Top Interior Department official has ties to Thacker Pass lithium mine
Karen Budd-Falen’s family ranching operation agreed to sell water rights to the company developing the controversial Nevada lithium project.
Water across the West at risk as Trump targets national monuments
A new study found that about 83% of water passing through public lands uses monument designation for its only protection.
How the gaming economy helps tribes navigate shifting policies
Tribal sovereignty and prosperity are tied to gaming’s sovereign source of income.
Get to know the western spotted skunk
‘The stench kind of permeates everything’: What it takes to study a stinky, secretive skunk
National parks aren’t just for tourists. They’re an essential home for wildlife.
Pick up this new book on Yosemite for the photos but stay for the captivating animal stories.
How ranchers accused of breaking the rules dodge oversight
Elected officials interfere with agency efforts to protect the land.
Congress made it easier to ignore grazing’s harm to public lands
Federal law requires agencies to review the environmental impacts of grazing, but government employees allege the system is riddled with loopholes.
How we reported Free Range, our grazing investigation
Data and analyses used in the stories.
Ars Poetica
A poem by Valencia Robin.
Journalism is made by humans, not machines
The humanity behind the words.
HCN’s journalism is having on-the-ground impact
Our communities are at the heart of our work.
HCN 2025 impact report
Our top stories from the year that resounded across the West (and beyond).
The mystery of wildlife and a world beyond our understanding
Science is essential to managing wildlife populations, but there are limits to what we know.
The big data center buildup
An AI server farm tsunami threatens to overwhelm the West’s power grid and water supplies.
Most Popular Stories
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In This Issue
December 2025: Wild Harvest
In an ambitious partnership with ProPublica, we revisit a topic that has occupied High Country News since our earliest days as a black-and-white tabloid — livestock grazing on the nation’s public lands. Forget romantic visions of lonesome cowboys; federal grazing programs today benefit a very,…
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Water
Will this threatened frog stop drilling near Denver?
Why Colorado River negotiations are so difficult
‘It’s a story of hope’: Reflections on undamming the Klamath
Wildlife
The West’s vanishing porcupines
Attack of the owls, emu-cipated emus, and say ‘hi’ to the bumpy little snailfish
Proposed Wyoming oil and gas leases overlap wildlife corridors
Public Lands
Fix Our Forests Act divides environmental community
The nation’s energy dominance falters
Sen. Mike Lee’s new bill permits ‘tactical infrastructure’ in wilderness areas
Indigenous Affairs
Western climate litigants keep fighting
Can AI translate Native languages in times of disaster?
How I found hope while reporting on a metal fest
Communities
‘Our mission is to change the world through eco-cultural tourism’
Aspen ‘eyes’ keep us accountable to the natural world
Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation
Books
The fallout from Ruby Ridge
Denver’s storied tradition of sex work, then and now
How to become a bird
In the News
Indigenous people are an indivisible part of America
The story of Thanksgiving is about coming to terms with a difficult truth: the American experiment came at a great cost to Native Americans.