Columns

Categories

Archives

Some people just like to get things done

By John Clayton

Although I’ve lived in a small Western town for 30 years now, I have never known much about one of…

More

A Colorado reservoir gets ready for an epic snowmelt

By Dave Marston

Reservoir manager Ken Beck says wryly that he has lots of water coming his way, “and I need a hole…

Ken Beck at the Pine River Irrigation headquarters

More

A dancing bird finally gets some protection

By John Horning

What I remember most about that dark early morning of crouching on the prairie is the rhythmic sound of pounding….

Lesser Prairie Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) performing dancing or “drumming” on a lek (mating display), in northern Oklahoma, USA.

More

No one wants to collide with a deer

By Pepper Trail

A deer stands paralyzed in the middle of a mountain highway, stunned by the lights and deafening roar of an…

Moose crossing on highway animal wildlife overpass. On the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park.

More

When giants fall, we need to listen

By Joe Stone

“God has cared for these trees …but he cannot save them from fools.”— John Muir In just two years, wildfire…

More

Let’s tell the truth about those big, bad wolves

By Story Warren

The return of wolves to the West has always been contentious, and the deaths last fall of more than 40…

Hans Veth via Unsplash

More

Chronicle of an abandoned oil and gas well — one of millions

By Jonathan Thompson
Abandoned well, Jonathan Thompson image

Even from a distance it’s clear that an oil and gas well called “State Senate #2” in New Mexico has…

Abandoned well, Jonathan Thompson image

More

Colorado is conflicted about cutting its water use

By Dave Marston

In Colorado, farmers must enroll in a four-state program by March 1, if they want to get paid for fallowing…

Tom Kay in front of his John Deere tractor, image: Dave Marston

More

It’s do or die for the Great Salt Lake

By Stephen Trimble

Last November, the Great Salt Lake, iconic landmark of the Great Basin Desert, fell to its lowest surface elevation ever…

Antelope Island Looking Over Great Salt Lake, photo courtesy of Michael Shoemaker

More

Backcountry adventurers know they’re taking chances

By Molly Absolon

Six people have died in avalanches in the United States since the snow started to fly this fall. Every year,…

Five backcountry skiers cross a avalanche path while hiking outside of Jackson Hole Resort, Wyoming.

More

The West is an exploiter’s paradise

By Richard Knight

High on a mesa where everyone can see it, a trophy house is going up in the northern Colorado valley…

Outside Capitol Reef, photo courtesy of Michael Shoemaker

More

The housing crisis is harming my town

By Tim Lydon

In Girdwood, Alaska, we’ll long remember the snowstorm of Dec. 6, just three months ago. But it won’t be for…

Girdwood Valley courtesy of Nathan Searles

More

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Once a week you’ll receive an email with a link to our weekly column along with profiles of our writers, beside quirky photos submitted from folks like you. Don’t worry we won’t sell our list or bombard you with daily mail.