Notes on what is fluid and flowing, even if ephemeral.
Kate Schimel
Posted inArticles
San Carlos Apache call for international intervention over copper mine at Oak Flat
At the U.N., leaders describe the destruction of Indigenous sacred sites as a ‘major human rights violation.’
Posted inArticles
Fossil-fuel sabotage comes to Hollywood
The director of ‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’ discusses the value of popular media for environmental ends and whether destroying pipelines is an act of self-defense.
Posted inArticles
What the heck is the Sonoran Avalanche Center?
A sardonic social media account gains popularity from taking down sacred ski idols and imagining a future without snow.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
What comes after the fire?
Friction from the past intensifies in environmentally stressed regions.
Posted inMarch 1, 2022: The Cloning Conundrum
The place that coal built and fire burned
Extractive industry laid the infrastructure for the suburban sprawl that fueled Colorado’s destructive Marshall Fire.
Posted inArticles
In spite of bans, evictions in New Mexico continued during the pandemic
Landlords and property managers filed more than 11,000 eviction notices since April 2020.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
The lessons on storytelling that William Kittredge taught
The beloved teacher and writer was preoccupied with the particular.
Posted inMay 13, 2019: Atomic Tourists
A runner reimagines his place in a sprawling city
And creates new connections from the details.
Posted inMarch 4, 2019: El Nuevo Movimiento
Get to know the Green New Deal, by the numbers
The plan would boost the U.S. economy and eliminate fossil fuel use in ten years.
Posted inJanuary 21, 2019: What Killed Washington's Carbon Tax?
What killed Washington’s carbon tax?
The curious death of 1631 and what it says about the future of addressing climate change.
Posted inArticles
Ryan Zinke to step down as Interior secretary
Zinke shrunk national monuments, rolled back sage grouse protections and ramped up drilling.
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In the West, climate action falters on the ballot
While climate-focused candidates won key races in the region, ballot initiatives to limit fossil fuels’ effects failed.
Posted inArticles
The lone punk rocker of Paonia
A musician finds a home among a small town’s orchards and fields.
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Mining protections lapse on one of Oregon’s wildest rivers
The Department of Interior’s failure to extend restrictions exposes the weaknesses of a key environmental law.
Posted inArticles
Rural communities look at new ways to fortify mental health
A dearth of professional help leaves small-town residents seeking help from one another.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
A hard look at outdoor rec’s influence — and cost
The outdoor industry fills a unique role in the West as a political force and as an entity getting more people outside.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
Recreation is redefining the value of Western public lands
Visits to public lands and consumer spending grow, as agency budgets atrophy.
Posted inArticles
Small towns look for a road forward, paved with fiber-optic
A group of New Mexico newsrooms examines the future of broadband access in rural communities.
Posted inArticles
West Obsessed: A resistance to oil and gas near Chaco Canyon
Tribal nations act to prevent more industrial exploration on their ancestral lands.