Controlled Burns Help Prevent Wildfires, Experts Say. But Regulations Have Made It Nearly Impossible to Do These Burns. Even though the 2021 Marshall Fire made it clear that the fire threat posed by Colorado’s grasslands endangers large urban areas, federal… Photo: Chet Strange.

A small farming community is racing to secure rights that will protect the centuries old irrigation system they need to survive. On a sage-infused summer morning in the San Luis Valley, Robert Quintana steps from his worn silver pickup truck to check the acequia. Photo: Elliot Ross.

A ‘chef farmer’ pivots to survive the pandemic, his son’s death. Bruised clouds loom over the charred foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and a frigid wind tears at the hand-lettered sign that hangs from a new wooden shelter barely a dozen yards off the road. A 17-year-old lies buried here. “You will not be forgotten,” the sign reads. Photo: Matt Staver.