A wild river is “a necessity of the human spirit.”
Wilderness
Posted inArticles
Biking bill is a smokescreen for opening up wilderness
Are you ready for mechanized vehicles on every wilderness trail in the United States? That’s what you’ll get if a deceptive piece of federal legislation becomes law. Portrayed as a “modest” proposal for mountain bike access, the legislation is a Trojan horse that would throw open all designated wilderness areas to bikes and prevent federal […]
Posted inMay 16, 2016: Grizzly Face-Off
Who’s cutting illegal ski trails in the Santa Fe National Forest?
On the trail of a backcountry criminal with the Forest Service.
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Why Rep. Rob Bishop’s promises of wilderness ring false
Famed forester Bob Marshall foreshadowed the loss of untouched lands in Utah.
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In rare bipartisan decision, Senate approves Yakima water projects
Conservation, wilderness and water provisions long in the works were added to the massive energy bill.
Posted inMarch 21, 2016: Making Sense of Malheur
Stop trying to make biking in wilderness happen. It’s not going to happen.
I shouldn’t be writing this, and you shouldn’t be reading it. Far more pressing issues face our public lands. But a vocal minority is drudging up the long-resolved question of mountain biking in wilderness. They have even drafted a bill for somebody to introduce in Congress — the Human-Powered Wildlands Travel Management Act — that […]
Posted inFebruary 22, 2016: Fractured
How the wild Northern Rockies were saved — and who led the way
A new book looks at the ordinary citizens who fought for wilderness designations.
Posted inFebruary 22, 2016: Fractured
Latest: New Mexico land deal opens wilderness access
The Sabinoso Wilderness Area was impossible to access for years, thanks to private landowners.
Posted inFebruary 22, 2016: Fractured
Bishop’s ‘Grand Bargain’ in Utah is no deal, say enviros
The much-anticipated land-use plan has ramped up the tensions it promised to defuse.
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Four charts that show how public land is good for rural areas
A study finds that personal income is rising faster in counties with more public land.
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Rob Bishop’s long-awaited ‘grand bargain’ for Utah public lands
After decades of stalemate, the new bill gets mixed reactions.
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In Idaho, rancher buyouts take a big step forward
Idaho’s White Cloud Mountains seem like an unlikely place for the beginning of a positive shift in public-land management. They gleam high and cold above the seemingly endless sagebrush plains of southern Idaho, one of the most conservative states in the West. Yet it was here last year that Republicans worked with environmentalists to plant […]
Posted inDecember 7, 2015: Good Neighbors
Playing the Alaska card
A native of the state explains the short-lived social power the state gives.
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Coal mining rejected for climate risks is back on the table
The Colorado mine expansion could cost society billions of dollars in climate impacts.
Posted inOctober 12, 2015: The Rise of Lisa Murkowski
For the Lassics lupine, wilderness is a mixed blessing
The Wilderness Act has complicated efforts to protect the rare California wildflower.
Posted inOctober 12, 2015: The Rise of Lisa Murkowski
The rise of Lisa Murkowski
Alaska’s pragmatic senator wants to reshape America’s energy policy.
Posted inSeptember 14, 2015: Close Ties in Big Landscapes
How to redefine — and defend — wilderness
A review of a new way to look at what’s wild and what’s not, in Jason Mark’s ‘Satellites in the High Country’ and Fred Pearce’s ‘The New Wild.’
Posted inArticles
Drought on the Pacific Crest Trail offers harsh lessons
We had barely covered the first 10 miles of trail, hiking north from the California-Mexico border, when my hiking partner, Flash, and I found the first Pacific Crest Trail casualty. A man in his 20s, face flushed red from heat, watched us approach with clear embarrassment. He sat in a small patch of shade next […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2015: Little Big Bird
The Latest: Boulder-White Clouds in Idaho becomes wilderness
Congress gives the highest protection to the area — to avoid an even-larger national monument.
Posted inArticles
How the Point Reyes oyster battles challenged our idea of wilderness
Review of a new book, ‘Oyster War’ by Summer Brennan.