How industrial solar and wind are endangering wildlife, plus saving Washington’s wolves and a Colorado ranch that’s also an abbey.
High Country News: Origins
The first in a series celebrating our 45th anniversary
Shout-out to Heyday press
I was particularly touched by the article in the September issue regarding the California Maidu Indians’ recovery of their land, though as I continued through the various articles I was surprised that I didn’t find any reference to Heyday Press of Berkeley, California, and Malcolm Margolin, the publisher (“The Exact Same Place,” HCN, 9/14/15). Malcolm…
The Latest: Coos Bay natural gas terminal moves ahead
The Oregon terminal got the go-ahead from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The Latest: Park Service takes the reins at Valles Caldera
The failed experiment in privatized land management has come to an end.
Toxic mining legacy, part one
Aug. 6, 2015, was the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and also the day the Gold King Mine above Silverton, Colorado, spewed a buildup of toxic mining waters into the Animas River flowing through bucolic Durango (“Animas spill,” HCN, 8/31/15). I am a gold-miner’s daughter. I moved to Durango in 1985 and…
Toxic mining legacy, part two
Although I now live in Portland, Oregon, I have followed the Animas River mine drainage spill issue with extreme interest, because I spent several years studying water quality issues related to mine drainage in Colorado in the 1970s. Jonathan Thompson’s article provides the most complete description of the incident that I’ve read or heard (including…
A friend to crows, a foe of climate change and a scourge on man buns.
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Washington welcomes wolves back — across deep political divides
The state’s emphasis on non-lethal control is saving livestock and wolves, but rural residents are still leery.
A marriage of unequals
A review of ‘Leaving Before the Rains Come,’ Alexandra Fuller’s account of her unsteady arc from Zimbabwe to Wyoming
Where nuns are ranch hands
Colorado’s Abbey of St. Walburga is a spiritual refuge — and a working ranch.
Agua Pura
Winners of the HCN reader photography contest
Wild collisions
Driving in the rural West is a blood sport. During the spring and summer, it’s all I can do to avoid squashing the prairie dogs and rabbits drawn to the weeds along the asphalt, as they invariably dart the wrong way at the last moment. Almost every day I encounter the fresh carcass of a…
Celebrating the harvest and a few fall visitors
Plus, a look at our strategic planning and a correction.
Will the Land and Water Conservation Fund rise again?
Congress derails the nation’s most successful public access and recreation program.
Fish and Wildlife and integrity, a rental crisis, California homelessness and more.
Hcn.org news in brief.
Green energy’s dirty secret
Industrial solar and wind endanger wildlife but are getting more support than ever.
Will the Migratory Bird Treaty Act survive in the modern era?
One of the nation’s oldest wildlife laws is fighting for its life in the courts.
In the Mojave, a new relationship with trash
A new arrival finds traces of what we discard and what we bury deep inside.
Lessons learned, and unlearned, from a life around guns
In my family, everyone got a hunting license, and everybody hunted big game.
Photographing Wyoming Prairies
A review of ‘Wyoming Grasslands.’