Morgan Sjogren
@morgansjogren.bsky.social
340 followers 600 following 160 posts
➸Writing about Western land & water from the 🤎 of the desert. ➸Path of Light—A Walk Through Colliding Legacies of Glen Canyon➸Utah Book Award Winner/Library of Congress Great Reads Selection ➸Stories: AZHighways, bioGraphic, Reasons to be Cheerful, Sierra
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Path of Light: A Walk Through Colliding Legacies of Glen Canyon has been chosen by the Utah Center for the Book to be included in the “Great Reads from Great Places” adult list for the 2025 National Book Festival of the Library of Congress!
Reposted by Morgan Sjogren
The ESA protects wildlife and its habitat by preventing illegal “Take“, a legal word meaning “harass, harm, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect or attempt to engage in any such conduct“ except by federal permit. Removing HARM protection will increase their greatest threat: habitat loss.
The Endangered Species Act has protected species and their habitats for over 50 years. A single word change could significantly alter the way the law is implemented. The only beneficiaries of this plan are extractive industries. 🌎 by @morgansjogren.bsky.social
This One Word Change Could Gut Our Strongest Conservation Law
The bipartisan Endangered Species Act is on the line as the federal government proposes a new change
www.sierraclub.org
We must point ourselves downstream, square up to the rapids, ready to carry ourselves and each other through the muck. Here are a few news items for you, desert rats, and far-flung lovers, to keep on your radar: open.substack.com/pub/wildword...
Navigating the Muck
River Notes from Labyrinth Canyon + Dizzying Desert Notes
open.substack.com
Pushing a canoe downstream, it’s comical to imagine decision makers hanging foolishly onto the belief that they can continue to develop the West beyond its means with this vanishing river.

open.substack.com/pub/wildword...
Navigating the Muck
River Notes from Labyrinth Canyon + Dizzying Desert Notes
open.substack.com
Reposted by Morgan Sjogren
The Endangered Species Act has protected species and their habitats for over 50 years. A single word change could significantly alter the way the law is implemented. The only beneficiaries of this plan are extractive industries. 🌎 by @morgansjogren.bsky.social
This One Word Change Could Gut Our Strongest Conservation Law
The bipartisan Endangered Species Act is on the line as the federal government proposes a new change
www.sierraclub.org
Momentary time travels to desert treks of yesteryear are vital escapism right now. 🤎
I couldn’t help myself. Your mention of Rudi Lambrechtse brought such a flood of memories, like in 1983 when we had to use the high trail from Coyote Gulch to the Escalante River because the confluence was flooded.
Reposted by Morgan Sjogren
This is the way

"I did not want to be told where to go. I wanted to learn from the desert"
That is so cool! I love it! 🧡
And Glen Canyon lovers won’t want to miss this!
This fall I’m hitting the road for an encore Path of Light tour!🧡2 years after its release into the wild this book has taken on a life of its own. The best part has been connecting with readers who resonate with this story & the desert landscapes it advocates for. I hope to see you there!
Reposted by Morgan Sjogren
Back to work after a blissful three-day vacation, and the leap in my anxiety and stress this morning is so considerable that I am really wondering if I should just throw in the towel on a career and commit myself to idleness and the quiet contemplation of beauty.
Though I may never see Path of Light on the shelf, I know it is real. That is, a bound book I spent 5 years writing & walking to complete will live in the Library of Congress’s book canyons. The stories in Path of Light are already archived in the desert. open.substack.com/pub/wildword...
We slept beside the same river, or its tributaries, every single night. The absence of the river song that haunts me with a new loneliness. Not just for the river, but for the creatures we shared it with. 🪶🤎 open.substack.com/pub/wildword...
Listening to the More-Than-Human
The days are stacked against what we think we are.
open.substack.com
90 Miles From Needles’ 100th Episode: Morgan Sjogren shares an evocative reading from her book Path of Light-A Walk Through Colliding Legacies of Glen Canyon discussing uranium mining's impact on red rock country & broader implications for desert landscapes www.90milesfromneedles.com/s4e26-episod...
S4E26: Episode 100 | Morgan Sjogren's Tales of Beauty, Rage, and Uranium
Morgan Sjogren shares an evocative reading from her recent book Path of Light : A Walk Through Colliding Legacies of Glen Canyon discussing uranium mining's impact …
www.90milesfromneedles.com
On Thursday, I will be joining the podcast 90 Miles From Needles to celebrate their 100th episode. The event is live on Zoom, Thursday, August 7 at 7:00 pm PST:
90milesfromneedles.com/100 (Meeting ID: 874 3735 7514).
Even if we only focus on wildfires, there is much to unpack about the way we have suppressed these natural processes. I would like to look beyond the villain and into our grief. Even for just a moment. Grief mirrors what we hold dear.
open.substack.com/pub/wildword...
Dreaming with the Pines
Smoke scattering the ashes of Ponderosa love letters.
open.substack.com
“Wasting Time.” That was the subject line of an email from publisher Brett Van Emst requesting a short submission with a tight turnaround. I replied with a list of excuses. That email is what he published as “Bad Capitalist” in issue eight. wildwords.substack.com/p/wasting-time
Thoughts on my self-employed mental health benefits policy, having excuses published in a magazine, and why wasting time is essential to protecting what we love. open.substack.com/pub/wildword...
Wasting Time
Confessions of a Bad Capitalist
open.substack.com
Reposted by Morgan Sjogren
Southwestern #Drought Likely to Continue Through 2100, Research Finds -- Wyatt Myskow (InsideClimateNews.org) coyotegulch.blog/2025/07/22/s...
A beautifully written and researched piece by @melissasevigny.bsky.social . A must-read while the Grand Canyon weighs heavy on many hearts right now.
That’s a great question! And Utah’s walls are covered in many important stories born long before these books and screen we now record them on.
The lineage of Utah literature is something to celebrate. I am currently looking at several of past Utah Book Award winners on my shelf, & emails from a few of these authors. I am grateful to each for the courage, support, and inspiration to write Path of Light.
It’s rare to return from the backcountry (the read world) to good news. This was a glimmer of joy amid smoky skies. It is an honor to share the Utah Book Award for Memoir/Narrative with Christopher Cokinos!🧡