A checkerboard pattern of parcel ownership complicates public land access in the West.
Utah
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Western workers fight for better conditions
Ski patrollers, grocery clerks and teachers organize for fair wages and support for their jobs.
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Conservation groups should be able to lease land to protect it
‘Use it or lose it’ rules can bias public-land management in favor of extraction.
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Biden’s ‘herky-jerky’ first year on Western issues
The new president sacrificed bold executive action to try to win over Congress.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2022: Essential
EPA prohibits White Mesa Mill from receiving Superfund waste
Energy Fuels Resources was found in violation for improper handling of radioactive waste storage.
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Utah has a water dilemma
Record-breaking drought along the Wasatch Front forces tough decisions about water supply.
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Ozone pollution is on the rise in the West
Wildfires, oil and gas drilling, vehicle emissions, and climate change all combine to create more days with unhealthy levels of the colorless, odorless gas.
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
The nation’s last uranium mill plans to import Estonia’s radioactive waste
Utah says the White Mesa Mill isn’t contaminating groundwater, but its neighbor, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, disagrees.
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
Wiggling ice worms; historical matchmaking; bizarre Utah politics
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
Bears Ears is back — but don’t celebrate just yet
Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk unpacks the deeper implications — and limitations — of Biden’s monuments proclamation.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
Where do public lands factor into the homelessness crisis?
As the housing crisis in the West deepens, more unhoused people are making a home outside.
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The public lands that kept us sane
In honor of National Public Lands Day, High Country News staff reflect on access to spaces across the West.
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National park managers search for answers to overcrowding
Timed-entry reservations and apps that point visitors to less-trafficked areas work to disperse the denizens.
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The lack of diversity in outdoor rec is systematic and disconcerting
I want people of color to feel called to reclaim natural spaces.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
Why have gray wolves failed to gain a foothold in Colorado?
The Green River Corridor, a pathway from Wyoming to Colorado, highlights the political and physical barriers wolves face.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
The incredible shrinking Colorado River
Climate change and rising demand are sucking the life out of the Southwest’s water supply.
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How yellowcake shaped the West
The ghosts of the uranium boom continue to haunt the land, water and people.
Posted inAugust 1, 2021: A Mega-Dairy Comes to the Desert
Is there really freedom in the outdoors?
After a year indoors, a writer remembers the joy — and pressures — of a childhood spent in Utah.
Posted inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
Crowds swarm the public lands
Land managers and gateway communities struggle to keep up.
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Why I changed my mind about Bears Ears
The benefits of a national monument in San Juan County outweigh the costs.