Writers on the Range

Living in a dark place has its benefits

A roundup of changes in the agricultural arena

Caring for the land transcends politics

Alaska conservation act was innovative step

Remembering a mother through her desserts.

During the first half of the 20th century, the mines in Butte, Mont., were the most dangerous in the world. The work was tough, and the immigrants who did the work were even tougher, a quality that served them well underground but wasn’t always the right tool for the job aboveground. Heavy drinking was common. […]

Now that it’s harder than ever to make a living in the rural West, we locals have to tap into our inner entrepreneur to survive. Hard work is still important, but creativity and judicious copying help a lot, too. Just use your imagination…. For example, Samantha Fox of Twisp, Wash., grew up in a deer-hunting […]

Hunting season just closed here in Montana, and I oiled my rifle for its annual winter hibernation. After all, hunting regulations — and the law in general — are something I respect. It’s too bad that more community leaders out West fail to grasp that fundamental tenet of citizenship. In central Idaho last month, a […]

Let’s get one thing straight: The EPA’s plan to limit greenhouse-gas emissions from standing sources is nothing radical. States may sue, a bipartisan swarm of senators may politick to stop it, and energy lobbyists may fret about jobs and the economy, but no matter what the alarmists say, the rule won’t shut anyone down. It […]

I paddle to a favorite meadow with my friend, Solan. It’s late summer in southeast Alaska, when the tall grasses are turning yellow and the mountaintops are lost in clouds. Coming ashore, we step over dead salmon dragged from the stream by bears. Walking toward the stream, I talk about the time I watched a […]