Items by Steve Stuebner

Nature hits a home run for salmon
A rare combination of ideal conditions leads to Idaho's biggest salmon and steelhead runs in 25 years.
Coalition finds harmony in the backcountry
In Idaho, the Winter Coalition has brought together snowmobilers and Nordic skiers to zone winter recreation uses in the Sawtooth National Forest.
Supreme Court upholds Babbitt's grazing reforms
The Supreme Court upholds Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's grazing reforms, and allows non-ranchers to qualify for grazing permits.
Activist calls for cease-fire on wolves
Some wolf advocates are furious over the recent killing of five livestock-attacking wolves in the White Cloud Mountains of Idaho.
Wolves worry outfitters
Idaho hunting guides worry that reintroduced wolves will kill too many elk and put outfitters like themselves out of business.
Ruckus on a recreation river
The Forest Service's plan to cut whitewater rafting numbers on Idaho's popular Middle Fork of the Salmon rouses opposition from commercial boaters.
Counties want to develop public land
In Washington's Skamania County, pressure is building to get public lands in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area back into private hands.
States get semi-tough on poachers
Flagrant cases of wildlife poaching inspire new legislation throughout the West to crack down on criminal hunters.
Idaho says no to grizzlies
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission opposes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's plan to restore grizzly bears to the state.
The report is readable - and grim
The Interior Columbia Basin Management Project has produced a useful but depressing science document, "Status of the Interior Columbia Basin."
Columbia Basin plan staggers home
The Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project - a pioneer attempt to adopt a strategy for 75 million acres of public land in the Northwest - has so far achieved little but its own survival in the face of Republican attacks.
Locals learn the value of a good view
Developers' desire to build two subdivisions on private land within Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation Area stirs up trouble between landowners and the Forest Service.
Idaho jury hits 12 Cove-Mallard protesters hard
An Idaho county jury assesses $1.15 million in damages against 12 Earth First! Cove-Mallard protesters.
Radioactive waste is hot issue in Idaho
Nuclear waste critics got a "Stop the Shipments" initiative on the November ballot, to derail Idaho Gov. Batt's agreement to accept more waste - but some warn the situation is too complex for a simple solution.
Marvel wins a round
The Idaho Supreme Court rules that the State Land Board erred in granting a grazing lease to a Challis rancher who had been outbid by anti-grazing activist Jon Marvel.
Idaho air base guns for more space, again
Idaho opponents assail Mountain Home Air Force Base's latest training-range expansion plans.
A faint ray of hope for Northwest salmon
This year, some Idaho Snake River salmon may get to skip the usual barge journey around dams and be allowed to swim over the dams via spillways.
The secret life of wolverines
Researchers study the elusive wolverine and discover new facts about the animal's range, numbers, social life and sexual behavior.
Is the ESA being gutted in order to save it?
Attempts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to "streamline" enforcement of the Endangered Species Act worry environmentalists.
Festering Idaho mine to be cleaned; others remain
Four mining companies agree to pay the $50 million cost of cleaning up toxic runoff from the defunct Blackbird Mine.
Huge snowmelt may lift salmon past killer dams
A heavy runoff from snow helps migratory salmon get over dams on their way to the ocean.
Is it politics, or is it revolution?
Republican take-over and states' rights furor threaten environmental regulations throughout West.
Reward offered in rampage of eagle poaching
A slew of eagle-poaching incidents in southwest Idaho may be linked to illegal wildlife trade.
Salmon campaign fractures over how to include people
An injunction on mining, logging and grazing on six Idaho forests provokes huge community reaction and creates divisions among environmentalists.
Environmentalists and feds try to save Idaho's rivers
Environmental groups seek federal remedies to improve the Snake River's flows.
River purity is a new goal for all sorts offarmers
Catfish farmer Don Campbell is one of many Idaho farmers who want to help restore the Snake River.
No more ignoring the obvious: Idaho sucks itself dry
Overpumping has drained Idaho's Snake River acquifer until rivers like the Big Lost run dry.
New governor accepts nuclear waste
Idaho's new Governor Philip E. Batt agrees to accept 11 railroad-carried casks of nuclear waste from the U.S. Navy.
Bidding war shakes up Idaho grazing leases
Ranchers bid against each other and the Idaho Watersheds Project for grazing leases on Idaho state land.
'Wise use' plans abhor change
Wise-use groups resist any attempt to restrict land use.
High Country News Classifieds
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    High Country News is hiring an Indigenous Affairs Editor to help guide the magazine's journalism and produce stories that are important to Indigenous communities and...
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    Staff Attorney The role of the Staff Attorney is to bring litigation on behalf of Western Watersheds Project, and at times our allies, in the...
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    Northern Michigan University seeks an outstanding leader to serve as its next Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion. With new NMU President Dr. Brock...
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  • GOOD NEIGHBOR AGREEMENT MANAGER
    Help uphold a groundbreaking legal agreement between a powerful mining corporation and the local communities impacted by the platinum and palladium mine in their backyard....
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    The Feather River Land Trust (FRLT) is seeking a strategic and dynamic leader to advance our mission to "conserve the lands and waters of the...
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    COLORADO DIRECTOR Western Watersheds Project seeks a Colorado Director to continue and expand WWP's campaign to protect and restore public lands and wildlife in Colorado,...
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    What We Can Achieve Together: The Muleshoe Ranch Preserve Steward lives on site in housing provided by The Nature Conservancy and performs and coordinates construction...
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    Whitman College seeks applicants for a tenure-track position in Indigenous Histories of the North American West, beginning August 2024, at the rank of Assistant Professor....
  • DAVE AND ME
    Dave and Me, by international racontuer and children's books author Rusty Austin, is a funny, profane and intense collection of short stories, essays, and poems...
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    Rural Community Assistance Corporation is looking to hire a CFO. For more more information visit: https://www.rcac.org/careers/
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    The Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Foundation (ABWF) seeks a new Executive Director. Founded in 2008, the ABWF is a respected nonprofit whose mission is to support...
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    Field seminars for adults in natural and human history of the northern Colorado Plateau, with lodge and base camp options. Small groups, guest experts.
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    We characterize contaminated sites, identify buried drums, tanks, debris and also locate groundwater.