Feature

Troubled Taos, torn apart by a battle over historic Hispano land grants

A New Mexican town known for its art scene is home to a fractured community, where distrust of Anglo newcomers plays out in a fight over whether ancient deeds give Hispano old-timers a right to land.

Current

Tunneling under California's Bay Delta water wars

Environmentalists and fishermen have panned past versions of Gov. Jerry Brown's new proposal for water export tunnels, but it might actually help endangered fish.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell on the U.S. as an Arctic nation

Treadwell, an expert in the politics of the opening Arctic, discusses offshore drilling, the Arctic as a global economic powerhouse, and climate change adaptation.

Western states' transportation spending reveals their priorities

A breakdown of what various states spend on bike lanes and public transportation.

Saving threatened Utah prairie dogs -- on private property

Can a new approach to conservation help landowners and endangered species coexist?

Editor's Note

Old West versus New West in Taos, N.M.

When wandering newcomers and deep-rooted old-timers collide in the West, it gets difficult, especially in a place as culturally complex as northern New Mexico.

Dear Friends

Summer visitors

HCN gets a flood of summer visitors despite the hot, dry season; Deanne Stillman's new book, Desert Reckoning.

Book Reviews

Atlas of Yellowstone

The thoroughly researched and lavishly illustrated Atlas of Yellowstone covers the Greater Yellowstone Area from A to Z.

A long, strange trip: A review of Pot Farm

In his memoir, Matthew Gavin Frank takes the reader on a hallucinatory journey through the medical marijuana industry in Mendocino County, Calif.

Lights, camera, life: A review of Beautiful Ruins

Jess Walter's dashing sixth novel spans two continents and covers five decades as the lives of nine characters interweave throughout the years.

Essays

Love and tomatoes -- a natural combination

Diamonds aren't always a girl's best friend; sometimes a fresh, ripe, local tomato is.

Letters

Don't 'live and let live' with polygamy

Conservation-business alliances

Sleuthing swifts in Indiana

Slip-slidin' away

Stump appreciation