High Country News

What should we do with our blink of time?

Natural history teaches us how rapidly and irrevocably the world can change -- a fact we should bear in mind as we enter the new, human-dominated era some scientists call the Anthropocene.

by Stephen Trimble, May 31, 2012
The Great Salt Lake's dirty little secret

Utah’s Great Salt Lake is loaded with mercury, and scientists are trying to figure out whether Nevada’s gold mines are part of the problem

by Patrick Farrell, Aug 08, 2005
How we lost our ranch to gas drilling

A rancher recounts how oil drilling destroyed her rural lifestyle and forced her and her husband to sell their western Colorado ranch

by Rosemary Bilchak, Aug 21, 2006
A Texas town welcomes dairies; a New Mexico activist fights them

Jana Hughes, of Hobbs, N.M., does not find dairies to be good neighbors. Janet Claborn, of Muleshoe, Texas, has recruited 14 dairies to her town and sees them as an economic development blessing.

by Stephanie Paige Ogburn, Nov 27, 2011
The hazy days of summer ... and winter, spring and fall

With the Interior West’s national parks facing an increase in haze and air pollution, Rocky Mountain National Park is working with government agencies to improve air quality

by Jonathan Thompson, Jun 26, 2006
Remediating a Superfund sacrifice zone on Montana's Clark Fork river

The town of Opportunity, Mont., is weighed down by pollution from old copper mining and a modern-day river restoration project.

by Brad Tyer, Sep 25, 2011
Hope and redemption

The story of the West is a story of the quest for redemption - not just for individuals, but for an entire landscape.

by Jodi Peterson , Sep 18, 2011
This mayor sees a different shade of green

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make his city environmentally sustainable

by J.M. McCord, Jun 27, 2005
Crossings

If there’s a theme in this summer reading issue, it’s that of crossings, an idea that really hit home when a group of people from Kazakhstan recently spent time at High Country News

by Laura Paskus, Jun 27, 2005
Crowdsourcing helps tackle environmental injustice in California's Imperial Valley

The Imperial Visions Action Network is an interactive website that involves locals in reporting - and helping solve - environmental problems.

by Sierra Crane-Murdoch, Mar 06, 2011