New from Writers on the Range

“The jacket of a popular author’s book says that she lives on a ‘40-acre ranch.’

No real rancher would care to make that statement. Similarly, only uninformed journalists could write, ‘Sen. Jones lives on his 10-acre emu ranch.’ The correct way to write that sentence would be, ‘Mr. Jones lives outside town with his emus.’

Forty acres, 10 acres — those are homesites in the West, not ranches.”

So grouses Wyoming rancher and writer Linda Hasselstrom. Check out her latest Writers on the Range column: “Real ranches don’t have ‘ette’ in their name” at www.hcn.org/opinion.jsp.

New from Radio HCN

Don’t miss Radio High Country News’ three-part coverage of fire in the West. The first show, “Fanning the Flames: Does Forest Fire Policy Ignore Fire Science?” features a field report from Idaho correspondent Guy Hand. Go to www.hcn.org/radio.jsp.