What do we owe wildland firefighters?
Vacancies, of course, limit how much federal firefighters can do. If Western communities want to be protected, they need to ensure that their firefighters receive better pay and benefits.
MoreIf you see racism, call it out
Black Americans get a lot of messages about who matters and who does not in this country, and the question…
Dixie National Forest
MorePlease don’t pet the wildlife
“I can’t believe that person is getting that close.” Just off the road stands a bull elk — a 700-pound…
MoreChaco Culture National Park is under siege
It is not an exaggeration to say that New Mexico’s Chaco Culture National Historical Park is under siege. A surge…
MoreIt’s time to stop shipping water across the Rockies
It was 1952 when the cities of Aurora and Colorado Springs first started gobbling up water rights in a remote,…
10,000 year old high altitude fen slated for drowning by Colorado Springs and Augora, CO
MoreHow I learned to love maggots
If you’re one of those people who composts everything you can think of because you want to build up your…
Black Soldier Flies in author, David Marston’s hand
MoreWelcome to Yosemite, the new Pyrocene Park
The Pleistocene epoch that began 2.6 million years ago sent ice in waves through Yosemite. Glaciers gouged out great valleys…
Photo by Laurel Balyeat, Yosemite Park
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…
MoreA close encounter with wolves and fear
This summer, three of us were hiking in Alaska’s western Brooks Range when we encountered a pack of eight wolves….
Image by Milo Weiler, via Unsplash
MoreThe Colorado River is sending a message
The region lived without them before, and it can live without them again. Now, nature is forcing our hand, telling us that it’s time to breach the dam and let the Colorado River run free.
Image above of Willow Creek Canyon once a popular side canyon for boaters. Now a sandy wash. Image courtesy of Glen Canyon Institute staff.
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
MoreTwo Western states act to control methane
Gated methane vent pad in Sunshine Roadless area above Paonia, CO. Methane originates in active Arch Resources coal mine. This collection of vents makes Arch the third biggest greenhouse gas polluter in Colorado.
MoreWilling workers are right at the border
Photo by Barbara Zandoval via Unsplash
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