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Report from Burning Man 2023

By Dennis Hinkamp

After a quiet year of preparation and premature eulogies, Burning Man roared into the news this August. There were unplanned…

BM Build Day 3/credit Dennis Hinkamp

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We can help shape this Utah monument

By Jonathan Thompson

When President Joe Biden restored the original boundaries of both Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments in 2021, public-land…

Grand Staircase Escalante, Unsplash/Halie West

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There’s such a thing as trail etiquette

By Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff

The uppermost switchback on the Bright Angel Trail in Grand Canyon National Park is eight feet wide. Yet the last…

Bright Angel Trail, NPS/Ty Karlovetz

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Women shouldn’t be second-class citizens

By Crista Worthy

I felt like a second-class citizen when the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion last summer. After a…

Idaho State Capitol, Wikimedia commons

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Requiem for the Joshua tree

By Pepper Trail

Disheveled, gangly, the Joshua tree is surely one of the West’s strangest — and most recognizable — plants.  Named by…

Conglomerate Mesa, Photo by Louis Medina, Friends of the Inyo

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John Fielder, the man who loved natural beauty

By Betsy Marston

If you’ve ever bought a calendar or coffee table book featuring the grandeur of Colorado’s 14’ers, the stunning color photographs…

John Fielder, credit Gary Wockner/Save the Colorado

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Wildland firefighters need our support

By Gregory Mcnamee

At any given moment during this smoky summer of 2023, hundreds of wildfires were blazing in the United States —…

Calwood fire, near Jamestown Colorado, by Malachi Brooks, via Unsplash

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Tips for a new Westerner

By Betsy Marston

Hurray, you’ve moved to the rural West from a crowded subdivision or city where the traffic has become an out-of-patience…

Reno Nevada Mutton bustin’ photo by Cornelius Photography

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A dogged reporter covers our roiling world

By Dave Marston

Usually seen with a camera slung around his neck, Allen Best edits a one-man online journalism shop he calls Big…

Allen Best at work

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The problem that just won’t go away

By Stephen Trimble

When I read the Salt Lake Tribune editorial on July 2, my heart sank. A Utah man with severe mental…

Ante Samarzija via Unsplash

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Alaska needs to value its live bears

By Wendy Keefover

Grizzly bears in Alaska, called brown bears, that live around the town of Bethel, population 6,325, should have a good…

Grizzly bear on the beach, Alaska, USA

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Too many tourists follow a leader

By Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff

A spectacular picture recently appeared on social media of a young lady in Arizona. She was poised on the edge…

spencer backman, via unsplash

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