Thru-hikers can stay on the hugely popular trail with a cellphone app.
Which way? A new approach to navigating the Pacific Crest Trail
Posted inArticles
Coastal urbanization could boost biodiversity
Environmental DNA surveys found higher diversity of clams and mud-dwelling species in populated Puget Sound.
Posted inArticles
Comb Ridge parcel sold to highest bidder
The privatized parcel within the proposed Bears Ears national monument could be a sign of things to come.
Posted inArticles
A tax on carbon pollution faces surprising opposition
Some environmental groups and social justice advocates are fighting a proposed emissions tax in Washington. What gives?
Posted inDecember 26, 2016: Obama and the West
Will a twice-burned county change its ways?
Don’t count on wildfires to alter how counties plan development in fire-prone zones.
Posted inArticles
Photos: Diving for delicacies
One man braves frigid Alaskan seas to harvest sea cucumbers.
Posted inDecember 26, 2016: Obama and the West
Where species will find refuge
Nooks and crannies offer safe harbor from a changing climate.
Posted inArticles
Getting over the ‘taboo’ in a gun-rights conversation
In Montana, the gap between gun rights supporters and opponents begins to shrink.
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At least 15 counties have left the American Lands Council
But that doesn’t mean Western counties have backed down on land transfers.
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A rural school shrinks—but grows its digital toolkit
How educators brought internet access to New Mexican youth.
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When truancy laws don’t work
A New Mexico principal ponders a tougher approach to keep frequently absent students in school.
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Trump met with a leader of the land transfer movement
A Nevada county commissioner says the Republican nominee was receptive to the idea of forcing the feds to turn over public lands.
Posted inOctober 31, 2016: A Monumental Divide
From bears to berries
A wildlife biologist turns her sights on climate science and the elusive huckleberry.
Posted inArticles
West Obsessed: The fate of rural food and farms
The staff of High Country News tackles tough questions about small-town agriculture.
Posted inOctober 31, 2016: A Monumental Divide
The bid for Bears Ears
The tribal push for a Bears Ears monument raises thorny questions of homeland and sovereignty.
Posted inArticles
Trekking across Colorado’s fragmented wildernesses
Thru-hiking the Colorado Trail exposes a “wilderness” that is anything but.
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Defying trends, Wyoming eyes a new coal mine
Why a small operation is forging forward despite broader industry contraction.
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Want to move to a charming rural town? Ask about the sewage disposal system
Wastewater inundation causes a commotion in South Dakota.
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Sea otters on the rise, but shark bites stall range growth
Can sea otters survive the recovery of great white sharks?
Posted inArticles
How independent libraries are transforming some New Mexico towns
In Rio Arriba County, a community fix for a book deficit.