High Country News - For people who care about the West

The old man and the stream

A brief encounter with an elderly fisherman moves W.S. Robinson to think about the mysteries of life and death -- and fathers and sons.

All along the watchtower

Andrew McNair, who works weekends at a computer in Olympia, Wash., is not your typical Western firefighter.

Not even the privileged can deter a porcupine

Judy Muller contemplates the humble porcupine, which is wreaking havoc among pricey houses in Telluride Mountain Village.

Size matters if you go for “green” bragging rights

Monique Cole wonders if a 6,500-square-foot “green-powered” McMansion is a contradiction in terms.

On a wing and a pledge

A spotty future

Is anybody listening?

Making a hand

An unlikely Shangri-la

Steve and Marc Jenson have ambitious plans to turn a failed ski resort near Beaver, Utah, into a private enclave for the ultra-rich, but not everyone is thrilled about the idea.

Crash of the cottonwoods

Across the West, cottonwoods are dying, and no one is sure how to save these iconic trees.

Going to the gasroots

In western Colorado, oil and gas companies mobilize in a publicity blitz to pack a Grand Junction hearing about proposed changes to the state’s natural gas drilling rules.