High Country News - Most Recent
-
Tackling Utah’s trash
Issa Hamud, an engineer who was born in Somalia, helped Logan, Utah, create a successful recycling program.
by Mary Jackson-Smith, Jan 21, 2008 -
Treehuggers and treecutters unite
Environmentalists have been working with Washington foresters to keep small tree farms in business, but the treaty between the two remains a fragile one.
by Lissa James, Jan 21, 2008 -
Misplaced Jurisdiction
Law professor Kevin Washburn, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, says the justice system in Indian Country is in serious need of overhaul.
by Tanya Lee, Jan 21, 2008 -
Two weeks in the West
EPA stymies California’s attempt to cut tailpipe emissions; the West is growing but not sure where its next meal or drink of water will come from; increasing amounts of ammonium – and guns – in the parks; avalanche fatalities are up.
by Sarah Gilman and Jodi Peterson, Jan 21, 2008 -
An energy oasis in the political desert
The Interior West’s growing political voice – and its status as the nation’s energy supplier – mean presidential candidates need to see the region as more than campaign flyover country.
by Jonathan Thompson, Jan 21, 2008 -
A political speech the West needs to hear
High Country News imagines – and delivers – the kind of speech about our energy future that the West needs to hear from its next president.
by Ray Ring, Jan 21, 2008 -
Last chance for the Lobo
Mexican Wolves in Catron County, New Mexico struggle to survive in the midst of underfunding, inbreeding, and hostile local ranchers.
by John Dougherty, Dec 24, 2007 -
Rebels with a Lost Cause
The fiercely conservative lawyers of the Sagebrush Rebellion continue to fight against environmental regulations, but despite all their sound and fury, very little has changed on the public lands.
by Ray Ring, Dec 10, 2007 -
Heard Around the West
Lucky the elk was not so lucky; unhealthy health treats; little kid literally drives folks crazy; 90-year-old volunteer finally retires; stories about heat raise temperatures; Tahoe’s bear troubles.
by Betsy Marston, Nov 26, 2007 -
Field notes from the front steps
From the front porch of her house in Montana, Kim Todd studies bees and marvels at the world.
by Kim Todd, Nov 26, 2007 -
A former Hot Shot looks at the West’s wildfires
Lincoln Bramwell looks back on years of firefighting and concludes that it’s just not a good idea for people to keep building houses in forests.
by Lincoln Bramwell, Nov 26, 2007 -
Growth unfettered
Arizonans are grappling with the consequences of Proposition 207, an anti-takings measure passed last fall.
by Daniel Kraker, Nov 26, 2007 -
Betting on the house
In Las Vegas, the Bureau of Land Management offers up cheap land for affordable housing.
by Christine Hoekenga, Nov 26, 2007 -
Two weeks in the West
Recent elections in the West show support for land-use planning and “convergence politics”; hunting declines in the West, but Satan keeps busy in Idaho, causing divorces.
by Ray Ring, Nov 26, 2007 -
Beetle Warfare
Scientists unleash a new weapon in the fight against invasive tamarisk – a tiny exotic beetle from Kazakhstan.
by Michelle Nijhuis, Nov 26, 2007 -
Bury it standing
When his old canoe shows signs of aging, Alan Kesselheim decides to bury it upright in his yard, a contemporary totem pole.
by Alan Kesselheim, Nov 12, 2007 -
The power of music, the power of obsession
Sarah Bird’s well-written novel The Flamenco Academy weaves the history of this dramatic dance form into a obsessed young woman’s search for identity.
by Margaret Foley, Nov 12, 2007 -
How a restaurant changed the world
A famous French natural-foods restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., is the subject of Thomas McNamee’s book, Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution.
by Alexander Lane, Nov 12, 2007 -
The Sunflower State says a historic no to coal
Allen Best applauds Kansas for denying permits to two proposed coal-fired power plants because of concerns about greenhouse gases.
by Allen Best, Nov 12, 2007 -
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






