A radical change could be coming to the way electric co-ops across the country do business.
Opinion
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Salmon supporters win again in court
Washington will have to fix up culverts that block fish passage.
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Partisan politics are pulling my town apart
Can lessons from ecology offer a way to find common ground in our polarized nation?
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Don’t let Bears Ears go the way of Moab
Industrial tourism has transformed the town. Bears Ears doesn’t have to suffer the same fate.
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Have farmers markets been spoiled by their own success?
People go to farmers markets for many reasons. The jovial, wholesome atmosphere makes people feel good about their communities and the hard work put in by area farmers. Sometimes, we even want to buy something. But actually purchasing food is becoming an increasingly rare act, according to a recent Washington Post article. As one grower […]
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Why does the outdoor recreation community ignore horseback riders?
We love and make use of our public lands, but we get no respect.
Posted inAugust 8, 2016: Line of Descent
Sometimes, the West must be protected from itself
Today, we need to listen more carefully than ever to the ideas of Western historian, Bernard DeVoto.
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How my adopted daughter made peace with the outdoors
If our daughter couldn’t tolerate nature, how would we integrate her into our world?
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Outdoor outfitters can’t stay quiet on climate change
The industry is short-changing millions of visitors at a time when dialogue is needed.
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The importance of Black Lives Matter in a white rural West
A Westerner reflects on racial injustice close to home.
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Let’s be clear: TSA’s new tactics are bribery
A new program lets you cut in line at security, for a fee.
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
How Leonard Peltier has unjustly spent forty years in prison — and why it’s time to change that
So much time has passed that many Americans have forgotten, if they ever knew, what happened to an American Indian named Leonard Peltier, who has spent more than 40 years confined in various federal penitentiaries. This summer, a group of his family members and friends are traveling the country in an attempt to salvage what […]
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Federal coal leasing needs a major overhaul
The winds of change are blowing hard across our Western coalfields. Competition from cheaper fuels such as natural gas, wind and solar has dampened domestic demand for coal. This trend ‒ plus a bust in export markets after a brief boom ‒ has driven five major coal companies into bankruptcy court. There, they seek protection […]
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There’s no Brexit from our climate problems
A rant against the mindless pleasure of simply smashing something to see what happens.
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
In this season of potential megaburns, nix the campfire
In 1972, Grand Canyon National Park outlawed campfires in the backcountry. Backpackers like me considered this an outrage. After all, the only people who carried those fancy little stoves back then were people incapable of building a fire. I bring this up because we are living through another explosive fire season in the West. Of […]
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We should be proud of delisting grizzlies
The bear is a huge conservation success story, and it shows that the Endangered Species Act works.
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Why is an Estonian energy giant trying to revive failed Utah oil dreams?
There’s a new proposal to extract oil from shale, at great cost to the Colorado River Basin.
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Wildfire in the West has become an uncontrollable force
A former fire dispatcher says last year’s fire season pushed firefighters to the edge.
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Homegrown anti-government militias threaten public safety
As we saw during the Bundy Ranch standoff in 2014 and earlier this year at a wildlife refuge in Oregon, violent extremism is not limited to war-torn countries thousands of miles away from the United States. Armed militias have expanded in size and sophistication and now present a threat to public safety and national security. […]
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The Park Service doesn’t need corporate sponsorship. It needs proper funding.
When I was a child, I remember passing through any number of national park entrance stations in our family station wagon. I remember the historic stone kiosks where the rangers greeted us, and my excitement as we began the slow drive toward the greatest wonders of nature. Visiting a national park felt a little like […]