Dear Friends

Changing times The Nez Perce tribe is returning to its stolen lands. As we report in this issue, the tribe now manages wolves on 15 million acres of central Idaho wilderness, and it’s even bought back part of the Oregon homeland that Chief Joseph fought for in 1877. Though many tribes continue to struggle against […]

Winter kicks in The snow gods have smiled on Colorado’s Western Slope. Falling steadily for a week, snow has blanketed apple trees, compost heaps and coal trucks. Farmers and ranchers have reason to hope their water rights won’t be called this spring, and boaters are dreaming of a river season that lasts longer than two […]

Remember the Alamo Tim Sullivan, who survived an HCN internship last fall, has known for a long time that his home state, Utah, is a little different than the rest. He called the office recently with the latest evidence. “I’m very worried about the Mexican Army coming across our borders,” Bob Scott, a World War […]

Calling all party animals The year’s first meeting of the board of the nonprofit High Country Foundation, which governs High Country News, will be held in Phoenix, Ariz., Feb. 2-4. As is the custom with board meetings, we’ll be hosting a potluck dinner for readers from the Phoenix area. These events, held around the West […]

A skipped issue This is both the last issue of the year and the last issue for a month. In July and in early January, High Country News lets readers catch up on their reading and the staff catch up on their breathing. The next issue will be dated Jan. 15. A new printer and […]

Stop the presses! Sometimes the forces of sprawl get beaten by determined community opposition. That rare story about a small town’s successful campaign to stay small is reported in this issue by associate editor Greg Hanscom. What was almost as startling was the timing: This issue was 99 percent finished, and as far as we […]

I was 20 years old and an undergraduate wildlife biology student when I first heard David R. Brower deliver “The Sermon” at the University of Colorado. I had come to Boulder to hear the famous Archdruid, whom I had only known through Sierra Club books and magazine articles before. I knew him by reputation as […]

A forest history award On March 29, 1999, High Country News published Lynne Bama‘s story about public-land exchanges and the turn-of-the-century politics that led to checkerboarded lands in the West. Her story vividly outlined how private land came to dot public lands, and how attempts by federal agencies to consolidate their holdings led to controversy […]

Our election issue If there’s a theme for this year’s election issue, it’s that Old West politicians are under increasing attack: Our cover story reports on Washington Sen. Slade Gorton’s tough re-election battle, and Todd Wilkinson writes on p. 5 that several of Montana’s statewide races remain neck-and-neck. Western citizens are demanding more power in […]

We celebrate 30 years As firefighting slurry bombers droned overhead, a boisterous, book-loving crowd of 125 showed up for the newspaper’s 30th anniversary bash, Sept. 16, at the National Center for Atmospheric Research on a mesa above Boulder, Colo. In addition to bringing an incredible spread of food (including pumpkin pie that was out of […]

Our Boise get-together The latest meeting of the High Country Foundation board was in Boise Sept. 8-10, and although all of the subscribers who attend the paper’s roving potlucks are good cooks and convivial company, Idaho subscribers have ratcheted that high standard up a notch. The food was wonderful and plentiful, and the turnout was […]

A sad goodbye When you live in a small town, you have to wear a lot of different hats. Here in Paonia, pop. 1,600, for example, the mayor runs a laundromat and carpet-cleaning business and drives a school bus. Many people work several jobs and volunteer at the schools, the public radio station, the ambulance […]

The bears are in town Summer in Paonia has been an absolute bear. Cool mornings fairly burst into flame once the sun rolls over the top of Jumbo Mountain. Daytime temperatures hover in the 90s. The heat has sent many of us hiking for the high country. But even the mountains are dry, and that […]

It’s sprung Apricot, peach and apple trees are blooming – perhaps unwisely – in western Colorado. Recently, we received a welcome to spring from Greg Hobbs, a reader of High Country News and a Colorado Supreme Court Justice. He calls his poem “Right Equipment,” and it punctuates the longed-for change in season: The urban West […]

An unlikely lead Why, you might be asking yourself, would High Country News run a cover story on methamphetamines? One reason can be found on the front page of a recent Grand Junction, Colo., Daily Sentinel. “Pot-meth bust leads to 5 arrests.” Pick up any Western newspaper these days and you’ll find similar headlines. After […]

Life in a petri dish July in Paonia is time for cherries, apricots and early morning irrigation. It’s time to crank up the swamp coolers and charge down Grand Avenue to jump into what’s left of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. But most of all, it’s the season for visiting far-flung friends and […]

Summer break To give everyone a chance to catch up on their reading, hit the trail, ride a bike, paddle a river or – you get the general idea – High Country News will skip the next issue. We’ll return July 31, 2000. New to the board Last issue’s Dear Friends column on the Albuquerque […]

Welcome, Beth Not wanting to admit that her hometown, Staten Island, N.Y., is known best for its garbage, new intern Beth Wohlberg would rather refer to the most recent city she has lived in – Missoula, Mont. But Staten Island, home to the largest landfill in the world, Fresh Kills, gave her an urge for […]

Eyewitnesses visit Abe Jacobson and Carol Griffiths Jacobson were driving an unusual rig when they dropped by in May. Two kayaks and a canoe rode atop their van, which was stuffed with paddles, snowshoes, skis and just about every other outdoor toy you can imagine. This was no ordinary vacation, they explained; they were refugees. […]