Issues

The Forever War
The Forever War
Why Wildlife Services continues to kill predators, despite decades of research on nonlethal methods. Plus, how the public could pay for coal cleanup and a look at Malheur's quieter moments.
Jan. 25, 2016
Secrets of the Deep
Secrets of the Deep
The researchers digging up mysteries of the ocean in Nevada's desert, plus death by cop and gun control in the West. Cover illustration: Shonisaurus popularis and Californosaurus perrini, depicted by Boise illustrator Todd Marshall.
Dec. 21, 2015
Good Neighbors
Good Neighbors
Why researchers are studying a group of Southwestern ranchers to learn about sharing, plus a look at the long road to protected habitat for the murrelet and the West's disappearing fire lookouts.
Dec. 7, 2015
Water Hustle
Water Hustle
Meet the men on trial for profiting off the Southwest's drought in the latest issue of High Country News. Plus, the architects redesigning L.A. and the attorneys general taking things into their own hands.
Nov. 23, 2015
The Campaign Against Coal
The Campaign Against Coal
D.C. correspondent Elizabeth Shogren travels through coal country to find where ‘keep it in the ground’ meets ‘keep the lights on.’ Plus a look at El Niño in the West, oil and gas compromises in Moab and more.
Nov. 9, 2015
Clean Energy's Dirty Secret
Clean Energy's Dirty Secret
How industrial solar and wind are endangering wildlife, plus saving Washington’s wolves and a Colorado ranch that’s also an abbey.
Oct. 26, 2015
The Rise of Lisa Murkowski
The Rise of Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Murkowski, the senator from Alaska, alternates between diplomat and bulldog in her rise to the top, plus the Pope on climate change, immigrants after the Front Range floods, and more.
Oct. 12, 2015
Close Ties in Big Landscapes
Close Ties in Big Landscapes
Our special once-a-year Books and Essays issue, focusing on community and connection. Sarah Gilman finds that closeness means survival in the harsh, vast spaces of Mongolia as well as in the American West. Ana Maria Spagna describes how Maidu Indians came together to reclaim a sacred California valley from a utility company. Plus book reviews and profiles of authors like Erika T. Wurth, Mitchell S. Jackson and Lucia Berlin.
Sept. 14, 2015
Unlocking the Methane Mystery
Unlocking the Methane Mystery
Senior editor Jonathan Thompson digs into the mysterious methane cloud above the Four Corners region, plus Montana farmers take on climate change and archaeologists try to save the Arctic’s disappearing treasures. Cover: Storm clouds hang over the natural gas processing plant at Lybrook, New Mexico, one of the centers of natural gas production in the Four Corners region. Photo by Jim Caffrey
Aug. 31, 2015
Little Big Bird
Little Big Bird
How the greater sage grouse became the center of the largest experiment in the history of the Endangered Species Act, sea lions eating salmon, apiaries of non-native bees on federal lands, and more. Cover photo by Doug Dance Nature Photography
Aug. 17, 2015
Outflanked
Outflanked
A series of stories about the way we think about wildfire in the West. Plus, a vanishing Rio Grande fish may foretell the river's fate; the Supreme Court wants the EPA to consider the costs of new regulations as well as health benefits; and more.
Aug. 3, 2015
Shredded
Shredded
SHREDDED: Will a growing, technologically evolved army of thrill seekers overrun every corner of the West? Cover Photo: Day seven of a hut-to-hut mountain biking trip from Telluride, Colorado, to Moab, Utah. By Sergio Ballivian
July 20, 2015
Dust to Dust
Dust to Dust
Why the rare earths industry is about to bust in the American West, fracking-induced earthquakes, revival of a Montana mining town, and the sage grouse two-step. Cover image: Massimo Brega/The Lighthouse/Science Source
June 22, 2015
Tree of Life
Tree of Life
How genetic research on common species could be the key to saving the greatest number of plants and animals. Also, a bull trout comeback, innovations in agricultural water leasing and an ode to morel hunting. Cover Image: Original illustration by Bryce Gladfelter.
June 8, 2015
Monument Man
Monument Man
A profile of Washington, DC, insider John Podesta, the Trans Pacific Partnership, and a contentious diversion on the Gila River.
May 25, 2015
The Wetland Wars
The Wetland Wars
Environmentalists battle to save urban wetlands in Los Angeles, an obscure legal provision becomes a new Sagebrush Rebellion tactic, and labor victories in Western cities.
May 11, 2015
Lost frontier
Lost frontier
Tucson rainwater revolution, the Bakken boom closes in on a national park, a look at the West’s drought, and more.
April 27, 2015
Strangers in a Strange Land
Strangers in a Strange Land
Strangers in a strange land: the HCN annual travel issue. Cover image: A giant aluminum alien stands outside the Alien Research Center along Nevada’s Extraterrestrial Highway, by Finnish tourist Teemu Tuuloskorpi.
April 13, 2015
Wild Ride
Wild Ride
Lessons from the fossil fuel boom and bust in New Mexico, rock snot stream ecology, water delivery in rural Navajo communities and more.
March 16, 2015
Unite and Conquer
Unite and Conquer
Profile of the former Las Vegas water czar Pat Mulroy, solutions to rampant dust in Owen’s River Valley, community solar comes of age in the West, and more.
March 2, 2015
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