Promising developments percolate in two North American parks.
Ben Goldfarb
Ben Goldfarb is a High Country News correspondent and the author of Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet and Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter.
Follow @ben_a_goldfarb
Posted inArticles
Washington’s wolverines stage tenuous comeback
The carnivores are recolonizing the northern Cascades, but they face an uncertain climate future.
Posted inMarch 2, 2015: Unite and Conquer
Big dig, big disgrace
A new mega-tunnel won’t save Seattle from the tyranny of traffic.
Posted inArticles
The technique that’s revolutionizing aquatic science
Looking for brook trout? Try environmental DNA.
Posted inArticles
Attacks on federal research funding anger scientists
Politicians lay siege to the National Science Foundation.
Posted inArticles
Bison, cows and rabbits square off on Utah range
Study says jackrabbits, not bison, are cattle’s main competitors in the Henry Mountains.
Posted inArticles
Livin’ on the dredge: Army Corps mucks out the Snake
Do the benefits of barge traffic outweigh the cost of dams?
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
Should we put a price on nature?
A nuanced look at ecosystem services.
Posted inArticles
Young leaders changing the West
From politicians to climate scientists, meet 10 people under 30 who are shaping the region’s future.
Posted inArticles
Montana mycologist fights fungus with fungus
To save whitebark pines, apply slippery jack.
Posted inDecember 8, 2014: The Great Salmon Compromise
The great salmon compromise
The Columbia Basin Fish Accords have funded $1 billion worth of habitat restoration projects, but can they replace free-flowing rivers?
Posted inArticles
The most important wildlife management plans you’ve never heard of
Western states scramble to prepare Wildlife Action Plans, due in 2015.
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
Can biomimicry tackle our toughest water problems?
With floating islands and other inventions, eco-entrepreneur Bruce Kania thinks so.
Posted inArticles
The Young and the reckless: Alaskan congressman’s offenses draw spotlight
Don Young might be the most volatile politician in America.
Posted inArticles
Offshore oil rigs can provide prime fish habitat
But will California’s platforms stay in the ocean once the oil runs out?
Posted inArticles
The Earth has half as many animals as it did in 1970
In the Western U.S., megafauna is on the rise — but amphibians are in trouble.
Posted inArticles
Fur flies over Montana bobcat farm
Will animal rights activists keep a bobcat farmer from setting up shop in Montana?
Posted inAugust 4, 2014: Idaho's Sewer System
The roads scholar
An ecologist helps wildlife safely cross highways.
Posted inJuly 21, 2014: On the Wild Edge
Are we smart enough to solve our raven problem?
As ravens spread, they’re finding friends and foes in Western states.
Posted inGoat
In Southcentral Alaska, salmon declines are pinned on a toothy invader
Earlier this month, I wrote about the Yukon River’s chinook salmon runs, which have lately plummeted for reasons that remain murky. While researchers are years from cracking that mystery, the Yukon isn’t the only Alaskan river losing its salmon. In the state’s Susitna River basin, which courses through Southcentral Alaska near Anchorage, the mighty fish […]