At Washington’s Hanford nuclear site, failing infrastructure and make-do plans as the West prepares for a new round of radioactivity.
Feature
Posted inNovember 26, 2018: Follow the fish
Follow the fish
Fish-stocking has drawn otters to the Beartooth Plateau of Montana. What effect do they have in their new environs?
Posted inNovember 12, 2018: Old Wests, and new
Edward Abbey’s warnings were right
Author Amy Irvine’s answer to the classic ‘Desert Solitaire’ on its 50th anniversary.
Posted inNovember 12, 2018: Old Wests, and new
Fear and love in Oregon’s forests
How far will you go for the person you love?
Posted inNovember 12, 2018: Old Wests, and new
When the health of your land is beyond your control
An excerpt from Rebecca Clarren’s new novel explores the effects of fossil fuel development on a Western ranch.
Posted inOctober 29, 2018: When your neighborhood goes BOOM
The rising risks of the West’s latest gas boom
An explosion in suburban Colorado raises questions on safety and accountability.
Posted inOctober 15, 2018: Nature Retreat
Can a California town move back from the sea?
Imperial Beach considers the unthinkable: a retreat from nature.
Posted inOctober 15, 2018: Nature Retreat
Ed Marston’s fierce love transformed the West
How the man who ‘just wanted to write’ created an institution.
Posted inOctober 15, 2018: Nature Retreat
¿Puede una ciudad de California replegarse para cederle paso al mar?
Imperial Beach considera lo impensable: emprender retirada a causa de la naturaleza.
Posted inSeptember 17, 2018: The Pioneer of Ruin
The pioneer of ruin
Amid a desolate mess in Cisco, Utah, a young woman resurrects a home.
Posted inNovember 26, 2018: Follow the fish
Tiny bits of plastic permeate our world
From alpine headwaters to city water supplies, the West is awash in microscopic pollutants.
Posted inAugust 31, 2018: The Big Threat to Bighorns
Agricultural interests steer Colorado’s wildlife management
Sheep grazing in the state’s largest wilderness area could endanger a dwindling bighorn sheep herd.
Posted inAugust 20, 2018: Where the West is Moving - and Why
Farmworkers face illness and death in the fields
‘The reality is that the machinery of growers is taken better care of than the lives of farmworkers.’
Posted inAugust 20, 2018: Where the West is Moving - and Why
Estranged in America
What happens to a community when its sense of belonging begins to unravel?
Posted inAugust 6, 2018: What Are We Doing Here?
In this rapaciously dry year, a quiet question grows louder: What are we doing here?
Drought, dread and family in the American Southwest.
Posted inJuly 23, 2018: Pay for Prey
When cattle go missing in wolf territory, who should pay the price?
A program to reimburse Oregon ranchers for livestock killed by wolves is in trouble.
Posted inJune 25, 2018: Little Weed, Big Problem
GMO grass is creeping across Oregon
Missteps by agribusiness giants allowed the invasion. Now they’re off the hook for cleanup.
Posted inJune 11, 2018: Reclaiming the Klamath
How the Yurok Tribe is reclaiming the Klamath River
For the first time, the largest tribe in California has one of its own to lead its legal battles.
Posted inMay 28, 2018: The River of Lost Souls
The dark secrets of the Animas River
A 2015 spill that turned the waterway orange is a reminder of mining’s disastrous legacy.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
Death in the alpine
Social media is changing our relationship to risk, with deadly consequences.