Want to farm? Get a cash register

In 1991, when Lee Bradley started farming near Paonia in the North Fork Valley of Colorado, he was hired to…
Image credit: P.j. Briscoe
MoreA tale of two western counties

“Delta County has a long history of turning away stuff that ends up in Montrose County,” says Delta County Commissioner Don Suppes.
May 26, 2021 – Byron Kominek, owner of Jack’s Solar Garden, tills the soil at the farm in Longmont, Colo. Jack’s Solar Garden is a 1.2-MW, five-acre community solar farm and is the largest agrivoltaic research project in the U.S. The solar project was designed and built by Namasté Solar. (Photo by Werner Slocum / NREL)
MoreImagine a great river, flowing free

Some environmental groups and water honchos have sponsored a “Rewilding of Glen Canyon” contest, with the winner getting $4,000 “and…
MoreWind-driven fire ran until gusts died

The Marshall Fire that demolished more than 1,000 homes along the front range of Colorado two weeks ago was not…
Nasa recorded image of MM117 fire via Wildfire Today
MoreThis rancher has radical ideas about water

If Jim Howell, a fourth-generation rancher in Western Colorado, has a guru, he’s Allan Savory, the champion of intensive cattle…
MoreHow I learned to love maggots

If you’re one of those people who composts everything you can think of because you want to build up your…
Black Soldier Flies in author, David Marston’s hand
MoreLooking back to when water was plentiful

During his 50 years in rural western Colorado, Jamie Jacobson has seen a lot of flooding. While caretaking a farm…
MoreCall it Bindweed or thistle – Writers on the Range just won’t die

It sprouted again during a fall hike in 2019. Betsy, Steve Mandell, his wife, Terri, and I, agreed that Writers on the Range deserved to live again.
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash
MoreAn isolated area gets the vaccine job done

“The two small counties, including the indigenous community of the Southern Ute Nation, were ready when 4,000 of those doses—10% of the state’s total—arrived.”
Photograph by Fadil Fauzi, courtesy of Unsplash
MoreBillionaire mine owner leaves a tiny town in the lurch

“..a visitor to the town notices abandoned cars parked willy-nilly and piles of junk that look as old as the town itself. “
Photograph Courtesy of Somerset Water District website
MoreWho Calls the Shots on the Colorado River?

Once you pay for fallowed fields, you’ll end up with landowners who are investors first, like Water Asset Management.
Photograph by Jon Flobrant, courtesy of Unsplash
MoreA Move Toward Water Speculation

“Just talking about demand management has already attracted deep-pocketed investors..”
Photo by RedCharlie, Courtesy of Unsplash
MoreA Clear Warning About the Colorado River

For the West this summer, the news about water was grim. In some parts of California, it didn’t rain for…
Photograph by Ken Cheung, Courtesy of Unsplash
MoreIf the Water Goes, the Desert Moves in

“Without water, you’ve got nothing around here.”
Photograph by David Marston
MoreALMOST 70 WHEN THE VIRUS ENDED HIS JOB

Brezonick knows that the huge furnaces that burn coal are closing fast. “I don’t think coal will recover and society has turned against it,”
Photograph by Matt Brezonick
MoreA DEPRESSED TOWN FIGHTS BACK

This is a place that knows the pain of an industry cutting back.
Photograph by Jeffrey Beall, Flickr
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