The 2018 battle over New Mexico’s most conservative district shows just how undemocratic politics can be.
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Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
Churlish review
At its core, Carl Segerstrom’s churlish review of Chris Ketcham’s This Land (“The West is more than heroes and villains” HCN, 11/11/19) provides perfect testimony to why the book is so needed at this time. The writing shatters the myths and illusions that ranchers are the salt of the earth, the very fabric that holds the […]
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Party Favors
Eloquently missing the point
Carl Segerstrom’s harsh review of This Land (“The West is more than heroes and villains,” HCN, 11/11/19) dwells too much on the book’s style and tone, distracting from Christopher Ketcham’s compelling indictment of a century of severe and relentless damage to public lands in the Southwest. Segerstrom crafts clever turns of phrase to highlight his own […]
Posted inArticles, En español
California pudo haber ayudado a sus residentes de bajos ingresos soportar mejor los apagones de PG&E.
El estado tenía un programa – y $72 millones – pero casi nadie solicitó ayuda
Posted inNovember 11, 2019: Storied Landscapes
Humans are great at giving real problems the side-eye
Two new titles provide insight on the willful ignorance that lead to the West’s water woes.
Posted inNovember 11, 2019: Storied Landscapes
Support beehives; fecal time bombs; super-tough roundworms
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inOctober 28, 2019: Where Hunting Still Has Meaning
Jars of jam and a lot of joy
Harvest season meant conferences, visitors and a wonderful wedding.
Posted inOctober 28, 2019: Where Hunting Still Has Meaning
Faced with chronic wasting disease, what’s a hunting family to do?
Hunters are critical for game management, but the spread of CWD means some may put down the rifle.
Posted inOctober 28, 2019: Where Hunting Still Has Meaning
In Southeast Alaska, a hunter searches for kinship with the wild
A mountain goat’s death brings life into focus.
Posted inOctober 14, 2019: Severed Ties
Exotic management narrative
Based on the photos accompanying “A high-flying act in Olympic National Park” (HCN, 9/2/19), it looks like your reporter participated in an exciting adventure. However, the article unwittingly reflects a false narrative that has been used to justify the park’s management goals for more than four decades. The transfer of mountain goats to other areas, […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2019: Severed Ties
Not-so-speculative journalism
I’ve never been a fan of science fiction and was skeptical of your “speculative journalism” issue (HCN, 8/19/19), so I only skimmed most of it. But the article on Glacier National Park 50 years in the future got me thinking about how much the West has changed since I moved here 46 years ago. Winters […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2019: Severed Ties
Tell the whole story
Suggesting that Robert “Lavoy” Finicum “was later killed by law enforcement at a traffic stop during the (Malheur) occupation” vastly underreports the facts of that law enforcement contact (“Extremists appropriate Indigenous struggles for violent ends,” HCN, 9/16/19). Mr. Finicum blew through a stop, nearly hit a law enforcement officer, asked to be shot and reached […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2019: Severed Ties
Skip the talking points
An HCN article, “Frontier myths crash into Trump’s border wall” (HCN, 9/16/19), recently came across my Facebook news feed. I’m a fairly new subscriber and just started following along on social media, and I was mildly shocked at the complete lack of nuanced thought in the comments. That’s the typical online climate today, but I […]
Posted inOctober 14, 2019: Severed Ties
The West moves ever closer to a unified power grid
A unified grid would allow for easier sharing of wind and solar power.
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
Fall brings professors, pedalers and presidential candidates
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet stops by our office, and we wish a fond farewell to a longtime staffer.
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
A buried history of conflict
Anna Smith’s article on the challenges the Cow Creek Band has faced in regaining and now managing forest lands in Oregon is the kind of piece that both informs and challenges readers. The challenge thrown down by some tribal members is quite provocative: Shawn Fleek’s quote — “The conservation movement began as a way for […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
Irresponsible journalism
Is HCN a news journal or a creative writing magazine or simply fake news? As a professional educator and writer, I was deeply disturbed by the Aug. 19 issue. I use HCN as a classroom resource, as I hope others do as well. I teach critical thinking and journalistic skepticism along with the regular course […]
Posted inSeptember 16, 2019: "We can either wait on Mother Nature – or we can give it a shot ourselves."
Recipe for a great issue
Start with Kim Raff’s excellent cover shot (HCN, 9/2/19). Add Paige Blankenbuehler’s note on accountability, San Juan County, Utah’s Indigenous reversal of power, and a positive story on our polygamous neighbors, plus the opening up of Colorado’s state trust lands to public access. Mix in biocrust skin grafts, Wyoming’s self-dug coal-pit woes, and flying goats […]
Posted inAugust 19, 2019: 2068: The Speculative Journalism Issue
Coming home to the West
Old friends swing by our offices, and we say a few sad goodbyes.
Posted inAugust 5, 2019: From Prison to Fireline
The pocket birding book gets a makeover
Imaginatively spunky illustrations accompany avian anecdotes in BirdNote.