Where There's Smoke: Utah's Alta Hotshots

Interagency hotshot crews comprise elite ground-force wildland firefighters who are the first responders to wildfires in any jurisdiction of the United States. Based just outside of Salt Lake City, the...

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The Life of a Smokejumper: Wait. Jump. Fight. Repeat

When it’s fire season, you don’t buy concert tickets. You don’t make dates. You miss your kid’s birthday. When you’re at the top of the jump list, you don’t go...

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USFS: Fighting Fire With Fire

There’s a wall of fire 12 feet away. Ponderosa pines burn to a roar. Like a jet engine ramping up for takeoff. Flames ignite branches & tufts of needles on...

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Trade Stories: The Blue-Collar Bastion of Ballard, WA

For 71 years, the Pacific Fishermen Shipyard has been building and repairing ships to face some of the toughest seas in the world. Today, it’s a maritime holdout in a...

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Trade Stories: Kiliii Yuyan of Seawolf Kayak

Seattle-based kayak-builder and photographer, Kiliii Yuyan, spends much of his time either paddling the waters of the Pacific Northwest or documenting indigenous communities of the North. His skills are helping...

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Trade Stories: Soledad, Wildlife Service Dog

Soledad is a 6-year-old Karelian Bear Dog working as a Wildlife Service Dog for the Wind River Bear Institute. Born in Florence, MT, she was the only puppy born of...

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In Pursuit of Wildfire: Capturing California's Harshest Forest Fires with Stuart Palley

When a wildfire erupts, Californian photojournalist Stuart Palley runs towards the blaze, not away. With an unbending eagerness for capturing the lives of those who protect and maintain our forests, the...

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Trade Stories: Three Generations In the Wheelhouse of a Tugboat

The blue-and-yellow tugs of Western Towboat are fixtures in the Seattle area. But harbor work on the West Coast is only a fraction of the company’s business. Its biggest job...

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How Not to Sink a Barge of Cargo: An Interview with Tugboat Captain Neil McGourty

Like any ocean freighting job, delivering freight to Southeast Alaska requires a thorough knowledge of the local weather and the peculiarities of the sea routes traveled. The northeast corner of...

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Trade Stories: A School for the World’s Toughest Underwater Jobs

The Divers Institute of Technology is one of the premier commercial dive schools in the country. For the past 49 years it’s been churning out graduates from its headquarters on...

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Dogs with Jobs: UW's 'Conservation Canines' Wildlife Program

In the freshly snow-blanketed Pack Forest of Eatonville, Washington, we spent the day with the team at Conservation Canines exploring the facility they call “home base.” The dogs at Conservation...

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Profiles

Trade Stories: Phillip Lee McGinnis, Sublette County Cowboy

Raised in a small town in Illinois, Phillip Lee McGinnis grew up working for a horse trainer and knew early on he wanted to become a cowboy. After a tour...

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Behind the Book: Elliot Anderson Dreams of the Iditarod

Born in the heart of dairy farming country, Elliot Anderson (better known as "El"), was raised hunting, trapping and fishing in the north woods of Wisconsin. El’s father David imparted...

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Trade Stories: Exploring the American West with Painter Nicholas Coleman

Nicholas Coleman was born in Provo, Utah in 1978.  Brought up in an artistic home, Coleman has been painting and drawing for as long as he can remember. Coleman has...

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Trade Stories: Eric Blinman, Archaeologist

Eric Blinman has been an archaeologist for nearly 50 years. He has worked throughout the western United States but has focused on the greater Southwest since 1979. Working for the...

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Life As A Merchant Marine with John Dunaway

With oceans that refuse to relinquish any of their might regardless of our technological advances, the modern sailor continues to face the same elements which all that have sailed upon...

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Shipbuilding in the Pacific Northwest with Haven Boatworks

 There is a rich history of maritime pursuits in the foggy inlets and jagged shorelines of Washington State. From the hand-carved canoes of the Pacific Northwest’s original settlers to the...

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Trade Stories: Rich, The Bouncer at the Norwegian Rat

Perched in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, Dutch Harbor has been owned by Russia, settled by gold rush prospectors, fortified by the U.S. Navy, bombed during World War II and...

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Trade Stories: Building Boats at the Taylor Shellfish Fabrication Shop with Brian Omdahl

Taylor Shellfish Farms is our kind of company, a company founded on sweat, saltwater, and hard work. Despite punishing conditions and demanding physical labor, this 120-year-old, family-owned shellfish farm has...

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Profiles

Trade Stories: Aleph Geddis, Wood Sculptor

Aleph Geddis, a wood sculptor from Orcas Island, WA, has spent the last four months in his carving shed working on a one-of-a-kind piece of art for our flagship retail...

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Trade Stories: Basket Weaving with Bernadine Phillips

Using the ancient methods created by the Okanogan-Wenatchi bands of the Colville Tribe, Bernadine Phillips handcrafts coiled cedar root, bear grass and wild cherry bark baskets. She has always had...

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Trade Stories: Robb Gray, Knife Maker

After a childhood spent being fascinated by knives, Robb Gray of Graycloud Designs in Seattle now lives his dream as a knife maker. His knives are shaped and built for...

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Trade Stories: Anna Gulickson of Kenmore Air

Anna Gulickson is a pilot at Kenmore Air with over 14 years experience at the helm of a plane. At five years old, she was visiting her aunt and uncle...

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Mastering the Art of Making with the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building

When Filson was founded in 1897, we outfitted loggers, miners and builders. Our garments gained a reputation for reliability and integrity, offering protection from harsh weather, untamed wilderness, splinters and...

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Wooden Boat Building with Erin and Evan Walsh

After growing up in the Midwest and meeting in sprawling Chicago, Erin and Evan Walsh yearned for a life that was more connected to nature. After finishing design school and...

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Sheep Shearing in Western Washington with Nich Hance McElroy

Nich Hance McElroy is a photographer based in Vancouver, BC. Since 2010 he's owned and operated a small scale sheep shearing business in Western Washington, which takes him - along...

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Profiles

Jerry Cohen, Owner of Ebbets Field Flannels

Ebbets Field Flannels has been a Pioneer Square mainstay for over 25 years. The iconic Seattle company manufactures historically inspired athletic apparel, ranging from wool baseball flannels to 8-panel caps,...

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Trade Stories: Matt Pierce of Wood & Faulk

Photos courtesy of Wood&Faulk.Matt Pierce is a modern day jack of all trades.  Born in Kansas, the tinkerer's interests in carpentry and mechanics were honed through interactions with close friends...

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Trade Stories: Zeph, the Proletariat Butcher

In a society where many people are far removed from the processes put in to food preparation, professional butchers like Zeph have taken the age-old craft in to their own...

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Trade Stories: Andy Gregory of NW Axe Co.

The history of the axe in America is ubiquitous. Trees as tall as Bunyan were felled with these sharpened glints of steel. Cities and towns across the nation were born...

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Trade Stories: Mike Smith of Kenmore Air

Kenmore is our kind of airline.  Family owned and operated out of Washington State since 1946, no one knows their way around a bush plane better.  We sat down with...

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Trade Stories: Jason Ramos, Smokejumper

Jason Ramos has devoted 25 years of his life to the fire service. Now a full-fledged smokejumper working out of Winthrop, Washington, Jason has learned to expect the unexpected everyday....

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