Our biannual HCN board meeting is fast approaching. We hold “virtual” electronic meetings each year as well, but they can’t compete with the energy of our face-to-face real-life gatherings. That’s why staff and board are venturing out from our widely scattered burrows to convene in Basalt, Colorado, June 10-11. We’ll welcome six new board members: […]
HCN’s board meeting on the horizon, and a springtime deep clean
Posted inMay 30, 2016: Trial by Fire
Grizzlies not ready for delisting
It is premature to conclude that the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of grizzly bears is recovered “to the point at which the measures provided pursuant to this (Endangered Species) Act are no longer necessary” (“Grizzly Face-Off,” HCN, 5/16/16). Grizzlies have come a long way in four decades, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is […]
Posted inMay 30, 2016: Trial by Fire
Blessing the mountain
Leath Tonino and his buddies express their joy in nature by shouting obscenities and seeing body parts in rock formations (“Cursing the Mountain,” HCN, 2/08/16). The same spirit inspires people to show their enthusiasm for nature by writing obscenities on national monuments. A better way to appreciate nature is to shout “Thank you!” for the […]
Posted inMay 30, 2016: Trial by Fire
Bears Ears, Lead’s big unknown, Hike like a girl
HCN.org news in brief.
Posted inMay 30, 2016: Trial by Fire
“A history of subversion”: An excerpt from Terry Tempest Williams’ latest book
“César E. Chávez National Monument” from The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks.
Posted inMay 30, 2016: Trial by Fire
Latest: EPA finalizes rules to reduce methane leakage
The rules target new oil and gas infrastructure.
Posted inMay 30, 2016: Trial by Fire
Latest: Columbia River salmon recovery plan invalidated
It was the fifth to be struck down by the courts.
Posted inArticles
Searching for solutions in the changing rural West
A new project looks to answer how small towns can survive a new era.
Posted inArticles
After years of drought and overuse, the San Luis Valley aquifer refills
How an over-taxed basin is getting its water use under control.
Posted inArticles
Local woodcutters pitch in on forest health
How mobilizing a small army of locals could nurture grassroots support for large-scale thinning efforts.
Posted inArticles
How rural New Mexico shares water during drought
Centuries-old traditions offer guidance for water managers seeking resilience in an uncertain future.
Posted inArticles
Can cutting down trees protect New Mexico’s water?
A new collaboration seeks to ease wildfire’s impacts by thinning overgrown forests.
Posted inArticles
Can a ranch sawmill improve forest health in rural Colorado?
Cutting timber on a billionaire’s land could boost the San Luis Valley’s economy.
Posted inArticles
New Mexico’s baby wolf swap worked. Why won’t state officials get on board?
It’s time for Gov. Susana Martinez to give wolf reintroductions the nod.
Posted inArticles
New Mexico sues EPA and others over Gold King disaster
The suit is the first blow in what is likely to be a long legal fracas.
Posted inArticles
Photos: The American town left behind in Canada
Point Roberts, Washington, is cut off from the rest of the U.S. by the Canadian border.
Posted inArticles
How the buffalo survived to become our new national mammal
He was one of Nature’s biggest gifts, and the country owes him thanks. Charles M. Russell, 1925 The bald eagle has been the national symbol since 1782, but the Western artist Charlie Russell was right: The buffalo was far more important to the story of the American West. The story of the buffalo, once roaming in […]
Posted inJune 13, 2016: Water to Dust
Latest: Elk, not bison, are spreading disease near Yellowstone
Agencies have historically culled bison to prevent the spread of brucellosis to cattle.
Posted inJune 13, 2016: Water to Dust
Latest: After 26 years, a settlement over Rocky Flats plutonium contamination
The site near Denver was once home to a nuclear weapons plant.
Posted inJune 13, 2016: Water to Dust
It’s time for our legislators to stop ignoring science
How public policy-making ought to work: Get the facts, make the policy.