Family hiking through wildflowers with trees behind.

Making Space

Land trusts take on community access to outdoor recreation

By Meghan Kent

In 2009, Colin Betzler moved to Sheridan, Wyoming, as the first paid executive director for the local land trust. Like for many people, the Bighorn Mountains drew him to the area. On a clear day, the fortress-like summits of Cloud Peak, Blacktooth, Innominate, and Mt. Woolsey reign over the Sheridan valley.

Creating a Sustainable Destination

Creating a Sustainable Destination

Jackson Hole seeks a better tourism future

By Kristen Pope

Hiking mountain trails festooned with larkspur, lupine, and arrowleaf balsamroot flowers; paddleboarding on an alpine lake beneath the Tetons; seeing playful bear cubs frolic; and watching bison graze by the Moulton Barn with a backdrop of towering peaks—these are just a few of the reasons people come to Jackson Hole.

Bicyclist photographs a roadkill deer on a smartphone. Photo credit: Adventure Scientists

Ride for Roadkill

Montana cyclists are helping make the state’s roads safer for wildlife and people

By Birch Malotky

Crowell Herrick, 63, rides his gravel bike down Montana Highway 1, wearing a high-vis vest.

Pronghorn walking through grass with mountains in background.

Hikers and Wildlife Cross Paths

Researchers investigate non-motorized recreation’s ecological impacts

By Meghan Kent

Following his GPS, University of Wyoming field technician Michael Gjellum descends into a canyon between the folded foothills of Pilot Hill, keeping a careful eye out for mountain lion activity.

Mountain biker ascends gravel path into mountains.

Reclaimed Wildness

Riding Coal Basin’s closed mining roads

By Manasseh Franklin

While quietly pedaling a narrow, paved road near Redstone, Colorado, I rounded a corner and came face-to-face with a small black bear. 

Mussels

Cancer to the Rescue?

A potential solution to invasive mussels

One hundred thousand quagga mussels can live in a single square meter, and 450 trillion of them infest Lake Michigan alone.

A mountain goat peers down from a cliff

To Kill or Not to Kill?

Managing charismatic ungulates in the Tetons

The first time Michael Whitfield saw bighorn sheep in the high country he stood on a ridgeline in the shadow of the Teton Range and watched a group grazing along a plateau.

Banking on Trails

Banking on Trails

Laramie could be the next western town to cash in on public lands recreation

On a Thursday evening last March, a crowd of eager residents packed into the gymnasium of the Lincoln Community Center in West Laramie to learn more about the Pilot Hill Project

skier shadow on snow

Consuming Experiences Instead of Stuff

What quiet recreationists bring to the outdoor economy and how to reach them

With BLM maps in hand and fragments of descriptions from locals, Eric Krszjzaniek searches for an old Indian village in Wyoming’s Shirley Basin. As he walks across the landscape, he pauses often to reference his Rockhounding in Wyoming guide and note the types of rocks in the area.

Rockefeller in Patagonia

Rockefeller in Patagonia

Outside wealth, local values, and creating national parks

Ken Burns’ documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea tells a story from the early years of Grand Teton National Park.

Mustang Makeover Days

Horsing Around

Big time equine fun in little western towns

Horse and human stories have been intertwined in the West for centuries, and while only a few people work with horses today,

Some Like it Cold

Some Like it Cold

How does a local ski hill prepare for an uncertain future?

I’m a third-generation Bridger Bowl skier. My grandparents taught my dad to ski here

A New Conservation Model

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

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.

Camper Culture

Camper Culture

Small, hand-built, and rugged RVs bring a new demographic into the fold

Mike Resch never expected to own a camper. He prided himself on his ability to live out of a backpack