Lesson from a Tortoise
The Endangered Species Act works best when it’s never invoked
A first encounter with a gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) may not leave a lasting impression in one’s mind;
A “Just Transition” for Fossil Fuel Workers
The search for a jobs-positive shift to clean energy
Nearly 500 Wyoming coal miners were laid off last spring, and in the past two years roughly 5,400 oilfield workers lost their jobs in the state.
Energy Transition
Our world needs more energy and less CO2
The world needs more energy. More than 1.4 billion people live without access to electricity.
Amphibious Citizen Scientists
Wildlife managers turn to volunteers for help collecting hard-to-get data
I swished my dipnet through water and vegetation at the edge of the beaver pond, creating swirls of mud that obscured the bottom.
Conservation Easements
An open spaces protection tool worth reforming
In 2002, when Robert Hicks, owner of the Buffalo Bulletin newspaper in Buffalo, Wyoming, learned that the Johnson County commissioners canceled a conservation easement
Measuring Rain, Snow, and Hail
An international volunteer network bests the fanciest technologies
The second week of September 2013, rain pummeled Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Wyoming Stickers
Three lifelong ranchers reflect on private lands values
“For somehow, against probability, some sort of indigenous, recognizable culture has been growing on Western ranches and in Western towns
Tribes Tackle Drought
New and old approaches help the Wind River Reservation prepare for a changing climate
During the record-setting hot and dry years of 2012 and 2013, severe water shortages on the Wind River Indian Reservation turned fields to dust and forced cattle ranchers to sell their herds.
The Dinosaur Keepers
An unlikely crew helps a private land fossil find a good home
“They tend to die like an old cow in a draw,” Row Manuel says from the back seat.
Home Away from Home
How does conservation happen when the landowner lives elsewhere?
In Texas, authorities are dealing with a rash of timber thieves sneaking onto far-flung parcels of absentee-owned lands
“When Land Does Well for Its Owner, and the Owner Does Well by His Land”
An interview with the Sand County Foundation about the state of private lands conservation
Among the writings of forester and conservationist Aldo Leopold
Selling Conservation
UW research reveals landowners’ surprising attitudes about conservation easements
Chris Bastian grew up working on his grandparents’ ranches in southeastern Wyoming every summer and thought he’d spend his life as a rancher.
A New Conservation Model
How do we get outdoor enthusiasts to protect the places they play?
Several years ago, Sonoran Institute founder and long time conservationist Luther Propst was mountain biking on the Lunch Loops in Grand Junction
Evolving Wyoming Tourism
Can a tourist-driven economy fill the gap as energy revenue falters?
Tucked between Ladies Golf Night and Bible Camp on the July 2015 events calendar for Hulett, Wyoming, is an event called Ham N Jam.
The Bone People
The booming business of antler hunting on public lands
Andy Hart thinks of antler hunting as a process of manufacturing luck.
What the Pioneers Saw
Protecting viewsheds on National Historic Trails
Less than 30 miles from the Nebraska-Wyoming border, an etched wagon wheel marks the grave of Rebecca Winters
A New Kind of Energy
A refinery town redefines itself as an outdoor playground
A flash of red bobs in the North Platte River at the Casper, Wyoming, city limits.
Essay: Outdoor Recreation and the Still Unlovely Mind
“Recreation is a perpetual battlefield because it is a single word denoting as many diverse things as there are diverse people.”
Remembering Luke Lynch
As Wyoming State Director for The Conservation Fund, Luke Lynch led several projects to conserve open spaces
Nomad, Weaver, Storyteller
Fiber artist Doris Florig weaves natural history in her tapestries
“While experimenting with natural dye materials for the pronghorn coat