Connecting the dots within a vast right-wing network of militia members, state and local politicians, and others.
Politics
Posted inFebruary 2, 2016: Sagebrush Insurgency
The rise of the Sagebrush Sheriffs
How rural ‘constitutional’ peace officers are joining the war against the feds.
Posted inArticles
Forest Service leaves control of water rights to ski resorts
How does industry control of water affect public land management?
Posted inArticles
How do we define climate pollution’s cost to society?
Every year, the government recalculates how much money a metric ton of carbon costs us.
Posted inArticles
Rob Bishop’s long-awaited ‘grand bargain’ for Utah public lands
After decades of stalemate, the new bill gets mixed reactions.
Posted inArticles
West Obsessed: Behind the Malheur occupation
Our editors discuss the lead-up to the stand-off in Oregon.
Posted inArticles
Feds announce moratorium on new coal leases
Interior Department will examine the federal coal program in light of climate change.
Posted inArticles
Economic downturns fuel Sagebrush Rebellion events
Natural resource-dependent rural economies help explain why disputes happen where they do.
Posted inArticles
The first Sagebrush Rebellion: What sparked it and how it ended
Today’s movement is a radical, perverted version of the 1970s-80s rebellion.
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
How the feds can ensure Western states get more water in 2016
Key legislation failed in 2015. Will this year be any different?
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 has armed up since 1978, but it’s still outgunned
In confrontations with armed groups like the Bundy supporters, local law enforcement matters most.
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
Where private land meets public interest
A group of landowners on the Colorado-New Mexico border aim to conserve a contested landscape.
Posted inArticles
Court will hear case against data trespass laws
A federal judge rejected the state of Wyoming’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuit.
Posted inDecember 21, 2015: Secrets of the Deep
These are your state’s gun laws
In the wake of mass killings, a state-by-state look at Western gun policy.
Posted inDecember 21, 2015: Secrets of the Deep
Pet the nipping pup and hide your newcomer roots: tips from a failed campaign.
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inDecember 21, 2015: Secrets of the Deep
Western nativism has a rotten odor
Back in my railroad days, we often said that something had “a bad smell.” “I smell a bad order!”— lingo for a car that was rolling wrong and needed to be removed from the train. The alarm was shouted down from the conductor up in the “angel’s seat” in the caboose, back when a person actually […]