Ben enjoying the views at Red Rock Canyon. Photo by Kevin Mack.

As someone who grew up on the East Coast, words that characterize the West sound like poetry to me. Creosote. Gypsum. The Loggerhead Shrike. Bajada. The Virgin River. Even the word “arid,” which very generally describes the climate of Southern Nevada, had not been tossed around much where I grew up. These words are far more than poetic though, they represent a vast landscape that is part of ongoing discussions about the future management of the public lands in the west. Read more