Mapping the Checkerboard
Illustration by Ashley Quick and captions by Birch Malotky, with consultation and data from Bryan Leonard.
Upstream
The legacy of public land grant-making in patterns
Perspective from John Leshy
Public land grants in a checkerboard pattern have a long history in the United States, and in some places their effects are still being felt and contested.
To Cross or Not to Cross
Using Hamlet’s quest for justice to teach the corner-crossing case
By Kelly Dunning
In my undergraduate classes, I teach that the Wyoming corner-crossing case is one of the past decade’s most significant political developments regarding conservation.
Lines on the Land
Conflict and collaboration in the checkerboard of Montana’s Crazy Mountains
By Shawn Regan
The Crazy Mountains rise sharply from the plains of south-central Montana, forming an island of rock and forest in a sea of prairie.
Gridlocked
In Wyoming’s Red Desert, the checkerboard has fueled a wild horse stalemate
By Mike Koshmrl
A dozen or so wild horse advocates and photographers were gathered on a ridgeline near White Mountain in August 2024 when news started spreading that federal land managers got the OK from the courts to eliminate two entire herds, and a part of another, from 2.1 million acres of the area known as the Red Desert.
Fire at the Property Line
Mix of public and private lands causes fire management challenges
By Kristen Pope
A bolt of lightning crashes down and hits some brush, which begins to smolder.
From a Simmer to a Boil
Corner-crossing case ignites firestorm with messy history
By Christine Peterson
Long before a group of hunters from Missouri hoisted a ladder over a fence in southwest Wyoming—setting off a series of headline-grabbing court cases and breathless predictions—the US government had a plan.
Unlocking the Corners
Finding future solutions for recreational access to corner-locked land
By Heather Hansman
The hunters, technically, never touched the ground.
Beyond Yellowstone
Revisiting the original nature conservation model
Perspective from Robert B. Keiter
Yellowstone National Park—established in 1872 and widely regarded as the world’s first national park—represents the initial dominant model for nature conservation both here and abroad.
Managers Unite
The Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee celebrates six decades of cooperative conservation
By Kristen Pope
Chip Jenkins, Superintendent of Grand Teton National Park, knows he has to pay attention to what happens beyond his park’s borders.
Pellets versus Predators
A new tool to suppress an invasive fish shows promise
By Isabella Sadler
In October 2019 and 2020, helicopters hovered above the pristine waters of Yellowstone Lake,
Over Look / Under Foot
Two artists road trip through Utah’s national parks
Text and photographs by Katie Hargrave and Meredith Lynn
Captions by Birch Malotky
As tent campers and national parks enthusiasts, we spend a lot of time in the company of Airstreams, Winnebagos, and Jaycos, and have come to appreciate that for many, the RV makes a kind of relationship to nature possible.
Restoring Connection to the Land
Indigenous trail crews empower the next generation of environmental stewards
By Cecilia Curiel
For the last several years, Shonto Greyeyes of the Diné (Navajo) Nation has made his living in some of the Southwest’s most sought-after landscapes—
Elk Heyday
Booming elk numbers create a rare opportunity for hunting and tourism
By Janey Fugate
While scouting for mule deer on a chilly October evening in southeast Wyoming, the last thing I expected to see was several hundred elk.
The Outdoor Recreation Ecosystem
How accounting for human behavior can improve wildlife management
By Molly Caldwell
On a summer evening in a Grand Teton National Park campground, the smell of barbecue drifts along a cooling breeze, signaling dinner time to nearby red foxes.
Cliff Notes
How place and technology meanings shape conflict around outdoor recreation development
By Wes Eaton and Curt Davidson
In the fall of my first semester as a visiting professor at the University of Wyoming, a stranger knocked on the half-open door to my new office and said, “There’s a town in Wyoming where people are saying that an outdoor recreation development proposal is tearing their community apart. Want to look into it with me?”
Ascending to the Challenge
Rock climbers in a remote Wyoming canyon may help shape national public lands climbing management
By Nita Tallent
On an early summer day in 2018, a group of sport rock climbers—packs laden with ropes, quickdraws, harnesses, shoes, and chalk—clambered up a makeshift trail in Tensleep Canyon, Wyoming.
Reimagining “Leave No Trace”
Can outdoor recreators minimize impact in the backcountry while connecting deeply with place?
By Sam Sharp
It’d been raining all day when we heard them: bullfrogs, croaking from the woods. We stopped, dropped our packs, and marched through the leaf litter to find them.
Wings Over Wyoming
Cultivating pollinator support at state parks
By Amy Marie Storey
In 2019, a plain mowed field in Oklahoma’s Sequoyah State Park transformed into an acre of wildflowers. The verdant space served both visitors and pollinators.
When You Gotta Go—Pack It Out
Finding solutions for human waste in the backcountry
By Kristen Pope
Among stunning red arches, balancing rocks, canyons, pinyon-juniper, and cacti, a hiker in southern Utah sees something white in the distance. Is it a wildflower? Approaching the “blossom,” the hiker instead finds something far less picturesque—used toilet paper and human feces.