Feature stories
Browse High Country News feature stories
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Mobile Nation
Every winter in Quartzsite, Ariz., tens of thousands of RVers form an impromptu community in the desert.
by Nate Berg, Mar 15, 2010 -
Charles Bowden on The War Next Door
On the U.S.-Mexico border, the corrupt and futile War on Drugs takes a violent toll on the poorest people.
by Charles Bowden, Mar 01, 2010 -
Prodigal Dogs
Evidence suggests that wolves may have returned to Colorado, and they are here to stay.
by Michelle Nijhuis, Feb 13, 2010 -
The Shot Heard Round the West
Twenty years after the SouthWest Organizing Project accused conservation groups of ignoring environmental justice, diversity in the movement remains elusive.
by Marty Durlin, Jan 31, 2010 -
'The environment ... is where we live'
A group of determined activists in Mountain View, N.M., fights for environmental justice in a poor and polluted neighborhood.
by Arla Shephard and Ray Ring, Jan 31, 2010 -
Audio: Water wonk
Contributing editor Matt Jenkins talks about California's Westlands Water District and the complicated water politics of the West.
by Marty Durlin, Jan 13, 2010 -
Breakdown
California's Westlands irrigation district wants to blame the tiny and endangered Delta smelt for its water troubles, but the real culprit is simply long-term drought.
by Matt Jenkins, Jan 11, 2010 -
Wind Resistance
Wyoming is one of the best places in the world to generate power from wind. But the wind rush is running into opposition from greens, and the fossil fuel industry.
by Jonathan Thompson, Dec 15, 2009 -
Dueling Claims
A tribal attempt to protect New Mexico's Mount Taylor sparks a bitter struggle over uranium mining, religious differences and claims to an ancient landscape.
by Laura Paskus, Dec 02, 2009 -
After the Floods
The Ice Age Floods reshaped the landscape of eastern Washington -- and our knowledge of geology.
by Eric Wagner, Nov 22, 2009 -
The Lost Art of Listening
Can the Arapaho language be saved from extinction?
by Emily Underwood, Nov 16, 2009 -
Roadless-less
Judge Clarence Brimmer is determined to bring down Clinton's roadless forest rule, which has been mired in lawsuits ever since its controversial birth.
by Ray Ring, Nov 02, 2009 -
Refugees unsettle the West
In Greeley, Colorado, a meatpacking plant observes Muslim traditions such as Ramadan while multicultural refugees adapt to the West's very different landscape and culture.
by Joslyn Green, Oct 26, 2009 -
Silenced Springs?
Rare and tiny spring-dwelling creatures are threatened by everything from invasive species to Las Vegas' plan to pump groundwater from a rural part of Nevada.
by J. Madeleine Nash, Oct 05, 2009 -
Living on Glacial Time
Climate change is altering the lands we call home in ways we'd never imagined.
by Ana Maria Spagna, Sep 13, 2009 -
Township 13 South, Range 92 West, Section 35
A writer looks into the history of the people who lived on the Colorado mesa she now calls home.
by Michelle Nijhuis , Sep 08, 2009 -
The dark side of dairies
A combination of lax laws and poor oversight leaves dairy workers vulnerable to exploitation and on-the-job dangers.
by Rebecca Clarren, Aug 24, 2009 -
From Corn to Cabernet
A burgeoning wine industry could provide a welcome economic boost to Colorado's Western Slope.
by Christie Aschwanden , Aug 17, 2009 -
The Most Cooked-Up Catch
Saving fisheries -- and taking the edge off the dangerous derby of the sea.
by Matt Jenkins, Jul 27, 2009 -
Taking control of the machine
Loggers and environmental activists are determined to restore Montana's Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, with or without the help of the Forest Service.
by Ray Ring , Jul 14, 2009
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