An essay on returning home to the West, after years abroad.
Essays
Posted inArticles
Aldo Leopold explains it all
Should nature be protected for humans or from humans?
Posted inFebruary 2, 2015: This Land is Their Land
Half-Blind Valley
Explorations in an urban wilderness.
Posted inArticles
Rants from the Hill: Hedgehog comes to the High Desert
Welcoming a fifteen-million-year-old animal to the Ranting Hill
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
Postcards from fire
‘We will rise from the ashes, sweep them from our children’s hair.’
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
Should nature have standing to sue?
Even today, the natural world needs a co-plaintiff: us.
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
Should we put a price on nature?
A nuanced look at ecosystem services.
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
The New, New West
Introducing the 2014 Bell Prize winner.
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
The unusual occupation at Utah’s Book Cliffs
They’re burning mad about climate change. Are you?
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
Think of pollution as trespassing
Why take the ‘harms’ approach? Try this instead.
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
Where can we say ‘Yes’ to oil and gas?
What we give up in so-called sacrifice zones.
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
Can Aldo Leopold’s land ethic tackle our toughest problems?
An argument for ‘voluntary decency.’
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
How faith plays into the new conservation debate
Two sides call a truce, at least for now.
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
Introducing the idea of ‘hyperobjects’
A new way of understanding climate change and other phenomena.
Posted inArticles
Rants from the Hill: An Assay on Old Lang Syne Peak
Taking a right gude willie waught for the turning year.
Posted inDecember 22, 2014: The Dust Detectives
Hunting for scorpions
Seeking one of Earth’s most ancient land invertebrates.
Posted inArticles
Remembering an environmental science pioneer
Theo Colborn uncovered effects of chemicals, like those used in fracking, on the human body.
Posted inDecember 8, 2014: The Great Salmon Compromise
When neighbors spray herbicides next to your organic crop
Living together with local resentments in Northern California.
Posted inArticles
Rants from the Hill: Desert Insomnia
Living the not-so-quiet life in the rural West.