High Country News February 04, 2013
Feature
Will the Badlands become the first tribal national park?
Oglala Lakota leaders hope to transform their bombed-out Badlands and help lift the tribe out of poverty, but it won't be easy.
Current
Which way will the West go on guns?
Pro-gun Western Democrats are in the spotlight as the nation debates non-traditional firearms.
A new normal for snow
The dry 2000s means snow trackers have to adjust "normal" downward.
In a rural Colorado valley, old-fashioned print news lives on
The Saguache Crescent prints on an ancient letterpress machine, no computers necessary.
How to clean up abandoned mines -- without landing in court
Anyone who tries to fix a draining mine may become liable for its water pollution. But Good Samaritans are finding ways to avoid getting sued for their good deeds.
A map collection for time travelers
Robert Berlo’s massive map collection is an unexpected data jackpot.
In the Northwest, innovative projects use trees to cool streams
A program pays for ecosystem services to keep rivers at the right temperature for wildlife.
Editor's Note
Whose land is this?
The country's first tribal national park could lead the way toward more tribal control over lands that were once theirs.
Book Reviews
A world of plague and hope: A review of The Bird Saviors
In William J. Cobb’s lyrical novel The Bird Saviors, a mysterious virus strikes the residents of Pueblo, Colo.
Water is (still) for fightin': A review of Durango
Gary Hart's seventh novel takes us to another front in the water wars, the decades-long dispute over damming southern Colorado’s Animas- La Plata rivers to provide more water for the growing town of Durango.
A review of An Atlas of Historic New Mexico Maps
Archaeologist and historian Peter L. Eidenbach presents the Land of Enchantment as seen by early conquerors, naturalists, surveyors, and railroaders.
Essays
Love wins
After 22 years, a couple gets the first same-sex marriage in their rural Washington county.
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