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The Universe on Blacktop

A Colorado family finds satisfaction -- and cash -- in scavenging metal for recycling.

by Laura Pritchett , Mar 17, 2009
Crown of horns

Unexpected encounters with an injured bull elk and a couple of teenage boys lead a writer to consider the meaning of fatherhood.

by Craig Childs , Mar 02, 2009
The call of the tame

Jack London devoted much of his short life to what we would now call sustainable agriculture on his beloved Beauty Ranch in California.

by Anne Trubek, Feb 20, 2009
Carrying your own load

Sharon Levy’s friends, Kerby and Irene, lived off the grid in Northern California and taught her a lot about life.

by Sharon Levy , Feb 06, 2009
The fine art of bureaucracy

Forty years ago, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation commissioned 40 artists to document -- and glorify -- its dam and reservoir sites.

by Paul Lindholdt, Jan 14, 2009
For the love of stuff

A decision to buy a new car spurs thoughts of a beat-up, rusty old Datsun station wagon.

by Jeffrey A. Lockwood, Dec 23, 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
Trashing the earth, and the truth

Hal Herring relates the ugly story of how the Bush administration used its influence to try to kill a story about the impacts of energy development.

by Hal Herring, Dec 22, 2008
A word in favor of rootlessness

The author of Rogue River Journal muses on the power of place.

by John Daniel, Dec 19, 2008
Methow Homecoming

A man contemplates his relationship with a landscape that he is always loving and leaving.

by Christopher Solomon, Dec 12, 2008
Real work

The joys – and hardships – of outdoor physical work take a toll.

by Ana Maria Spagna, Nov 27, 2008
Welcome to hard times

Ed Quillen finds a silver lining behind the current economic clouds.

by Ed Quillen , Nov 17, 2008
The Doc is in

Rural folks find common ground at a vet's office in Western Colorado.

by Michelle Nijhuis, JT Thomas, Nov 14, 2008
Let it mellow

Melissa Hart remembers her eccentric, independent great-grandmother, who taught her about reuse and recycling long before it was fashionable.

by Melissa Hart, Nov 10, 2008
Mayberry and Peyton Place

Public policy has ravaged America's small towns, despite lip service by some politicians.

by Ed Quillen, Nov 07, 2008
Midnight in Montana

Dorothee Kocks tingles with joy after a night spent listening to a live jazz sextet in a northwestern Montana mining town.

by Dorothee E. Kocks, Oct 27, 2008
Religion, politics and culture

When religion tries to dominate culture and politics, it hurts all three, as seen in the battle over the rights of gay Americans.

by Jonathan Thompson , Oct 23, 2008
Bear necessities

Seth Cohen describes a close encounter with a grizzly – and an even closer encounter with grizzly-strength pepper spray.

by Seth T. Cohen, Oct 13, 2008
A Western primer

Western writers offer a generous and inspired list of recommended reading for the president-elect, including a diverse collection of fiction and nonfiction.

by Jeff Lee, Laura Pritchett, Teresa Jordan, Stephen Trimble, William Debuys, Dan Flores, Linda Hasselstrom, Barry Lopez, Rick Bass, Debra Utacia Krol, Aaron Abeyta , Sep 12, 2008
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.

by W.S. Robinson , Sep 01, 2008