Tasked to map an enigmatic aquifer for future water management, scientists confront political and scientific uncertainty.
Ranching
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
Why have gray wolves failed to gain a foothold in Colorado?
The Green River Corridor, a pathway from Wyoming to Colorado, highlights the political and physical barriers wolves face.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
The effort to save Upper Klamath Lake’s endangered fish before they disappear
Another dry year pushes tribal nations, federal agencies and irrigators to find long-lasting solutions.
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For dairy cows, where there’s smoke, there’s less milk
Scientists in Idaho are finding that wildfire smoke dampens milk production and coincides with increased risk of disease and even death in dairy cows.
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The once-perennial Gila River ebbs to an uncertain future
‘We are in uncharted territory.’
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The return of the endangered Mexican wolf
A program that places captive-born pups into wild dens is helping North America’s rarest wolf subspecies reclaim its native territory in the Southwest.
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A parched West heads into fire season
Several types of drought are converging, and all are at or near record levels.
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The battle over Point Reyes’ tule elk
The needs of the ungulate and cattle supported by California’s Point Reyes National Seashore have different needs and created a years-long conflict.
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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.
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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.