Indigenous science is using natural regeneration to restore Western
ecosystems.
Posted inMarch 2024: Fertile Ground
Prairies
Posted inDecember 1, 2022: Beyond Illusion
The West is losing 1.3 million acres of sagebrush steppe each year
A new report aims to advance transforming rangeland conservation across 13 states and 115 million acres.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
Collecting seeds to restore prairie grasslands
‘These youth are going to be able to take ownership of healing the land at Fort Belknap.’
Posted inMarch 18, 2019: Arizona's Wild Horse Paradox
What’s left of the tallgrass prairie
A ‘grassland education’ from nature photographer Harvey Payne.
Posted inJune 25, 2018: Little Weed, Big Problem
‘Little House’ and the identity of the prairie struggle
The gritty reality behind Laura Ingalls Wilder’s writings.
Posted inDecember 25, 2017: Bear Essentials
The iconic bird of the ‘Sagebrush Sea’
A new book shows the life cycle of sage grouse in their natural habitat.
Posted inJanuary 22, 2018: A Separatist State of Mind
A Civil Conversation: The lessons of Nicodemus, Kansas
One of the few black settlements of the West remains — barely.
Posted inDecember 11, 2017: Scorched Earth
What fire researchers learned from California’s blazes
In California, land managers use fire as a tool.
Posted inMay 29, 2017: The Cost of a Comeback
Why are coyotes so polarizing?
A new book seeks to make sense of the hated canid’s history.
Posted inArticles
Homesick for nowhere
An Oregon man finds his sense of place in the Zumwalt Prairie.
Posted inMay 29, 2017: The Cost of a Comeback
Montana refuge divides tribes and ranchers
The American Prairie Reserve offers a controversial vision for an intact prairie ecosystem.
Posted inArticles
Defense bill threatens sage grouse survival
A sneaky amendment would block protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Posted inSeptember 5, 2016: When the Doctor is Out
The slaughter of innocents
After prairie dogs invade a corner of her lot, a writer weighs the cost of eliminating them.
Posted inArticles
Researchers find an answer to invasive cheatgrass
Will this native bacteria finally thwart one of the most invasive weeds in North America?
Posted inArticles
BLM launches a native seeds strategy for damaged landscapes
The initiative aims to restore burned ecosystems and target fire-prone invasives like cheatgrass.
Posted inGoat
Discovery: Good ol’ tallgrass was formed by good ol’ bacteria
It’s always tempting to reflect on how wonderful the West used to be. You know what I mean: Conservationists and Natives lament that the first invasions by white settlers wrecked everything, and ranchers and loggers long for a return to the era before 750-page environmental-impact statements. Who among us hasn’t conjured up wistful images of […]