A lawyer called me today to find out if I thought she might have a case against the federal government for its role in the origins of the Hermit Peak/Calf …
Category: land management
Burning in the Snow
The NPS has treated thousands of acres in the Valles Caldera with this thinning and pile burning. The US Forest Service has treated large areas of their land outside of the Valles Caldera the same way with funds provided by Congress.
Exploring the Nambe Badlands Wasteland
Thousands of people per year drive to Chimayo through the brown desert between the Nambe Creek Valley and the Santa Cruz River Valley. Tourists love this stretch for its strange …
Running out of Time: COP26 and the Human Future
The COP26 climate change talks just ended in Stockholm and Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish activist, told the world the truth about what went on. She summed up the …
The Forest Advocate, or Forest Fantasy
Most Santa Fe residents recently got a mailing from a group called “The Forest Advocate” which discusses forest management around Santa Fe. While I appreciate the spirit of the publication, …
Lightning Fire, Wild and Free
In mid-June lightning struck a remote slope in the Pecos Wilderness east of Santa Fe. The bolt started a fire that ignited dry fuels in a spruce-fir forest and quickly …
Planning the Valles Caldera National Preserve
The Valles Caldera in northern New Mexico is a vast collapsed volcano now coated with forests and grasslands. People have been coming to the Caldera seasonally for centuries, making paths …
Ranching is Driving the West’s Water Crisis
At some point, Americans need to come to grips with the fact that the cattle ranching industry is using far too much water in the American West. Ranching damages almost …
New Gila Wild and Scenic Bill an Empty Gesture
What do you imagine when you think of a wild and scenic river? Do you think of a deep clear stream running among thick grasses with flowers bobbing, deer grazing …
Chaco Canyon and the Trampling of Hooves
At the turn of the century (1900), a man named Richard Weatherill ran a horse ranch right next to Pueblo Bonito inside what is now Chaco Canyon National Historic Park. …
