High Country News October 26, 2009
Feature
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.
Current
Death by a thousand wells
Unregulated domestic wells are straining water supplies in Washington’s Yakima Valley and throughout the West.
Editor's Note
The newest Westerners
Immigrants from around the world are changing traditionally white Western communities such as Boise, Idaho.
Dear Friends
Buddy, can ya spare a subscription?
Anonymous benefactor provides HCN subscriptions; hiking and peach-picking visitors; correction.
Writers on the Range
Socialism and the West
Despite our reflexive fear of the word "socialism," the West was built on subsidized government efforts.
News
More than English
Denver's Emily Griffith School has taught English to immigrants and refugees since 1981.
Book Reviews
Still riding the edge
In her memoir, Riding the Edge of an Era, Diana Allen Kouris relates the life described in her subtitle’s words: Growing Up Cowboy on the Outlaw Trail.
The diplomacy of water
Norris Hundley's magisterial Water in the West is back in print to enlighten readers about water politics, especially the Colorado River Compact.
Essays
My father's political career
A writer remembers her father's unlikely political career, running as a Democrat in a Republican part of Colorado.
Perspective
Our national parks: Another idea
In 1832, artist George Catlin came up with the idea of a system of "nation's parks" to preserve human cultures and wildlife and scenery.
Focus
Conservation for the adrenaline crowd
Can the Red Bull generation of outdoor recreationists get serious about saving the planet?
Evidence
The good seats don't come cheap
Sixteen Westerners are among the 50 richest members of Congress today.
Two Weeks in the West
Indians vs. Greens?
In a controversial resolution, Hopi and Navajo politicians have told environmentalists – including grassroots Indian groups – that they are not welcome on the Rez.
How it Works
Watts of water
Not all environmentalists believe that pumped hydroelectric storage projects are a good way to achieve more renewable energy.
Sidebar
A loophole you can squeeze a feedlot through
In dry eastern Washington, small farmers resent a corporate feedlot’s access to scarce water supplies.
An orphan heads to college
Chan Kuoth's journey has taken him from Sudan to Tucson, Ariz., where he hopes to help other refugees.
A hard-fought immigration victory
Lioudmila Krotova's family, Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union, fought for years to stay in the U.S.
Seeking a vocation in no-man's land
Salam Talib, who barely escaped from Iraq with his life, now seeks a new beginning in San Francisco.
A new kind of ministry
Tom Simbo, who faced down gun-toting soldiers in Sierra Leone, now works with other immigrants in Denver, Colo.
Refugees, by the numbers
Placing the influx of refugees in the West in context.
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