Nearly 40 years after an armed sheriff, anti-LGBTQ activists and a judge’s order shut down the Gay Rodeo Finals, this year the riders came home.
Ranching
Posted inArticles
Yellowstone protects wolves. What happens when they leave the park?
Crossing what’s an arbitrary boundary for wildlife, an apex predator becomes prey.
Posted inOctober 2025: Limits to Growth
What’s it like to be a cow?
A cattle rancher reflects on her occupation and the growing movement to understand how other animals see the world.
Posted inSeptember 2025: Who Controls Our Food?
Who controls food in the West?
Consolidation, shifting politics, water rights and the myth of the cowboy all play into the region’s ability to feed itself.
Posted inArticles
When we harm wolves, we harm ourselves
Anger over these wild creatures shows a lack of perspective.
Posted inJune 2025: The Promised Land
Wolves return to the West
After being driven to near-extinction, these animals, and the politics around them, are back.
Posted inJuly 2025: Seeds as Sustenance
Searching for sparrows in the Sky Islands
Grassland restoration in Sonora, Mexico, helps to conserve North America’s bird life.
Posted inMay 2025: The Art of the Cruise
The hidden costs of wolf conservation
‘Pay for presence’ aims to compensate ranchers for predator-related losses, but Western states might not be able to afford it.
Posted inArticles
The Eastern Shoshone are reclassifying buffalo as wildlife instead of livestock
The intent is to restore buffalo on the land and challenge the link between animal and product.
Posted inArticles
Farmers face frozen jobs and heavier workloads under DOGE ‘efficiency’ budget
Billions in halted or canceled grants, gutted local offices, market turmoil and broken trust are at stake across the West.
Posted inArticles
The crusade to end federal public lands in New Mexico
Howard Hutchinson, a private property rights activist, leads a coalition that’s quietly organizing a county-level rejection of the Antiquities Act.
Posted inArticles
The art of moving a buffalo
Pedro Calderon-Dominguez’s daily work requires calm, quiet and patience.
Posted inArticles
Wyoming moves past wolf torture incident
Despite the torture and killing of a wolf in Daniel one year ago, the state has found a way to manage its wolves.
Posted inArticles
Montana’s ag tax slashes bills for thousands of million-dollar homes
Properties classified ‘agricultural’ get a tax break despite no bona fide operations. Can lawmakers’ new proposals tighten qualifications?
Posted inArticles
Who’s against wind development in ‘The Crazies’?
Amy Gamerman’s new book examines attempts to block the energy transition in Montana’s Crazy Mountains.
Posted inArticles
A mixed report for Colorado’s wolves
Nine months after reintroduction, 13 wolves now reside in the state – with more to be released in 2025.
Posted inIssues
What to make of land art in the era of LandBack
‘City,’ a massive outdoor sculpture in Nevada, took Michael Heizer 50 years to make. Today, it is met with a mixture of scrutiny and awe.
Posted inArticles
When grasshoppers attack
Is the cure for grasshopper outbreaks worse than the disease?
Posted inArticles
Federal grazing lands fail their checkup
Fifty-seven million acres of BLM land fall short of health standards.
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys
Managing predators from the sky
How to harness drones for conservation.