Forest Service stock animals are indispensable to trail work on public lands in the West. Trump’s radical upheaval is accelerating the death of a dying art.
Recreation
Posted inMay 2025: The Art of the Cruise
Losing more than a Forest Service job
Trail work, though underappreciated, made for a life well-lived in the woods.
Posted inMarch 2025: The Berry Pickers
The rise of the recreation economy
Public-lands tourism outpaces mining and drilling in much of the West.
Posted inArticles
How DOGE threatens the Forest Service and public lands
Workers describe projects on wildfire prevention, environmental restoration and trail repair halted by Trump administration terminations.
Posted inMarch 2025: The Berry Pickers
The true cost of the huckleberry industry
The Ḱamíłpa Band of the Yakama Nation has wanted an end to commercial picking of a critical cultural resource for years. Finally, the Forest Service is expected to make a decision.
Posted inArticles
Poll finds majority of Westerners support climate action and conservation
Colorado College’s annual survey included residents of 8 Western states, the majority of whom identified as politically conservative or moderate.
Posted inArticles
The EXPLORE Act is a blueprint for bipartisan conservation legislation
Bipartisan support for the act highlights the outdoor industry’s growing political clout, but questions remain about its cultural and environmental impact.
Posted inArticles
How the Park City ski patrol won concessions from Vail
As patrollers and management reach an agreement, other ski patrols are learning from Park City’s example.
Posted inJanuary 2025: The West's Most Wanted
Felonious furries, bunches of bats, a coyote commune and pumpkin paddlers
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
How a dwindling helium supply is impacting public land management
A new BLM plan for western Colorado makes a priority of helium production, worrying environmentalists.
Posted inArticles
The Forest Service is cutting its seasonal workforce and public lands will suffer
Temporary employees warn that important work will go undone all over the country.
Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations
‘Rez Ball’ is no easy feat, but Indigenous communities win in the end
The latest Indigenous Netflix film shows the challenges of Native life through the culture of rez ball.
Posted inArticles
Why Utah is suing the U.S. for control of public land
The state asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to weigh in on the future of federal lands.
Posted inArticles
Endurance and the spirit of wrestling in the West
Remembering local wrestling hero Kenny Cox.
Posted inArticles
Hiking in the heat
A conversation with the head of the preventive search and rescue program in Joshua Tree National Park.
Posted inArticles
Alaska’s capital plans to limit cruise ship tourists
‘Juneau is hitting pause on growth.’
Posted inArticles
$350M in federal land sales likely to benefit Nevada public lands and wildlife
See what projects are expected to get the funding.
Posted inArticles
Parques y vida silvestre en Nevada se podrían beneficiar gracias a ventas de tierras federales
El estado espera recibir un ingreso proveniente de la Ley de Administración de Tierras Públicas del Sur de Nevada.
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
Learning how to live and die with long COVID
The late artist David Wojnarowicz’s work has brought me back from the dead.
Posted inArticles
Lake Mead’s illegal road network is growing
People have created hundreds of miles of unofficial roads trying to reach the water as levels decline. Federal officials want funds to address the issue.