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Articles by David Lien
Local View: Sturgeon, sulfide-ore mining do not mix
The Rainy River Watershed is one of the few places in Minnesota where you can fish for sturgeon. By the mid-1900s, lake sturgeon populations were decimated by overfishing and habitat destruction. Restoration and conservation efforts are helping the slow-growing, prehistoric sturgeon make a strong comeback in the Rainy, St. Louis, Red, and St. Croix rivers. One of my friends, Erika Woelfel, is a sturgeon angler.
Roadless Rule Rollback ‘Will Come At a Grave Cost,’ Says Advocate
On September 13th, I was interviewed by Steve Strusinski of The 4 Outdoorsmen on Bob Total Country FM about the Roadless Rule. As I said then, “The Roadless Rule is the single most important regulation that benefits hunting and fishing in America.” The Department of Agriculture recently closed its public comment window on the Trump administration’s plan to kill the Roadless Rule — the landmark policy protecting roughly 58.2 million acres of roadless areas in national forests nationwide.
AI Shapes Customer Demand While Measuring It
When companies talk about understanding customer needs, they often assume a simple path: Underlying Need → Observed Demand A customer has an underlying need, even if they cannot fully articulate it. Through questions, data, and observed behavior, companies try to work backward from what the customer says or chooses, to understand what that person actually needs. Demand discovery has therefore traditionally been treated as a process of finding something that already exists.
What AI Doesn't Understand
OpenAI's recently released GPT-6 Astra again pushes AI capabilities forward. It is smarter, can handle more tasks, and makes it even easier to feel that AI is gradually moving toward "understanding the world." But the model leaves a question open: How do we tell whether the model truly understands? And what, exactly, does it understand? Not long ago, I happened to read an article from HalfJourney Lab about AI image generation. The author wrote: There are effects without a cause.
Lien: The single most important regulation
The Roadless Rule is the single most important regulation that benefits hunting and fishing in America. However, it’s just as important for preventing forest fires. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule (i.e., “Roadless Rule”) is a U.S. Forest Service policy that protects 58.2 million acres of roadless areas in national forests from being sold for timber, roadbuilding, mining or oil-and-gas drilling. However, last summer, the Trump administration announced their intention to rescind the rule.
OPINION: Hunters, anglers and nearly everyone else supports the roadless rule
The roadless rule is the single most important regulation that benefits hunting and fishing in America. The rule has been in place for 25 years, a habitat-enhancing force of nature since I started hunting elk some 20 years ago, with nearly universal popularity from the start.
How Do We Judge AI's Insurability?
When AI gets something wrong, who bears the loss? For the past few years, that question has mainly appeared in discussions of AI governance and legal liability. But as AI moves into core business processes—and as agents begin to execute tasks autonomously—another market is being forced to confront the same question: insurance. An IT Pro article on AI insurance notes that a new category of coverage is beginning to emerge around AI-related risks.
Hunters, Anglers, and Nearly Everyone Else Support Keeping the Roadless Rule Intact
The Roadless Rule is the single most important regulation that benefits hunting and fishing in America. The Rule has been in place for 25 years, a habitat-enhancing force of nature since I started hunting elk some 20 years ago, with nearly universal popularity from the start.
OPINION: National monuments drive economic growth and unite diverse interests
Colorado’s public lands encompass four national parks and nine national monuments, including the 210,844-acre Dinosaur National Monument in Moffatt County, home to some of the most stunning canyons on the continent, including the jaw-dropping Lodore Canyon and Echo Park.
Local View: Veterans have been defending the Boundary Waters for over 100 years
On July 1, President Donald Trump was in Medora, North Dakota, visiting the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library . In addition to designating the Superior National Forest (in 1909), which set the stage for the establishment of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Roosevelt was a Spanish-American War veteran.
OPINION: National monuments drive economic growth and unite diverse interests
Colorado’s public lands encompass four national parks and nine national monuments, including the 210,844-acre Dinosaur National Monument in Moffatt County, home to some of the most stunning canyons on the continent, including the jaw-dropping Lodore Canyon and Echo Park.
National monuments drive economic growth and unite diverse interests Original
Colorado’s public lands encompass four national parks and nine national monuments, including the 210,844-acre Dinosaur National Monument in Moffatt County, home to some of the most stunning canyons on the continent, including the jaw-dropping Lodore Canyon and Echo Park.
AI May Answer Correctly But Miss Context
"Should AI stand in the customer's shoes?" That idea struck me as fresh the first time I heard it. But the more I sat with it, the less it seemed to mean — if it only means presenting results through language and interfaces users are already familiar with, the payoff is thin.
