Columnists - The Journal

Action is necessary to address EMS workforce shortage

The nation’s emergency medical services system is facing a crippling workforce shortage, a long-term problem that has been building for more than a decade. It threatens to undermine our emer...

DATE: Nov 25, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Political balance, unaffiliated members key to redistricting commission’s success

As a lifelong unaffiliated voter, the chance to participate in an inherently political process on an equal footing with affiliated voters was very appealing. I was thrilled to be the first ...

DATE: Nov 24, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

No time to waste addressing the climate crisis – pass the Build Back Better Act

From the quiet of the backcountry, we have seen and experienced the climate changing. Larger wildfires, unpredictable flash floods, hotter heat waves, bigger storms and longer droughts have...

DATE: Nov 17, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Harry Goulding, Monument Valley, Hollywood and yellowcake

A Durango man’s complicated legacy on the Navajo Nation

DATE: Nov 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

This Western Colorado rancher has radical ideas about water

If Jim Howell, a fourth-generation rancher in Western Colorado, has a guru, he’s Allan Savory, the champion of intensive cattle grazing even on semi-arid land. Howell, 52, says Savory’s meth...

DATE: Oct 27, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Hardscrabble and Montezuma’s orchard legacy

A look back at the county’s roots in the orchard business

DATE: Oct 26, 2021 | CATEGORY: Looking back

Scourge of the West: ‘Wild’ vs. feral horses on public lands

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has it wrong. Like other well-meaning, environmental-leaning Americans, he thinks that wild horses on federal public lands deserve special considerations. It’s time...

DATE: Oct 9, 2021 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

The birds flying among the stars of the night sky

Greetings, stargazers. Aquila, the Eagle, may not be the most well-known, or most recognizable constellation, but it is straightforward to find, and is worth adding to your repertoire. It i...

DATE: Oct 9, 2021 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Supporting wilderness and the immense value it provides

In his wildly popular 1968 book, Desert Solitaire, Ed Abbey claimed that “we need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to go there...

DATE: Oct 7, 2021 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land