High Country News - Current Issue
-
Sniffin’ out scat for conservation
Wicket – a wildly energetic dog discovered in an animal shelter – serves scientists by looking for grizzly poop in the Montana wilds.
by Kathryn Socie, Nov 12, 2007 -
Safe crossing
Traffic engineers work with biologists to protect both wildlife and motorists on hazardous highways.
by Peter Aleshire, Nov 12, 2007 -
Two weeks in the West
A look at the recent California wildfires details how much they’ve cost so far and how many acres were burned, especially in the expanding wildland-urban interface.
by Christine Hoekinga, Nov 12, 2007 -
L.A. Bets on the Farm
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California – the West’s most powerful water agency – uses a shrewd blend of Wall Street tactics and rural diplomacy to keep the water flowing to L.A. and its environs.
by Matt Jenkins, Nov 12, 2007 -
Even four-footed employees deserve to retire
Susan Ives tells the story of Edith Ann, a faithful horse that narrowly escaped euthanasia when the Park Service decided she was too old and gimpy to be of further use.
by Susan Ives, Nov 12, 2007 -
Six Good Places
David Oates ranges from the Sierra Nevada to Aix-en-Provence as he considers the particular qualities that make a place worth living in.
by David Oates, Oct 29, 2007 -
Bloodied but unbowed
The Western novel is not entirely dead; it has simply changed a great deal since the glory days of Zane Grey.
by Michelle Nijhuis, Oct 29, 2007 -
Wet words
Brian Doyle recommends the best reads about the Pacific Northwest, with particular emphasis on his home state, Oregon.
by Brian Doyle, Oct 29, 2007 -
In Large and Sunlit Land
Peter Chilson ponders the parallel fates of two lovely and ravaged lands: The Southwest desert in America and the West Coast of Africa.
by Peter Chilson, Oct 29, 2007 -
‘Men standing in the shadows began to weep’
Writers John N. Maclean and Mark Matthews look closely at two famous – and deadly – Western wildfires in their new books, The Thirtymile Fire and A Great Day to Fight Fire.
by Ray Ring, Oct 29, 2007 -
Another near-death experience for environmentalism
Environmental contrarians Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger jump back into the fray with a new book, Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility.
by Brian Kevin, Oct 29, 2007 -
Looking forward, looking back
William Kittredge brings together new and selected essays about life in the West in The Next Rodeo.
by Claire Dederer, Oct 29, 2007 -
Mystery in Montana
Deirdre McNamer’s new novel, Red Rover, beautifully captures the unromantic realism of Montana’s small towns.
by Bruce Barcott, Oct 29, 2007 -
Borders and saints
Latino writer Luis Alberto Urrea talks about the border and remembers the women in his family who inspired him.
by Jennie Lay, Oct 29, 2007 -
No frigate like a book
This special issue focuses on books and essays that help us understand the complex, chaotic West.
by Jodi Peterson, Oct 29, 2007 -
RV Nation
On a Western road trip, Evelyn Spence ponders the peculiar names – and increasing numbers – of gigantic RVs.
by Evelyn Spence, Oct 15, 2007 -
Nothing out there can be a very good thing
Julianne Couch surveys the vastness of Wyoming’s Adobe Town badlands and hopes that oil and gas drilling does not invade its beautiful emptiness.
by Julianne Couch, Oct 15, 2007 -
Fire managers play a subtle new game
Forest Service fire manager Brent Skaggs worries that the Framework's new burning restrictions won't allow the amount of controlled burning he believes necessary to prevent catastrophic wildfires.
by Jim Downing, Aug 27, 2001 -
Road Block
When residents of the village of Tome, N.M., challenged plans for a nearby four-lane highway and bridge to facilitate the commute from Albuquerque to the suburbs, they took on New Mexico's huge "sprawl machine" - and won.
by Greg Hanscom, Dec 04, 2000 -
Where the Antelope (and the Oil Companies) Play
In Wyoming’s Upper Green River Basin, a natural gas boom is threatening pronghorn antelope and other wildlife, and some Pinedale-area residents are beginning to fight back
by Brian Maffly, Aug 18, 2003
High Country News in your inbox!