Water, climate, habitat and humanity mingle in our August issue. The feature examines a Minnesota-based mega-dairy’s impacts on rural southeast Arizona, a region already suffering from a shrinking aquifer. In Washington, dams may doom the Skagit River’s imperiled salmon, unless a local tribe convinces regulators to remove them. In Montana, the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation wants to restore the polluted Little Bighorn River, while in Alaska’s Yukon Flats, tribes worry about water and wildlife when a company with a history of environmental violations begins exploring for oil. Humans need habitat, too, and Tucson, Arizona, hopes to ease the housing crisis by building accessory dwelling units. This month’s Facts and Figures untangles the relationship between heat, drought and the power grid. We preview a breakthrough Indigenous TV series, “Reservation Dogs,” and review Alexandra Kleeman’s neo-noir climate thriller, “Something New Under the Sun.” Finally, we include Tope Folarin’s thoughtful essay about how his childhood memories encouraged his family’s tentative return to the outside world, post-COVID-19.
Hope from Biden’s 30×30 Plan
Wufei Yu’s excellent reporting “A reality check on Biden’s ‘30 by 30’ conservation plan” (hcn.org, June 23, 2021) springs open the conversation for the nation to digest and design a better 30×30. I am inspired to study the report. Elaine JeffersonNew York, New York This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with…
How much lithium do we need?
Thanks to Maya Kapoor for her excellent series on lithium mines (“When Indigenous religious freedom and public-lands management clash,” July 2021, and “The next mining boom?” March 2021). Cultural and environmental damage worldwide weigh heavily on us already. I, for one, can’t wait for a better alternative fuel. Valerie McBrideBoulder, Colorado This article appeared in…
Public lands inundated?
The claim that Colorado and other Western states are being loved to death is wildly overstated, except for the most-Instagrammed spots (“Public lands inundated,” June 2021). I backpacked 732 miles diagonally across Colorado from the southeast to northwest corners in the summer of 2020 and encountered no more than three hikers a day in every…
Renewing, for now
I’m guessing I’m a bit more urban and left-leaning than Neil Snyder (Letters, June 2021, “Changes”), but I largely agree with him about HCN. Yet I’m sticking with you for now, renewing for just one year based on Jennifer Sahn’s first issue as editor-in-chief. She may not be a physicist, like HCN’s best in my…
The Fire Next Time
In the article “The Fire Next Time” (June 2021), I wish to point out that despite numerous large wildfires, global warming and the ongoing destruction of global rainforests, the Forest Service continues to promote the cutting down of live trees. These trees are harvested for the large egos that run the bureaucracy, so that they…
A mega-dairy is transforming Arizona’s aquifer and farming lifestyles
Minnesota’s Riverview Dairy has deep pockets and long straws.
Uncertain water supply
I thought “Uncertain water supply” (June 2021) was a deeply engaging and illuminating piece of regional journalism. It is clear that a lot of effort was invested in the research and reporting of the article’s subject, and it is very much reflected in the writing. It is a great example of the kind of investigative…
Extreme heat is here to stay
How will we respond?
Expletive hot; lemur spotting; teacher cams
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Reviving traditional Apsáalooke water sources
Tribal scientists and community members are testing wells, solving plumbing problems and delivering clean water to their neighbors.
Our never boring board
Departures and additions to our honor-worthy volunteers.
A hallucinogenic toad in peril
I lived in prime Sonoran Desert Toad habitat from 1989-2019 and read “A hallucinogenic toad in peril” (July 2021) with interest, especially since I know people who occasionally harvested the toad’s hallucinogenic secretions. The habitat I refer to is a facility built on abandoned cotton fields in Pinal County, Arizona. Nightly watering of the grass…
Encouraging words
Thank you for your editor’s note “Keeping up with the changing West” (June 2021). As the editor of a regional weekly focused on agriculture, farming life and related politics in Southern and Western Norway, your words confirm to me what also our magazine Bondevennen (“Farmer’s Friend”) really is and should be all about: celebrating our…
Climate change wreaks havoc on the electricity grid
Heat and drought combined are especially harmful to the power system.
Is there really freedom in the outdoors?
After a year indoors, a writer remembers the joy — and pressures — of a childhood spent in Utah.
Climate change is the ultimate neo-noir subject
The novel ‘Something New Under the Sun’ treats a smoke-filled Los Angeles as its own genre.
The new Indigenous TV series coming your way
‘Reservation Dogs’ is the latest product of an exciting new era of Native self-representation.
The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe calls on Seattle to remove the Gorge Dam
The tribe is pushing to protect their way of life.
Can Puget Sound’s orca and salmon survive Seattle’s dams?
Federal regulators are reassessing the ecological impacts of the Skagit River dams.
Interior looks into the legacy of Native boarding schools
The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative aims to shed light on the grim history of residential Indian boarding schools in the U.S.
Could casitas help prevent displacement in the West’s cities?
As the housing crisis worsens, advocates sound off on how to bring homes to the people.
A quest for Alaska oil sparks a fight over tribal sovereignty
An energy company with a history of environmental violations is conducting exploratory drilling in the Yukon Flats.