The national park system does more than celebrate beauty. It also commemorates the ugliest parts of our past.
How not to forget the West’s past atrocities
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
In an era of change, a new chapter for the National Park Service
Two new books offer an invitation to the parks — and an argument for their existence.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
National parks: Where we go and where we don’t
Much of the Park Service’s land in the West is poorly visited and little-known.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
Finding the big quiet in Great Basin National Park
A writer revisits the acoustical landscape of the National Park system.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
At Valles Caldera, a new national park unit takes shape
A preserve was added to the park system, after an experiment in managing federal lands outside the traditional agencies.
Posted inMarch 7, 2016: The Parks You Don't Know
The beautiful wilds of national parks
Review of “The National Parks: An American Legacy,” by Ian Shive.
Posted inArticles
Rants from the Hill: A romance in Reno, land of the second chance
The Ranter remembers being struck down by love for Tonya Harding, the fallen ice skater.
Posted inArticles
A rare ecological event: ‘super bloom’ in Death Valley
The arid park is covered in wildflowers for the first time in a decade.
Posted inArticles
Interactive timeline: Fish & Wildlife Service proposes to delist Yellowstone grizzly
Decision marks the second time the grizzly has faced loss of federal protection.
Posted inArticles
Clean Power Plan stay spurs enviros into action
The unexpected stay, plus attempts to block Obama from appointing a Supreme Court justice, energized greens.
Posted inArticles
I’m garden-obsessed even though it’s still winter
Soon after learning I was less than nine months away from becoming a first-time father, I experienced an unexpected sense of déjà vu. The baby was coming whether or not the room was painted or anything else was ready. That feeling of being hitched to a biological clock that stops for no one is a […]
Posted inArticles
Graffiti is destroying our national landmarks. I’m on a mission to stop it.
The Coconino sandstone at Grand Canyon means many things to many people. To the hiker, it indicates that he or she is almost at the top. To the artist, it is a graceful sweep of sculptured stone, and to the geologist, it evokes the trade winds blowing across Aeolian dunes 265 million years ago. But […]
Posted inArticles
Interactive timeline: Livestock grazing in the West
Whether grazing on public land is a ‘right’ or a ‘privilege’ is one of the region’s most contentious issues. Here’s why.
Posted inArticles
Tiny houses won’t solve our affordable housing problem
In Salida, Colorado, little homes come with a big price tag.
Posted inArticles
The disappearing wetlands in California’s Central Valley
Where water is scarce, waterbirds pay the price.
Posted inArticles
How an East Coast think tank is fueling the land transfer movement
ALEC is becoming increasingly involved in the public lands debate by providing model bills for Western states.
Posted inArticles
The neglected history that began in the Utah desert
Last year we observed the 70th anniversary of our atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Back then, we were told that the A-bomb shortened the war and saved lives. Americans are still told that, though the truth of this is questionable. What most of us don’t remember – or more likely never knew – is […]
Posted inArticles
Online editor Tay Wiles talks Oregon militia standoffs with KDNK Radio
The latest episode of Sounds of the High Country.
Posted inArticles
Presidential candidates vie for the Western vote
The Nevada caucus brought Western issues into the fray this political season.
Posted inArticles
West Obsessed: What the heck is a Sagebrush Sheriff?
Behind a lot of anti-fed sentiment, you’ll find ‘constitutional’ peace officers. Here’s why that’s worrying.