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politics & policy
The Obama v. McCain debate that won't happen
Water and public lands are left out of presidential politics
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politics & policy
A fractured party
Will the GOP find new life in the West's green politics?
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flora & fauna
Manufactured homes — for the birds
PVC pipe and barbed wire masquerade as cholla
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water
Watch the river flow
The Black Canyon wins a water claim
hcn today
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Power of the picture
High Country News photographer Morgan Heim joins the International League of Conservation Photographers to document the gasfields and the wildlands around Pinedale, Wyo.
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Bears saved from the 'burbs
Finding room for grizzly bears through the Montana Legacy Project.
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Manufactured homes for the birds
Zoologist David Olson and his colleagues are trying to create artificial cacti to house the rare coastal cactus wren, whose cholla cactus habitat is being threatened by California’s recent wildfires.
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Solar flip-flops and fish stories
BLM flip-flops on solar and expedites oil and gas; Western Governors’ Association talks about energy; more fossil fuel risks; good (and bad) salmon news.
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Home is where the guilt is
In Santa Fe, N.M., April Reese wrestles with the question of whether owning a new house is worth being responsible for the bulldozing of pinon and juniper trees.
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A fractured party
The Grand Old Party will either find a new life – or court self-destruction – in the West today, where moderates and hard-liners are battling over conservation issues.
from the Blogs
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Heard around the West
Battle of the bag bans
Wealthy Colorado towns race to eliminate disposable bags.
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The GOAT Blog
The many faces of rural America
Four types, ranging from the affluent to the impoverished.
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Heard around the West
Drivers with attitudes
Bumper stickers may correlate with road rage.
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Heard around the West
Moe's great escape
A pet chimpanzee makes a break for freedom.
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Heard around the West
Add Mormon flare to your closet
Polygamous wives sew a new future.
Multimedia
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Slideshow: Wild horses go wanting
BLM auction draws few bidders
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Slideshow: Ultra runner Nikki Kimball
Anne Sherwood's photos of ultra runner Nikki Kimball, who finds sublime summits and hellish depths in 100-mile endurance contests.
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Slideshow: A geologist's story
Faye Geiger, who worked as an exploration geologist at the Lisbon Valley Mine in Utah, talks about her experience.
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Video: Wolves in Paradise (excerpt)
An excerpt from a documentary telling the story of ranchers and wolves in southwest Montana
Politics & Policy
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Don't fence Western Republicans in
Some moderate Western Republicans, tired of being penned up behind rigid ideological fences, are rebelling against the hard-line elements of their party.
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The debate that won’t happen
Even though the West is supposed to be a key battleground in this year’s election, so far the presidential candidates have managed to avoid addressing Western issues.
Water
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Watch the river flow
In western Colorado, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park wins an important water claim.
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Seeking the Water Jackpot
The Navajo Nation is determined to finally claim its rightful share of the Colorado River after 86 years of being left out of the region’s water politics.
Culture & Communities
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'Si, se puede'
Latino activist Dolores Huerta continues to inspire and organize after 50 lively years.
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Unlikely alliance?
In most of the West’s complicated environmental problems, so-called “unlikely alliances” between greens and their opposite numbers are really not that unlikely after all.
Energy
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Power of the picture
High Country News photographer Morgan Heim joins the International League of Conservation Photographers to document the gasfields and the wildlands around Pinedale, Wyo.
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A little regulation can be a very good thing
Jim Spehar says proposed new regulations won’t harm western Colorado’s oil and gas industry and may do a lot to help the rest of the region’s economy survive the current boom.
Writers on the Range
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Don’t call plugging wolves hunting
Derek Goldman criticizes Wyoming’s policy that allows wolves to be shot on sight.
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We thought we were safe
Gordon Gregory watched the house he’d spent four years building go up in flames, then had to flee a rental home when another fire bore down on him and his family near the smoky town of Paradise.
Essays
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Power of the picture
High Country News photographer Morgan Heim joins the International League of Conservation Photographers to document the gasfields and the wildlands around Pinedale, Wyo.
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Home is where the guilt is
In Santa Fe, N.M., April Reese wrestles with the question of whether owning a new house is worth being responsible for the bulldozing of pinon and juniper trees.
Book Reviews
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Dreaming of a New Deal for nature
A review of Neil M. Maher's book, "Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement," which reminds us that to succeed, an environmental policy must reckon compromise.
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Solo journeys, life lessons
In the nine essays gathered in her new book, Hiking Alone, poet and artist Mary Beath celebrates nature from the point of view of an independent woman.
