This is a guest column which is well worth reading. By SOREN JESPERSEN Public lands are the backbone of the Western Slope. They supply our drinking water, sustain our wildlife …
Category: public lands
Western Governor’s Association Target of Massive Protest
On Monday, June 23, at least a thousand New Mexicans gathered outside the Western Governor’s Conference to protest public land policies championed by Trump cabinet secretaries inside the Eldorado Hotel …
Plans Afoot to Divest Most National Parks to Locals and Private Interests
Think about what happens to you when you finally pry yourself out of your routine, out of the comfort of home and stores and go outside. If you are lucky …
Trump Begins Big Attack on Interior Department
In the chaotic first 100 days on the second Trump administration, public lands agencies have mostly been spared from cuts and firings affecting other federal agencies. Now the top levels …
Stop Firing our Rangers
The national parks in New Mexico and beyond are facing a growing crisis because of the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal employees. The first round of firings of rangers …
Firefighter Shortage Threatens the West
According to the Forest Service, 45% of their permanent firefighting workforce has quit in the last three years.
Yellowstone by Winter
Winter in Yellowstone National Park reveals wildlife, geothermal features, rivers and quiet with few people while bison, trumpeter swans, river otter and wolves endure the cold. Winter is the time to see Yellowstone.
John Wesley Powell Wanted to Denude the Rocky Mountains
In line with his singular focus on water for farms and towns, Powell opposed the creation of the forest reserves, the precursors to the national forests. He worried that a Forest Service would compete for money with his US Geologic Survey and didn’t want the Forest Reserve designation to prevent dams from being built to feed farms water.
Time for More Prescribed Fire
Despite recent prescribed fire escapes, we need to ramp up prescribed burning in northern New Mexico and treat many more acres before another dry windy spring causes problems.
Is Wildland Firefighting a Waste of Tax Dollars?
In 2023 when megafires erupt across North America, and our national forests seem trapped in an escalating yet faltering war on wildfire, it might be good to look back …
