The massive infrastructure projects of the 1960s wouldn’t work today
When people thought infrastructure could solve the arid West’s water problems.
Large solar project on Navajo Nation leaves residents skeptical
As renewable energy expands, questions about how renewable the projects are regulated on Diné land emerge.
How Bozeman is preventing human-wildlife conflicts before they start
A ’wildlife first responder’ is developing a tool for coexistence.
On the road with a desert sage
A writer travels the Borderlands with ethnobotanist and author Gary Paul Nabhan.
Nuclear power drive boosts southwestern uranium mills — and tribal health concerns
Havasupai, Ute Mountain Ute, Najavo (Diné) tribes worry that southwestern uranium mills may foul groundwater for generations.
The GOAT of all goats, a mystery solved, and the rez dog who chose not to ‘stay’
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Nevada sues over Colorado River plans, aiming to protect Las Vegas
The state says federal plans to manage the drought-stricken basin would cut the city’s water supply by roughly 71%.
The Perseids remind us to shine on
On endings and new beginnings.
HCN farewells
A few staff departures and a HCN road trip.
In Arctic Alaska, 1.4 million acres of federal land is shifting to state hands
A cascade of changes is underway along its only northern highway.
What the new rules for a shrinking Colorado River mean for tribal nations
‘None of us is in the exact same situation.’
Why I talk to animals
The creatures in our midst may have answers to life’s vexing questions.
Solar and wind continue to push coal off the West’s grid
Trump’s war on clean energy falters.
Arctic drilling in Alaska won’t get environmental review in new proposal
The Interior Department will soon publish a ‘categorical exclusion’ that will rubber stamp oil and gas development in Alaska’s remote National Petroleum Reserve.
Most Popular Stories
High Country News Classifieds
In This Issue
September 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
This issue, we get to spend time with Gary Paul Nabhan as the legendary writer, activist and ethnobotanist wanders the Borderlands and discusses everything from books and borders and seed banks to the deep-rooted Indigenous cultures of a landscape he has loved and defended for…
Try HCN for free
Water
Utah is killing the Great Salt Lake
Federal plan makes steep Colorado River water cuts to Arizona, California and Nevada
The clock is ticking for New Mexico to cut Rio Grande water use
Wildlife
In a warming world, wildflowers offer a warning
Does your dog make you safer in bear country?
Convocation of crows, sea-lebrity sea lions and what is that nasty smell?
Public Lands
The BLM may stop notifying landowners about drilling under private land. Ranchers are alarmed
Mining execs bought big in company stock days before Bears Ears’ cuts
The conversations we don’t have about safety outdoors
Indigenous Affairs
Protect Sandia Mountain, our church
‘Quite frustrating:’ what it’s like to have a treaty with the United States
Deb Haaland’s vision for New Mexico comes from tradition
Communities
‘I have some very heartfelt conversations’
It’s a make-or-break year for Hood River’s pear farmers
The Spokane burns show that not even suburbia is immune to wildfire
Books
On Mount Shasta, a photographic record outlasts living memory
Let’s go in on the American dream, together
What can we learn from salt lakes?
In the News
Western states step up to save their wetlands
The West’s vital wetlands are in trouble — but states are working to safeguard them.