Special Reports

These major features, including many award-winners, exemplify the best in rural journalism and share deep dives into issues that impact the people and places in the rural West and will matter most for the country. 

Hundreds of Trails, Thousands of Mules
The Chilton Ranch is undefended from illegal border crossers and too many drug packers, thanks to the Sinaloa Cartel. By Jim Chilton (Winter 2023)

The War on the West, Continued
A conference in Egypt showed us the real agenda behind Agenda 21. By Dan Happel (Summer 2023)

Where’s the Beef?
Big packer power is bad for America’s farmers and ranchers. By Chance Gowan (Spring 2023)

Accountable? Not US!
The first bite before choking down the rest later. By Dave Skinner (Fall 2022)

Better That They Burn
National forests are on life support due to lousy doctoring. By Jim Petersen (Fall 2022)

Shades of Green
It’s not just about diversity and saving nature. By Dave Skinner (Summer 2022)

Breaking Point
Arizona ranchers are pitted against massive crowds and big money. By Marjorie Haun (Summer 2022)

Good News, Bad News
Sometimes elections matter. By Dave Skinner (Spring 2022)

Ill Wind in Cherry County
Power and politics in the Nebraska Sandhills. By Carolyn Dufurrena (Spring 2022)

Requiem for a Forest
What followed the Bear Fire. By Dave Daley (Winter 2022)
(Also see original story in Winter 2021)

The Insta-Facebook West
Do you “LIKE” it? By Jim Stiles (Winter 2022)

Overrun at the Border
Ranchers live with daily invasions of migrants and drug mules. By Leo W. Banks (Fall 2021)

Monetizing the Scenery
Utah’s biggest green group is caught between protecting wilderness and big tourism. By Marjorie Haun (Summer 2021)

West First! Part II
Western Landowners Alliance promotes welfare ranching for billionaires. By Dave Skinner (Summer 2021)

West First!
We'll rewild the rest of the planet later. By Dave Skinner (Spring 2021)

High Anxiety
Out of control grizzlies terrify Montana ranchers. By Dave Skinner (Winter 2021)

The Bear Fire
I cry for the mountains and the legacy lost. By Dave Daley (Winter 2021)

First, Put Out the Fire
Is it time to give America’s forests back to our Native Americans? By Jim Petersen (Winter 2021)

A Perfect Storm, Soros the Destroyer & Show Me the Money

A Perfect Storm & Soros the Destroyer
George Soros is a happy man after causing racial turmoil, economic chaos, civil unrest, pandemic and fear from his perfect storm. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D.

Show Me the Money
George Soros and his tangled web—A Perfect Storm, Part II. By Dave Skinner (Fall 2020)

Digging Deeper
America's “Deep State” exists beyond the Beltway. By Dave Skinner (Summer 2020)

Black Hat Sagebrush Rebel
Altering political landscapes from rural Utah to Congress. By Marjorie Haun (Winter 2020)

Compassion & Charity
Wayne Pacelle and his continuing attack on producers. By Dave Skinner (Winter 2020)

The Hour I First Didn't Believe
A Democrat professor explains what his party gets wrong about climate. By Caleb Rossiter, Ph.D. (Winter 2020)

Inconvenient Truths
A little common sense on Klamath dam removal would go a long way. By Theodora Johnson (Fall 2019)

Critical Mass: Cowboys or Buffalo?
The most ambitious and successful “rewilding” effort ever attempted. By Dave Skinner (Fall 2019)

Federal Cops
Just about every government agency has its guys with guns. By Rachel Dahl (Summer 2019)

Wolves!
Are these canines really the problem? By Chance Gowan (Summer 2019)

Earth to Washington: Fix Our Forests
Ravaging wildfires, crashing rural economies. Is anyone listening? By Theodora Johnson (Spring 2019)

Give Me a Stone
David meets Goliath in the eastern Sierra. Again. By Carolyn Dufurrena (Winter 2019)

Octopuses Garden
More secrets from a stealth entity. By Dave Skinner (Fall 2018)

The Ultimate Land Clearance
The U.S. government has inflicted 40 years of abuse on Nevada’s Hage family. By Ramona Hage Morrison (Summer 2018)

Zinke and the Russian Dolls
A mysterious $371-million Beltway “charity” attacks the Secretary of Interior from a Montana mailbox. By Dave Skinner (Summer 2018)

Fake Green Is Worried (Real Worried)
Enviro flacks attack Allan Savory’s success. By Dan Dagget (Spring 2018)

Waiting For Next Time
North Dakota resists “The Resistance.” By Dave Skinner (Spring 2018)

In Search of Atticus Finch
Enter Marcus Mumford, Utah’s legal warrior. By Todd Macfarlane (Spring 2018)

