Feature

An unlikely Shangri-la

Steve and Marc Jenson have ambitious plans to turn a failed ski resort near Beaver, Utah, into a private enclave for the ultra-rich, but not everyone is thrilled about the idea.

Editor's Note

If you build it, will they come?

A desert village called Big Water and a troubled ski resort near the hardscrabble town of Beaver are two unlikely places in Utah where entrepreneurs plan to build exclusive resorts for the ultra-rich.

Dear Friends

Dear friends

High school intern Cobun Keegan; summer road-trippers; correction; and goodbye to HCN’s old friend, Woody Hesselbarth

Writers on the Range

Downtown an old – and new – way to live

Bill Croke celebrates his brand-new old-fashioned lifestyle: living upstairs in an old brick building in downtown Salmon Idaho.

News

Death, and taxes

In Western communities with runaway land values, many ranching heirs have a hard time holding on to the family farm.

Crash of the cottonwoods

Across the West, cottonwoods are dying, and no one is sure how to save these iconic trees.

Book Reviews

Living deep in place

Shopping for Porcupine weaves between worry and worship in its celebration of author Seth Kantner’s unique life in northern Alaska.

Another kind of hero

In The Legend of Colton H. Bryant Alexandra Fuller recreates the life of a young man who was killed on a drilling rig in Wyoming.

Essays

Under the asphalt a rumor thrives

In Grand Junction Colo. a team of investigators excavate a downtown parking lot in search of an old safe supposedly buried a century ago.

West Watch

Of populists and political fusion

The last time the Democratic Party held its national convention in Denver was 100 years ago, when the Democratic presidential candidate was well-known Populist William Jennings Bryan.

Two Weeks in the West

Two weeks in the West

Precedent-setting conservation easement lawsuit in Wyoming; wet spring gives way to burning-hot summer; EPA approves air-quality permit for Desert Rock power plant; Smokey Bear vs. ORVs; smoky bear vs. firefighter.

Data

Dems aim to go green at convention.

Snapshot

A nonprofit deconstructs a trophy home near the Columbia Gorge.

Winning the West

Obama's Western ace in the hole

Jim Messina, who hails from Montana, is the chief of staff for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.