Out of the Frying Pan

October 5, 2015

The Interior Department announced this week that it would not add the Greater Sage Grouse to the endangered species list, and many westerners breathed a sigh of relief. To many, the decision sounded like a victory for state and local efforts to conserve a species without the heavy-handed regulatory approach that comes with a federal […]

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Hard Work Begets Wisdom

October 5, 2015

Like millions of other Americans, I have always been fascinated by old family stories and genealogy. I’ve spent more time than most researching the family tree, but the stories are much more enlightening than just names and dates. My own grandparents and other relatives really kindled my interest in natural resources as far back as […]

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Second-Hand Smoke

October 5, 2015

During a recent trip from Grand Junction to Durango, I was coughing because of all the smoke filling the mountain valleys of Western Colorado. Over the past few years, we have almost become accustomed to it in the Grand Valley, though it is unusual for it to blanket so much of the entire region that […]

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Who’s Really in Charge?

September 14, 2015

The President thought government spending was out of control, so he vetoed the appropriations bill. Congress was determined and over-rode the veto, restoring funding despite his objections. But it took 10 days for full funding to be restored, and in the meantime, two federal departments were shut down. That may sound like a common theme […]

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Water: Not Just for Fightin’

September 14, 2015

It is a little unusual for national newspapers to cover western water issues, but in August the Wall Street Journal ran a story about the year-long struggle over water rights proposed by the City of Glenwood Springs. The article was predictably superficial, but called national attention to something Western Slope residents understand to the core […]

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Does Anyone Talk Anymore?

September 14, 2015

When Howard Baker was majority leader of the U.S. Senate, he once famously remarked that the worst mistake Congress ever made was air conditioning the Capitol Building. In earlier times Congress met for only part of each year, and then returned home when the muggy August heat made Washington, D.C. practically uninhabitable — not to […]

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A Spoonful of Sugar Would Help This Medicine

August 19, 2015

Everyone may be entitled to a little hypocrisy once in a while, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is abusing the privilege this week. The EPA accidentally caused a nasty spill that sent more than 3 million gallons of toxic sludge down the Animas River, turning its waters orange for 100 miles. The mess has […]

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What Part of Deadline…

August 19, 2015

A new study from a group called the R Street Institute has found that federal agencies missed half of all the deadlines imposed by Congress. Not just recently, not just in the current Administration, but for more than 20 years. The most shocking thing about this study is that nobody is shocked. There is so […]

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Try Something New

August 19, 2015

Yesterday I testified before an unusual committee in Congress, one with a membership made up almost entirely of westerners, and in particular westerners whose districts are mostly federal land. That is unique in Congress because rural westerners are a small minority. They normally have trouble explaining to their colleagues the nuances of public lands and […]

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Another One Bites the Dust

August 19, 2015

Voltaire once wrote that “men argue; nature acts.” We see that action repeatedly in catastrophic forest fires across the western United States, and each time we hope it may be the last. This week we’re seeing yet another forest go up in smoke – Glacier National Park in Montana – while land managers, politicians, lobbyists, […]

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