Far-right extremists are robbing the West of the officials who protect community health.
Labor
Posted inArticles
California Farmworkers Union fights to vote by mail in union elections
For a largely unorganized sector, expanded voting access would be a huge win.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
Fuel for the electrical fire
Utility equipment sparks blazes, but climate change stokes them.
Posted inArticles
Anxiety and hope in wildfire-prone Oregon
How might we live in the reality of our climate?
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
A new Conservation Corps for the climate
What it means to contribute to the future of a place.
Posted inArticles
Uncurbed climate change and extreme heat will extract a toll on outdoor labor
A new report forecasts the loss in workdays and wages if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t reined in.
Posted inArticles
Women in wildfire: What are the reproductive health risks?
Females working in a system ‘built for men’ experience a higher rate of miscarriage and other reproductive concerns.
Posted inAugust 1, 2021: A Mega-Dairy Comes to the Desert
Is there really freedom in the outdoors?
After a year indoors, a writer remembers the joy — and pressures — of a childhood spent in Utah.
Posted inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
The incarcerated women battling wildfires
In ‘Breathing Fire,’ Jaime Lowe uncovers the benefits and drawbacks of California’s inmate fire program.
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 inArticles
What is the pandemic’s lasting impact on first responders?
In Los Angeles County, as COVID-19 surged, EMTs faced the unimaginable, forcing them to take unimaginable measures.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Foreign-born doctors fill physician shortages in the West
Some find a permanent home; others languish in a visa holding pattern.
Posted inArticles
Bozeman’s sole multicultural enclave faces evictions amid a housing crisis
For some residents, the displacement signals the loss of affordable housing — and the only diverse neighborhood in the Montana city.
Posted inArticles
California farmworkers aren’t staying in free quarantine hotel rooms
Fear, testing barriers and miscalculations have hobbled the statewide program.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
Through wildland firefighting, finding a space to heal
A grieving daughter encounters solace in an unexpected place.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
A helpline connects Indigenous immigrants to crucial COVID-19 information
For communities who speak Indigenous Mayan languages like Mam, the Oregon program is a vital resource.
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
Former California prisoners may become professional wildfire fighters
Amid a raging fire season and pandemic, the Western U.S. seeks experienced fire crews to battle its conflagrations.
Posted inArticles
Wildish Podcast: The unsexy burro
Episode Five: In Arizona, two incarcerated men rehabilitate wild donkeys for adoption.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2020: The Next West
Marlon’s hustle to survive
The unforgiving economy left by the pandemic leaves many undocumented people without a safety net.