Issues

Ecosystems 101
Ecosystems 101
Research reveals the complexity of the Bristol Bay ecosystem and of Alaska’s mighty salmon runs. Plus, Montana tribes will be the first to own a hydroelectric dam, an Oklahoma senator offers a financial fix for our national treasures, and more.
Nov. 25, 2013
Cosmic Prospecting
Cosmic Prospecting
An old South Dakota mining town transforms itself by investing in an underground neutrino research facility, upstart kayakers try to get rivers opened to boaters in Yellowstone, mountain goats get paintballed in Idaho, and Southwesterners continue to be utterly fascinated with the possibilities of outer space.
Nov. 11, 2013
Lifeblood of the Delta
Lifeblood of the Delta
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.
Oct. 28, 2013
The New Geronimo?
The New Geronimo?
An Apache from Oklahoma fights his kin to build a casino and bring his people home to New Mexico. Plus how we can learn to live with flooding, New Mexico’s attempt to roll back groundwater protections, the mysterious reappearance of a special bumblebee species, and more.
Oct. 14, 2013
Intimate Geographies
Intimate Geographies
With some of the West's most insightful authors as our guides, each fall we briefly set aside the news to create a special books/essays issue and take a more reflective look at our region. This year's books/essays issue explores ways of looking at a landscape and locating ourselves within it.
Sept. 16, 2013
Of Sparrows and Sodbusters
Of Sparrows and Sodbusters
Western and Mexican conservationists race to save grasslands -- and the species that depend on them. Plus, Idaho's power struggle, community-driven efforts to regulate fracking, and more.
Sept. 2, 2013
Dinosaur Wars
Dinosaur Wars
A stunning fossil site is found in Montana, but will it ever be studied by scientists? Plus Navajo activist Klee Benally, edible invasives, environmental lawsuits, photographs from a Hotshot on the line, debate over grizzly numbers in Greater Yellowstone and more.
Aug. 19, 2013
Mojave Squeeze
Mojave Squeeze
Development and an unproven conservation strategy put the desert tortoise in a tight spot, life in the Bakken for its few female workers, water pollution in the eyes of the EPA and a Utah community, and more.
Aug. 5, 2013
Red Rock Resolution?
Red Rock Resolution?
One of the West's most conservative, pro-industry lawmakers could put an end to Utah's wilderness stalemate. Plus, the Yarnell Hill wildfire, Obama's natural gas pitch, the EPA looks at Alaska's proposed Pebble Mine, and more.
July 22, 2013
Water Rights
Water Rights
Latino communities in California's Central Valley struggle with water pollution, plus the West's rising importance as a helium producer, Hal Herring's take on oil and gas exploitation along Montana's Rocky Mountain Front, and more.
June 24, 2013
Paradise at a Price
Paradise at a Price
Can environmentalists and affordable housing activists in Jackson, Wyoming settle their differences? Plus, using nautical records from centuries past to model climate modeling technology, the economic gains of wildfire, Latino radio incorporates public service, and more.
June 10, 2013
Haywired
Haywired
Can the enormous, intricate and fragile electric grid play nice with increased renewable energy production? Plus, Alaska's bald eagles, selling a Utah ghost town, hummingbird-inspired drones, and more.
May 27, 2013
Right-wing Migration
Right-wing Migration
Conservative newcomers to Northern Idaho fight against the region's Democrats, and themselves. Plus, the Southwest's drought continues, midget faded rattlesnakes get a closer look from researchers, HCN follows a Montana wolf hunt, and more.
May 13, 2013
A New Forest Paradigm
A New Forest Paradigm
Reassessing the 20-year-old Northwest Forest Plan, wolf trapping in Idaho, Idaho ranchers find common ground with the BLM while fighting range fires, and more.
April 29, 2013
Sacrificial Land
Sacrificial Land
Desert dwellers wonder if renewable energy farms will dominate the Mojave Desert, how the federally-induced sequester will impact the West, California's new carbon cap and trade market goes into effect, and more.
April 15, 2013
Second annual travel issue
Second annual travel issue
A BLM junkie explores little-known lands; a sea kayaker paddles the Inside Passage; and other tales of travel and adventure from around the West.
March 18, 2013
Uncertain Landing
Uncertain Landing
Mammoth Lakes, California and the rest of the ski industry face climate change. Also, Obama nominates a recreation industry magnate as Secretary of the Interior, the information age renders remote archeological sites increasingly accessible, Lake Mead reveals a long-sunken ghost town, scientists track the surprising and increasingly urban movement of mountain lions, and more.
March 4, 2013
Farming on the Fringe
Farming on the Fringe
San Luis Valley irrigators search for new ways to live within the limits of their water-short world. Also, the Sierra Club opts for civil disobedience against Keystone XL, tribes tangle over how to disperse settlement money, the BLM takes a stand over a southwestern river, and more.
Feb. 18, 2013
Making Good on the Badlands
Making Good on the Badlands
The Oglala Lakota may soon manage the first tribal national park, but transforming the bombed-out landscape won’t be easy. Also, the West debates gun control, cleaning up hardrock mine pollution isn't easy, a letterpress newspaper alive in well in rural Colorado, restoring rivers, and more.
Feb. 4, 2013
Special issue: Natural resources education
Special issue: Natural resources education
Education in the oil and gas fields, teaching students about public lands, the re-emergence of Outward Bound, teaching Los Angeles teenagers to water sample, Great Old Broads for wilderness laugh and learn, Round River teaches through places, and much more in our special education issue.
Jan. 21, 2013
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