Bundy Fiasco
Persecution and prosecution. Twice the relentless, lawless feds had to give up. By Patricia Aiken (Spring 2018)

Dancing on the Dark Side
Park Service two-step at Point Reyes National Seashore. By Carolyn Dufurrena (Winter 2018)

First in Time, First in Right
David and Goliath: Fighting for state sovereignty in Idaho. By Judy Boyle (Winter 2018)

Climate Lies
The endgame is nothing but a power grab and massive redistribution of wealth on a massive, global scale. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Fall 2017)

Treasured State
After 17 long years, Greens still lust for Montana’s Antiquities gold. By Dave Skinner (Fall 2017)

Hope!
Needed reform could be coming to the EPA. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Summer 2017)

Patriots vs. Politicians
Who now will pledge life, fortune and sacred honor? By Tom DeWeese (Summer 2017)

Eco-Profits
Whose money harms the environment? By Dan Dagget (Spring 2017)

Power Down
The mounting failures and costs of Green energy. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Spring 2017)

Death of a Thousand Cuts
A new kind of ranching in northeastern Washington. By Chance Gowan (Spring 2017)

Rachel Carson Revisited
Suicide of the West: From Silent Spring to Zika. By Alston Chase (Winter 2017)

Powerful Forces
More than a century of Eastern control of the West’s natural resources. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Fall 2016)

Patterns of Harassment III

Bundy Part I: The Occupation
A Dead Bill of Rights?
Violence, fear, and death at the hands of the government. By Judy Boyle

Bundy Part II: The Punishment
Bundy Scares the Feds
Who was it who initiated the wrongful use of “force, fear and violence” in Bunkerville? By Vin Suprynowicz

Bundy Part III: The Shadow Force
The Professionals
A militia of amateurs confronts an array of paid operatives and loses. “Opinionalysis.” By Dave Skinner
Also: Image Is Everything 
“The Professionals.” (Summer 2016)

Up Front: Intimidation? You bet.   
Federal harassment against the Bundys, Tomeras, Filippinis and Hages. By C.J. Hadley (Summer 2016)

The Big Cure
A (mostly) toothless U.N. climate agreement. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Spring 2016)

FIRE: Destruction of the West
The more the West burns, the more money the agencies get, and the more lives and livelihoods are ruined. By Judy Boyle
The Aftermath. By Andrea Scott
Get Out of the Fire. By Steven H. Rich (Winter 2016)

The Grass March
The Grass March Cowboy Express was an arduous trip of 2,800 miles on horseback with serious intent.
Regulation without representation is tyranny. By Jameson Parker
The Riders. By Julian Stone
The Leader. By Carolyn Dufurrena
(continued above)

The Grass March (continued)
The Muscle: Power-hungry feds versus Nevada cowboys. By Julian Stone
The Last Best Hope: From the National Riparian Services Team. By Carolyn Dufurrena (Summer 2015)

Cows Can Save The World
How easy it is to draw our swords and yet how difficult it is to re-sheath them. By Allan Savory (Summer 2015)

The Inmates Are In Charge
Global-warming fanatics contend the sky is falling, despite freezing temperatures and record snowfall. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Spring 2015)

Secret Science
John Beale and an EPA story of fraud and deceit. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Winter 2015)

EPA Wants It All
Expanding jurisdiction. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Winter 2015)

Patterns of Harassment
Some say the wealth of America lies in her coal mines and her forests, her wheat fields and her factories. But they are wrong. It lies in the hearts of her people. By Vin Supryowicz

Onslaught at Gold Butte
Only something funny happened on the way to hanging Cliven Bundy’s scalp on the lodge pole.

Who owns the West?
A lot of it is controlled by the feds. 

Is It All About the Tortoise?
More cattle equal more tortoise. What’s the problem?

The Reid Connection
Why would the most powerful man in the U.S. Senate want so badly to get rid of Cliven Bundy’s little herd of cows?

More Federal Takings
The feds will not be satisfied until they have control of all private property—and not only in the American West. By Julian Stone (Fall 2014)

Up Front: Bravado from Bunkerville
Cliven Bundy’s complex tale. By C.J. Hadley (Fall 2014)

BLM Then & Now
Adverse consequences. By Ed Depaoli (Fall 2014)

Agenda 21: Swallowing America
America’s weak leaders are using federal bribes to force communities to comply with the United Nations’ dangerous Agenda 21. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Winter 2014)

The Disconnect
European Green energy turns into a nightmare. The United States is next. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Fall 2013)

Angry Waters
In the West, one truism never changes: whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting. By Dave Skinner (Fall 2013)

EPA's Tidal Wave
Crushing America’s economy. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D (Summer 2013)

A Collision of Visions
The truth about the woods. By Bruce Vincent. (Spring 2013)

