The Trump administration looks to preserve ranching heritage, but it’s not clear it will work.
Agriculture
Posted inArticles
Treat water like family, not profit
Federal and state approaches to managing the Colorado River – as well as land and wildlife – reflect a lack of experience.
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How Interior helped pushed bison off Montana’s federal lands
In an uncommon move, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum intervened in a case that involved the former legal clients of Karen Budd-Falen, one of his top deputies.
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Ted Turner owned vast swaths of Western land. What happens to them now?
The media mogul had a lifelong commitment to endangered species, ecotourism and supporting rural agriculture.
Posted inMay 2026: Pinecone Cowboys
Colorado’s Arkansas Valley water confronts contamination, climate change and political drama
‘If you don’t have clean water, you really don’t have anything.’
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Emergency plans for the Colorado River buy time, not solutions
The federal government ordered Flaming Gorge water released and cuts to Lake Powell releases, to prevent collapse.
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Why mycorrhizal fungi networks need more protection
Scientists say the West’s hidden biodiversity warrants more attention.
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Public lands need less extraction and more rewilding
In the age of extinction, we need a new model for these landscapes and the communities that rely on them.
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In major reversal, Interior allows top official with close industry ties to work on grazing policy
Karen Budd-Falen, the agency’s associate deputy secretary, had previously recused herself from working on grazing matters.
Posted inMarch 2026: The Uncertainty of Farming in the Colorado River Basin
What can we learn from salt lakes?
A Q&A with Caroline Tracey about her new book, which documents the plight of one of our most unusual ecosystems.
Posted inMarch 2026: The Uncertainty of Farming in the Colorado River Basin
A shrinking Colorado River is forcing farms to change
From low-flow nozzles to baling hay at night, see how farmers are adapting to less water.
Posted inMarch 2026: The Uncertainty of Farming in the Colorado River Basin
How Montana tribes are using sovereignty to restore their waterways
‘We live at the backbone of the world, where the water begins.’
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These meatpacking workers may be deported. They voted to strike anyway.
The largely immigrant workforce at JBS’s flagship U.S. plant, in Greeley, Colorado, is refusing to back down after accusing the company of poor working conditions.
Posted inFebruary 2026: The Recording Artists
What’s needed to protect sage grouse?
The Burns Paiute and Shoshone-Bannock tribes are proving that reducing grazing may be the key to saving the iconic bird.
Posted inFebruary 2026: The Recording Artists
Where giant kangaroo rats — and other critters — thrive
Thanks to concerted conservation, California’s Carrizo Plain is once again home to rare wildlife.
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6 takeaways from our public-lands grazing investigation
Subsidies prop up ranching, grazing degrades the land and politics underpin the system.
Posted inFebruary 2026: The Recording Artists
Mexican wolves are rebounding, but are they ready for delisting?
A new bill from Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar looks to remove endangered species protections.
Posted inDecember 2025: Wild Harvest
How ranchers accused of breaking the rules dodge oversight
Elected officials interfere with agency efforts to protect the land.
Posted inDecember 2025: Wild Harvest
Congress made it easier to ignore grazing’s harm to public lands
Federal law requires agencies to review the environmental impacts of grazing, but government employees allege the system is riddled with loopholes.
Posted inDecember 2025: Wild Harvest
The wealthy profit from public lands, and taxpayers pick up the tab
Roughly two-thirds of grazing on Bureau of Land Management land is controlled by just 10% of permit holders.