How community organizers are amplifying Oregon’s Black music history
“The place just embraced me. Everybody was singing the same song.”
‘Rural areas are very powerful — and often underestimated’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
Trump’s EPA decided climate change doesn’t endanger public health. Evidence says otherwise.
Extreme heat, severe weather and air pollution are proven to cause negative health impacts.
LandBack advances across the West
More ancestral lands are being returned to tribes, while other important sites remain at risk.
Learning to two-step at a queer country bar
With a wedding months away, a writer takes a dance class to prepare.
New Mexico demands fix for federal nuclear waste management
The state will also fine the Department of Energy millions for violating groundwater standards.
The coming failure of Glen Canyon Dam
As Colorado River negotiations build toward a Feb. 14 deadline, few are talking about design flaws in the dam that holds back Lake Powell.
Cote
A poem by Vanessa Stauffer.
How Breckenridge reserved almost 75% of its full-time housing for workforce
The iconic ski town is aiming to keep locals local.
These meatpacking workers may be deported. They voted to strike anyway.
The largely immigrant workforce at JBS’s flagship U.S. plant, in Greeley, Colorado, is refusing to back down after accusing the company of poor working conditions.
As the planet heats, insurance premiums rise
Charting the extreme weather-driven insurance crisis.
Trump’s call for deep-sea mining off Alaska raises Indigenous concerns
“Whatever happens in the ocean, it really does affect our way of life.”
What’s needed to protect sage grouse?
The Burns Paiute and Shoshone-Bannock tribes are proving that reducing grazing may be the key to saving the iconic bird.
What tumbleweed can teach protesters
Learning from a reviled and inspiring weed.
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High Country News Classifieds
- Based in Grand Junction, Colorado, Colorado Canyons Association (CCA) fosters community stewardship, education, and awareness of our National Conservation Lands with a focus on Dominguez-Escalante, Gunnison Gorge and McInnis Canyons National Conservation Areas in Western Colorado. CCA seeks an Executive […]
In This Issue
February 2026: The Recording Artists
Our February issue swings from the rich musical and social history of Black people in Portland, Oregon, to the ongoing conflict between imperiled sage grouse and cattle grazing on the sagebrush steppe of the Western U.S. Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program is running into problems because…
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Water
An EPA proposal would make it harder for tribes to protect their water
‘We’re basically slitting our own throat’: Montana rolls back water-quality standards
Skimpy snow makes life worse for skiers — and everyone else
Wildlife
Where giant kangaroo rats — and other critters — thrive
Would you pay 1% more for wildlife?
Alaska’s public lands are a political battleground
Public Lands
The nation’s trails are disappearing
Congress passes environmental funding without Trump’s deep cuts
6 takeaways from our public-lands grazing investigation
Indigenous Affairs
What does ‘time immemorial’ really mean?
We need to talk about the pretendians in our midst
Colorado cannot heal until it confronts Sand Creek honestly
Communities
Wise-guy wolves, trekking in drag, talented tarantulas and Bigfoot takes a bow
‘My history is a blip’
Digging out in the Palisades Fire burn zone
Books
Three books explore deep time and help us look forward
National parks aren’t just for tourists. They’re an essential home for wildlife.
The fallout from Ruby Ridge
In the News
An age-old monument faces modern threats
Scientists say Grand Staircase-Escalante isn’t reaching its full research potential.