In the Grand Canyon, pack in some common sense.
Writers on the Range
Posted inArticles
The new Malheur occupants: Grazing cattle
The Bundy clan may be in jail, but ranchers continue to take advantage of the refuge.
Posted inArticles
Tribes band together to fight an oil pipeline
The Standing Sioux protest in North Dakota reverberates around the world.
Posted inArticles
In Northern New Mexico, a piñon-nut culture is vanishing
A warming climate hits piñon pines — and the community that harvests them.
Posted inArticles
Consider the vole, endangered and adorable
How a collective effort is protecting one of the most endangered mammals in the nation.
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 inSeptember 5, 2016: When the Doctor is Out
An electric-power giant is poised to fail
A radical change could be coming to the way electric co-ops across the country do business.
Posted inArticles
Salmon supporters win again in court
Washington will have to fix up culverts that block fish passage.
Posted inArticles
Partisan politics are pulling my town apart
Can lessons from ecology offer a way to find common ground in our polarized nation?
Posted inArticles
Don’t let Bears Ears go the way of Moab
Industrial tourism has transformed the town. Bears Ears doesn’t have to suffer the same fate.
Posted inArticles
Have farmers markets been spoiled by their own success?
People go to farmers markets for many reasons. The jovial, wholesome atmosphere makes people feel good about their communities and the hard work put in by area farmers. Sometimes, we even want to buy something. But actually purchasing food is becoming an increasingly rare act, according to a recent Washington Post article. As one grower […]
Posted inArticles
Why does the outdoor recreation community ignore horseback riders?
We love and make use of our public lands, but we get no respect.
Posted inAugust 8, 2016: Line of Descent
Sometimes, the West must be protected from itself
Today, we need to listen more carefully than ever to the ideas of Western historian, Bernard DeVoto.
Posted inArticles
How my adopted daughter made peace with the outdoors
If our daughter couldn’t tolerate nature, how would we integrate her into our world?
Posted inArticles
Outdoor outfitters can’t stay quiet on climate change
The industry is short-changing millions of visitors at a time when dialogue is needed.
Posted inArticles
Let’s be clear: TSA’s new tactics are bribery
A new program lets you cut in line at security, for a fee.
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
How Leonard Peltier has unjustly spent forty years in prison — and why it’s time to change that
So much time has passed that many Americans have forgotten, if they ever knew, what happened to an American Indian named Leonard Peltier, who has spent more than 40 years confined in various federal penitentiaries. This summer, a group of his family members and friends are traveling the country in an attempt to salvage what […]
Posted inArticles
Federal coal leasing needs a major overhaul
The winds of change are blowing hard across our Western coalfields. Competition from cheaper fuels such as natural gas, wind and solar has dampened domestic demand for coal. This trend ‒ plus a bust in export markets after a brief boom ‒ has driven five major coal companies into bankruptcy court. There, they seek protection […]
Posted inArticles
There’s no Brexit from our climate problems
A rant against the mindless pleasure of simply smashing something to see what happens.
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
In this season of potential megaburns, nix the campfire
In 1972, Grand Canyon National Park outlawed campfires in the backcountry. Backpackers like me considered this an outrage. After all, the only people who carried those fancy little stoves back then were people incapable of building a fire. I bring this up because we are living through another explosive fire season in the West. Of […]