In the first issue of our newly redesigned monthly magazine, we lead off with an in-depth look at efforts in one Idaho town to block a series of wildlife crossings across the notoriously dangerous Targhee Pass. Elsewhere, we look at the lives of two groups of young Westerners: In Alaska, Native youth push for climate action, while in a former coal-dependent Colorado county, a high school class trains students in solar energy. We take a fact-driven deep-dive into the lifecycle of nuclear power production, and examine water right fights in Montana and the politics of housing in Washington. We interview a farmworker organizer who talks politics and immigration. We ask what the cowboy hat means for “Americanism,” and critique the weird world of Western tropes as they manifest in Texas.
Nuclear power is clean – if you ignore all the waste
Compare the annual waste produced by a coal-burning power plant and a nuclear generating station.
When wildlife safety turns into fierce political debate
In Island Park, Idaho, a fight over roadkill became a referendum on government control.
HCN celebrates newness in the new year
We have a new look, editors and fellows.
A quick guide to your redesigned magazine
A fresh magazine for another 50 years of HCN.
A sleepy bear; historic trash; meth awareness
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
HCN renews its commitment to covering the West’s complexities
We debut a new design as we celebrate our 50th anniversary.
Migrant labor activists win lawsuit for foreign shepherds
Ranchers must now bring in immigrant sheepherders under permanent visas.
Electrifying existing dams
In “Is Renewable Energy’s Future Dammed?” (11/25/19) Nick Bowlin asks an important question, but fails to mention some critical facts that we need to weigh when thinking about future hydropower projects. According to the National Inventory of Dams, maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, there are 91,468 dams in the United States — the…
Reporters in their own communities
This profile of Markwayne Mullin (“A Cherokee for Trump,” 12/9/19) by Graham Lee Brewer is an incredible piece, and yet another example from High Country News as to why it’s crucial for Native reporters and editors to be hired to cover their own communities. —Nick Martin This article appeared in the print edition of the…
U.S. oppression or engineering marvel?
It couldn’t be that the Transcontinental Railroad opened up thousands of square miles of land, connecting it back to civilization (“Gilded Age problems,” 12/9/19). It couldn’t be that it was an engineering marvel of its time. Nor could it have been an economic boom at the time. Nope, HCN just takes history and spins it…
Un-wilding wild horse lands
Jonathan Thompson aptly calls out Bureau of Land Management Acting Director William Perry Pendley’s big lie about the “existential threat” to public lands (“BLM chief ’s wild horse fixation,” 11/25/19). Sadly, Thompson goes on to refer to the estimated 88,000 wild horses on public lands, stating that their “hooves trample and lay waste to big swaths of…
When the coal bubble bursts
It never ends well when a whole local economy is based on nonrenewable natural resource (“Coal state struggles,” 12/9/19). Communities all over the world want the jobs that mining brings, but then their children or grandchildren end up living through the burst of the bubble. —Taal Levi This article appeared in the print edition of…
‘Destructive’ extraction taking up prime real estate
Whether coal has been “good to Wyoming” or not is pretty debatable (“Coal state struggles,” 12/9/19). Much of the cleanup costs will fall on the state’s taxpayers, and Wyoming doesn’t have much of a tax base as it is, much less after a large part of its income (and its workers) leaves. Wyoming needs to…
Entrance fee for newcomers
The folks who have been in Wyoming for generations would probably prefer that the decisions about Wyoming’s future were left to them, rather than all the “wonderful schemes” those moving from other places have in mind. (“Coal state struggles,” 12/9/19). What they should do is charge an entrance fee for all the newcomers and tourists.…
What the cowboy hat says about ‘Americanism’
A problematic symbol of the West gets a reboot.
Not all Indigenous cinema needs to be serious
‘The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw’ is an entertaining tale about a millennial Indigenous woman returning home.
Young Indigenous activists lead climate justice action in Alaska
Two Alaska Native teenagers pushed for a resolution declaring a climate emergency – and decision-makers listened.
As Spokane grows, is it leaving low-income renters outside?
Proposals to protect tenants and reduce homelessness lack political support.
Where does ‘the West’ begin?
When it comes to the myths and images of the West, Fort Worth, Texas, has created a cottage industry.
In rural Colorado, the kids of coal miners learn to install solar panels
Where the mines once provided steady employment, solar energy now offers jobs for the next generation.
When post-9/11 racism haunts an American family
In Laila Lalami’s new book, a Moroccan-American family seeks a sense of belonging in California.
NEPA transformed federal land management — and has fallen short
A look back at the ground-breaking legislation on its 50th anniversary.
Montana’s water rights fractured by new development
As subdivisions spread, it’s becoming harder to manage one of the state’s most valuable resources.
Undocumented farmworkers could get citizenship from a new bill in Congress
A United Farm Worker organizer reveals the political strategy behind the scenes.
To find Jose Montelongo, ICE agents targeted his whole family
One family’s ordeal under Trump’s zero tolerance immigration tactics.