High Country News

The Terrain of This Ambition

Claiming a place on the literary map of Utah
Conservation calculus

Are trade-offs in Wyoming's Jonah natural gas field a boon for wildlife?
'Clean and healthful environment'

Montana's constitution could stop a huge mine
A Hell of an Anniversary

HCN’s founder, Tom Bell, marks our 40th year with a prediction: We’re all doomed

from the Blogs

The Range
Remembering Labor on Labor Day

Why mining jobs pay pretty well these days
by Ed Quillen
The GOAT Blog
Deconstructing Lisa

Lisa Murkowski falls, climate skepticism gains
by Cally Carswell
The Range
What will the Indian health system look like?

Answers are up to us
by Mark Trahant
The GOAT Blog
Land trade angers locals

A proposed land swap meets opposition on the Western Slope.
by Denver Nicks
The Range
Enchanted with carbon caps

New Mexico ponders a GHG market
by Bruce Frederick
The GOAT Blog
The ethics of wildcrafting

A Park Service quandary
by Adam Petry
The GOAT Blog
On the radio

Laura Paskus hits the airwaves to talk Desert Rock
by Cally Carswell
The Range
The role of higher education

What's important often isn't what's funded
by John Freemuth
40 Years in the West
Cows, coyotes and a revelation

Twenty years ago, Ed Marston found reform taking root in the West
by Robyn Morrison
Heard around the West
"Where do you get your questions?"

Nevada's Republican candidate Sharron Angle describes how the press can be a friend
by Betsy Marston
The Range
The Goliath of beets

It's not every day that Monsanto gets shut down in court.
by Sightline
A Just West
A renter's market?

It's not easy being green (in a rental).
by Bill Lascher
The Range
The Amargosa

River of life
by Seth Shteir

View all Blogs

Where's the countersuit? by Eilene Lyon: I know that Monsanto has successfully sued farmers...
EPA Hearing by Barbara Fahmy: Thanks so much Ms.Gelfuso for an excellent post. ...
Thanks for the link but I still disagree by Doc: I suppose it comes back to the ambiguous use of th...
The mess called Lake Powell by Wayne Hare: Hear hear! And while National Parks (and, by exten...
junipers are invasive by Danny: you are incorrect. http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs...

Parting the Redwood Curtain | A one-mile-long highway project could change life ...
Slobs at Lake Powell foment a revolt | Rather than rail against Lake Powell's mere existe...
"Lines Across the Sand" | The Monkey Wrench Gang comes to the silver screen
The role of higher education | What's important often isn't what's funded
The harm of hallowed ground | Why do we fight over places where bad things happe...

The life and death of Desert Rock | The Navajo Nation's proposed 1,500-megawatt coal p...
Young, All-American, Illegal | Young undocumented immigrants thrive in the U.S. -...
One Nation, Under Fire | The Sonoran Desert homeland of the Tohono O’odha...
Parting the Redwood Curtain | A one-mile-long highway project could change life ...
Slobs at Lake Powell foment a revolt | Rather than rail against Lake Powell's mere existe...

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Current issue

High Country News' founder, Tom Bell, marks our 40th anniversary with a grim prediction: The West -- and the world -- are doomed.

Kind words for a much-maligned mammal

In The Wolverine Way, Douglas Chadwick examines an elusive carnivore and the scientists who study it.
Breath by breath

Aaron Michael Morales delves into the challenging lives of Arizonans in his novel, Drowning Tucson.
Truth, lies and poetry

Reading the short stories and poems in Sherman Alexie's War Dances is like watching an intricate dance.

Caveman of Southeast Alaska

Steve Lewis explores Alaskan caves and works hard to protect both them and the landscape above them.
The drift dweller

Colorado scientists have discovered that snow molds are ubiquitous in the high country.
Seeing the triceratops for the trees

Paleontologist Kirk Johnson works with artist Jan Vriesen to create vividly realized landscapes of what Colorado looked like millions of years ago.

The Terrain of This Ambition

A writer wrestles with the huge shadows cast by the men and women of “Literary Utah.”
A brush with cowboy culture

A former ranch kid who now lives in Denver has mixed feeling when her 2-year-old tries "mutton-busting" at a rodeo.
Ready ... or not

Sometimes a close encounter with wildlife is a little too close for the wildlife's comfort.

More Essays