Sportsmen Used to Get a Say on Our Public Lands: a Hunter’s Case for the Local Input Act
I’ve hunted elk on Colorado’s public lands for some 20 years, on ground that belongs to all of us — truck drivers, ranchers, schoolteachers, and veterans back home on leave. That’s the quiet miracle of public land: you don’t have to be rich to have somewhere to hunt, fish, or otherwise recreate in the outdoors. Which is why a decision out of Washington, D.C. last year has us fired up.
Trump administration policies are decimating habitat and hunting Original
A July 13 proclamation signed by President Donald Trump reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah — Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — by 90%, or about 2.9 million acres. As explained by American Hunters & Anglers, “The largest rollback of protected public land in American history just happened and it was served with a side of lies.” American Hunters also pointed out that Trump said (incorrectly), “You can’t do anything. You can’t go hunting. You can’t go fishing.
Local View: In Boundary Waters, harm to one lake harms all
In June, dead ducks were discovered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., after President Donald Trump’s botched $14 million overhaul of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The Center for Biological Diversity asked the Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate the deaths under a federal law that protects migratory birds, criticizing the use of concentrated peroxide to kill green algae.
What Leaders Must Still Own in the AI Era
For years, much of insurance technology has been sold in the language of capability: better systems, faster models, smarter automation, more conversational interfaces. But capability alone does not create business value. In insurance, what matters is not whether an AI system can generate activity, but whether it can help produce accountable, measurable results. That is where the next real shift in insurance AI is taking place. That distinction matters.
Local View: Resist the big money threatening our Boundary Waters
While growing up in Grand Rapids, I had the outdoors at my doorstep, including access to a myriad county, state, and federal public lands for hiking, hunting, camping, and canoeing. Grand Rapids is also a gateway to northern Minnesota’s two national forests, the Chippewa and Superior, not to mention to the iconic Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. In addition, Grand Rapids is adjacent to the Mesabi Iron Range, where iron ore and taconite have been mined since the late 1800s.
The Trump Administration is Putting Colorado Elk Habitat on the Chopping Block
Header image by Hari Nandakumar This August, I’ll join a group of public lands advocates on a 4-day raft trip down the Green River through Lodore Canyon and Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado’s Moffat County. This region is known for its healthy big game populations, wild backcountry habitat, and a rich hunting and fishing tradition. “There is a reason that Moffat County is called the Elk Hunting Capital of the World.
Commentary - Federal policies put public lands elk habitat on the chopping block
Courtesy USFWS/Ryan Moehring. Discover more Local news subscription Obituary announcement service Local weather updates During August I’ll join a group of public lands advocates on a four-day raft trip down the Green River through Lodore Canyon and Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado’s Moffat County. This region is known for its healthy big game populations, wild backcountry habitat, and a rich hunting and fishing tradition.
Federal policies put public lands elk habitat on the chopping block
by David Lien, Colorado Newsline June 8, 2026 During August I’ll join a group of public lands advocates on a four-day raft trip down the Green River through Lodore Canyon and Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado’s Moffat County. This region is known for its healthy big game populations, wild backcountry habitat, and a rich hunting and fishing tradition. “There is a reason that Moffat County is called the Elk Hunting Capital of the World.
Federal policies put public lands elk habitat on the chopping block
During August I’ll join a group of public lands advocates on a four-day raft trip down the Green River through Lodore Canyon and Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado’s Moffat County. This region is known for its healthy big game populations, wild backcountry habitat, and a rich hunting and fishing tradition. “There is a reason that Moffat County is called the Elk Hunting Capital of the World.
Federal policies put public lands elk habitat on the chopping block
An elk is seen in Colorado. (Photo courtesy of Wayne D. Lewis/CPW) During August I'll join a group of public lands advocates on a four-day raft trip down the Green River through Lodore Canyon and Dinosaur National Monument in northwestern Colorado's Moffat County. This region is known for its healthy big game populations, wild backcountry habitat, and a rich hunting and fishing tradition. "There is a reason that Moffat County is called the Elk Hunting Capital of the World.
Moving to a 'Platform Economy'
The creator economy was once seen as a new form of independence. Individuals could publish articles, videos, courses, communities, or other forms of content, build their own audiences, and turn that relationship into income and influence. They no longer had to rely entirely on publishers, media organizations, academic institutions, or large companies. They could face the market directly, build their own voice, establish trust, and create their own business model. But that promise has changed.
Local View: 'We are not done' fighting the sellout of the Boundary Waters
During April, I visited Washington, D.C., and Theodore Roosevelt Island. “This island honors Theodore Roosevelt,” an interpretive sign explains. “Woodlands, waters, and wildlife habitat like this … inspired Roosevelt’s conservation ethic.” Part of his far-sighted ethic included, on Feb. 15, 1909, signing Presidential Proclamation No. 848, which established the Superior National Forest.
