Despite the Keystone rejection, keep-it-in-the-ground activism is still a sideshow to the larger climate movement.
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Among those who fish the polluted Duwamish, a divide between haves and have-nots
We pull off the highway into a gritty-looking industrial park less than 100 yards from the road and snap our rods together. It’s just a few steps down the banks to this Seattle river where we can see the silver bellies of the pink salmon flipping in the current, slinging themselves upstream. We tie lures […]
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Raw manure, public water and a failed crackdown: the case of Snydar Farm
Washington’s Dept. of Ecology appears hesitant and often barred from regulating agriculture.
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The Freedom Caucus and the West
The new Tea Party-friendly movement is small but already has had a big impact on Western issues.
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Reflecting on the tragedy of the young ‘invincibles’
A high school boy who recently survived a catastrophic crash that killed three of his friends in Maryland was quoted by the news media, saying: “We felt invincible!” The police estimated that their car was traveling at more than 70 miles per hour when it veered off the road and hit a tree. A pastor […]
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In Wyoming, the future of Native health depends on kids
Infant mortality among Wyoming’s Native population is more than double that of the state’s white population.
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How do you sex a beaver? Squeeze and sniff
Unlocking the secrets of rodent scent glands could help restore Western watersheds.
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Bankruptcy expected for Arch Coal, a reflection of industry woes
Climate policies make a rebound for coal unlikely.
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Innovation amid drought in the Sacramento Delta
Checking in with a farmer who traded some of his water for long term survival.
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Can small communities tackle global food security?
Climate change has profound impacts on growing seasons and crop yields, but local solutions have promise.
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The Hopi man who runs to protect his tribe’s water
What do you think about when you run? This is my favorite question to ask long-distance runners in the Arizona desert. When I asked Hopi runner and farmer Bucky Preston this question, he thought about the thousands of miles he has run to protect and honor his people’s water. “When I run, I meditate and […]
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On E.M. Frimbo and riding the Western rails
People in the Western United States like their trains, or so E.M. Frimbo, The New Yorker magazine’s great rail writer with the unusual name, liked to say. But Frimbo believed that Westerners lost track of what happened to so many railroad lines: We spent the last half of the 19th century building them up, then […]
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How Western towns profit from detaining immigrants
Detention facilities provide economic stability for many rural towns.
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Ranch Diaries: Spared from drought, for now, in New Mexico
Dry spells take a toll on landscapes and livestock, but are also hard on people.
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Thanks, BLM, for letting the dirt shine through
Editor’s note: The following is a recent letter from Collin Smith, an aspiring geologist, to the Bureau of Land Management in Utah. He said he was happy to share it with us because the federal agency receives so little praise these days. Dear BLM: I am pleased as punch! I just got back from my […]
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Contaminated soil lingers where apples once grew in Washington
Soil at hundreds of properties contains lead and arsenic that can lower children’s IQs and increase cancer risk.
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Rants from the Hill: Fall brings a new bird to the neighborhood
A Northern Mockingbird stops by, its varied song a reminder of October’s restless nature.
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Drilling proposed in Montana’s Badger-Two Medicine
Tribes and former federal officials fight to cancel energy leases on sacred land.
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BLM mulls energy development in sage grouse habitat
Feds may restrict hardrock mining and put oil and gas leases on auction block.
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Washington’s long summer of fire and smoke
On Spokane’s west side, the Houston Fire was growing fast. If a wind were to come up and whip flames across a field of weeds, the gate that keeps the world at bay at the entrance to Erika and Andrea Zaman’s lane would do no good. Just in time, Andrea blasted back from the airport, […]