A cattle rancher reflects on her occupation and the growing movement to understand how other animals see the world.
Agriculture
The dismantling of the Forest Service
The Trump administration’s plans would remake the agency and public lands. The deadline to comment is Sept. 30.
What old growth forests have to do with your food
More than you might think.
‘How many bricks of colonization do we sit under?’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
Invasive fruit fly hits the Yakama Nation’s huckleberry fields
Students from Heritage University and Northwest Indian College were the first to document the presence of the spotted wing drosophila on the Yakama Nation Reservation — a first step to help eradicate it on tribal land.
The Rio Grande’s pecan problem
How Big Ag is threatening New Mexico’s water supply.
Acknowledging the hands that feed us
Narsiso Martinez aims to dignify farmworkers through his artwork
Who controls food in the West?
Consolidation, shifting politics, water rights and the myth of the cowboy all play into the region’s ability to feed itself.
How community assemblies kindle advocacy and solutions
Labor organizer Rosalinda Guillen explains how participatory democracy gives workers political power.
What the presence of sheep means to the Diné
How to look at Milton Snow’s historical images of a livestock genocide on the Navajo Nation.
The West’s data centers suck (water and power)
From simple searches to chatGPT, the big digital buildup threatens the grid and water supplies.
Mass layoffs can move forward, with devastating impacts for conservation and science
‘Shortsighted’ cuts could eliminate bird banding program, federal bee research and much more.
Why isn’t agrivoltaics taking off in Arizona?
Logistical hurdles and a lack of solar incentives keep panels and plants apart.
The seeds remember
Reclaiming Chinese culture through cultivation.
When we harm wolves, we harm ourselves
Anger over these wild creatures shows a lack of perspective.
Wolves return to the West
After being driven to near-extinction, these animals, and the politics around them, are back.
Searching for sparrows in the Sky Islands
Grassland restoration in Sonora, Mexico, helps to conserve North America’s bird life.
The hidden costs of wolf conservation
‘Pay for presence’ aims to compensate ranchers for predator-related losses, but Western states might not be able to afford it.
The Eastern Shoshone are reclassifying buffalo as wildlife instead of livestock
The intent is to restore buffalo on the land and challenge the link between animal and product.
Farmers face frozen jobs and heavier workloads under DOGE ‘efficiency’ budget
Billions in halted or canceled grants, gutted local offices, market turmoil and broken trust are at stake across the West.
