One of the West’s most car-happy places sprawls across some of its oldest and most productive oilfields. About 28 million barrels are pumped annually from 5,000 wells in the Los Angeles Basin and just offshore, according to the Center for Land Use Interpretation. These photos were drawn from the organization’s recent L.A. exhibit, “Urban Crude.” […]
Infographic
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
Life along the Colorado River
See a slideshow of Broussalian’s images of the Colorado River — and its people. The desert Southwest is unlikely to run out of water. But under the pressures of climate change and drought, population and politics, the Southwest is likely to run out of cheap water. The deal of the century will become last century’s […]
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
Battle for the core of Wyoming
Sage grouse concerns have pitted fossil fuels against wind
Posted inNovember 9, 2009: Roadless-less
Metalpalooza ’09
Just a year ago, copper, molybdenum and platinum prices plummeted, taking mining jobs and production levels across the West down with them. Now, metal prices are climbing back, which could breathe new life into shuttered mines and shelved expansion plans. Copper behemoth Freeport-McMoRan plans to resume operations at its dormant mine in Miami, Ariz. Idaho-based […]
Posted inOctober 12, 2009: Silenced Springs?
Empty nest
Making a case for the California condor’s return to the Northwest
Posted inOctober 26, 2009: The newest Westerners
The good seats don’t come cheap
More proof that if you’ve got power, you probably have money that helped you get it. Sixteen Westerners are among the 50 richest Congressfolk, according to Roll Call’s annual ranking. The math, however, amounts to lowball estimates: On financial disclosure forms, lawmakers report in ranges ($1 million to $5 million, for example), so the totals […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 2009: Home
Peril in the parks
Early August: A woman and her young son are stranded for five days in a remote corner of Death Valley National Park in 117 degree-average heat; the boy doesn’t survive. Late August: Two climbers fall in Grand Teton; one is airlifted from a ledge by helicopter. The National Park Service is involved in thousands of […]
Posted inAugust 31, 2009: The dark side of dairies
Dairy injuries and deaths 2003-2009
At least 18 people died working in Western dairies between 2003 and 2009; many more were injured. This list of deaths and injuries, compiled from state and federal safety agency reports, is certainly incomplete, thanks to loopholes and differences in state and federal reporting requirements as well as underreporting by workers. When possible, supplementary information […]
Posted inAugust 31, 2009: The dark side of dairies
Extinguished
Wildfires have intensified in the last 10 years, says Michelle Ryerson, chair of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s Safety and Health Working Team. More extreme fires require more complex methods of firefighting, leading not only to higher costs but a change over time in the risks that firefighters face. In 1987, Ryerson’s team began keeping […]
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
Chilling forecast
We might have to say goodbye to California apples, walnuts, pistachios, cherries and other stone fruit over the next century, according to a recent report from scientists at the University of California-Davis. Between 1950 and 2000, the winter chill hours essential for fruit and nut tree growth — defined by temperatures between 32 and 45 […]
Posted inJuly 27, 2009: The Most Cooked-Up Catch
2,000 miles of controversy
A 15-foot-high, rust-colored steel wall snakes across the scrubby desert landscape, dividing the twin border cities of Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora. On the Arizona side, Border Patrol agents sit at the ready while reconnaissance airplanes drone overhead. On the Mexican side, border crossers driven by poverty lie in wait for nightfall. Then they will […]
Posted inJune 15, 2009: Let's Get Small
The Renewable Energy Landscape
A look at renewable energy in the West
Posted inNovember 10, 2008: Still Howling Wolf
The Doc is in
Rural folks find common ground at the vet’s office
Posted inPolitics map 2008
Battleground: an interactive map
No matter who wins in November, one thing is certain: the West has arrived.
Posted inAugust 4, 2008: Hostile Takeover
Know your owl
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue’s feature story, “Hostile takeover.” There are minor differences, but the two species are similar. Both are large owls with dark eyes and round heads lacking ear tufts. The easiest way to tell them apart: The barred owl is larger and paler in color. This article appeared […]
Posted inJuly 21, 2008: A fractured party
Power of the picture
International photographers hit the Wyoming Range to document the effects of energy development — and find that beauty and ugliness walk hand in hand
Posted inOctober 13, 2008: Back to the future
Battleground!
No matter who wins in November, one thing is certain about this year’s election: the Interior West has finally arrived. For the last 40 years, campaigns generally flew right over the eight states in the interior. Their sparse populations, relative handful of electoral votes and status as Republican strongholds meant they just weren’t worth fighting […]