How budget cuts, a divided staff and state politics hamstrung Utah’s biggest monument.
Sagebrush Rebellion
Posted inArticles
Bundy Ranch ‘gunmen’ face retrial in Las Vegas
New evidence links defendants to other anti-government gatherings in the West.
Posted inArticles
What Joe Arpaio represents in today’s American West
The embattled lawman faces charges of criminal contempt.
Posted inJune 12, 2017: The Big Swing
Eight lawmakers whose bills attack public lands
Who are the Westerners behind bills meant to weaken federal protections of land?
Posted inArticles
The river-access lawsuit at the center of Montana’s House race
Will the state’s movement to protect public lands affect Greg Gianforte?
Posted inArticles
In elk poaching case, a glimpse of a simmering land conflict
An Oregon rancher is charged for an elk slaughter.
Posted inMay 15, 2017: Prison Town
Mistrial in Bundy standoff case
Some Bundy supporters see the jury deadlock as a sliver of hope.
Posted inArticles
Bunkerville standoff case ruled a mistrial
Two defendants found guilty, but jury “deadlocked” over fate of remaining four.
Posted inArticles
Jury deliberates in 2014 Bundy standoff trial
Cliven Bundy’s sway over his followers featured prominently in first of three trials.
Posted inArticles
Land transfer advocates steer their focus to monuments
A transfer movement moves to rescind monuments and weaken the Antiquities Act.
Posted inArticles
The Malheur Refuge trials are over, but the movement that led to them isn’t.
Four defendants receive guilty verdicts, ending a yearlong drama.
Posted inMarch 20, 2017: The Tree Ring
Latest: Family ordered to pay up for unauthorized grazing
The Hages owe more than a half-million dollars.
Posted inArticles
Lessons from the first week of the Bundy standoff trial
Checking in on jury selection and opening statements.
Posted inFebruary 20, 2017: Overdosed
Outdoor rec industry defends public lands
Utah’s delegation tries to roll back protections, riling a conservation-minded outdoors cohort.
Posted inArticles
What to read to prepare for the Bundys’ Nevada trial
The first of a trio of trials related to the 2014 standoff has started.
Posted inFebruary 6, 2017: River of Healing
Revisiting Malheur, one year after the occupation
The wildlife refuge system is more vulnerable than ever.
Posted inArticles
In Wyoming, a cautious public lands victory
Grassroots efforts to fight land transfer bills have succeeded — for now.
Posted inJanuary 23, 2017: For Which it Stands
Latest: GOP House rules loosen land transfer regs
The rule would let the feds transfer land without accounting for costs.
Posted inArticles
U.S. House changes its rules to ease federal land transfers
The Western movement to transfer federal lands scores an early victory in the new Congress.
Posted inArticles
Bears Ears a go — but here’s where Obama drew the line
The designation’s concessions are unlikely to appease ardent opponents.