The needs of the ungulate and cattle supported by California’s Point Reyes National Seashore have different needs and created a years-long conflict.
Ranching
Posted inArticles
A Colorado county provides a model for saving the West’s open spaces
A sales-tax funded program pays ranchers and farmers to not develop their land or sell their water rights.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
Under Biden, the BLM backtracks on Hammond grazing permit
Days before their herd was set to return to public lands near Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, two fire-starting ranchers lose their grazing rights.
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
Second-graders take on Colorado’s wolf reintroduction
‘Wolves are AMAAAAZING! Because they help the ecosystem and are amazing.’
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Megadrought: New Mexico farms face uncertain future
‘If they have an option to not farm, they should consider that option.’
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Nevada lithium mine kicks off a new era of Western extraction
The hastily approved project went forward without comment from the Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone Tribe.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
New Mexico judge revokes protected lands for jaguars
Conservation groups vow to fight the ruling to help the cats reclaim their historic habitat.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
The lessons on storytelling that William Kittredge taught
The beloved teacher and writer was preoccupied with the particular.
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Diverted, drained and dwindling: What’s the fate of New Mexico’s Rio Grande?
Century-old water rights and climate change means the river may never flow through many communities year-round again.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
When COVID hit, a Colorado county kicked out second-home owners. They hit back.
How a group of nonresident homeowners tried to influence a rural Colorado election.
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Colorado ranchers adapt for a changing climate
Regenerative agriculture can help address drought and topsoil degradation.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
How an intimate burial can make death human-sized
In burying a stranger, a writer learns that dying can be as small and personal as life.
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
Killing the Vegas Pipeline
Nevada’s attitude toward water is changing.
Posted inArticles
Can grazing help Oregon’s largest private nature preserve?
Scientists and ranchers team up to determine if cattle can preserve biodiversity and support economies on a treasured prairie.
Posted inArticles
Contested domestic sheep allotment in Colorado retired
Rancher J. Paul Brown gives up his permit near the Weminuche Wilderness to protect vulnerable bighorn sheep populations.
Posted inJuly 1, 2020: 'I am here fighting for my life and future children'
Will COVID-19 help save small slaughterhouses?
As laborers for the Big Four meatpackers fall ill, small slaughterhouses see unprecedented demand.
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‘Men like you weren’t meant to own land’
Rural Colorado has a history of discriminatory lending.
Posted inArticles
Oregon elk vex landowners and game managers
The herds are wary of recreationalists, unwelcome at the refuge and eating into profits.