California Grown
The golden state of agriculture. By Suzanne Finney. (Winter 2013)

Special Report: Buffaloed
Big Green plans a Big Park under the Big Sky. By Dave Skinner (Fall 2012)

Sage Grouse
Son of spotted owl. By Carolyn Dufurrena, J. Wayne Burkhardt, Ph.D., Julie M. Burkhardt, Hank Vogler and Peter Skene Ogden (Summer 2012)

Passing the Bucks
Forget Ted Turner. Meet Hans Wyss and his War on the West. By Dave Skinner (Summer 2012)

Soros, the Destroyer
For decades, multibillionaire George Soros has been quietly bringing down world governments. He is now targeting the United States. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Summer 2012)

Wrong, Wrong AGO
Another grand Interior scheme—America’s Great Outdoors. By Dave Skinner (Spring 2012)

Our Federal Landlord
Most Americans who live east of the Rockies or in large urban areas in the West are surprised to learn that the federal government controls more than 30 percent of the landmass in the United States. Most of that land is in the western states. Why is that? By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Winter 2012)

The Wild Wild Wet
Going behind the Cascade Curtain of Washington state to the fabulously green Olympic Peninsula. By Dave Skinner (Fall 2011)

Where The Wild Lands Are
Salazar does Babbitt’s wilderness do-over over. By Dave Skinner (Summer 2011)

Africa

Saving the World
Good management and the peculiar and beautiful blessings of bovines. By C.J. Hadley

The Power of New Thinking
Reversing desertification while benefitting yourself, your community, and the planet. By Allan Savory

Saving the Culture
While solving humanity’s most pressing problems. By Jody Butterfield (Spring 2011)

Mustang
Legends and Myths. Faith, hope and charity. By Tim Findley (Winter 2011)

Dust Devils
Cynical politics is the hot wind that powers environmental radicals. By Tim Findley (Summer 2008)

Big Brother Knows
The West meets here. By Tim Findley (Spring 2008)

Klamath Redux
In the federally dominated West, water remains the essence of wealth and the currency of real political power. By Tim Findley (Winter 2008)

Land In Crisis
Wolves at the Door in New Mexico’s Catron County. By Mike Cade (Summer 2007)

The North American Union: A Dark Moon Rising
Surrendering sovereignty. By Tim Findley (Spring 2007)

American Forests: The Great Lie
We are wasting our forests and ruining our natural wealth with political arrogance and indifference. By Tim Findley, et al. (Fall 2006)

Enemies of Conservation
Enlightened conservationists admit that wrecking the lives of millions of poor, powerless people has been an enormous mistake. By Mark Dowie (Summer 2006)

The Ribbon
Years before 9/11, southwestern ranchers were already fighting their own war. By Tim Findley (Summer 2006)

Taking Liberty
How private property in America is being abolished. By Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. (Fall 2005)

To Move an Ocean
Transferring water to Las Vegas is like buying a liquor store for a drunk. By Tim Findley (Fall 2005)

The West 2005
The bad guys are still after the ranch. By Tim Findley (Summer 2005)

Smart Growth
Shadow players in the new world order. By Tim Findley (Spring 2005)

Pristine Nature: The Founding Falsehood
Why leaving “nature” alone means destruction of the wilderness. By Steven H. Rich (Spring 2005)

Refuting The Myths
It is time to expose anti-livestock bias in federal culture. By Steven H. Rich (Fall 2004)

Forever and Ever, Amen
Land trusts and the frightening thought of perpetuity. By Tim Findley (Winter 2004)

This Land is OUR Land
Untamed nature and the removal of humans. By Tim Findley (Fall 2003)

Return to Eden
The man behind the Wildlands Project. By Tim Findley (Fall 2003)

The Value of Rest
When lands are cared for, everyone benefits, wildlife banquets. By eight writers (Summer 2003)

Nature’s Landlord
The arrogance of The Nature Conservancy. By Tim Findley (Spring 2003)

Endangered?
What Is, What Isn’t, Who Says.

Making the ESA Work Better
Every Last Blade of Grass
What’s Wrong with the ESA?
The Real American Wolfman
The Delectable Birds of Lone Willow
By Tim Findley, et al. (Fall 2002)

Water in the West
Water is the essence of all life. There has never been more, and there will never be less. By Tim Findley, Jeff Goodson, Allan Savory, et al. (Fall 2001)

The Great American Land Grab
The Clinton administration's lands-locked legacy may be undone before it is even fully recognized as a sinister plan to manipulate the population and the economy of the United States. By Tim Findley (Winter 2001)

The West 2000
Facts for the future of public and private lands: Ranching, farming, logging, mining and recreation. By Tim Findley (Spring 2000)