Browse High Country News issues

Not everybody is happy, but the Obama administration is making slow but steady progress in dealing with the West's environmental issues.

Kane County, Utah, heart of the Sagebrush Rebellion and an off-road vehicle paradise, is also home to a growing number of environmentalists, hikers and animal lovers.

Will there ever be enough water in California's Bay Delta to satisfy farmers, keep fish alive and quench the thirst of millions of people?

Long-banned pesticides linger in the soils of neighborhoods built on former agricultural land in central Washington.

In southern Arizona, the Forest Service is debating whether to defy the 1872 Mining Law and stop a controversial copper mine.

Tom Coburn and James Inhofe came to power with the help of Oklahoma's religious conservatives.

It's not the Old West, it's our guide to this year's Western elections -- tracking how the rising anger threatens to overcome many voters' moderate streak.

In California's White Mountains, scientists ponder the fate of bristlecone pines and butterflies in a rapidly warming world.

The pull of instinct, season and desire

High Country News' founder, Tom Bell, marks our 40th anniversary with a grim prediction: The West -- and the world -- are doomed.

Young undocumented immigrants thrive in the U.S. -- until they turn 18, and the law cracks down.

Wildfire arsonist Raymond Oyler is tried for murder after five firefighters die in California's Esperanza Fire.

The Southern Utes overcame poverty and oppression to become a wealthy and powerful tribe with nationwide energy holdings.

An "open-water" swimmer describes the exhilarating challenge of swimming for very long distances in very cold water.

Human beings are the greatest threat -- and the only hope -- for the Colorado River's razorback sucker.

Washington's Hanford Site and New Mexico's White Sands Missile Range both hold deadly nuclear contamination -- along with unspoiled landscapes rich in wildlife.

Every spring, Grand Canyon boatmen meet for an educational seminar -- and a rousing good time.

Maps and statistics reveal the effects Nevada's gold-mining has on taxes and employment, among other things.

In a long, nerve-racking undercover operation, a federal wildlife agent brought down one of the world’s most notorious rare-insect traffickers.

Every winter in Quartzsite, Ariz., tens of thousands of RVers form an impromptu community in the desert.

On the U.S.-Mexico border, the corrupt and futile War on Drugs takes a violent toll on the poorest people.

Evidence suggests that wolves may have returned to Colorado, and they are here to stay.

A group of determined activists in Mountain View, N.M., fights for environmental justice in a poor and polluted neighborhood.

California's Westlands irrigation district wants to blame a tiny endangered fish for its water troubles, but the real culprit is simply long-term drought.

When wind turbines threaten his ranch in the Laramie Range, Wyoming oilman Diemer True becomes a born-again conservationist.