Government-issued maps offer a promise for safely exploring our public lands, but they no longer reflect the reality of what’s actually on the ground.
Colorado
Posted inArticles
Congress passes environmental funding without Trump’s deep cuts
But the bipartisan effort still trimmed climate research and fails to solve agencies’ chronic underfunding.
Posted inJanuary 2026: Deep Time in the West
“Legend-dairy” mountain peaks, visiting bears and remembering a blubbery blowout
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
Americans generally like wolves − except when reminded of politics
Recent studies found that attitudes toward wolves became more polarized when people’s political identities were activated.
Posted inDecember 2025: Wild Harvest
‘It is quite difficult to maintain a Colorado Christmas tree farm’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
Posted inArticles
Colorado cannot heal until it confronts Sand Creek honestly
To move forward, Coloradans must face the massacre’s trauma and begin to repair trust.
Posted inFebruary 2026: The Recording Artists
Colorado wolves are on the move
Almost two years after reintroduction began, at least one wolf has ventured outside the state.
Posted inArticles
The big data center buildup
An AI server farm tsunami threatens to overwhelm the West’s power grid and water supplies.
Posted inArticles
Will this threatened frog stop drilling near Denver?
Northern leopard frogs were found near the site of what would be one of state’s largest fossil fuel operations.
Posted inArticles
After Trump cuts, seeds sit in the warehouse
Western groups lose federal grants for urgent restoration and conservation projects.
Posted inNovember 2025: Precious Metalheads
Attack of the owls, emu-cipated emus, and say ‘hi’ to the bumpy little snailfish
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
Why Colorado River negotiations are so difficult
Basin states have had 2 years to figure out how to share the shrinking river. Will they get there before the feds step in?
Posted inIssues
Western economies falter under the Trump administration
Tariffs, layoffs and federal funding clawbacks stress budgets.
Posted inNovember 2025: Precious Metalheads
Aspen ‘eyes’ keep us accountable to the natural world
In times of crisis, their gaze is a summon from nature to take action.
Posted inArticles
ICE raids in Colorado highlight how violent the U.S. has become
After migrating to Canada, a journalist reckons with the grief and gratitude of having left.
Posted inOctober 2025: Limits to Growth
Loopy lagomorphs, warning off wolves, the best of Buddys and diminutive dinosaurs
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inOctober 2025: Limits to Growth
What do fens do? Make peat, store water and help combat climate change
Meet the researchers restoring these unique wetlands high in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.
Posted inArticles
Denver’s storied tradition of sex work, then and now
In her new book, Michelle Gurule reveals her experience as a sugar baby and just how little has changed about the industry in the last century.
Posted inSeptember 2025: Who Controls Our Food?
Felonious foxes, mischievous marmots, dog meets wolf and a chat with the tooth fairy
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inSeptember 2025: Who Controls Our Food?
How an immigration raid reshaped meatpacking — and America
In 2006, large-scale ICE raids in Greeley, Colorado, and elsewhere, triggered changes to the center of the country that fed today’s nativist politics.