Pat O’Toole, Remembered
Pat O’Toole was a leading voice in the West for both agriculture and conservation. With Pat’s passing in February of this year, we reached out to George N. Wallace, a
Subterranean Homesick Blues
When conversations turn to water in the West, it’s often about surface water, especially in relation to the challenges facing states that rely on the Colorado River. But subsurface water,
New rules for the river
State and Tribal negotiators are hashing out proposals for management of the Colorado River that will Kick in in 2026. Why should Western landowners care, and how can they participate? As
Saving Water with Fire
Forest health collaboratives are using fire to steward healthy headwaters across public and private land. That hard work flows downstream to all of us. Jagged, snow-capped peaks tower above a thick
Media Luna
A few weeks ago, I visited several ranches west of Tucson, with a group of conservationists on a conference field trip. In the dry desert air of the Altar Valley,
Oh sis, would you look at those clouds!
Legendary western photographer Barbara Van Cleve reflects on how wonderful it was to be raised on a ranch. Interview conducted in March 2024 by Kelly Bennett and Carolyn Quan. Kelly Bennett
Are drones an answer to wolf attacks on livestock?
Over just 20 days in the summer of 2022, there were 11 confirmed depredations by the resident Rogue Pack wolves in Southern Oregon’s Klamath Basin. But gray wolves are listed
Restoring Soil and Saving Water with Wool
In the sprawling landscape of arid western Wyoming, Alicia and Ben Rux, owners of Cottonwood Creek Ranch, faced a common dilemma among Western sheep ranchers: what to do with the
Can flood irrigating do what spring floods used to out West?
Each spring, Adrian Hunolt draws water from the Bear River to flood irrigate the fields on his family’s ranch in Evanston, Wyoming. Like many other flood irrigators, Hunolt’s ranch lies
The Diesel-powered Beavers of the Big Hole
In August of 1919, the Lower Big Hole River ran dry. Well, not completely dry. Water still trickled between the large cobbles of the freestone stream. But it was dry
Keeping Cold Water Cold
Tips for ranch water projects that sustain blue-ribbon trout fisheries The drive south from the small town of Twin Bridges, Montana, leads through a broad valley to the agricultural hub of
Landowner. Rainmaker.
You cangrow water Landowners are in the business, whether formally or not, of growing things—food, trees, grass, animals, biodiversity. To that list you can also add water, especially in the West.