Taking an in-depth look at whether the Colorado River could flow to the sea again, despite one of the worst droughts of the millennium. Plus how dozens of Alaskan schools are closing in small villages, how a fire could help Gila trout make a comeback, zombie survival strategies and more.
Backcountry culture clashes in the North Cascades
A hunter-backpacker examines the divides between user groups.
Cutting class: Alaskan villages struggle to keep schools open
In 15 years, 32 schools have closed because they have fewer than 10 students.
New Hope for the Delta
During the worst drought in more than a century, the Colorado River may flow to the sea once more.
O pioneer: A filmmaker explores how we find home in the West
L.A. transplant Vera Brunner-Sung’s first fictional work tackles displacement, transience and belonging in Montana.
KDNK Radio speaks with reporter Krista Langlois
As Colorado voters consider a new education funding mechanism with Amendment, a decade-old law in Alaska is closing rural schools. On this episode of Sounds of the High Country, KDNK Radio’s collaboration with the High Country News, KDNK’s Eric Skalac talks to Krista Langlois. Past editions of Sounds of the High Country are at KDNK.org,…
Western GOP governors buck their party on Obamacare
How three Western Republicans are defying party ideology by accepting the Medicaid expansion.
The long journey of the Gila trout
Destructive New Mexico fires may have a silver lining for a threatened fish.
HCN’s Coverage of the Federal Shutdown
The following comments were posted in response to Jonathan Thompson’s blog, “The shutdown hits the West harder.” Thompson considered the region’s high percentage of federal employees and uninsured. It’s not just feds who are furloughedThank you for pointing out that the furloughed employees are not all in Washington, D.C., and are not all “federal” employees.…
Let’s all fire our machine guns at once!
Mishaps and mayhem from around the West.
The Latest: Montana puts new limits on renewable energy contracts
Updated 10/29/13 BackstoryIdaho is one of the few Western states that doesn’t mandate that some percentage of its electricity come from renewable sources. With little incentive to promote such projects, Idaho Power, the state’s biggest utility, lobbied regulators to effectively lock out new commercial wind farms in 2010. It lowered the maximum size for renewable…
How does the Colorado River drought stack up?
It’s one of the worst of the millennium.
A delta reborn in drought
K-K-KKSSSSCH. It was the noise we all dreaded aboard the Rusty Pickle, one of three rafts floating down the muddy San Juan River in southeast Utah. The gravelly grind – felt in the teeth as much as heard by the ears – became a regular feature as our boats beached on sandbar after sandbar, forcing…
A review of At Home in the West: The Lure of Public Land
At Home in the West: The Lure of Public LandWilliam S. Sutton, with Toby Jurovics and Susan B. Moldenhauer, 200 pages, hardcover: $50. George F. Thompson Publishing, 2013. In the essay that kicks off his beautiful black-and-white photography book, At Home in the West: The Lure of Public Land, William S. Sutton says he began…
Zombies invade the West!
Well, perhaps not yet, but it’s only a matter of time before the flesh-eating hordes are upon us. And who better to dodge the undead than High Country News? Not only are we well-versed in geography, as publishing industry veterans, we’re proven survivalists. So what’s our advice? This article appeared in the print edition of…
Big water, big dreams
The Emerald Mile: the Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand CanyonKevin Fedarko432 pages, hardcover: $30.Scribner, 2013. When did we get so petty? At a time when we’re faced with huge issues – a changing climate, a healthcare crisis, a democracy threatened by money in politics, the legacy…
Fall ‘friendraiser’ and board meeting
The first snow was fluttering down when High Country News’ staff and board members arrived in Hailey, Idaho, for a late September meeting. But the white flakes couldn’t quite cover the black tracks left by a summer fire that rampaged down ravines to the edge of town. Signs – many in front of insurance offices…
The Latest: Woodland caribou are in danger of disappearing from the U.S.
Environmental groups file suit over caribou habitat.