High Country News

Perspective
The postal service is slipping away

A great nation needs a great postal system -- even if it doesn't quite pay for itself

by Ed Quillen, Feb 07, 2012
Uncommon Westerners
John Mionczynski: naturalist, accordionist, and Bigfoot expert

In rural Wyoming, naturalist John Mionczynski plays piano, restores motorcycles, studies wildlife and tracks down evidence for the mysterious creature known as Sasquatch.

by Emilene Ostlind, Feb 06, 2012
Feature
Can snowshoe hares outrace climate change?

The seasonal coat changes of snowshoe hares may provide wildlife biologists with clues about how wild animals evolve in response to climate change.

by Hillary Rosner, Feb 06, 2012
Writers on the Range
A young wolf wanders the West

OR-7, a young Oregon wolf, has logged some 1,000 miles in his journey through the West, becoming the first wild wolf seen in California since 1924.

by Tim Lydon, Feb 06, 2012
Current
Montana court defends law defying Citizens United

As elections of state judges become increasingly contentious, the Montana Supreme Court defends the state's Corrupt Practices Act against the Citizens United decision.

by Rebecca Stanfel, Feb 06, 2012
Writers on the Range
Your trash is my treasure

If you want to find an inexpensive, entertaining way to furnish your house, try raiding the garbage in a resort town like Crested Butte, Colo.

by Dawne Belloise, Feb 03, 2012
Writers on the Range
Pity the Sacketts? Not much

An Idaho couple are getting a lot of sympathy because the EPA has halted construction of their planned home on a wetland, but if the agency would be more open with the facts, it would come out looking better.

by Judith Lewis Mernit, Jan 27, 2012

from the Blogs

The GOAT Blog
The buzz on bees

Scientists make some progress in understanding what's killing off the nation's honeybees.
by Jodi Peterson
The GOAT Blog
Martinez making her mark

Love her or hate her, the N.M. guv is reshaping the state's political landscape
by Cally Carswell
The Range Blog
Lessons From the Musselshell: The Flood

Mother Nature serves up a nasty spring surprise to folks along the Musselshell River
by Wendy Beye
The GOAT Blog
Friday news round up: Romney in Nevada, Glacier thief in handcuffs

Also in the news: U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management announce grazing fees, Utah seeks to clean its air and protect sage grouse
by Danielle Venton
The Range Blog
Arizona turns 100

Park reopenings and mining bans give residents a few environmental victories to celebrate
by Jackie Wheeler
Heard around the West
The warming properties of greenbacks

A lost snowshoer survives by burning bills; flirting in Fargo
by Betsy Marston
The GOAT Blog
Beyond control

State governments wrestle with locals over the power to regulate oil and gas
by Neil LaRubbio
The GOAT Blog
EPA grilled over Pavillion report

At a House hearing, state officials and industry representatives face off against agency and health scientists
by Danielle Venton
The Range Blog
Alaska wildlife woes raise red flags "outside"

Fish and Game scandal demonstrates growing influence of cronyism and big money in American wildlife policy
by Ben Long
The GOAT Blog
Monopolies march on

The Obama administration's antitrust actions have failed to materialize for those in agriculture
by Stephanie Paige Ogburn
The GOAT Blog
Why industry doesn't like "fracking" and neither do I

The word "fracking" has great PR value for environmental activists, but it seems to be completely taking over the debate over oil and gas development.
by Jonathan Thompson
The GOAT Blog
Friday news roundup: industry grows and species croak

Utah nuclear plant wins water permit, wolves and bison offered up for hunting and glaciers shrink just a little bit more
by Neil LaRubbio
The GOAT Blog
Snow fight on the slopes

U.S. Forest Service and ski resorts bicker over water rights
by Danielle Venton

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Billboard corporations use money and influence to override your vote | In Salt Lake City and other Western communities, b...
The logging town of Darrington, Wash., fights to save a fire lookout | A lawsuit raises questions about how far environme...
Feeding the deer | A rural Californian doesn't apologize for feeding ...
Fearful of Agenda 21, an alleged U.N. plot, activists derail land-use planning | A two-year planning process in La Plata County, Co...
Residents of Montana's High Plains are angry - but not at the real threats | Though climate change and the economy are the issu...

Fearful of Agenda 21, an alleged U.N. plot, activists derail land-use planning | A two-year planning process in La Plata County, Co...
Billboard corporations use money and influence to override your vote | In Salt Lake City and other Western communities, b...
No matter how long you live in your small town, you'll never be a native | In the West's rural lands, you might think you're ...
The logging town of Darrington, Wash., fights to save a fire lookout | A lawsuit raises questions about how far environme...
Residents of Montana's High Plains are angry - but not at the real threats | Though climate change and the economy are the issu...

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Current issue

Can evolution help snowshoe hares adapt to climate change?

Wildlife biologists study the seasonal coat changes of snowshoe hares for clues about how wild animals may evolve in response to climate change. Also, local planning gets challenged as a U.N. conspiracy theory, the politics of choosing judges, and a Wyoming naturalist seeks Sasquatch.

Browse issue | Browse all issues

Latest Multimedia

A former Green Mountain fire lookout tells his story

"Lightbulb" Winders recounts his experiences as the last lookout on Green Mountain.

by Nathan Rice, Jan 23, 2012
Pronghorn Passage: Tracking the antelope migration in western Wyoming

Emilene Ostlind and Joe Riis tracked the western Wyoming pronghorn migration for two years. But it wasn't until their final spring that they truly experienced it.

by Emilene Ostlind, Dec 26, 2011

More Multimedia

Book Reviews

A forbidden road trip: A review of Lamb

Lamb, Bonnie Nadzam's crisp, startling and psychologically intense debut novel, follows two troubled characters on a quest for redemption in the West.
Searching for the truth about American Indians: A review of All Indians Do Not Live in Teepees (or Casinos)

Catherine C. Robbins seeks to go beyond the stereotypes about Native Americans in her essays in All Indians Do Not Live in Teepees (or Casinos).
From the Old World to the Old West: A review of The Little Bride

Anna Solomon's fascinating first novel follows a young Jewish woman from Odessa, Russia, to the hardscrabble prairie of South Dakota in the late 1800s.

More Book Reviews

Uncommon Westerners

John Mionczynski: naturalist, accordionist, and Bigfoot expert

In rural Wyoming, naturalist John Mionczynski plays piano, restores motorcycles, studies wildlife and tracks down evidence for the mysterious creature known as Sasquatch.
Richard West Sellars' accidental but distinguished National Park Service career

Historian Richard West Sellars didn't intend to spend a career in the Park Service. But after 35 years, his impact still resonates.
Raymond Ansotegui and the art of artificially inseminating cattle

The "overeducated cowboy" Raymond Ansotegui roams the West in the "Shaggin' Wagon," artificially inseminating cattle with the help of friends and family.

More Uncommon Westerners

Essays

Following the Oregon Trail, digitally and on foot

Following a childhood fascination with the computer game Oregon Trail, a young archaeologist meets the real thing during a rugged, exhausting Wyoming summer.
Residents of Montana's High Plains are angry - but not at the real threats

Though climate change and the economy are the issues threatening their livelihoods, many of the High Plains people are angry at almost everything else.
No matter how long you live in your small town, you'll never be a native

In the West's rural lands, you might think you're invisible, but the old-timers -- and their dogs -- know you are there.

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Letters to the Editor

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