Southwest Colorado is wracked by drought, and the Animas River, along with being sullied by ash and mud from debris … More
Tag: #Animas
Farmington flatline: The lower Animas River is dry
UPDATE 7/9/2018: The US Geological Survey determined that their gauge was faulty, and that the river did not actually run … More
The 416 Fire and memories of 2002 — and 1879
UPDATE on 6/8/2018: As of the end of day 6/7, the 416 Fire had reached 5,100 acres and as of … More
Homeland, Dryland
For his entire adult life, my grandfather, Herb Billings, was a farmer in the Animas Valley north of Durango, Colorado. … More
San Juan Snowpack, March 1 update
In January, I posted here about the dire snowpack situation in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. At the … More
River of Lost Souls: Weekly excerpt #1
… The capitalists formed the Gold King Mining & Milling Company, and went to work developing the claim, combining it … More
Scarce San Juan snowpack is not unprecedented, but that doesn’t make it “normal”
“For the first time in fourteen years, San Juan County celebrated Christmas and New Year’s days without any snow on … More
The diminishing Animas River
I just handed over to my editor the second draft of the manuscript for River of Lost Souls. We’ve still … More
Grandstanding vs. getting ‘er done on the Animas
Back in August (I know, I’m late to post this, apologies), on a soggy weekend, the Mountain Studies Institute held … More