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A teenager who was killed should still be with us

By Matt Witt

If you think that race is only an issue in the country’s biggest cities, consider a murder trial that recently…

Andrea Woffard, Ellison’s mother, speaks MATT WITT

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Farmington, a city in need of a jolt

By Dave Marston

The good news these days about Farmington, New Mexico, is that the air looks clear. That’s a huge change. For…

Blue skies over the closed San Juan Generating Station, Mike Eisenfeld photo

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Guns have changed everything, especially childhood

By Laura Pritchett

I learned to shoot on the family ranch, as ranch kids are wont to do. My gun education was furthered…

AR-15 Free Float VLCN M-Lok Handguard + STNGR Axiom Red Dot Sight Photo by STNGR Industries on Unsplash

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Old bones can be a small town’s movie stars

By Adam Larson

The prehistoric past can perk up the present. When woolly mammoth bones were found in my hometown in Wisconsin years…

Allosaurus jimmadseni, courtesy NPS

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Killing fish to save frogs

By Ted Williams

By Ted Williams Shortly after World War II, California fish managers had a brainstorm: They loaded juvenile trout into airplanes…

Yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa), courtesy USGS

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Land exchanges serve the wealthy

By Erica Rosenberg

In 2017, the public lost 1,470 acres of wilderness-quality land at the base of Mount Sopris near Aspen, Colorado. For…

Old growth Ponderosa pine on public land that would be transferred to private ownership in proposed Valle Seco land trade, photo courtesy of Colorado Wild Public Lands

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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…

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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

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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

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What others are saying See More

The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, Colorado places a premium on content that examines management of public lands and natural resources. We’re big fans of Writers on the Range. The contributors come from all walks of life, but their column always hit home with our readers, for whom access to public lands is an important part of the lifestyle in western Colorado. Cutbacks to the newsroom have seriously hampered our coverage of the environment. Most often these stories are best told by people who have first-hand experience dealing with a particular challenges — from loving favorite trails to death to rebuilding coal communities or threats to the sagebrush sea. Writers on the Range consistently identifies problems and solutions in a thorough and engaging way. We need more of this kind of advocacy journalism on our opinion pages because it fosters understanding and dialogue about the unique living conditions in the American West.

Andy Smith, Opinion Page Editor
Grand Junction Sentinel, Grand Junction, CO

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