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ENFORCEMENT FIRST, EVIDENCE LATER? Washington seeks access to King Ranch ponds years after penalties
After fining the King family $267,540, terminating grazing leases, and opening a criminal investigation, officials are now asking to inspect ponds at…
Jan 24
•
Keely Covello
23
2
4
Recent posts
View all
Rominger Brothers Farms: Balancing crops and rangeland
“We can’t keep putting land into production forever. Eventually, there will be no wild lands left.”
Jan 21
•
Keely Covello
25
1
3
Secretary Brooke Rollins meets with Potter Valley Project stakeholders
"I see this as one of the existential battles of our time," Rollins told members of the press at the 107th annual American Farm Bureau Convention in…
Jan 17
30
4
3
7:12
STINCHFIELD TONIGHT: Feds step into Potter Valley dam dispute
Watch now | Grant Stinchfield hosts Keely Covello to discuss updates on the latest California water war.
Jan 12
20
5
3
WATCH: Why Audubon partners with ranchers to protect grassland birds
In 2021 I directed a short film on the historic conservation group’s ranching partnership program.
Jan 9
•
Keely Covello
11
2
2
UNWON 2025: Year in Review
Thank you for being part of my first full year on Substack.
Jan 7
•
Keely Covello
19
6
3
VIDEO: Victor Davis Hanson - Environmentalist Dam Removal Could Leave 600,000 People Without Water
Watch Victor Davis Hanson's commentary on the Potter Valley dam removals.
Jan 2
17
6
5
Ag Secretary Rollins to Gavin Newsom: No farmland reparations
USDA chief says the farmland redistribution plan drafted by Newsom's task force violates the U.S. Constitution.
Dec 24, 2025
•
Keely Covello
60
13
13
PG&E backs off effort to permanently cut water for Potter Valley ranchers
Utility tells federal regulators it will revise its proposal after farmers were blindsided by summer reductions in peak fire season.
Dec 21, 2025
•
Keely Covello
49
5
5
BREAKING: Feds intervene to halt Potter Valley dam removal
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has asked FERC to reject removal of Scott and Cape Horn Dams.
Dec 20, 2025
•
Keely Covello
60
9
10
House votes to remove gray wolves from Endangered Species List
H.R. 845 now heads to the Senate.
Dec 18, 2025
•
Keely Covello
31
3
4
USDA Secretary Pens Op-Ed Warning Against Potter Valley Dam Removal
In a letter to The Mendocino Voice, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says the proposed decommissioning would cut off water to rural communities…
Dec 13, 2025
26
3
3
Responding to the Eel-Russian Project Authority's Rebuttal of UNWON
The joint powers authority behind the Two-Basin Solution is accusing UNWON of "misinformation."
Dec 12, 2025
21
7
3
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Ranching
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ENFORCEMENT FIRST, EVIDENCE LATER? Washington seeks access to King Ranch ponds years after penalties
After fining the King family $267,540, terminating grazing leases, and opening a criminal investigation, officials are now asking to inspect ponds at…
Jan 24
•
Keely Covello
23
2
4
Rollins Threatens to Pull Washington State Funding Over King Ranch Case
Secretary Rollins warns the state may lose funding after hitting a longtime cattle operation with $267,540 in fines over maintaining stock watering…
Dec 10, 2025
•
Keely Covello
29
2
7
Ranchers hopeful as Trump announces DOJ investigation into meatpackers
Four companies control 85% of the U.S. meatpacking industry. Two are foreign-owned.
Nov 11, 2025
•
Keely Covello
35
4
7
USDA chief responds to UNWON reporting on King Ranch: "Help is on the way"
The King family has been targeted by the state of Washington for alleged damage to wetlands the family says are stock ponds.
Nov 7, 2025
•
Keely Covello
51
4
8
Ranchers react to Trump comments on importing Argentine beef: "America first? The independent rancher is always dead freakin' last."
Without country of origin labeling, ranchers say increasing imports is a betrayal.
Oct 21, 2025
•
Keely Covello
50
21
15
Politics
View all
Ag Secretary Rollins to Gavin Newsom: No farmland reparations
USDA chief says the farmland redistribution plan drafted by Newsom's task force violates the U.S. Constitution.
Dec 24, 2025
•
Keely Covello
60
13
13
UPDATE: FERC extends deadline for comments on Potter Valley Project fate to Dec 19
Requests for more time came from the Dept. of Interior, Forest Service, Lake County, Rep. Doug LaMalfa, America First Policy Institute, and private…
Dec 3, 2025
•
Keely Covello
17
1
3
New WOTUS rule cuts red tape for farmers and ranchers
The EPA is redefining which waters fall under federal jurisdiction, fulfilling a 2016 Trump campaign promise.
