Columns

Categories

Archives

Before you sleep on the ground, read this

By Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff

What fun: You’re going on a guided outdoor trip. As you get ready, here are some tips from actual guides…

Backpackers in the White Goat Wilderness, Alberta, Canada

More

Ditch “inefficiencies” give us wetlands

By Richard Knight

Imagine Westerners waking up one morning only to discover that many of their most cherished wetlands have dried up, gone….

Since 1917, five generations have lived along the Animas Consolidated Ditch outside of Durango, CO, Patty Zink pictured, courtesy Dave Marston

More

An ugly tower threatens Bears Ears National Monument

By Mark Maryboy

My Navajo homeland is the great expanse of land between four sacred mountains in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah….

More

Road failure in Wyoming reveals a housing crisis

By Molly Absolon

I live in Victor, Idaho—one of Jackson, Wyoming’s, bedroom communities. Every day, roughly 3,400 Idaho residents drive over Teton Pass…

Photo courtesy Wyoming Dept. of Transportation

More

It’s a perfect storm for fire insurance

By Dave Marston

Westerners have begun looking at their homes differently these days. Are those trees too close? Should I move all that…

House in Douglas County, CO, courtesy Lena Deravianko, Unsplash

More

In small towns, bookstores are thriving

By John Clayton

“I love to spend my day in a bookstore,” said Amy Sweet. She lives in Red Lodge, Montana, and was…

beartooth books, Red Lodge, Montana, John Clayton

More

What Aspen can teach us

By Jacob Richards

Back in the ‘90s, when writer Hunter S. Thompson held court at the Woody Creek Tavern just outside of Aspen,…

More

We won’t forget what happened 101 years ago

By Shaun Ketchum Jr.

One hundred and one years ago, my Ute ancestors were forced to live within a barbed-wire camp in Blanding, a…

La Sal Range in Northern San Juan County, Utah, courtesy Wikimedia Commons

More

Hunting is a valuable tool in managing lions

By Andrew Carpenter

Asking the public to decide if it’s a good idea to ban hunting mountain lions and bobcats is no way…

Mountain lion, courtesy Writers on the Range

More

Bobcats need protection, not killing for their pelts

By Ted Williams

Unlike the rest of modern wildlife management, killing bobcats is unregulated, driven not by science but by fur prices. We’re…

Bobcat caught in a trap, photo courtesy of Animal Wellness Action

More

How did so much stuff pile up?

By Rich Wandschneider

A few years ago, I turned a carport into a bedroom. But first I had to empty out the books,…

Adam Winger, Unsplash, Logan Utah

More

Building a huge park is anything but easy

By Dave Marston

Marc Katz is a retired entrepreneur who lives part-time in Durango, Colorado, a town of 19,000 people who all seem…

More

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

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Once a week you’ll receive an email with a link to our weekly column along with profiles of our writers, beside quirky photos submitted from folks like you. Don’t worry we won’t sell our list or bombard you with daily mail.