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Urban-rural divide is alive and well

By Allen Best

“The annual Western Stock Show puts cowboy hats in high-end restaurants and strip joints alike.”

Photograph by Allen Best, outside of Akron, CO

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An isolated area gets the vaccine job done

By Dave Marston

“The two small counties, including the indigenous community of the Southern Ute Nation, were ready when 4,000 of those doses—10% of the state’s total—arrived.”

Photograph by Fadil Fauzi, courtesy of Unsplash

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Dying for powder

By Molly Absolon

“I don’t know anyone who’s stood at the top of a slope and thought, ‘Well, this could kill me, but it’s going to be epic powder skiing!’”

Photograph by Jan Kronies, courtesy of Unsplash

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We can act now to fight wildfires

By Harrison Raine

“In 2020, the highest we got to anywhere, was a D2 — Severe Drought. Now we are looking at D3 — D4 — Extreme and Exceptional Drought across much of the West and almost all of the Southwest.”

Cameron Peak Fire, Near Red Feather Lakes, Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado – 2020 Image courtesy of Harrison Raine

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An Idaho congressman aims to dump dams

By Rocky Barker

Rep. Mike Simpson is a conservative Republican from Idaho whose concept of wildness in the 1990s was going into the…

Photograph courtesy of Rocky Barker

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Pumping iron became my armor

By Crista Worthy

“Within two months I was getting muscles. I have never been harassed since.”

Photograph of Crista Worth in competition shape, courtesy of Crista Worthy

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Sometimes, poison is the only thing that works

By Ted Williams

The ashy storm-petrel, threatened by mice on the Farallon Islands.

Photograph courtesy of Ted Williams

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The West badly needs a restoration economy

By Jonathan Thompson

“Restoration work is not fixing beautiful machinery … It is accepting an abandoned responsibility,”

Photograph courtesy of Allan Nash, open pit coal mine in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin

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Billionaire mine owner leaves a tiny town in the lurch

By Dave Marston

“..a visitor to the town notices abandoned cars parked willy-nilly and piles of junk that look as old as the town itself. “

Photograph Courtesy of Somerset Water District website

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“Gun nut” has a warning

By Brian Sexton

“The so-called patriots of today risk the very rights they’ve pledged to uphold with their lives.”

Image courtesy of STNGR industries

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“Look at me” culture leaves too many marks

By Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff

“The pioneers endured drought, famine, disease, and death in order to reach the West and scratch their names on the wall.”

Photograph by Lloyd Bunk, courtesy of Unsplash

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Conservative Republican has a personal mission

By Ron Keine

“I’m living proof of why people should not trust their government with the death penalty”

Photograph by Damir Spanic, courtesy of 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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