In this issue, we delve into the white supremacist past — and present — of Portland, Oregon. We meet Sam Thompson, a Portland resident who wants city officials to change racist policies that have persisted for decades. We also examine the impacts of the January government shutdown on residents of rural Washington — where federal workers aren’t exactly welcome. We explore an education model on the Mexican border that helps children caught amid family-straining deportation policies. We take an extended trip into the contemporary artwork of a prominent Lakota family, and learn the historical elusiveness of border security.
An air crow; shutdown interlopers; coyote Happy Hour
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Dirty policies, filthy fish
Thank you for your recent article on polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs (“A toxic past and present on the Spokane River,” HCN, 2/4/19). Here at the Spokane Riverkeeper, we are on the front lines of this issue. As your article demonstrates, stakeholders have been active in promulgating a narrative of collaborative cleanup efforts. But while these…
Focus on journalism
I am usually excited to receive High Country News each month and read about the important issues across our beloved American West. I am therefore disappointed in your choice to include cartoons as a cover story (“Nizhóní Girls,” HCN, 2/4/19). I did not learn anything new or gain a greater appreciation for the Navajo culture.…
Snowpack in perspective
A recent article documenting the decline in Western snowpacks is misleading (“The Latest,” HCN, 1/21/19). As one of the longtime collectors of snow data and its analysis as a snow survey supervisor, and having corresponded with the authors of the paper cited, I would like to add some perspective. The article documented the decline of…
Racist policing plagues Portland’s nightclubs
A reckoning is coming for Oregon’s white supremacist past.
Explore landscapes redefined by human influence
In a new book, a photographer captures our collisions with nature.
Editors out and about this winter
From Washington Post op-eds to guest speaking engagements, our editors stay busy (and warm).
The ecological danger of ethical impoverishment
The West is facing challenges that won’t be solved without moral considerations.
The Two Bulls family leads an Indigenous art renaissance
The Lakota family’s first group show is a celebration of tradition and experimentation.
Update: Western states move to limit trapping
Caught dogs and imperiled martens spur reforms for fur-bearer trapping.
The West’s monarch migration is disappearing
Fall counts show a 99 percent decline in the butterfly population since the ‘80s.
As shutdown ends, rural Washington considers life without feds
‘We’re going down a road to bitterness.’
The education crisis for children of deported parents
In Tijuana, an upstart model tries to address the challenges of educating U.S. kids who relocated to keep their families together.
Border security will always be elusive
The Borderlands have long been governed by impermanent and shifting policies.