Feature

Beetle Warfare

Scientists unleash a new weapon in the fight against invasive tamarisk – a tiny exotic beetle from Kazakhstan.

Editor's Note

Becoming a native

In a West made up of newcomers, it’s hard to tell who really counts as a native – even when it comes to exotic plants such as the infamous tamarisk.

Dear Friends

Dear friends

High Country News hosts a holiday open house; new faces in the office include Ryan Foster, Becca Frenier and Marissa McCune; former interns make good in the big world.

Uncommon Westerners

Stretching the notion of neighbor

Rev. Peter Sawtell crusades for eco-justice throughout the West from his church in Denver.

News

Betting on the house

In Las Vegas, the Bureau of Land Management offers up cheap land for affordable housing.

Growth unfettered

Arizonans are grappling with the consequences of Proposition 207, an anti-takings measure passed last fall.

Coal’s other mess

Even as the air over power plants clears, the coal combustion waste on the ground gets worse – and the EPA seems disinclined to deal with the problem.

Essays

A former Hot Shot looks at the West’s wildfires

Lincoln Bramwell looks back on years of firefighting and concludes that it’s just not a good idea for people to keep building houses in forests.

Field notes from the front steps

From the front porch of her house in Montana, Kim Todd studies bees and marvels at the world.

Heard Around the West

Heard Around the West

Lucky the elk was not so lucky; unhealthy health treats; little kid literally drives folks crazy; 90-year-old volunteer finally retires; stories about heat raise temperatures; Tahoe’s bear troubles.

Letters

Rebecca Solnit responds

Of writers and fires

In the groove

... Rather a scornful tone

From toilet to toilet

Two Weeks in the West

Two weeks in the West

Recent elections in the West show support for land-use planning and “convergence politics”; hunting declines in the West, but Satan keeps busy in Idaho, causing divorces.