Columns

When snow runoff is low, so are our spirits

At this time of year in Western Colorado, my friends and I watch rivers. We’re eagerly anticipating a bruising spring…

With fellow paddlers back in the day of heavy runoff, Auden Schendler, right, celebrates after running a river, courtesy Auden Schendler

The West heads for wildfires unprepared

The West is staring down a dangerous wildfire year. A dry winter and historically low snowpack have set the stage…

Calwood Fire outside Boulder Colorado, courtesy Malachi Brooks on Unsplash

Dismantling the U.S. Forest Service harms public lands and communities

When I led the Bureau of Land Management under President Biden, the hardest part of my job was reassembling the…

San Isabel National Forest, Nathrop, Colorado, Dave Marston photo

A Colorado town waits for a water crisis

Right now, Durango has 10 to 30 days of water stored in its Terminal Reservoir, which holds 267 acre-feet. That’s annual water consumption for about 600 households; Durango has over 9,000 households

Lake Nighthorse, near Durango, Colorado on May 26, 2023. Thanks to lighthawk.org for the aerial support. ©Mitch Tobin Usage rights are granted for editorial and nonprofit purposes only. No commercial or re-sale rights are granted without permission of the photographer. https://waterdesk.org/multimedia/license/

When mountain lion management turns to quackery

This year, in what it calls a “study,” Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources is killing off mountain lions in an effort…

Every kind of Thanksgiving

On a recent walk through the woods of southern Oregon, I found myself thinking about my feelings of gratitude as…

Storms trigger a humanitarian disaster in western Alaska

Powerful back-to-back storms have ravaged dozens of mostly Alaska Native communities in western Alaska: Approximately 2,000 people were displaced, and…

survivors of ex-Typhoon Halong file onto C-17 military transport plan in Bethel for transport to Anchorage

The West is on fire as Washington fans the flames

This summer, millions of Americans are hiking, camping, fishing and making lifelong memories in our national parks, forests and other…

Coal gets a boost as renewables are gutted

A few years back, my friend Norm told me that when he was growing up in northern New Mexico in…

Public land goes back on the chopping block

The radical notion of selling off public lands is back. And this time it seems that only the Congress can…

T. A. Barron

Must we kill one species to save another?

Barred owls, with their vivid brown stripes, are acting like bullies of the forest in the Northwest, driving their smaller…

Protect the firefighters who protect our homes and forests

You probably don’t see wildland firefighters on the job because they usually work in remote areas. But with wildfires moving…

Federal firefighters digging a fire line, photo courtesy National Interagency Fire Center