High Country News

Two weeks in the West

Two weeks in the very arid West means dry ski slopes, destructive wildfires, unending drought and unhappy bears; timber mills are victims of housing collapse; costs of carbon dioxide and its removal.

by Jonathan Thompson, Dec 10, 2007
Trapped by fire on a mountain lookout

Dixie Boyle recalls the Trigo Fire, which came unnervingly close to the lookout she staffed in the Manzano Mountains of New Mexico.

by Dixie Boyle, Sep 24, 2008
Fire, fire everywhere

Despite the growing threat of Western wildfire, most of us are still pretending it will go away if we just ignore it.

by Jonathan Thompson , Sep 02, 2008
Change we could believe in

How to fix the West by consolidating land agencies and charging people to build in Stupid Zones.

by Ed Quillen, Dec 22, 2008
Fire and ancient forests belong together

Matthew Koehler says that fire and old-growth forests are longtime allies, not natural foes.

by Matthew Koehler, Jan 15, 2009
This is the time to make land management make sense

Ed Quillen has suggestions for how to fix the West by consolidating the federal land agencies and charging people to build in Stupid Zones.

by Ed Quillen, Dec 22, 2008
Two weeks in the West

The West is on fire; Dick Cheney exposed; toning down RS-2477; and firefighting statistics

by Jonathan Thompson, Jul 23, 2007
Can the Forest Service get back on track?

Recovering integrity and efficiency after President Bush leaves office.

by Chris Wood, Nov 06, 2008
(Don't) Let it burn

A "temporary" policy change requires Forest Service firefighters to put out fires they might have let burn in previous years, for fear of them raging out of control.

by Emily Guerin , Sep 02, 2012
A Wyoming forest yearns to burn

Bill Sniffin warns that Wyoming’s Shoshone National Forest is ready to go up in flames.

by Bill Sniffin, Aug 06, 2007