What westerners cared about in 2024
Writers on the Range, an independent opinion service based in western Colorado, sent out close to 50 weekly opinion columns…
MoreObservations of a fire lookout
The writers Edward Abbey, Gary Snyder and Norman McLean all staffed high-elevation fire lookouts in the West—their experiences rich fuel for their work. But Jack Kerouac’s reaction makes…
MoreOld fire lookout towers find renewed purpose
There’s a small wooden cabin at the top of Northwest Peak, a few miles from Montana’s borders with Idaho and…
MoreImagine a river more fascinating than football
Imagine a best-selling, 900-page novel using “a sad, bewildered nothing of a river” as its centerpiece, connecting the earth’s geologic…
South Platte at 52 bridge image by Laura Perry, courtesy USGS
MoreLet’s scrap the stigma of mental illness
Even though one in five Americans is estimated to suffer from mental health illness, talk about mental health in the…
MorePublic land protectors are ready for a fight
President Donald Trump’s first term was a disaster for America’s public lands. While the prospects for his second term are…
The Citadel, Bears Ears National Monument, Dave Marston photo
MoreNature is becoming unreliable
Twice a year, I hike a favorite trail in Oregon’s Cascade Range. I have done this for over 20 years,…
MoreThe Trump triumph portends an economic fallout
As I watched Donald Trump arrive at an astounding victory election night, I was struck by his strong turnout in…
MoreGrizzly 399 was a bear for the ages
She was 28 years old and dealt with aplomb the hordes of picture-taking tourists and repeated motherhood. When she was…
Bear 399 with cubs Thomas Mangelsen:Images of Nature Gallery
MoreAcidic mine drainage haunts Western rivers
It was the summer of 2015 when the Animas River in southern Colorado turned such a garish orange-gold that it…
Reid Christopher in font of textile bags, mining ruins in background, Gladstone Treatment Plant, San Miguel County, CO. Dave Marston photojpg
MoreHow to learn where we live
I was driving on Montana’s Highway 89 just as fall began showing up at one of my favorite spots for…
MoreWyoming shoots itself in the foot
This summer, the Biden administration offered Wyoming $35 million to help the state plug and clean up abandoned oil and…
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