I spent the summers of 2007 and 2008 on a glacier in southeast Alaska, with 12 people and 200 huskies. I was working as a dogsled guide, and each morning I’d pull myself from my sleeping bag, slip on my raincoat and boots, and step from my tent into the pale light of the Northern […]
My home on a glacier
Posted inAugust 31, 2009: The dark side of dairies
The new Third World
People are desperate for medical care in the West’s inner cities and rural areas.
Posted inHeard Around the West
“Go ahead, make my EPA”
Usually, the EPA isn’t the kind of agency that shoots it out with polluters, but there’s always that first time. Consider the owner of a truck-wash company in Utah who told friends he’d “go down in a blaze of glory” before facing federal charges of illegally disposing of hazardous chemicals. Larkin Baggett, 54, wasn’t kidding; […]
Posted inWotr
Parks for the people — not profit
The fog that often hangs over Drakes Estero, an estuary in California’s Point Reyes National Seashore, tends to obscure the natural features that make this small body of water one of the treasures of our national park system. This estuary, which has been designated a wetland of international importance, hosts one of the largest breeding […]
Posted inAugust 31, 2009: The dark side of dairies
From Tuscany to the Mohave
A war bride’s journey West
Posted inGoat
Classroom innovation
In eastern Idaho, one small rural school recently gained international fame. In late July, the Teton Valley Community School of Victor, Idaho, was recognized as one of eight finalists in the 2009 Open Architecture Challenge: Classroom. The competition, sponsored by Architecture for Humanity, received 400 submissions from 65 countries. Finalists included two other U.S. teams […]
Posted inGoat
Nestle water plan approved
Last week, Nestle received approval to tap mountain spring water and haul it to Denver for bottling and distribution under its Arrowhead label. The approval came from a unanimous board of Chaffee County Commissioners, following months of deliberations and lengthy hearings. Chaffee County, with about 15,000 residents, sits along the Arkansas River in […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
Enlightened llama
The other day, while reading the Recorder Herald, a venerable community weekly established in Salmon, Idaho, 123 years ago, we came upon the curious story of a llama that had apparently lost weight to a fatal degree. Or, as the headline put it: “Llama killed by lightening.” The animal was found on its back, “with […]
Posted inAugust 31, 2009: The dark side of dairies
The dark side of dairies
A broken system leaves immigrant workers invisible — and in danger.
Posted inRange
It’s a great job (except for the benefits)
I’m reading a job announcement for a great gig. It pays $15 an hour. Flexible hours. Important work – and it’s classified as “long-term temporary.” That’s another way of saying: no benefits. In a country that has opted for an “employer-based” health care system this should be the smoking gun; primary evidence that it’s a […]
Posted inRange
Huge Chunks of Land, Changing Hands
The collapse of the housing industry hasn’t been good to log prices. According to a report (pdf) published in June by Northwest Farm Credit Services, log prices are as low as they were in the 1980s and can barely cover the cost of logging. Across the Northwest, timber companies are delaying harvests and mills have […]
Posted inGoat
“Don’t lie for the other guy”
Sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, a new campaign aims to slow the flow of guns bought in Arizona and smuggled into Mexico. “Don’t lie for the other guy” is currently emblazoned on 92 […]
Posted inRange
This Week’s HCN Reader Photo
This week’s reader photo comes from Flickr contributor T. R. Baker, and features Nevada, in black and white. You can add your photos to HCN’s Flickr photo pool. We’ll pick one to feature each week on our Web site. Don’t forget to tag them “highcountrynews.” You can also check out last week’s selected reader photo […]
Posted inHeard Around the West
Cuddle-fish?
California is so broke, it’s closing 219 state parks. But wait, a nonprofit group best-known for its in-your-face advertising has offered to ride to the rescue, money in hand, to save one of them. PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says it will pay to keep Pescadero State Beach open. There is a […]
Posted inRange
Birdwatching in the desert
Lightning flares in the bruised afternoon sky over the Arizona-New Mexico line. Wind scrapes across the grey-green flats from the west, flinging a fistful of gray birds through the air. Purple rags of cloud stream ahead of the storm. A chill strikes the desert. Thunder claps. I take cover under the overhung cut bank of […]
Posted inGoat
Friends of the Forest
What do sixty volunteers, the U.S. Forest Service, Trout Unlimited and MillerCoors have in common? They’re all participating, in one way or another, in the Clear Creek restoration project at the Arapaho National Forest this Saturday, as part of the National Forest Foundation’s third annual Friends of the Forest Day. Other partners include the National […]
Posted inRange
Seeing the Forest for the… Wildlife?
While Americans love animals—half the nation are pet owners and billions of dollars are spent on wildlife and bird watching each year — our animal affinity seems to wear a little thin when it comes to nitty-gritty policy debate. But policy is what allows forests to be clear cut and hazardous mining runoff to end […]
Posted inRange
The health care debate comes home
If you pay attention at all to the network news, you’re no doubt aware of controversy surrounding August Recess town hall meetings which Members of Congress have been conducting in their districts. The news reports I’ve seen show folks making angry accusations and claiming that aspects of health care bills which have been moving forward […]
Posted inWotr
Cow-free at last
Deep in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument of southern Oregon lies my favorite wildflower meadow. This summer I need to step carefully, to avoid the lush clumps of Jacob’s Ladder blossoms and the delicate columbines, their blooms nodding in the breeze. I breathe in the scents of the wild: the spice of the conifers, the earthy […]