High Country News

A Mexican rancher struggles to shift from cattle to conservation

In Northwest Mexico, rancher Carlos Robles Elías works hard to make his Rancho El Aribabi into an oasis of biodiversity, despite the challenges of a sagging economy and rampant drug cartel violence.

by Tony Davis, May 06, 2012
Agriculture’s wild side

In Farming with the Wild: Enhancing Biodiversity on Farms and Ranches, Daniel Imhoff discusses what’s wrong with industrialized agriculture and offers suggestions on how to fix it.

by Ali Macalady, Nov 10, 2003
An encyclopedia of rivers

The huge, copiously illustrated Rivers of North America is the first comprehensive effort to detail the current state of the continent’s rivers

by Irene Wanner, Nov 27, 2006
Biology: The missing science

Studies by Montana’s Andrew Hansen and Colorado’s Rick Knight offer some of the first scientific evidence that preserving ranch lands provides important benefits to surrounding ecosystems

by Jon Christensen, Mar 29, 2004
Do subdivisions designed for conservation actually help wildlife?

Conservation development is supposed to reduce the habitat fragmentation caused by exurban sprawl -- but it only works if it's done right.

by Emily Wortman-Wunder, Jun 05, 2012
Exploring High Mountain Lakes in the Rockies

Exploring High Mountain Lakes in the Rockies by biologist Fred W. Rabe takes a detailed look at mountain lakes, describing their formation, geology and aquatic plants and animals

by Staff, Mar 06, 2006
How conservation works south of the border

Maps, photos and text describe some of the federal and private, nonprofit work in Northwest Mexico to preserve imperiled landscapes and a rich diversity of plants and animals.

by Ray Ring, Tony Davis and Talli Nauman, Apr 29, 2012
Restoration evolution

In his new book, The Sunflower Forest: Ecological Restoration and the New Communion with Nature, William R. Jordan III lays out a powerful vision for a new environmental ethic

by Ali Macalady, Feb 02, 2004
Seeing the forest for its dead trees

M. Lisa Floyd’s book, Ancient Pinon-Juniper Woodlands: A Natural History of Mesa Verde Country, brings 23 scientists and researchers together to celebrate a little-known and delicate ecosystem

by Gail Binkly, May 10, 2004
Semi-wild in the new West

Semi-wild rural landscapes, where humans mingle with wildlife, are a richer source of biodiversity than many Westerners realize.

by Paul Larmer , May 08, 2009