Editor’s Note (winter 2016)
Wandering down the spine of a ridge last summer in southern Wyoming’s Sierra Madre, I stumbled across a 100-year-old mining camp: pits surrounded by heaps of broken rock
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.
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.
Terror in the Backcountry
When wildlife comes face to face with winter sports enthusiasts
Imagine you’re out for a pleasant winter stroll and just about to bite into your turkey
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
National Parks Respond to Climate Change
As ecosystems transform, the Park Service adapts
Strapping on crampons and readying their ice axes, the Jenny Lake Climbing Rangers
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
The Bone People
The booming business of antler hunting on public lands
Andy Hart thinks of antler hunting as a process of manufacturing luck.
The Forgotten River
A UW graduate student sees expedition potential in a neglected corner of the West
On May 31, 2015, a half dozen brightly colored rafts slipped past the Split Mountain take out at the bottom of Gates of Lodore
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.
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.
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,
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
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.
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
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.”
