Oregon’s obscure terminal lakes feed millions of migrating birds, but now they need life support of their own. Plus, disenfranchised Native Americans in Utah and Arizona’s tough water choices.
Photos: Underwater wilderness in the Pacific Northwest
A review of David Hall’s “Beneath Cold Seas”
Superfund won’t save Silverton
If one looks at the broader story of hardrock mine impacts — worldwide and through history — the story is always the same (“The Gold King Reckoning,” HCN, 5/2/16). The public subsidizes the impacts, despite all the talk about “free markets.” Unfortunately, if one is expecting a solution now that Silverton has “allowed” the Environmental…
A drying lake, and a conundrum
On the first truly warm morning this spring, I awoke to the songs of birds. From high in the cottonwood came the clear melodic whistles of a northern oriole, fresh in from the southland. Soon this migratory bird and its partner would find a suitable branch from which to hang their nest, intricately weaving it…
Taking water’s measure
A three-day trip to measure Montana’s snowpack follows a century of tradition.
Arizona fends off threats to water supplies
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey is sticking by regulations and negotiating deals.
The lost in canyon country
A new book recounts the many mysterious disappearances in the Western desert.
Canadians’ bad behavior, a cat-lover’s nightmare and gun-toting steeds
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
When water turns to dust
In Oregon, a cluster of lakes is drying up — with dire impacts for the millions of migrating birds that survive off them.
El Niño adds fuel to Southwestern fires
In California, Arizona and New Mexico, an underperforming weather pattern increased wildfire risk.
Farewell to a valuable staff member
For the first time in several years, the blossoms on the apricot trees at the High Country News headquarters in Paonia survived the spring frosts, and bright green nascent fruit is already weighing down the branches. Throughout the valley, all the fruit seems to be thriving — from peaches and nectarines to apples and wine…
Federal-lands ranching: A half-century of decline
How grazing fell from its Western pedestal — and fueled Sagebrush Rebellion.
High Country Blues?
Once again our subscription has come up for renewal and, as usual, it’s a difficult decision — not because of the writing, the photography or the wonderful back page. It’s because the news is so depressing, as it is where we live. We pass our copy of High Country News on to various friends and…
Horse catheters in classrooms, a crackdown on toxics, and an update on the Animas River
HCN.org news in brief.
How a Utah county silenced Native American voters — and how Navajos are fighting back
A series of lawsuits could help counteract decades of racist practices.
Human costs are too much of the equation
On the back of the May 16 issue, you quote Wendy Beye’s recent Writers on the Range opinion piece about how the coal industry’s decline is challenging the Western communities that rely on it: “Too often, the human costs of doing what’s right for our Earth are not considered as part of the equation.” To…
Indifference to the system
The failure of Utah and Pennsylvania to provide state funding for criminal defendants who require the services of public defenders raises serious questions (“Justice denied,” HCN, 5/16/16). The U.S. Constitution requires due process but does not require the kind of defense that the wealthy are able to engage, compared to the inadequacies of legal representation…
Latest: After 26 years, a settlement over Rocky Flats plutonium contamination
The site near Denver was once home to a nuclear weapons plant.
Latest: Elk, not bison, are spreading disease near Yellowstone
Agencies have historically culled bison to prevent the spread of brucellosis to cattle.
It’s time for our legislators to stop ignoring science
How public policy-making ought to work: Get the facts, make the policy.