What really affects hunting in the West

A disgruntled hunter wrote a Writers on the Range opinion recently about Westerners getting fed up with the many out-of-staters…
MoreLive rough and know the real world

Guides in the outdoor industry inevitably come up with collective nicknames for customers. On horseback they’re “dudes,” on the river…
MorePulling thistles, sowing hope

For the past few years I’ve participated in “Thistle Thursdays,” targeting a popular trail near Jackson, Wyoming. The weekly weed…
musk-thistle-bloom
MoreFarewell to two radicals with a common goal – changing the West

The West lost two larger-than-life conservationists this year, and while I considered both friends, they couldn’t have been more different….
Sid Goodloe and wife Cheryl
MoreAre beavers always the answer? Not really

Beavers, through their assiduous dam building, can recharge groundwater and provide habitat for fish and wildlife. In the Pacific Northwest,…
MoreRequiem for the Joshua tree

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
MoreJohn Fielder, the man who loved natural beauty

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
MoreA dancing bird finally gets some protection

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.
MoreWhen giants fall, we need to listen

“God has cared for these trees …but he cannot save them from fools.”— John Muir In just two years, wildfire…
MoreChronicle of an abandoned oil and gas well — one of millions

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
MorePublic land — a true blessing

At every Thanksgiving dinner, my family asks everyone around the table to say what they’re grateful for. It puts new…
Green River from White-Rim in Canyonlands National Park near Moab UT Oct.-2022 credit Dave-Marston
MoreComing soon, the Apocalypse, maybe

Just about every video game, young adult novel and buzz-worthy streaming series agree that we need to prepare for a…
Photo by Intricate Explorer, Via Unsplash
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