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The Mog Squad

In the quest for the ultimate firefighting machine, the BLM in Nevada has turned to some very big, very strange, and very foreign vehicles.
The old man and the stream

A brief encounter with an elderly fisherman moves W.S. Robinson to think about the mysteries of life and death -- and fathers and sons.
All along the watchtower

Andrew McNair, who works weekends at a computer in Olympia, Wash., is not your typical Western firefighter.
Not even the privileged can deter a porcupine

Judy Muller contemplates the humble porcupine, which is wreaking havoc among pricey houses in Telluride Mountain Village.
Portrait of a threatened land

In Travels in the Greater Yellowstone, Jack Turner celebrates and fights for the preservation of an incredible but endangered landscape.

More Letters

Riparian repair

River restorationists tackle the Clark Fork River near Milltown, Mont., in a project that demonstrates how hard it is to revive a damaged waterway.
An unlikely Shangri-la

Steve and Marc Jenson have ambitious plans to turn a failed ski resort near Beaver, Utah, into a private enclave for the ultra-rich, but not everyone is thrilled about the idea.
Crash of the cottonwoods

Across the West, cottonwoods are dying, and no one is sure how to save these iconic trees.
Going to the gasroots

In western Colorado, oil and gas companies mobilize in a publicity blitz to pack a Grand Junction hearing about proposed changes to the state’s natural gas drilling rules.

politics & policy September 2, 2008 by Staff
Winning the West

It's the Republicans' turn to grasp for the swing vote
politics & policy September 1, 2008 by Matt Jenkins
The Mog Squad

The quest for the ultimate weapon against fire
water August 27, 2008 by Cleo Woelfle-Erskine
Riparian repair

Clark Fork River project shows difficulty of reviving a damaged waterway
politics & policy August 20, 2008 by Eric Peterson
Braving the political winds

EPA official Robbie Roberts took a stand against unbridled energy development
politics & policy August 19, 2008 by Ray Ring
Democrats borrow from Madison Avenue

Denver offers an iconic Western backdrop and the message that "this is not your father's party."

Size matters if you go for “green” bragging rights

Monique Cole wonders if a 6,500-square-foot “green-powered” McMansion is a contradiction in terms.
Zane Grey’s West: Longing for the way it never was

When she was 10 years old, Marty Durlin fell in the love with the romantic landscapes and purple prose of Western writer Zane Grey’s classic novels.
A town’s downtown is the new (old) way to live

Bill Croke celebrates his brand-new, old-fashioned lifestyle: living upstairs in an old brick building in downtown Salmon, Idaho.
Not even the privileged can deter a porcupine

Judy Muller contemplates the humble porcupine, which is wreaking havoc among pricey houses in Telluride Mountain Village.
Two weeks in the West

A mixed fire season in the West this summer; Forest Service runs out of firefighting money; solar power plants and wind farms may help take the heat off; fire sale of energy leases on Colorado’s Roan Plateau.
All along the watchtower

Andrew McNair, who works weekends at a computer in Olympia, Wash., is not your typical Western firefighter.
Fifty summers and 360 degrees

Nancy Hood has spent 50 of her 70 summers watching for fires from lonely lookouts in the smoky Siskiyou Mountains of Northern California.

More hcn today

RNC '08
To our friends at grist.org

In which I throw down the gauntlet on clean-coal schwag.
RNC '08
Getting enough outside time?

For Palin, the glories of Alaska seem to exist mostly in Photoshop.
RNC '08
Palin's identity politics

VP pick tries to convince rural America to vote for one of its own.
The GOAT Blog
Score one for whistleblowers

A former BLM staffer will get back pay and benefits after the agency illegally canned him for speaking out.
RNC '08
You mean drill in St. Paul?

Convention attendee advocates a little-known oil and gas field.

Roan on the auction block

The BLM auctioned leases on 54,631 acres in Western Colorado to the natural gas industry for a record $114 million.
War of Fog

UPDATED: An audio slideshow illustrating the rise of an epidemic amidst an ongoing cultural struggle.
Slideshow: Wild horses go wanting

BLM auction draws few bidders
Slideshow: Ultra runner Nikki Kimball

Anne Sherwood's photos of ultra runner Nikki Kimball, who finds sublime summits and hellish depths in 100-mile endurance contests.

Size matters if you go for “green” bragging rights

Monique Cole wonders if a 6,500-square-foot “green-powered” McMansion is a contradiction in terms.
Two weeks in the West

A mixed fire season in the West this summer; Forest Service runs out of firefighting money; solar power plants and wind farms may help take the heat off; fire sale of energy leases on Colorado’s Roan Plateau.

Riparian repair

River restorationists tackle the Clark Fork River near Milltown, Mont., in a project that demonstrates how hard it is to revive a damaged waterway.
Measuring Tahoe’s blues

Jon Christensen accompanies scientists trying to measure the opacity and “blueness” of Lake Tahoe.

More Water

Zane Grey’s West: Longing for the way it never was

When she was 10 years old, Marty Durlin fell in the love with the romantic landscapes and purple prose of Western writer Zane Grey’s classic novels.
A town’s downtown is the new (old) way to live

Bill Croke celebrates his brand-new, old-fashioned lifestyle: living upstairs in an old brick building in downtown Salmon, Idaho.

Going backwards: building an oil refinery in South Dakota

"Dirtiest oil on earth" to be processed in "green" facility, using 10 million gallons of water from Missouri River aquifer.
Roan on the auction block

The BLM auctioned leases on 54,631 acres in Western Colorado to the natural gas industry for a record $114 million.

More Energy

Zane Grey’s West: Longing for the way it never was

When she was 10 years old, Marty Durlin fell in the love with the romantic landscapes and purple prose of Western writer Zane Grey’s classic novels.
A town’s downtown is the new (old) way to live

Bill Croke celebrates his brand-new, old-fashioned lifestyle: living upstairs in an old brick building in downtown Salmon, Idaho.

The old man and the stream

A brief encounter with an elderly fisherman moves W.S. Robinson to think about the mysteries of life and death -- and fathers and sons.
Under the asphalt a rumor thrives

In Grand Junction Colo. a team of investigators excavate a downtown parking lot in search of an old safe supposedly buried a century ago.

More Essays

An unforgettable journey

In his second novel, So Brave, So Young, So Handsome, Leif Enger takes the reader on a journey across the American West, circa 1915.
Portrait of a threatened land

In Travels in the Greater Yellowstone, Jack Turner celebrates and fights for the preservation of an incredible but endangered landscape.