Environmentalists Are Fighting to Save Colorado’s Public Lands
During a lifetime of public service (military and civilian) and public lands hunting, hiking, climbing, and related pursuits, I’ve been privileged to set foot in all 50 states and 47 countries. During May, I traveled to the Patagonia region of South America in Argentina. My friend Marcela Applehanz is a native Argentine and U.S. Navy veteran who was born and raised in Bariloche, Argentina, about 2½ hours flying time south of Buenos Aires on the edge of the Andes Mountains.
Agentic AI Is a Structural Shift
The market is rapidly moving from generative AI to agentic AI. That shift is often described as a simple upgrade: smarter models, better automation, more efficient workflows. But that description is too shallow. Generative AI mainly answers questions. Agentic AI does something more consequential: It can interpret instructions, call tools, trigger workflows, access files, and execute tasks on behalf of a user. In other words, the issue is no longer only whether AI can generate better text.
Local View: Risks of sulfide mining ‘outweigh the reward’
There’s an old saying: Truth is stranger than fiction. When it comes to the absurd notion of locating a Chilean billionaire-owned sulfide-ore mine in the water world that is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness watershed, on the shores of Birch Lake near Ely, with the expectation the mined ore would be sold to China, you get the picture.
Backcountry Turkey Hunting, the Roadless Rule, and You
Header image by mana5280 on Unsplash Twenty years ago, I had the privilege of first crossing paths with Durango resident David “Elkheart” Petersen at a Jan. 1, 2006 public meeting of the Colorado Roadless Areas Review Task Force in Pueblo. David was a Task Force member and board chair of Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) at the time. During the meeting, I emphasized the importance of roadless areas for big game habitat and backcountry hunting.
Local View: Hunters, anglers, Roosevelt IV all defending the Boundary Waters
During the second week of February, I joined a diverse group of outdoors enthusiasts visiting congressional offices in Washington, D.C., to express our support for public lands. Meeting with legislators provides them with important insights from hunters, anglers, and other constituents who know the value of our public lands from boots-on-the-ground experience.
OPINION: Hunters & anglers support protecting Colorado’s national public lands
During the second week of February I joined a diverse group of outdoorsmen and women visiting congressional offices in Washington, D.C. to express our support for public lands. Meeting with legislators provides them with important insights from hunters, anglers, and other constituents who know the value of our public lands from boots on the ground experience. One of our topics included misguided efforts in Congress to sell off or otherwise dispose of public lands.
Lien: We stand on the shoulders of giants
During the second week of February, I joined a diverse group of outdoorsmen and -women visiting congressional offices in Washington, D.C. to express our support for public lands. Meeting with congressional members provides them with important insights from hunters, anglers and other constituents who know the value of our public lands from boots on the ground experience. One of our topics included misguided efforts in Congress to sell off or otherwise dispose of public lands.
A seminal moment in the defense of public lands
Last week I joined a diverse group of Coloradoans in Washington, D.C. visiting Colorado congressional delegation offices to express our support for public lands, with a focus on national monuments.
OPINION: National monuments sustain Colorado’s local economies; Here’s what public lands advocates told the state’s congressional delegation in D.C. this month
This month I joined a diverse group of Coloradans in Washington, D.C., visiting Colorado congressional delegation offices to express our support for public lands, with a focus on national monuments.
Local View: Hunters, anglers celebrate public lands, defend the Boundary Waters
During January, I joined the Minnesota chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers for its North Country Icebreaker event at Breezy Point Resort on Pelican Lake. It is Backcountry Hunters & Anglers’ largest Midwest gathering and includes ice fishing, fellowship, and a celebration of public lands and waters by hunters, anglers, and conservationists from around the country.
Insurance's Key Role for AI Agents
The tech world is currently obsessed with "how smart AI can be." From large language models to multi-agent systems, the race is on to build more capable "brains." However, for the insurance industry and the broader commercial world, a far more critical question remains unanswered: Once an AI is smart enough to act, how do we manage the consequences of those actions?
Commentary - National monuments sustain Colorado’s local economies
© iStock - http://www.fotogestoeber.de Discover more Political analysis articles Kiowa County history Small business consulting (Colorado Newsline) This month I joined a diverse group of Coloradans in Washington, D.C., visiting Colorado congressional delegation offices to express our support for public lands, with a focus on national monuments.
National monuments sustain Colorado's local economies Original
by David Lien, Colorado Newsline February 20, 2026 This month I joined a diverse group of Coloradans in Washington, D.C., visiting Colorado congressional delegation offices to express our support for public lands, with a focus on national monuments.
