According to documents made available through Freedom of Information Act, the FBI kept track of Abbey's writing and activities for 20 years, trying to determine whether the controversial author was a security threat to the United States.
Writers on the Range
Writers on the Range is opinion from the ground up.
For more than 60 years, very little has changed inside the federal Animal Damage Control division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
With all the fuss made about livestock grazing on public lands in the West, it is surprising to learn that they account for only 2 percent of U.S. livestock grazing. But to the rancher who depends on Western rangelands for pasture, it's a make or break situation.
The time for an ambiguous attitude toward ecotage passed with the announcement of the arrests in Arizona and the allegations of a plan to attack the Rocky Flats nuclear arsenal.
Last November, environmental activists waging underfinanced ballon initiative campaigns in South Dakota, Montana and Nebraska took beatings from well-funded experts.
Coos Bay, Ore., is awash in logs, but for the first time since 1936 there's not a single plywood or lumber mill operating in the area. Instead, there are foreign-flagged ships.
The battle against Two Forks Dam was fought with two strategies, one within and one outside of the EIS process.
Two Forks Dam is on the verge of veto because the economic currents are flowing against it, and the political currents are following.
The Bureau of Reclamation's grandiose plans -- laid out in the 1971 North Central Power Study -- to turn parts of Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas into an energy sacrifice area haven't come to pass.
Writer Wallace Stegner has a rule of thumb: The more arid a state, the worse its congressional
delegation. I have a corollary to that rule: The more a state is "blessed" with natural resources, tile worse off it will be economically, socially and politically.
The Idaho National Energy Lab is the biggest blind spot in Idaho politics. Politicians who rail against the evils of big government while pulling every string for INEL projects are faithfully reflecting those who elect them.
There is no getting around this ecological fact of life: Within nearly all forest communities of the Rocky Mountains, fires are essential form maintaining a healthy ecosystem.
O'Toole has done all of us, including the Forest Service, a great favor. His genius and hard work have shown us that the national forests are governed by a welter of laws whose purpose and workings are exactly the same as those of the 1872 Mining Law.
The traditional view of the West and its wild rangeland is changing. No longer are conservationists and environmentalists a fringe interest group.
Petrified Forest-Painted Desert National Park in northeastern Arizona is about 200 miles and a mountain range away from Phoenix, Ariz. But Phoenix, with help from even more distant Los Angeles, is the primary cause of air pollution at the park.
Knowing that the history of water development in the West is marked by waste, fraud and assorted other abuses does not make it easier to accept new reminders that the government is pouring our money down some drain.
Lack of understanding of the fragility of our Western range and forest lands, combined with unenforced regulations, have allowed off-road vehicles to seriously damage our public lands.
The McClure-Andrus package is obviously superior, statewide, to McClure's 1984 proposal. But the transformation of public perceptions that we require has not occurred. Now the exigencies of substantially improving or fighting this legislation will dominate our time.
Transportation of nuclear waste is an issue waiting to get hot. Federal plans for finding a place to put it are unclear, but the government's ultimate goal is disposal of radioactive debris from the civilian reactor and nuclear weapons industries in a deep geologic formation.
There is much to admire about the wolf. He is strong and brave and invisible to all except the lucky who catch fleeting glimpses of rare individuals. But let's save him for real wilderness where he won't impact ranchers or eagles or grizzlies. Let's be thankful he roams the Snake River plain no more.
Today's Featured Stories
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NEW AGRARIAN APPRENTICESHIP Quivira Coalition's 2020 New Agrarian Apprenticeships in Regenerative Ranching and Farming -Apprenticeships run 4/20 - 11/20 Applications accepted 10/15/19 - 12/1/19 NAP partners with skilled...
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PHILANTHROPY DIRECTOR Wilderness Workshop seeks a full time Philanthropy Director to raise funds for our team. Learn more: www.wildernessworkshop.org
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EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT WITH WESTERN RESOURCE ADVOCATES Western Resource Advocates (WRA) seeks an enthusiastic and organized problem solver to join our growing team as an Executive Assistant. The Executive Assistant is instrumental...
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WYOMING OUTDOOR COUNCIL Two positions: Development Director OR Development Writer, Communications Director. Full job descriptions at https://wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org/careers.
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CONSERVATION PROJECT MANAGER Great Land Trust seeks to hire a Conservation Project Manager. Position is full-time, based in Anchorage, Alaska. First review of applications will be on October...
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Eagle Valley Land Trust Executive Director Position Description Summary of Position: The Executive Director, working with and reporting to the Board of Directors, has overall...
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FINANCE & LOGISTICS COORDINATOR 
The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, founded in 1928 as an independent nonprofit organization, is a biological field station located near Crested Butte, Colorado. Our primary...
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DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
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DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Position: Development Coordinator Responsible to: Executive Director Time Commitment: 15-20 hours per week, or as otherwise agreed upon General Description: The Development Coordinator assists the...
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EDUCATION CENTER MANAGER Friends of Cedar Mesa seeks a full-time Education Manager for the Bears Ears Education Center to provide day to day operational and administrative oversight. See...
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TROUT UNLIMITED SCP SOUTHWEST REGIONAL DIRECTOR Seeking to hire an experienced advocate/manager to oversee the organization's sportsmen/women-driven advocacy in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Open until filled
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PROGRAM MANAGER for northern AZ collaborative conservation ranchlands group
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AMAZING PROGRAM DIRECTOR If you're an amazing Program or Education Manager looking for an exciting and fulfilling position with an organization that makes a difference in the community,...
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Partners are seeking an experienced and energetic Executive Director who is excited about the opportunity to lead our growing organization! A full description of the...
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR High Country News Seeks an Executive Director to advance its mission, grow its audience and influence, and strategically and sustainably guide the organization through a...
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2 PROPERTIES ON THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE GILA WILDERNESS Organic farm, hot springs, San Francisco River runs through both. [email protected]
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CHUCK BURR'S CULTUREQUAKE.COM BLOG Change will happen when we see a new way of living. Thinking to save the world.
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SOCIETY FOR WILDERNESS STEWARDSHIP BOARD MEMBER Join the SWS board and help us broaden, diversify, and engage the wilderness community.
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NEW MEXICO BIRDER'S PARADISE. Fully furnished 2B/2B home near Bosque del Apache NWR, great for nature lovers.
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COMING TO TUCSON? Popular vacation house, furnished, 2 bed/1 bath, yard, dog-friendly. Lee at [email protected] or 520-791-9246.