This year brought many a blockbuster story out of our fair region, from the Malheur occupation in January to the protests at Standing Rock (see our roundup of top stories) in December, and much in between. But we also covered some of the little-known corners of the always-surprising West. Below we highlight some of the best photos and associated stories from each month of 2016.

January

Photos of the rigorous training this special type of firefighter endures.
Read the story and see more photos.

February

The ‘poisoned landscapes’ we leave behind

Q&A with photographer David T. Hanson about his new book, ‘Wilderness to Wasteland,’ which shows a dystopian side of progress.
Read the story and see more photos.

A rare ecological event: ‘super bloom’ in Death Valley

The arid California park is covered in wildflowers for the first time in a decade.
Read the story and see more photos.

April

A recent lawsuit sheds new light on how the polygamist church and municipal leadership are deeply intertwined.
Read the story and see more photos.

May

This subset of coyote hunting involves trained dogs and is relatively uncommon in the West.
Read the story and see more photos.

June

The Arizona Border Recon aims to provide intel and back-up for federal officers at the U.S.-Mexican border.
Read the story and see more photos.

July

People compete in everything from pumpkin racing to outhouse sledding.
Read the story and see more photos.

August

Missteps and conflict between the state and the feds have hounded the recovery of Arizona and New Mexico’s remaining wolf packs.
Read the story and see more photos.

September

Alexander von Humboldt and the spread of Aedes aegypti.
Read the story and see more photos.

Photos: Diving for delicacies

One man braves frigid Alaskan seas to harvest sea cucumbers.
Read the story and see more photos

Photos: How to remove the traces of Burning Man

After the revelers leave, volunteers clean up every piece of trash they can find.
Read the story and see more photos.

December

A writer seeks answers from Lake Powell.
Read the story and see more photos.

What will 2017 bring? We hope you’ll stay tuned to High Country News to find out.

If you want to see even more photos, take some time to check out our 2016 photo contest submissions.

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Photos: A year around the West, for people who love it

