Sierra Nevada Ally

Opinion A series of University of Wyoming economic analyses (funded by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association) to determine the economic impacts of eliminating federal grazing found that public land ranching isn’t just insignificant in local western economies, but its economic contribution is entirely inconsequential. The small economic contribution of public-lands...

The influential travel magazine Fodor's recently asked travelers to not travel to some locations this year because of overtourism and the impact on the local environment of too many visitors. One of the ten areas on the “No List” is Lake Tahoe. “Lake Tahoe has a people problem. Amid...

Dear friends -  This holiday season the Sierra Nevada Ally thanks you for your continued support of our public service-driven journalism. Our work strengthens and informs our communities. The Sierra Nevada Ally exists to elevate authentic news reporting and chronicle stories mostly overlooked by the larger, mostly traditional news entities. Our...

If you think Lee Vining to Tuolumne Meadows makes for a slow and windy drive, try it in winter on cross-country skis sometime. The 17-mile trek over Yosemite's Tioga Pass climbs more than 5,000 feet, taking my brother and me ten hours on a cold December day. Completely spent,...

  In late October, the Department of the Interior announced that its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will conduct an offshore wind energy lease sale on Dec. 6th, 2022, that will be the first-ever offshore wind lease sale on America’s West Coast. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s...

Opinion A funny thing happened at a presentation the other day. A retired professor started off talking about how to repair damaged riparian (streamside) areas on public land around Nevada. The presentation was instructive, and supported by scientific data, photos, and the like. Then, the topic shifted to wild horses and...

  Fugue Sunrise    Tea    Kitchen Table What call’st thou solitude, is not the Earth With various living creatures, and the Aire Replenisht, and all those at thy command To come and play before thee?  —from the on-line journal of John Maestro Beloved All night it seemed quiet until just before the dawn a cricket chir-chirruped a cicada thrumsisked a...

October 4, 2022 - Day 20 of Wonder Alone Alone And yet all around are people, tongues in motion, rolling Rs and spitting Ps, separating breath and tongue, with vowels. It’s a panel from a Sergio Garcia Sanchez planing comic, but in 3D motion. Still, I am, alone, ferreting my way through sprawling pairs, trios, and groups gathered in a barrage of gossip, to find the Farmacia, a platano...