Issue 15: The Checkerboard
Deadline: October 31, 2024
Western Confluence magazine, a publication of the Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, seeks story ideas for our issue on the “checkerboard” pattern of interspersed public and private land ownership in the West.
What we are looking for
To promote westward expansion in the nineteenth century, the federal government granted the railroads land for the rail corridor as well as every other section on either side of the track. This created a checkerboard pattern of public and private lands throughout large swaths of the West. The next issue of Western Confluence will help readers understand the unique history and modern-day implications of the checkerboard for natural resource management, large landscape conservation, land use planning, access to public lands, and more. The issue will ask:
- What is the checkerboard, where is it, and how did it come to be?
- What unique institutions and land management strategies have arisen around the checkerboard? How has the checkerboard impacted the development of the West?
- What challenges does the checkerboard present today? What innovative, collaborative, or novel approaches to conservation are people and organizations trying?
- Besides the railroad checkerboard, where else do interspersed patterns of land ownership lead to unique land management regimes? What can we learn about transboundary management by comparing these areas?
We want eye-opening tales of inholdings, land swaps, and rights of way, along with community partnerships, migration corridors, and access agreements. Stories should inform and surprise readers, illuminate new ideas and solutions, and introduce us to the checkerboard’s land managers, researchers, NGO’s, policy makers, and property owners.
How it works
To write for the magazine, please email a story pitch to editor@westernconfluence.org. In 500 words or less, describe your story angle, how you plan to report the story, why it’s relevant to Western Confluence readers, and how it fits the theme of the issue.
We also welcome story concepts from scientists, researchers, managers, policy makers, and other engaged citizens including tips, names of contacts, links to scholarly papers, or other leads that we can develop into a story. We will consider assigning those to a reporter/writer, who may wish to reach out to you as a source for the article.
Western Confluence editors and advisors will discuss all pitches. For those we’d like to pursue, an editor will work with the writer to hone the approach to the story.
- If your pitch is accepted, we’ll meet to discuss your angle and story approach. We’ll also agree on a word count and deadline for the first draft.
- Write your draft and send it to us on time and near the agreed-upon word count. Be patient, and willing to work through several rounds of edits to make sure the story fits the magazine and is as clear and compelling for readers as it can be.
- Before publication, you will need to fact check. This includes sending parts (but not all) of the story to your sources to ensure that you have presented the information and their voices accurately, double-checking your numbers and data, or asking an expert to review a paragraph or concept.
- You are not responsible for all the graphics, illustrations, or photos that will accompany your article, but if you have good ideas for what to include, work with us to get access to those materials. We are always happy to connect with photographers, artists, and graphic designers who might be interested in publishing their work in our magazine.
- Enjoy seeing your work published and share it widely!
If you are an employee of an institution for whom a contribution to Western Confluence fulfills part of your professional duties, we will not pay for the article. If you are a student, a freelance journalist, a contributor of another sort, or your contribution does not fit within your existing professional duties, we will pay you $0.50–$1.00 per word depending on your writing experience and skill and the complexity of the story.
All Western Confluence articles go through several rounds of editing to bring them in line with our style. Writers should expect an extensive revision process.
View the guide: How to Write for Western Confluence
Please direct all questions, pitches, and ideas to Birch Malotky at editor@westernconfluence.org.
Get Notified
If you would like to be notified when each issue’s call for pitches goes out (typically October), you can join our “contributors” list below. Please note, this is a separate email list from our online article dispatches.