valley farming. The only question is what.
Posted inFebruary 22, 2016: Fractured
Far from home, the West’s foreign sheepherders get a pay raise
Since the ’50s, Western states have brought in international workers but offer them few of the benefits given other workers.
Posted inArticles
Will this desert community survive its water overdraft problem?
Borrego Springs, California, was founded on the promise of endless water. Now they must conserve — or else.
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No, federal land transfers are not in the Constitution
Legal scholars debunk arguments about how founding documents support local control of all lands.
Posted inArticles
The surprising history of the Malheur wildlife refuge
The refuge’s creation helped support nearby ranchers.
Posted inJanuary 25, 2016: The Forever War
Montana rancher looks to the past to prepare for tomorrow’s climate
Can re-engineering the family ranch help it survive climate change?
Posted inJanuary 25, 2016: The Forever War
Wildlife Services and its eternal war on predators
The federal agency has been researching nonlethal means to protect livestock for decades. So why is it still killing so many carnivores?
Posted inArticles
Economic downturns fuel Sagebrush Rebellion events
Natural resource-dependent rural economies help explain why disputes happen where they do.
Posted inArticles
Who’s who inside and on the outskirts of the Malheur occupation
Here are the most vocal occupiers, along with a core group of militia members staying in Burns.
Posted inArticles
Former BLM chief: Bundys ‘pursuing an agenda’ on public land
Bob Abbey was Bureau of Land Management chief from 2009 to 2012 and Nevada state director from 1997 to 2005. In a recent interview with High Country News, he discusses the BLM’s response to ranchers, including Cliven Bundy in Nevada, who broke federal laws, as well as the importance of collaborating with local law enforcement when it comes […]
Posted inArticles
The BLM’s inconsistent approach toward rule breakers
A look at how the feds have — and have not — punished individuals for defying regulations.
Posted inArticles
Malheur occupation, explained
The deep history behind the Bundy brothers’ takeover of a wildlife refuge in Oregon.
Posted inArticles
Forty years of Sagebrush Rebellion
The Oregon occupation, the 2014 Bundy standoff and many other stories are all related to a long-simmering movement.
Posted inArticles
Locavores aren’t loved by everybody
In the last 20 years, the amount of locally grown foods consumed in the American diet has tripled, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it now comprises 2 percent of the food consumed in the country. As with anything that’s popular, some have seen fit to attack this trend. Why do they do […]