How old battles over land, power and identity continue to shape the West’s politics
Origin stories from an unsettled region.
Montanans are demanding better Indian education, setting an example for other Western states
Experts say good education is about relationships – and a constitutional amendment doesn’t hurt.
The crows in our midst
When thousands of these birds roost together, some consider it a nuisance. But can we learn to live with them?
Hail is a multibillion-dollar problem — and could get worse
At a Colorado cold lab, scientists race to better understand hail in a warming world.
How the Interior secretary has let down public lands and the nation
Doug Burgum was once seen as a conservationist. Reality shows otherwise.
As bears ‘spin out’ in southern Montana, wildlife managers are at wit’s end
Amid a record-breaking year of Western bear conflict, the historically tolerant Red Lodge community is grappling with opposing views on how to live with the species — and if a ‘fed bear’ really should be a ‘dead bear.’
New leadership for HCN
Plus a forthcoming listening tour.
American Samoans punished for voting in Alaska get relief after a yearslong nightmare
Alaska officials accused American Samoans caught in a unique legal limbo of illegally voting but finally dropped those charges this month.
Wyoming chooses public lands at the ballot box
Voters finally felt the threat to public lands had reached a critical point, observers say.
Montanans push back against corporate money
A novel approach to curb big money in political spending heads to the ballot.
Ranch manager tied to top Trump appointee started 5,600-acre Idaho wildfire
A state investigation shines light on the unpermitted fire, which cost nearly $950,000 to contain.
Even cowgirls get the Instagram blues
A Montana rancher wonders what is lost in her urge to share her Western life online.
‘Everyone deserves to have a good quality of life’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
Studies link New Mexico drilling to radiation, air pollution, health risks
Small towns in the Permian Basin have become a petri dish for the perils of living amid the nation’s largest oil fields.
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In This Issue
October 2026: Origin Stories
In this unusual issue, “Origin Stories,” we resurrect three High Country News stories on topics that continue to influence the West, sometimes in unexpected ways. “Rebels Revel in New Power, Polish” — from December 1980, when the then-newspaper was based in Lander, Wyoming — takes…
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Water
What will happen to the Grand Canyon as water levels drop?
The massive infrastructure projects of the 1960s wouldn’t work today
On the road with a desert sage
Wildlife
Tohono O’odham fight border wall on sacred, sovereign lands
Hexing AI slop with queer magic
How Bozeman is preventing human-wildlife conflicts before they start
Public Lands
In Arctic Alaska, 1.4 million acres of federal land is shifting to state hands
Arctic drilling in Alaska won’t get environmental review in new proposal
The BLM may stop notifying landowners about drilling under private land. Ranchers are alarmed
Indigenous Affairs
Large solar project on Navajo Nation leaves residents skeptical
Protect Sandia Mountain, our church
‘Quite frustrating:’ what it’s like to have a treaty with the United States
Communities
The GOAT of all goats, a mystery solved, and the rez dog who chose not to ‘stay’
‘I have some very heartfelt conversations’
It’s a make-or-break year for Hood River’s pear farmers
Books
Why I talk to animals
On Mount Shasta, a photographic record outlasts living memory
Let’s go in on the American dream, together
In the News
The West’s data centers suck (water and power)
From simple searches to chatGPT, the big digital buildup threatens the grid and water supplies.