High Country News - Current Issue
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Lake Mead's retreat leaves Nevada ghost town high and dry
The residents of St. Thomas were forced to leave their homes behind when Lake Mead submerged their town. But after decades under water, drought has brought it back to the surface.
by Kate Shaw, Mar 04, 2013 -
Global warming's reluctant poster child
The ski industry, for whom bad press means all the difference between a banner year and a bust, tries to manage public perception of climate change's impact on snowfall and resort conditions.
by Greg Hanscom, Mar 04, 2013 -
Can Sally Jewell interest a new generation in public lands?
The chief of Recreation Equipment Inc. has worked hard to support conservation and get people of all ages and colors outside. Can she do the same at the Department of Interior?
by Greg Hanscom, Mar 04, 2013 -
An unlikely penitent: A review of On Top of Spoon Mountain
John Nichols’ latest novel tells the story of an aging writer who wants to climb one last peak to redeem his mistakes and restore his relationship with his children.
by Traci J. Macnamara, Mar 04, 2013 -
Ski industry supports cloud seeding but downplays climate change
Getting skiers on the slopes is less about actual snow and more about getting skiers to believe there is snow.
by Jonathan Thompson, Mar 04, 2013 -
Girl in the woods: A review of The Snow Child
The debut novel from Eowyn Ivey, now in paperback, describes a homesteading couple in Alaska who adopt a mysterious girl living in the woods.
by Jenny Shank, Mar 04, 2013 -
Students take over HCN Facebook page
Marketing students try their hand at managing HCN’s Facebook page; new books from Julianne Couch and Mike Medberry; corrections and clarification.
by Jodi Peterson, Mar 04, 2013 -
Technology eases access to ancient ruins, for better or worse
A writer uses the Internet and GPS to find secret Ancestral Puebloan dwellings and other wonders on Utah’s Cedar Mesa, home of the country’s highest concentration of archaeological sites.
by Neil LaRubbio, Mar 04, 2013 -
Climate change turns an already troubled ski industry on its head
California's Mammoth Mountain provides a case study on the uncertainty of the ski business, and how global warming threatens to make it even more unpredictable.
by Greg Hanscom, Mar 03, 2013 -
Reimaginations
A writer’s quest to find the people behind her great-grandfather’s New Mexico drawings.
by Sierra Crane-Murdoch, Mar 01, 2013 -
Economy, distrust complicate allocation of tribal settlement money
$1 billion tribal settlement mostly goes to individuals, although tribe-wide investments would have greater benefit.
by Debra Utacia Krol, Feb 27, 2013 -
Farmers agree to tax those who deplete groundwater
Amid drought and climate change in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, farmers vote for a new approach to rein in their overpumping of groundwater.
by Cally Carswell, Feb 25, 2013 -
My Dakota: A photo essay and conversation
Rebecca Norris Webb’s South Dakota is both an elegy to a lost brother and a celebration of place.
by Rebecca Norris Webb, Feb 22, 2013 -
The BLM fights for the Southwest’s last free-flowing river
A federal agency asserts its water rights to the San Pedro river in a case that might eventually lead to limits on growth in Arizona.
by Tony Davis, Feb 20, 2013 -
Reading the Brautigan Bible: A review of Jubilee Hitchhiker: The Life and Times of Richard Brautigan
Even if you’re not a Brautigan fan, it’s worth picking up novelist and screenwriter William Hjortsberg’s definitive new biography, Jubilee Hitchhiker.
by Kris King, Feb 18, 2013 -
Drought forces a new era of agricultural water conservation
Whether converting open ditches into pipelines or fallowing fields, farmers and ranchers in the West are being forced to change the ways they use water as climate-induced drought tightens its grip.
by Paul Larmer, Feb 18, 2013 -
Our loyal readers come through, yet again
Grants, donations and gift subscriptions buoy HCN; new books from HCN contributors.
by Jodi Peterson, Feb 18, 2013 -
China v. Utah: Whose air is worse?
It’s hard to tell Beijing from Salt Lake when pollution clouds the air.
by Jonathan Thompson, Feb 18, 2013 -
A Montanan walks into a Cairo bar: A review of Evel Knievel Days
A homebody from Butte travels to Cairo to learn about his father.
by Jenny Shank, Feb 18, 2013 -
Book review: Quilts: California Bound, California Made 1840-1940
Sandi Fox pairs full-page color images of quilts with historical narrative, excerpts from diaries, period photos and illustrations to shed light on the lives of early Californians.
by Staff, Feb 18, 2013
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