Feature

The Rise of the Minotaur

Bull riding explodes from its rural Western roots to become a modern spectacle along the lines of NASCAR.

Dear Friends

Stewardship award for HCN

High Country News wins Jane Silverstein Ries Award; former intern Emma Brown gives UC Journalism School commencement address; visitors with heart.

Of moose and mandolins

High Country News reader and EPA scientist Elaine Lai worked with Native peoples in the Alaskan Arctic on a climate change witness program.

Book Reviews

The bizarre intersection of humanity and nature

The short stories in Laura Chester’s Rancho Weirdo revolve around the unexpected interactions of middle-class people with nature.

Western water in the age of climate change

In Dead Pool: Lake Powell, Global Warming, and the Future of Water in the West, James Lawrence Powell examines the impact of climate change on the West’s future.

Essays

Time to breathe

Stargazing and geology satisfy the spiritual needs of a Utah writer and teacher.

Letters

The rest of the story

New urbanists

Open season on white males?

It's a dam mess

Gimme wheels

Salmon simplification

Ken Olsen responds

Focus

Paddling toward shore

The Suquamish Tribe is resurrecting the old ways of Northwestern Indians – particularly their traditional canoe journeys – to improve the health of its young people.

Two Weeks in the West

Sci-fi conservation

Enviros create force-fields around national parks. Also: Recovery Act funds are coming to BLM lands in the Western states.

How it Works

Bring in the cows

Ecological consultant Stuart Weiss believes that carefully managed grazing could help save a rare California butterfly from extinction.

Uncommon Places

Science under glass

Researchers are using Arizona’s Biosphere 2 to study how plant communities affect the movement of water.