Items by Jonathan Thompson

Brigham Young the enlightened one
The "American Moses" may have been a theocratic, autocratic zealot, but he had his moments
Jonathan Thompson Sept. 25, 2012
The great New Mexican juniper massacre
The great New Mexican juniper massacre
On public land in New Mexico, firewood-hunters have illegally cut down hundreds of old-growth juniper trees, much to the dismay of the Bureau of Land Management and environmental activists.
Jonathan Thompson Sept. 17, 2012 From the print edition
Bloodsuckers in California
Also, Russian wildland terrorists and ground squirrel invaders
Jonathan Thompson Sept. 13, 2012
Is Lake Powell really shrinking?
Drought has dealt a blow to the reservoir, but it's not drying up yet
Jonathan Thompson Sept. 12, 2012
Dark days for bovines
And for prairie dogs, too
Jonathan Thompson Sept. 6, 2012
Romney energy plan more of the same
The GOP presidential candidate becomes the gajillionth politician to tout energy independence
Jonathan Thompson Aug. 23, 2012
The two-wheeled stimulus plan
Can a big bike race make up for the loss of revenue in fire- and recession-battered towns?
Jonathan Thompson Aug. 22, 2012
Help us cover the New New West
We need your on-the-ground observations for our "communities in transition" beat
Jonathan Thompson Aug. 14, 2012
Get on the bus
The West has more mass transit than you might expect. Why aren't more (rich) people using it?
Jonathan Thompson Aug. 13, 2012
Price matters
How the natural gas glut is rippling across the economies and landscapes of the West (with charts!)
Jonathan Thompson Aug. 1, 2012
On droughts and fires past
Looking back can give us some perspective -- maybe even comfort -- in extreme times
Jonathan Thompson July 20, 2012
Three days in the Four Corners
Three days in the Four Corners
A loop around the Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah meet, leads into a land of both historical and geological friction.
Jonathan Thompson Essay July 6, 2012 From the print edition
Getting strange with land art
Watch a video that's just "a little too weird" for HCN editors!
Jonathan Thompson July 2, 2012
The Atlas of the Industrial West
The Atlas of the Industrial West
An annotated map shows you how to find some of the West's odder sites, such as old bombing ranges, giant dams, huge industrial projects and giant telescope arrays.
Jonathan Thompson June 25, 2012 From the print edition
Land art of the West: An interactive map
Land art of the West: An interactive map
A guide to some of the West's most prominent pieces of land art or earthworks and some of the altered landscapes that interested or inspired land artists.
Jonathan Thompson June 25, 2012 From the print edition
Exploring the West's land sculptures -- made by artists and industry
Exploring the West's land sculptures -- made by artists and industry
A land-art-inspired ramble takes the writer from Michael Heizer's Double Negative, to Robert Smithson's underwater Spiral Jetty, with detours to places including the Bingham Canyon copper mine.
Jonathan Thompson Essay June 25, 2012 From the print edition
Our first travel issue
Our first travel issue
We're all tourists in someone else's town, all of us just wandering through the world, so why not do a special issue on travel in the West?
Jonathan Thompson Essay June 25, 2012 From the print edition
Got the gold bug? Tour a mine.
It might just cure you
Jonathan Thompson April 18, 2012
Swiss, salt flats and the sublime
The author joins a European tour of the post-industrial landscape of the Great Salt Lake
Jonathan Thompson March 27, 2012
U.S. is net energy exporter! (Psych!)
Despite recent headlines, the "drill baby drill" method isn't getting us close to breaking our dependence on foreign oil
Jonathan Thompson March 12, 2012
A fresh focus on frack attacks
A fresh focus on frack attacks
In all the fuss about fracking, the many other problems caused by rampant oil and gas development are being overlooked.
Jonathan Thompson Opinion March 2, 2012
Oil and gas water use: the real issues
Drilling spouts more (salty toxic nasty) water than it slurps
Jonathan Thompson Feb. 14, 2012
Fearful of Agenda 21, an alleged U.N. plot, activists derail land-use planning
Fearful of Agenda 21, an alleged U.N. plot, activists derail land-use planning
A two-year planning process in La Plata County, Colorado gets hijacked by activists suspicious of United Nations influence. And in the West and nationwide, they're not alone.
Jonathan Thompson Feb. 6, 2012 From the print edition
Why industry doesn't like "fracking" and neither do I
The word "fracking" has great PR value for environmental activists, but it seems to be completely taking over the debate over oil and gas development.
Jonathan Thompson Jan. 29, 2012
The circular logic of energy independence
Energy self-sufficiency isn't realistic in our global economy
Jonathan Thompson Dec. 27, 2011
The year 2011, in apocalyptic weather events
The year 2011, in apocalyptic weather events
Fire and flood, snowstorms and droughts, downburst winds and desert haboobs -- 2011 brought incredibly wacky weather to the West.
Jonathan Thompson Dec. 26, 2011 From the print edition
The Estonian connection: Or how I started worrying about oil shale
Will a global oil shale push make it to the U.S. West?
Jonathan Thompson Dec. 6, 2011
The Southwest's population and housing booms bite the dust
The Southwest's population and housing booms bite the dust
As the West's population and real estate boom stumble to a halt, the once fast-growing Southwest is filled with foreclosed homes and undeveloped lots.
Jonathan Thompson Nov. 30, 2011 From the print edition
Why 7 billion isn't as scary as you think
Over-consumption is much more frightening than overpopulation
Jonathan Thompson Nov. 1, 2011
Return of the corn
A couple of guys and a "Red Buffalo" help bring corn-growing back to Taos Pueblo
Jonathan Thompson Oct. 17, 2011
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