Kay Bounkeua discusses growing up Lao-Chinese in the state, her connection to landscape and what’s next for the conservation movement.
Interview
Posted inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
Farmworker organizing in Washington is undoing discriminatory labor policies
‘The pandemic elevated the fact that farmworkers are killing themselves to keep our food system intact.’
Posted inArticles
The essential — and dangerous — work prisoners do
Incarcerated people respond to pandemics, wildfires, avian flu outbreaks, mudslides and more.
Posted inJune 1, 2021: Once and Future Fires
Species conservation is a human problem
Writer Michelle Nijhuis synthesizes the story of modern-day conservation in her new book ‘Beloved Beasts.’
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
Geographer Diana Liverman explains how to tackle the climate crisis fairly
The first step? Don’t panic.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
Honoring Montana’s first Black librarian
Carrying on the legacy of Alma Smith Jacobs requires representation and education.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
Is it time to decolonize the housing market?
In California, COVID-19 is exacerbating housing inequities. Indigenous activist Jackie Fielder believes she has a solution.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Why Utah’s wild mink COVID-19 case matters
‘Vet-virologist’ Anna Fagre discusses the first positive case detected in the wild — and how ‘spillover’ could impact the West.
Posted inArticles
Why the U.S. is terrible at collecting Indigenous data
Abigail Echo-Hawk discusses the state of Indigenous public health.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
From boxes of memorabilia, sifting out a life
In her debut memoir, Danielle Geller researches her elusive mother — and the meaning of family.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
Mustafa Santiago Ali describes the path forward for environmental justice
Former EPA program leader shares ideas for federal action in the Biden administration.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
Trump gutted NEPA regulations, but a Biden presidency could restore them
An environmental lawyer discusses the future of the country’s bedrock environmental law.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
California’s history of anti-Blackness hides beneath its progressive reputation
A new history of the state traces early civil rights battles spearheaded by Black activists.
Posted inArticles
Dispatch from an irreversibly changed New Mexico
Laura Paskus’s new book examines wildfire, drilling on the Navajo Nation and climate grief.
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
Tribal nations face continued voter suppression
A new book explains barriers at the ballot box.
Posted inArticles
Ellen Kuwana’s quest to feed Seattle’s frontline workers
The founder of We Got This Seattle on what keeps her going, six months into the pandemic.
Posted inArticles
The erasure of Indigenous people in U.S. COVID-19 data
‘The United States had no idea what was going on in Indian Country. They have no idea.’
Posted inSeptember 1, 2020: The Next West
Tribal nations are decolonizing cultural protection
A new book looks at a ‘third way’ for Indian law.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2020: The Next West
The undeniable truths in literature
Four Colorado writers discuss empathy, systems of oppression and ‘the moment.’