Hunters & Anglers Are Trump's Kryptonite
During late January, much of the United States was plunged into a deep freeze. Some of the coldest weather was in Minnesota, where temperatures plummeted to more than 25 degrees below zero. On Jan. 24, I attended a regional gathering of hunters, anglers, and other public lands advocates on northern Minnesota’s Pelican Lake. It was the same day Federal immigration agents shot and killed Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Local View: Boundary Waters are worth more than minerals
I have been privileged to hunt, hike, camp, and canoe the wildlands of Northeastern Minnesota in the greater Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness region since I was a teenager in the 1980s. Later, I graduated from the University of Minnesota-Duluth with an accounting degree, learning balance-sheet management and financial analysis.
Current Events Remind Us That Freedom Is Not Free: The U.S. Has Drifted Dangerously Close To Despotism
While traveling in Europe during December 2025 I visited three countries. That makes a total of 46 countries I have been privileged to set foot in over the course of my life, not to mention all seven continents and each of our fifty states. A friend recently asked if I had any takeaways or words of wisdom from all these travels and interactions with people across the country and planet.
Local View: Billionaire buzzards pose threat to Boundary Waters
In Minnesota, we have 12 million acres of public lands, including 3 million acres in the Superior National Forest , home to the 1.1-million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The Boundary Waters is the ultimate example of Minnesota’s great northern forests and lakelands, with some of the purest water in the world. Minnesotans and countless others canoe and fish its streams and lakes. Hunters love its woods, rivers, and wetlands.
OPINION: Roadless areas protect America’s wildest lands. They must be preserved.
In Colorado we have 24 million acres of public lands, including 4.2 million roadless acres encompassing some of the best elk habitat on the continent. However, since the days of Theodore Roosevelt people driven by myopic greed have endeavored to remove public lands from public hands. Earlier this year they tried to sell off over 3 million acres.
Roadless areas protect America's wildest lands. They must be preserved. Original
In Colorado we have 24 million acres of public lands, including 4.2 million roadless acres encompassing some of the best elk habitat on the continent. However, since the days of Theodore Roosevelt people driven by myopic greed have endeavored to remove public lands from public hands. Earlier this year they tried to sell off over 3 million acres. “The motivations haven’t changed.
Letter to the editor: Support for roadless rule ‘damn near universal’
Colorado’s hunting seasons are in full swing, and while many of us are chasing bugles, glassing high basins, or scouting drainages, the work to protect wild places doesn’t stop. Although it’s unusual these days to find damn near universal public support for anything, in this instance we’re talking Roadless Areas and our great public lands estate. “The public has spoken and the consensus is overwhelmingly clear,” Outdoor Life News Editor Dac Collins explained.
A New Path for Insurance Transformation
At the core of the trust formula, the reliability, honesty, and competence of insurance planners are crucial for building trust. Yet how insurance companies can quantify these factors objectively remains a major challenge. By establishing trust scores and trust levels, improvements in customer relations, sales performance, satisfaction, and competitiveness can be expected.
Local View: Public opinion on Boundary Waters being ignored
Minnesota’s more than 12 million acres of public lands encompass the Boundary Waters Canoe Areas Wilderness and surrounding Superior National Forest, the Chippewa National Forest, state parks, wildlife refuges, wildlife management areas, aquatic management areas, national parks, national wild and scenic rivers, and more. In 2008, during the Great Recession, when times were tough across the country, Minnesotans overwhelmingly passed the Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment.
Local View: Billionaire buzzards are threatening our Boundary Waters
Hal Herring is a Field & Stream contributing editor and the host of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers’ Podcast & Blast . In Hal’s opinion , “The future of the American public lands is as important to our nation as the Bill of Rights or the Constitution itself.” The veterans of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers’ Armed Forces Initiative agree and consider places like the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness “hollowed ground,” as I explained in an Aug. 6 Opinion commentary in the News Tribune.
Local View: Veterans defend 'hallowed ground' of Boundary Waters
In 1909, Spanish-American War veteran and Medal of Honor recipient President Theodore Roosevelt established the Superior National Forest “for the use and benefit of the people.” Since then millions of us have traveled to its Boundary Waters — the largest wilderness east of the Rockies and north of the Everglades — to camp, hike, hunt, fish, and paddle.
OPINION: Reconciliation bill puts habitat and hunting on the chopping block
As nearly everyone who hunts, hikes, camps, climbs, paddles or otherwise recreates on public lands knows well, during the first half of 2025 we fended off repeated attempts to put public lands on the chopping block, selling them off to the highest bidder. In the words of American Hunters & Anglers co chair Land Tawney, “You spoke up. You showed up. You stopped this disaster — for now.
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