A Colorado reservoir gets ready for an epic snowmelt
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
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.
MoreNo one wants to collide with a deer
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.
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…
MoreLet’s tell the truth about those big, bad wolves
The return of wolves to the West has always been contentious, and the deaths last fall of more than 40…
Hans Veth via Unsplash
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
MoreColorado is conflicted about cutting its water use
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
MoreIt’s do or die for the Great Salt Lake
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
MoreBackcountry adventurers know they’re taking chances
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.
MoreThe West is an exploiter’s paradise
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
MoreThe housing crisis is harming my town
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
MoreAtmospheric rivers endanger the West
Moab, Utah, gets just eight inches of rain per year, yet rainwater flooded John Weisheit’s basement last summer. Extremes are…
Glen Canyon Dam under construction 1960-63, courtesy USBR
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