I write print and digital stories for High Country News.
​I also fact-check magazine stories, including these pieces on affordable housing, oyster worms and landslides. 

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EVERYTHING ELSE: 

There are millions of acres of ‘failing’ rangelands, data shows
54 million acres of federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management aren’t meeting the agency’s own land-health standards.

Cows, coal and climate change: A Q&A with the new BLM director
Tracy Stone-Manning discusses how the federal agency sees conservation, the climate crisis and the Indigenous history of public lands.

How humans break up wolf packs
A new study explores how packs change when activities like hunting and car accidents kill wolves.

Climate change is changing public health
In Washington, a new team of epidemiologists is preparing for a hotter, smokier future. 

How climate science won in the Montana youth climate case
The ruling in Held v. Montana is expected to bolster cases in other states with similar environmental protections in their constitutions. 

Just how fat are the fat bears?
Katmai National Park and Preserve’s famous bears from Fat Bear Week are helping provide some answers.

A new mental health hotline for farmers and ranchers
Wyoming is one of five states piloting a resource for agricultural producers.

Do bedrock conservation laws need a makeover?
Experts suggest needed upgrades in the face of modern crises.

Idaho cobalt mine is a harbinger of what’s to come
A new venture near Salmon signals an uptick in hardrock mining across the West.

Is the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act ready for climate action?
The bipartisan legislation includes $1.4 billion in annual conservation funding, but climate change isn’t explicitly addressed.

As coal plants close, Wyoming looks toward nuclear
Is a new generation of nuclear technology a ‘shiny object’ or a solution to a faltering fossil fuel economy?

WILDFIRE BEAT: 

Fire retardant kills fish. Is it worth the risk? 
A lawsuit could change how the Forest Service fights fires. 

Wildfires are burning away the West’s snow
A new study finds wildfires are burning more high elevation areas and dramatically impacting the West’s snowpack as a result.

USFS burn boss arrested after prescribed fire burns private land
Practitioners fear a chilling effect on future operations.

Fire risk map ignites controversy
Southern Oregon residents lash back at wildfire preparedness rules.

Why fire experts are hopeful
Wildfire scientists dispel common misconceptions about forest management, detailing what needs to change and why it's urgent.

Wildfire smoke pushes migrating birds hundreds of miles out of their way
‘I was glued to my computer for days, trying to figure out what these birds were doing, because it was so clearly, obviously, not normal.’

For dairy cows, where there's smoke, there's less milk
Scientists in Idaho are finding that wildfire smoke dampens milk production and coincides with increased risk of disease and even death in dairy cows.
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What Biden's infrastructure bill means for wildfire management
The bill allocates $3.3 billion for firefighter raises, prescribed fire, defending communities and more. 

Air quality report card flunks the West
Western states dominate lists of where short-term particulate and ozone pollution are the worst