by High Country News, High Country News
December 30, 2016

<h1>Photos: A year around the West, for people who love it</h1> <p class="byline">by High Country News, High Country News <br />December 30, 2016</p> <p>This year brought many a&nbsp;blockbuster story out of our fair region, from the&nbsp;Malheur occupation in January to the protests at Standing Rock (<a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/five-of-our-biggest-news-stories-that-you-forgot-happened-this-year" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/five-of-our-biggest-news-stories-that-you-forgot-happened-this-year">see our roundup of top stories</a>) in December, and much in between. But we also covered some of the little-known corners&nbsp;of the always-surprising&nbsp;West. Below we highlight some of the best&nbsp;photos and associated stories from each month of&nbsp;2016.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">January</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/SMOKEJUMPERS_MCKNIGHT_020.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70988" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A smokejumper lands with his parachute still billowing during a training exercise in an open field outside of McCall, Idaho.</figcaption></figure> <p>Photos of the rigorous training this special type of firefighter endures.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/how-smokejumpers-prepare-for-wildlfire-season" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/how-smokejumpers-prepare-for-wildlfire-season">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">February</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Plate82-WildernesstoWasteland.jpg?fit=1000%2C772&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70987" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sunset on the California Coast, Union Oil Company of California, Richmond, California.</figcaption></figure> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.3/the-poisoned-landscapes-we-leave-behind" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.3/the-poisoned-landscapes-we-leave-behind">The ‘poisoned landscapes’ we leave behind</a></h3> <p>Q&amp;A with photographer David T. Hanson about his new book, ‘Wilderness to Wasteland,’ which shows a dystopian side of progress.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.3/the-poisoned-landscapes-we-leave-behind" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.3/the-poisoned-landscapes-we-leave-behind">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/superbloom1.jpg?fit=900%2C600&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70989" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A hiker’s boots are covered with dense pollen dust shed from the flower-covered desert floor of Death Valley National Park.</figcaption></figure> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/superbloom-photos-flowers" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/superbloom-photos-flowers">A rare ecological event: ‘super bloom’ in Death Valley</a></h3> <p>The arid California park is covered in wildflowers for the first time in a decade.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/superbloom-photos-flowers" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/superbloom-photos-flowers">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">April</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FLDS1.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70982" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Several women dressed in traditional FLDS church attire walk on the streets of Colorado City, Arizona. This and the adjoining town are where Warren Jeffs oversaw his polygamist church and where most of his followers live.</figcaption></figure> <p>A recent lawsuit sheds new light on how the polygamist church and municipal leadership are deeply intertwined.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/mormon-fundamentalists-control-short-creek-polygamy-utah-warren-jeffs" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/mormon-fundamentalists-control-short-creek-polygamy-utah-warren-jeffs">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">May</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/coyote-coursing-p-30.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70981" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Hunter Todd Fritz's dogs launch out of his truck box in pursuit of a coyote.</figcaption></figure> <p>This subset of coyote hunting involves trained dogs and is relatively uncommon in the West.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.8/coyote-coursing-photos-hunting-dogs" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.8/coyote-coursing-photos-hunting-dogs">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">June</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/arizona-border-recon-10-jeep.jpg?fit=1004%2C1500&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70979" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A member of the Arizona Border Recon, which has volunteers from California, Maine, Arizona, and even some from as far away as China and Australia. The group includes teachers, doctors, ex-military, retirees and several other professions.</figcaption></figure> <p>The Arizona Border Recon aims to provide intel and back-up for federal officers at the U.S.-Mexican border.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/portraits-of-the-arizona-border-recon" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/portraits-of-the-arizona-border-recon">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">July</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/WeirdSports06-s.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70991" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Unique Halloween costumes and accessories are on display during a themed weekend of cyclocross racing.</figcaption></figure> <p>People compete in everything from pumpkin racing to outhouse sledding.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/weird-sports-in-the-west" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/weird-sports-in-the-west">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">August</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Mexican-Wolves-1.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70985" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Zana, a 4-year-old Mexican gray wolf, tends to her 1-month-old puppies at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo. Two pups from the same litter were removed in April to be “cross-fostered” with the Elk Horn Pack in Arizona.</figcaption></figure> <p>Missteps and conflict between the state and the feds have hounded the recovery of Arizona and New Mexico’s remaining wolf packs.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.13/line-of-descent-how-poor-management-left-mexican-wolves-dangerously-inbred" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.13/line-of-descent-how-poor-management-left-mexican-wolves-dangerously-inbred">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">September</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Mosquito-splash1.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70986" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Aedes aegypti mosquito sucking through human skin.</figcaption></figure> <p>Alexander von Humboldt and the spread of Aedes aegypti.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.16/how-humans-nurtured-the-mosquito-and-the-man-who-hated-them" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.16/how-humans-nurtured-the-mosquito-and-the-man-who-hated-them">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/wilson_seacuke004.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70992" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sallee is an extremely experienced diver and takes risks to maximize his catch. After hauling up a bag of sea cucumbers for Jacob to process, he sometimes chooses to return to the depths many times with few breaks that would minimize residual effects of nitrogen in his body.</figcaption></figure> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/diving-for-sea-cucumbers" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/diving-for-sea-cucumbers">Photos: Diving for delicacies</a></h3> <p>One man braves frigid Alaskan seas to harvest sea cucumbers.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/diving-for-sea-cucumbers" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/diving-for-sea-cucumbers">Read the story and see more photos</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IMGL1658-X3.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70984" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A Department of Public Works worker uses a magnetic rake to pick up screws and nails at the site of the Man burn in Black Rock City after the city has dismantled.</figcaption></figure> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/burning-man-cleanup" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/burning-man-cleanup">Photos: How to remove the traces of Burning Man</a></h3> <p>After the revelers leave, volunteers clean up every piece of trash they can find.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/articles/burning-man-cleanup" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/articles/burning-man-cleanup">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">December</h2> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Goin-18-Lake-Powell.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-70983" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sunken cruiser, east of Escalante River.</figcaption></figure> <p>A writer seeks answers from Lake Powell.<br /><a href="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.20/a-place-between/" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/issues/48.20/a-place-between/">Read the story and see more photos.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <p>What will 2017 bring? We hope you’ll stay tuned to <em>High Country News</em> to find out.</p> <p>If you want to see even more photos, take some time to check out our <a href="http://www.hcn.org/events/photo-contests/pc-2016/national-parks" data-linktype="external" data-val="http://www.hcn.org/events/photo-contests/pc-2016/national-parks">2016 photo contest submissions</a>.</p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/photos-2016/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hcn.org">High Country News</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://www.hcn.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=96904&amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p> Copy to Clipboard

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