A writer visits Alaska and finds a fishing culture in slow collapse, fading with its most important resource.
Books
Posted inSeptember 17, 2018: The Pioneer of Ruin
Photos: Above a Western waste land
A photo collection of 67 Superfund sites shows landscapes vandalized by mines and nuclear plants.
Posted inAugust 31, 2018: The Big Threat to Bighorns
The beauty — and dangers — of living wild
Two new fearless memoirs deliver stories of pragmatism and boundless courage.
Posted inAugust 31, 2018: The Big Threat to Bighorns
Photos: The elusive & iconic American mountain goat
A biologist documents the natural history and lives of the North American quadrupeds.
Posted inAugust 31, 2018: The Big Threat to Bighorns
How beavers make the desert bloom
‘I’m always looking for ways to keep water here, and the beaver do it for free.’
Posted inAugust 20, 2018: Where the West is Moving - and Why
Behind the iconic, dystopian images of the New Deal
A short-lived photography project captured rural poverty during the Great Depression.
Posted inAugust 20, 2018: Where the West is Moving - and Why
Laughter to cope with daily tragedies at the border
Luis Alberto Urrea’s new novel reflects on the family relationships that challenge and transcend the U.S.-Mexico border.
Posted inAugust 6, 2018: What Are We Doing Here?
The golden age of rock climbing
Black and white photos capture the people behind the humble beginnings of the sport.
Posted inAugust 6, 2018: What Are We Doing Here?
The Second Coming of Christ in southern Idaho
A new memoir reflects on an isolated, religious upbringing in a survivalist Mormon family.
Posted inJuly 23, 2018: Pay for Prey
The Colorado, lifeblood and sculptor of an arid West
In a new book, a longtime river-runner invites readers to sit down by the Colorado’s riverside and listen to its stories.
Posted inJune 25, 2018: Little Weed, Big Problem
‘Little House’ and the identity of the prairie struggle
The gritty reality behind Laura Ingalls Wilder’s writings.
Posted inJune 11, 2018: Reclaiming the Klamath
What the Ice Age West predicts about our future
An American creation story.
Posted inJune 11, 2018: Reclaiming the Klamath
Bears Ears: An elegy for what was lost?
A book of photos explores the mesas and canyons of Bears Ears.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
Section hikers offer tips on the Pacific Crest Trail
From Canada to Mexico, a series of books shares the insider knowledge of the trail.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
How might humans and wilderness co-exist?
I want my daughter to know the wilderness outside our cabin, and the wildness within each of us.
Posted inApril 30, 2018: Celebrity Scofflaw
In paintings, a gentle portrait of Canada’s scars
A review of Sonny Assu: A Selective History.
Posted inApril 30, 2018: Celebrity Scofflaw
The long road from violence
A writer reexamines the stories we tell of rural life and struggle.
Posted inApril 16, 2018: Cashing in on Standing Rock
The Gates of the Arctic, revealed
From charging bears to glacier-carved valleys, photographs capture the real nature of the national park.
Posted inApril 16, 2018: Cashing in on Standing Rock
What we have forgotten about the vilified gray wolf
The saga of O-Six lays bare the intricacies of a familiar, parallel society in wolves.
Posted inMarch 19, 2018: Desert, Divided
Wyoming is a poor state that exports talent. Will that ever change?
Two books examine the state’s homogenous economy and brain drain.