High Country News

A dustup over weed control

The BLM’s plans to spray nearly a million acres with herbicides have some environmentalists fuming, but biologists and land managers welcome the policy.

by Eve Rickert, Jul 24, 2007
Aliens in the Backyard: Plant and Animal Imports to America

John Leland’s book, Aliens in the Backyard, discusses both the dangers and the benefits arising from the vast number of exotic species in North America – including human beings

by Staff, Sep 05, 2005
As seas rise, cities retreat

Climate change is threatening West Coast cities.

by Nathan Rice, Apr 17, 2011
Heard Around the West

Desert residents vs. desert sand; really overdue library books; Ken Lay’s Aspen real estate woes; sage grouse vs. jets in Wyoming; "emergency phone" calls in North Dakota; gardener named Gardener vs. Laramie, Wyo.; and Oregon driver vs. bee

by Betsy Marston, Oct 13, 2003
It may be High Noon for tumbleweed

The tumbleweed may seem like a Western icon, but actually it's an invasive nuisance that scientists are struggling to control.

by Emilene Ostlind, May 19, 2011
Killing for conservation in national parks

Getting weeds out of the national parks is an endless war that can never be won, but many Park Service employees are willing - and happy - warriors.

by Amy Whitcomb, Oct 16, 2011
Laboring for the environment

The challenge of restoring one overgrazed, weed-choked pasture is a good example of the kind of work that needs to be done in the West, to the benefit of both workers and the environment

by Paul Larmer, May 24, 2004
My love affair with dandelions

Jeannie Pomeroy’s lifelong love affair with dandelions blooms anew with every spring.

by Jeannie Pomeroy, May 26, 2008
Tipping the scales towards native species

In Unnatural Landscapes, Ceiridwin Terrill travels to four arid sites to show how scientists fight to protect indigenous organisms from invasive species

by Aaron Gilbreath, May 14, 2007
Today's garden plants can be tomorrow's invasives

Some popular ornamental garden plants have become invasive, particularly in California.

by Ilsa Setziol, Apr 26, 2011