In this issue, the culmination of a year-long investigation into sexual harassment and gender discrimination at federal public lands agencies by Lyndsey Gilpin, the magazine’s editorial fellow. Also, the uncertain future of Obama’s legacy under Trump, a new way forward for Western farming and an end to coal terminals?
The twisted economics of the Dakota Access Pipeline
It’s not about energy independence or even climate change. It’s all about profit.
A new direction for indoor growers
Vertical farming rises to meet growing demand for local, organic food.
Tolerance in Trump’s America
Amid fear and despair, we’ll have to find ways to talk to each other.
Aurora revisited
I am pleased to have read this interview with Kim Stanley Robinson (“Science fiction’s climate visionary,” HCN, 11/14/16) as I just put his novel Aurora into my donation box, unfinished, because I couldn’t grasp where it was going. When Robinson said he “pushed that button on purpose,” the light went on. I realized that part…
Showcasing Alaska’s Inupiat culture through gaming
Few Inupiat youth are fluent in their native language, but a new game’s popularity could keep the culture alive.
Can Trump undo Obama’s policies?
What the President-elect can — and can’t — do when it comes to water, coal and climate change.
Death by hot-potting; turkey intimidation; hunting poachers
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
HCN’s Climate Desk partnership
After an unusually warm, dry November, we finally got some snow on the Western Slope. Though only a light dusting has fallen in Paonia, Colorado, where our magazine is headquartered, the mountains around us are blanketed in white, so it’s finally beginning to look like winter here. High Country News has been doing quite a…
How the National Park Service is failing women
The agency tasked with safeguarding our greatest public lands has neglected to protect its workers.
Latest: Roadless rule loophole for Colorado coal mine
Enviromental groups had sued over the mine’s carbon impacts.
Latest: California’s tree die-off is bigger than you thought
An additional 36 million trees have died since May.
Our parks’ dark corners
When new editorial intern Lyndsey Gilpin, a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, walked into our office last January, she had no idea that her first assignment would last 11 months. We asked her to look into a government report that revealed long-term patterns of sexual discrimination and harassment at Grand…
Plans falter for West Coast coal terminals
Coal companies look to Asia, but face port challenges.
Solar jobs for miners; millipede discovery; drought’s effects
HCN.org news in brief
Spinning yarns about Bears Ears
Nathan Nielson’s opinion piece (“Leviathan in the desert,” HCN, 10/31/16) is made from whole cloth. The yarns Nielson spins are of “federal absorption”; vandalism run amok; neglect and economic crisis; future limitations placed on the gathering of wood, herbs and piñon nuts; a lack of support for a Bears Ears National Monument; and a coming…
The 21st Century CCC
On behalf of the Student Conservation Association, I would like to thank Gundars Rudzitis for recognizing the miraculous accomplishments of the original Civilian Conservation Corps (“We need a new Civilian Conservation Corps,” HCN, 10/31/16). I would point out, however, that a new CCC already exists! The 21st century Conservation Corps is composed of over 130…
The historical lifetime of the beaver
Explaining our complex relationship with North America’s largest rodent.