Nov 20, 2025
•
Keely Covello
37
4
12
USDA chief responds to UNWON reporting on King Ranch: "Help is on the way"
The King family has been targeted by the state of Washington for alleged damage to wetlands the family says are stock ponds.
Nov 7, 2025
•
Keely Covello
51
4
8
Prop 50 silences rural California
It was designed to.
Nov 4, 2025
•
Keely Covello
68
14
14
Film
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WATCH: Why Audubon partners with ranchers to protect grassland birds
In 2021 I directed a short film on the historic conservation group’s ranching partnership program.
Jan 9
•
Keely Covello
11
2
2
NATIONAL AG DAY: Trailer for "You Just Can't See Them From the Road"
Watch now (3 mins) | Coming soon: "You Just Can't See Them From the Road" is a film about the vanishing ranches of the American West, by Keely Brazil…
Mar 18, 2025
23
1
8
2:36
Hippies & Cowboys: The Murder of Mendocino County Rancher Dick Drewry
When 85 year-old rancher Richard Drewry was killed, I went home to shoot a documentary about his case and the changes in †my town. Nothing could have…
Nov 23, 2024
•
Keely Covello
116
29
28
Premiere on Capitol Hill
Thoughts on our recent documentary short, its premiere on Capitol Hill, my return to D.C. as an independent journalist, the state of journalism, and the…
Nov 21, 2024
•
Keely Covello
5
1
WATCH NOW: High Country Murder
Where ranchers share the mountains with cartels, in a town known for secrets, two sisters return home to the ranch to try and solve the murder of an…
Nov 20, 2024
10
2
5
UNWON News
View all
7:12
STINCHFIELD TONIGHT: Feds step into Potter Valley dam dispute
Watch now | Grant Stinchfield hosts Keely Covello to discuss updates on the latest California water war.
Jan 12
20
5
3
UNWON 2025: Year in Review
Thank you for being part of my first full year on Substack.
Jan 7
•
Keely Covello
19
6
3
LIKE IT OR NOT PODCAST: Potter Valley Dam Removal
Episode #200 - Potter Valley Dam Removal feat. Keely Covello
Sep 30, 2025
9
1
2
LONESOME LANDS: Gavin Newsom's Plan to Remove Dams and Destroy Communities
Jim Mundorf and Keely Covello talk about the dams Gavin Newsom is allowing PG&E to destroy on Northern California's Eel River.
Apr 4, 2025
21
10
6
CALIFORNIA UNDERGROUND: Point Reyes, Potter Valley Project, Black Market Cannabis, and California Ranching
Ep. 302: Keely Covello of America Unwon
Mar 6, 2025
11
2
Top posts
South Dakota ranching couple indicted by Forest Service for fence in place since 1950
Sep 14, 2024
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Keely Covello
2,037
268
527
Why Los Angeles Is Burning
Jan 9, 2025
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Keely Covello
658
158
154
Ag Secretary Rollins announces charges against South Dakota ranchers DROPPED
Apr 29, 2025
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Keely Covello
288
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48
Mother of the South Dakota rancher facing prison over pre-1950 fence calls on Trump for help
Mar 28, 2025
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Keely Covello
102
54
27
BEFORE POINT REYES: In 1997, the Park Service Sent a Blackhawk to Raid the Last Holdout Ranch on Santa Cruz Island
Feb 8, 2025
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Keely Covello
154
27
18
Opinion
View all
PRIVATE BUSINESS DECISION? The truth about NGO lawsuits and government water cuts behind Potter Valley dam removals
The real story of backroom deals, bureaucratic red tape, and NGO muscle set to disenfranchise 600,000 water users in California's North Coast.
May 16, 2025
•
Keely Covello
18
4
4
Destroying the Potter Valley Project Won't Save the Salmon: 8 Truths About What Happened to the Eel River
Save the salmon? 8 truths about the downfall of fisheries in the Eel River.
Feb 18, 2025
•
Steven Elliott
40
5
7
President Trump: The American West Needs Your Attention
As Trump takes office again, a look ahead at our generation's fight for the unwon American West.
Jan 21, 2025
•
Keely Covello
49
9
17
Why We Need Independent Journalists from Rural, Ranching America
I started UNWON to shine a light on the people who build, feed, clothe, and defend a nation; the ones you can't see from the road.
Jan 3, 2025
•
Keely Covello
17
3
11
UNWON
Underdog journalism for rural, working, and Western America | Keely Brazil Covello
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STINCHFIELD TONIGHT: Feds step into Potter Valley dam dispute
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