Ditch “inefficiencies” give us wetlands
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
MoreAn invitation to play the climate-change game
Let’s play a game, the climate-change game that every living thing on Earth has no choice but to play, starting…
Dead Horse State Park, Moab, Utah, Andres Haro, Unsplash
MorePepper Trail: There’s so much worth saving
For a long time, climate change was largely perceived as a distant threat. But Oregon biologist Pepper Trail, 70, who…
MoreGlen Canyon Dam has created a world of mud
When the San Juan River flows out of the San Juan Mountains in Southwestern Colorado, it contributes 15% of Lake…
Calving sediment below Clay Hills, UT San Juan River, courtesy Chad Niehaus
MoreEnergy guru says energy gap can be bridged
The experts tell us an energy gap looms. Fossil fuels are phasing out, and solar and wind power can’t produce…
MoreA terrible dilemma faces the Great Basin
The long drive between Salt Lake City, Utah and Reno, Nevada on Interstate 80 feels endless, the landscape timeless. But…
Toquima Range from Monitor Valley, Nevada, Steve Trimble photo
MoreWhat did Westerners care about in 2023?
This past year, Writers on the Range, an independent opinion service based in western Colorado, sent out 52 weekly opinion…
Arches National Park, image courtesy Writers on the Range
MoreSki bum culture hits reality
Nearly two decades ago, I moved to the mountains to be a ski bum, chasing snow. I was a stereotype—an…
Robson Hatsukami Morgan, via Unsplash
Morea warning from the snowbirds
No, this isn’t about those folks who spend their winters in Arizona or Florida. The snowbird behind this warning is…
Cristina Glebova; courtesy Unsplash
MoreLive rough and know the real world
Guides in the outdoor industry inevitably come up with collective nicknames for customers. On horseback they’re “dudes,” on the river…
MoreReport 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
More
