Whose Wilderness is This?

Public land is – or, at least should be – just that: public. But what does that mean? And who should be able to decide how such common ground is used? One person’s wilderness policy may be another’s government overreach. John McPhee (one of my favorite authors)...

Flakes

If you spend any amount of time hiking in the Southwest you will eventually happen upon a scatter of lovely, multicolored stone flakes lying in the sand. In some areas, black obsidian predominates, and in others yellow and red jasper. But most often you’ll find a...

The Karma of Cheatgrass

Cheatgrass is an innocuous-looking plant you’ll encounter everywhere in the Great Basin. At higher elevations, it’s a wispy, occasional presence filling in the spaces between patches of sagebrush. But in the wide valleys between the mountains it reigns supreme,...