The Wasatch Front faces drier times and a growing population, threatening the Great Salt Lake.
Mountain West
Posted inArticles
The fire season by the numbers
Fire agencies are preparing for the eclipse hordes, in the midst of a large fire season.
Posted inArticles
What I learned from Iraqi and Kurdish students in Montana
Seeing encounters between foreign students and rural Westerners was eye opening.
Posted inArticles
The political right and left are stuck in polarizing myths
Neighbors in a small Colorado town are splintered, but neither are correct.
Posted inJune 26, 2017: Personal Pilgrimage
A network of trails that spans the country
The National Trails System, by the numbers.
Posted inJune 26, 2017: Personal Pilgrimage
Meet the woman behind Colorado’s highest trails
How trail designer Loretta McEllhiney protects mountains from people.
Posted inJune 26, 2017: Personal Pilgrimage
Why thru-hiking would be a disaster for the Yaak Valley
A long-distance trail would disrupt badly needed grizzly habitat.
Posted inJune 12, 2017: The Big Swing
The Big Swing: Why a blue Colorado county voted for Trump
How a wave of retirees and a changed economic landscape reshaped rural politics.
Posted inArticles
Why the Endangered Species Act can’t save whitebark pines
Politics, money and climate change threaten one of the West’s iconic trees.
Posted inArticles
LNG project rises again, with support from Mountain states
White House backing could ease approval for Oregon’s Jordan Cove terminal.
Posted inMay 29, 2017: The Cost of a Comeback
The cost of the bighorn comeback
In California’s Eastern Sierra, bringing back bighorn has meant killing more mountain lions.
Posted inMay 29, 2017: The Cost of a Comeback
Meet Jane, a climate scientist who fled Trump’s government
Worries about science censorship drove her from her post at the Energy Department.
Posted inMay 29, 2017: The Cost of a Comeback
Death on the river
As summer rafting season begins, safe passage to all river runners.
Posted inArticles
Winter snows bring spring flows
After a record low two years ago, this season’s substantial Sierra snowpack highlights the variability of winter weather in the West.
Posted inMarch 20, 2017: The Tree Ring
Nature got your heart?
These photos tell the story of writer John Nichols’ love affair with the wild.
Posted inMarch 20, 2017: The Tree Ring
Untethered existences; Tacos in traffic; movin’ on up in Seattle
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
If Colorado wants the Outdoor Retailer show, it should earn it
Big Rec wants to make a statement. Staying out of Colorado would be a strong one.
Posted inMay 1, 2017: Change Comes to Short Creek
Republicans push to split the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
Bills to break up the big Western court have reappeared in Congress.
Posted inMarch 6, 2017: Uncomfortable Corners
Backpacking the blast zone
At Mount St. Helens, they never say ‘recovery.’
Posted inMarch 20, 2017: The Tree Ring
Return of the grizzly?
Feds consider transplanting bears into Washington’s North Cascades.