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Water has always been one of the American West’s most precious and limited resources. The earliest inhabitants—Native Americans and later Hispanics—learned to share the region’s scant rainfall and snowmelt. When Euro-Americans arrived in the middle of the nineteenth century, they brought with them not only an interest in large-scale commercial agriculture but also new practices and laws about access to, and control of, the water essential for their survival and success. This included the concept of private rights to water, a critical resource that had previously been regarded as a communal asset.

David Stiller’s thoughtful study focuses on the history of agricultural water use of the Rio Grande in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. After surveying the practices of early farmers in the region, he focuses on the impacts of Euro-American settlement and the ways these new agrarians endeavored to control the river. Using the Rio Grande as a case study, Stiller offers an informed and accessible history of the development of practices and technologies to store, distribute, and exploit water in Colorado and other western states, as well as an account of the creation of water rights and laws that govern this essential commodity throughout the West to this day. Stiller’s work ranges from meticulously monitored fields of irrigated alfalfa and potatoes to the local and state water agencies and halls of Congress. He also includes perceptive comments on the future of western water as these arid states become increasingly urbanized during a period of worsening drought and climate change.

An excellent read for anyone curious about important issues in the West, Water and Agriculture in Colorado and the American West offers a succinct summary and analysis of Colorado’s use of water by agricultural interests, in addition to a valuable discussion of the past, present, and future of struggles over this necessary and endangered resource.

The United States Congress appears to be in perpetual gridlock on environmental policy, notes Sara Rinfret, editor of the significant collection, Who Really Makes Environmental Policy? As she and her contributors explain, however, most environmental policy is not made in the halls of Congress. Instead, it is created by agency experts in federal environmental agencies and it is implemented at the state level. These individuals have been delegated the authority to interpret vague congressional legislation and write rules—and these rules carry the same weight as congressional law.

Who Really Makes Environmental Policy? brings together top scholars to provide an explanation of rulemaking processes and regulatory policy, and to show why this context is important for U.S. environmental policy. Illustrative case studies about oil and gas regulations in Colorado and the regulation of coal ash disposal in southeastern states apply theory to practice. Ultimately, the essays in this volume advance our understanding of how U.S. environmental policy is made and why understanding regulatory policy matters for its future.

To be Appalachian is to define oneself in terms of a place. Where we’re from plays a tremendous role in who we are, through storytelling about our homeplaces and the people who have loved them. However, what goes largely unaddressed is how this love of place can contribute to sustainability within the region, which has notoriously faced on-going environmental threats from extraction industries. The reality is that our relationship with the environment is thorny and intertwined with our identities, histories, and economic realities. The authors in the collection get down among the thorns to explore what sustainability means in Appalachia and how we can utilize the power of traditional folkways to achieve it. 

This collection of over thirty pieces explores the connections between Appalachia’s stories, traditions, and modern events and the pathway to regional sustainability. The contributors — writers and scholars — examine how our definitions of sustainability have been formed, the power of education to encourage or inhibit it, and what moves are being made toward efficacy in the future. They also offer specific actions readers can take to better understand and build sustainability where they live.

Contributors: Greg Bealer, Luc Biscan-White, David Blackmore, Aysha Bodenhamer, Ivy Brashear, Matthew Calloway, Nicole Drewitz-Crockett, Christina Fisanick, Deborah Fleming, Amanda V. Garner, Karie Gunter-Seymour, Richard Hague, Amanda E. Hayes, Lockie Hunter, Jessica M. Jones, Kristen LeFevers, Sarah Long, Meghan Moore-Hubbard, Barbara Marie Minney, Jessica Radicic, Elizabeth Emmerth Rexroad, Barbara Sabol, Larry Smith, Patrice Stank, Taylor Nasim Stone, Paul Thomas, Elizabeth Tussey, and Betsy Weems.

Every four years, the Winter Olympics become a focal point for activism and resistance. But in the modern era, mere bids to host the Games have sparked fierce opposition from groups motivated by local or global concerns. Russell Field edits a collection that charts the evolution of protest around the Winter Games and illuminates the issues at the heart of anti-Olympic activism.

The essays collectively explore the shifting dynamics and power relations between the civic coalitions that pursue the Winter Olympics and the social movements that oppose their efforts. The contributors look at specific Games impacted by dissent and probe the issues that swirled around failed and withdrawn bids. In addition, contributions on the contemporary Olympics describe current or future bids while delving into the campaigns demanding host nations pay attention to economic, social, humanitarian, and environmental concerns.

A first-of-its-kind collection, Winters of Discontent profiles the wide range of activists and social movements that have organized against the Winter Olympics.