The president-elect has an opportunity to rebuild better than before.
Public lands
Posted inArticles
Where the Great American Outdoors Act stands now
After passing with bipartisan support in August, the conservation law hits stumbling blocks. Here’s what may happen next.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
How fossil-fueled politics undermined a backcountry compromise
William Perry Pendley’s illegal stint as agency head undoes a first-of-its-kind land designation in Montana.
Posted inArticles
Montana’s new governor scares conservationists
Republican Greg Gianforte has a history of support for rolling back protections for public lands and waters.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
Infographic: A patchwork of lands fragments wildlife migration
New legislation helps connect private and public parcels for wildlife flow.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
How conservation groups confront distrust from communities of color
In order to attract a broader constituency, organizations must first address a history of missteps and exclusion.
Posted inArticles
Bullock, Daines and Montana’s growing pains
In a critical Senate race, the two Steves lay claim to the “Montana way of life.”
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
Hunting for myself in the high Montana sagebrush
A hunter celebrates a new vision of queerness and rural culture.
Posted inArticles
We need to ‘see’ buffalo before we can restore them
Buffalo were originally decimated to starve Indigenous peoples; now, their absence is starving out the land.
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
Energy dominance or climate action: Trump, Biden and the fate of public lands
In Grand Junction, Colorado, the presidential election is a choice between two distinct energy futures.
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
Killing the Vegas Pipeline
Nevada’s attitude toward water is changing.
Posted inArticles
Wildish Podcast: Why helicopter gathers are so controversial
Episode Four: The risks inherent in the Bureau of Land Management’s ‘most humane’ method of wild horse removal.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2020: The Next West
Tribal nations are decolonizing cultural protection
A new book looks at a ‘third way’ for Indian law.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2020: The Next West
A wildlife refuge under siege at the border
New emails detail drained ponds, salvaged fish and a tense relationship with the Department of Homeland Security.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2020: The Next West
Trump’s new NEPA is faster and narrower
Land agencies have less time — and get less public scrutiny — to issue environmental assessments.
Posted inArticles
New bill would permanently protect 130,000 acres of Montana’s Badger-Two Medicine
President Trump proved monument designations can be easy to remove; a new piece of legislation seeks to change that.
Posted inArticles
Grupos fronterizos piden que se rechace la nominación de Pendley como director de la Oficina de Administración de Tierras
‘No sólo deberían quitarle los votos a Pendley en el Senado, deberían sacarlo del BLM lo antes posible’
Posted inArticles
Borderlands groups: Deny Pendley’s nomination to head Bureau of Land Management
‘Pendley should not only be voted down by the U.S. Senate, he should be shown out the door of the BLM as soon as possible.’
Posted inSeptember 1, 2020: The Next West
Is a big win for conservation a blow to climate action?
As extinction and climate crises loom, the Great American Outdoors Act and recreation industry continue to rely on oil money.