Subscribe

Columns

December 21, 2023

What did Westerners care about in 2023?

This past year, Writers on the Range, an independent opinion service based in western Colorado, sent out 52 weekly opinion columns. They were provided free of charge to more than 200 subscribing editors of publications large and small, each of whom republished dozens of the columns.

December 21, 2023

Gun violence is a reflection of us all

In the streets of Bogalusa, Louisiana, a sadly familiar scene unfolds — the mournful wail of sirens, the piercing flash of blue lights, and another community shaken by the harsh crack of gunfire. This is a recurring nightmare echoing across Louisiana, reflecting a national crisis that grips the heart of America.

December 14, 2023

Humanity’s bombs are aimed at evolution

In most media coverage of war — including the hell in the Middle East, where World War III looms —the unexamined assumption is that we, the readers, are spectators, looking on as the missiles fly and Good dukes it out with Evil yet again.

December 7, 2023

Despite union gains in 2023, millions of workers still facing challenges

American workers made great strides in 2023. Autoworkers, UPS drivers, Kaiser health workers, screenwriters and actors all scored significant gains in earnings and benefits as a result of their respective unions taking tough, assertive stances in strikes and other forms of workplace activism. The agreements emerging from these actions will mean substantial improvements in the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers and their families.

November 30, 2023

What really affects hunting in the West?

A disgruntled hunter wrote a Writers on the Range opinion recently about Westerners getting fed up with the many out-of-staters coming in and buying up draw licenses to shoot bull elk, deer, bear and other big game animals.

November 23, 2023

Making their way to America

As we prepare for the upcoming holidays, we must be grateful for what we have and focus on our needs rather than fixate on what we want and crave. Being thankful starts with an appreciation of why our families came to America in the first place and for our freedoms and opportunities.

November 16, 2023

Pulling thistles, sowing hope

For the past few years I’ve participated in “Thistle Thursdays,” targeting a popular trail near Jackson, Wyoming. The weekly weed party was organized in 2019 by Morgan Graham, wildlife habitat specialist with the Teton County Conservation District, and it attracts more volunteers each year — 16 of us in 2023.

October 12, 2023
Goats like the ones seen here can answer the

Goats can be a forest’s best friend

Goats are particularly good at one thing: Eating. Unlike a horse or cow that leaves noxious weeds behind, goats eat the whole menu of pesky weeds, bushes and small trees. That means goats can be one of the answers to the growing problem of tinder-dry, highly flammable forests.

October 5, 2023

Let’s blow the whistle on public-land abusers

Dozens of TVs, refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers and abandoned cars had either been gunshot, torched or both. This place of destruction was what some locals called “Carnage Canyon,” roughly 30 acres off Lefthand Canyon in Boulder County, Colorado.