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Living with Rivers
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July 1, 2022

Life in the West can be pretty confusing. Poaching is always a serious crime, unless you’re a non-Native hunter on the Wind River Reservation. Salmon tastes great, but it’s not all that healthy when farmed fish escape in a fragile ecosystem. Do you know what color your hydrogen is? It’s hard to fish on the Arkansas River when wealthy landowners and the state of Colorado keep yelling, “Get the hell off my lawn!” Raising healthy families isn’t easy in West Eugene, Oregon, when you live next door to a toxic industry. Tribes have a chance to reclaim Willamette Falls — *if* they can somehow work together. LiDAR, a laser mapping technique, teaches researchers about deadly landslides and inspires Daniel Coe to create extraordinary art. The U.S. will never heal its relationship with the land until it heals its relationship with the land’s Indigenous people. Elsewhere in this issue, we listen to new podcasts, read Elvia Wilk’s Death by Landscape, and wander around Wyoming in search of meadowlarks.

Feature

Who does the state of Wyoming consider a poacher?
Who does the state of Wyoming consider a poacher?
Three years ago, the Supreme Court upheld the Crow Tribe’s off-reservation hunting rights. But treaty hunters in Wyoming still risk prosecution, even as non-Natives poach wildlife on tribal land with impunity.
How a salmon farm disaster changed Northwest aquaculture forever
How a salmon farm disaster changed Northwest aquaculture forever
Thousands of salmon escaped into the Puget Sound. Then the controversy began.

Reportage

A chronic polluter closes its doors. What’s next?
A chronic polluter closes its doors. What’s next?
The owner of a wood treatment plant is trying to walk away from its mess in West Eugene, Oregon. Neighbors say, not so fast.
The Colorado stream case that could revolutionize river access
The Colorado stream case that could revolutionize river access
‘There are waters I’ve wanted to fish for 50 years, and I’ve been denied the use of a state-owned resource.’
Why can’t the public access the West’s biggest waterfall?
Why can’t the public access the West’s biggest waterfall?
Willamette Falls used to be a public place of laughter and sharing. It could be again, if painful politics don’t eclipse revitalization efforts.
Landslide risk is on the rise thanks to climate change, and states are looking to identify hazards
Landslide risk is on the rise thanks to climate change, and states are looking to identify hazards
Washington — home to deadliest landslide in U.S. history — is working to prevent future loss of life by scanning the state for new threats.

Editor's Note

Lesson from a great blue heron
Lesson from a great blue heron
Adaptation is key to a coastal future.

Facts & Figures

The hydrogen blues (and greens and grays)
The hydrogen blues (and greens and grays)
Is this wonder fuel truly green — or just another fossil fuel in disguise?

Photo Essay

The beauty buried in the data
The beauty buried in the data
Art created using laser data reveals the history and geological wonder of Washington’s landscape and rivers.

Essays

Getting over not fitting in
Getting over not fitting in
Why I have a jackalope tattoo, and another of a covered wagon.

Poetry

The Next Sky
The Next Sky
A poem by Sherwin Bitsui.

Perspective

Environmental justice is only the beginning
Environmental justice is only the beginning
If the U.S. ever hopes to be in right relationship with the lands and waters it has seized, it must first restore its relationship with Indigenous peoples.

Review

You have a second body
You have a second body
And it’s tethered — in ways both identifiable and mysterious — to microbes, whales, ice shelves and landfills.

Heard Around the West

Out-of-this-world fest; territorial disputes; bear-family affairs
Out-of-this-world fest; territorial disputes; bear-family affairs
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.

Arts and Culture

Your ears will perk up at these new Western podcasts
Your ears will perk up at these new Western podcasts
Four new podcasts envision change in juvenile justice, energy and ranching.

Dear Friends

Read with High Country News
Read with High Country News
Join our reading contest, #HCNSummerReading.

Letters

Letters to the editor, July 2022
Comments from readers.
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