Report from Burning Man 2023

After a quiet year of preparation and premature eulogies, Burning Man roared into the news this August. There were unplanned…
BM Build Day 3/credit Dennis Hinkamp
MoreRequiem for the Joshua tree

Disheveled, gangly, the Joshua tree is surely one of the West’s strangest — and most recognizable — plants. Named by…
Conglomerate Mesa, Photo by Louis Medina, Friends of the Inyo
MoreWildland firefighters need our support

At any given moment during this smoky summer of 2023, hundreds of wildfires were blazing in the United States —…
Calwood fire, near Jamestown Colorado, by Malachi Brooks, via Unsplash
MoreA dogged reporter covers our roiling world

Usually seen with a camera slung around his neck, Allen Best edits a one-man online journalism shop he calls Big…
Allen Best at work
MoreRestoring the land can feel a lot like fun

Driving back to Colorado State University with a van full of students after a day of working to heal some…
Autumn at a cattle ranch in Colorado near Ridgway – County Road 12, Craig Zerbe Photo
MoreFarmington, a city in need of a jolt

The good news these days about Farmington, New Mexico, is that the air looks clear. That’s a huge change. For…
Blue skies over the closed San Juan Generating Station, Mike Eisenfeld photo
MoreKilling fish to save frogs

By Ted Williams Shortly after World War II, California fish managers had a brainstorm: They loaded juvenile trout into airplanes…
Yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa), courtesy USGS
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…
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
MoreWhat a long strange trip to kill four dams

Finally, after a 50-year effort, four massive dams on the Klamath River in northern California and Oregon will start coming…
Copco No. 1 dam Photo Credit Michael Wier
MoreThe “energy gap” nobody wants to tussle with

Many Western states have declared they will achieve all-renewable electrical goals in just two decades. Call me naïve, but haven’t…
Clouds over a windmill farm near Oakley, Kansas
MoreComing soon, the Apocalypse, maybe

Just about every video game, young adult novel and buzz-worthy streaming series agree that we need to prepare for a…
Photo by Intricate Explorer, Via Unsplash
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