Los Angeles is a wake-up call for the West—especially Durango

After fierce winds whipped fire out of brush-covered hills on January 7, entire Los Angeles neighborhoods burned down. Within a…
MoreHikers in a wilderness turn into firefighters

More frequent wildfires in the West can turn hiking through beautiful, high-elevation country into a dangerous game for hikers. In…
Abandoned Ranch buildings above a meadow of Deer Creek south of Anacanda, Montana. Picture taken in late July.
MoreIt’s a perfect storm for fire insurance

Westerners have begun looking at their homes differently these days. Are those trees too close? Should I move all that…
House in Douglas County, CO, courtesy Lena Deravianko, Unsplash
MoreGoats can be a forest’s best friend

Goats are particularly good at one thing: Eating. Unlike a horse or cow that leaves noxious weeds behind, goats eat…
Jonathan Bartley and Adrian Lacasse
MoreWildland firefighters need our support

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
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
MoreA new predator stalks the West

The grizzly bear. The wolf. The cougar. These magnificent creatures, apex predators, how can we not admire them? People cross…
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Wind-driven fire ran until gusts died

The Marshall Fire that demolished more than 1,000 homes along the front range of Colorado two weeks ago was not…
Nasa recorded image of MM117 fire via Wildfire Today
MoreTelling the truth about the way we live now

Evonne lives in a fire lookout in Oregon, and since I meet with these graduate students on Zoom, we’ve all…
Lookout tower
MoreOur new age of fire

Fire in the West is expected, and not so long ago, it seemed something the West experienced more than anywhere…
MoreWhen wildfire keeps coming back

Since January 2021, more than 6,272 fires have burned 917,000 acres in California
Smoke plume from wildfire in Boulder County, CO
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