The future of Western forests depends on professional pine cone collectors. They’re slowly being starved out of existence.
Public lands
Posted inArticles
As Roadless Rule rollback looms, grassroots hearings take root
In absence of federal meetings, nonprofits step up to hold public comment on Forest Service plan to lift protections from roadless areas.
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Interior Department crafted talking points for public lands sell-off agenda
The agency’s leadership distanced itself from the controversial proposal even though staff helped research public-land sales.
Posted inApril 2026: Inside the Attack on Public Lands
‘Energy dominance’ agenda sidelines tribes
Changes to NEPA come at the expense of tribal consultation. The administration has changed or revoked rules and policies to prioritize extraction.
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Tribal leaders reflect on a year of uncertainty — and possibility
Federal turnover and policy shifts have forced Indigenous communities to adapt.
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A new era of industrial logging looms
Mapping the possible impacts of the Roadless Rule overhaul
Posted inApril 2026: Inside the Attack on Public Lands
The Trump administration sent Greater Yellowstone into chaos. What’s next?
The region survived a year of deep cuts and layoffs. Here’s who is picking up the pieces.
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The public got one week to comment on Chaco Canyon drilling. It’s almost over
Indigenous leaders, New Mexico political leaders accuse feds of rushing a decision about the sacred site.
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Forest Service overhaul sows confusion, concern
In the Trump administration’s reorganization of the struggling agency, painful echoes of BLM’s past moves.
Posted inIssues
How I found trans joy in backcountry splitboarding
Under an administration threatening my existence, I find self-love through movement.
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War exposes the energy dominance lie
True energy independence comes from weaning ourselves from fossil fuels.
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Public lands need less extraction and more rewilding
In the age of extinction, we need a new model for these landscapes and the communities that rely on them.
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In major reversal, Interior allows top official with close industry ties to work on grazing policy
Karen Budd-Falen, the agency’s associate deputy secretary, had previously recused herself from working on grazing matters.
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The BLM wants to ramp up logging. Oregonians aren’t so sure.
People are grappling with the agency’s notice that signals a significant increase in timber harvesting across 2.5 million acres.
Posted inMarch 2026: The Uncertainty of Farming in the Colorado River Basin
Black riders have always held the reins
What ‘High Horse’ gets right about Black cowboys and the West.
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Trump’s BLM is going all-in on resource extraction
The agency’s new plan for ecologically significant areas of western Oregon is not responsible forest management.
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Trump’s BLM nominee waffles on public land sell-off stance
Steve Pearce, the White House’s second oil and gas-connected pick, is ”not so sure” he’s changed.
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It’s time to rethink how we care for our public lands and waters
Two former, high-ranking Interior Department employees, from opposing political parties, call for an overhaul of public-land management.
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Karen Budd-Falen’s ethics documents spark renewed calls for an investigation
Interior’s new release of ethics disclosures shed new light on the official’s growing scandal.
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Skimo is hot, in hot times
The newest Olympic winter sport arrives just as snow droughts are becoming more likely.