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

e North Sand Hills, a dune complex outside Walden, Colorado, are home to the state’s rarest plant, the boat-shaped bugseed.

Boat-Shaped Bugseed

Sand Hills off-roaders co-exist with rare plant

The North Sand Hills rise out of Northern Colorado’s high plains like a scene from a science fiction movie.

e oil painting Wind River Country Wyoming by Albert Bierdstadt (circa 1860) was up for sale at the 2015 Jackson Hole Art Auction.

Stories Told in Paint

Discovering fine art in Jackson

On a hazy evening the streets of Jackson blur with summer tourists. Laughter and chitchat rises from outdoor patios like bubbles in a fizzy drink.

The Bone People

The Bone People

The booming business of antler hunting on public lands

Andy Hart thinks of antler hunting as a process of manufacturing luck.

Chimney Rock, in Nebraska, was an important landmark to pioneers traveling westward. Today it is protected as a national historic site.

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

Zebra mussel

Only YOU Can Prevent Zebra Mussels

Sloganeering in the age of invasive species

Everybody knows the catchphrase Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires. Lots of folks who spend time in the backcountry understand they should Leave No Trace.