A quake near Anchorage highlights the importance of preparation and monitoring.
Emily Benson
Posted inArticles
Offshore oil drilling could hamper Arctic aurora research
The risk of rocket parts falling on rigs and workers may limit launches.
Posted inArticles
How politics could impact future counts of Yellowstone grizzlies
A ruling restoring federal protections cited a concession to states on census estimates.
Posted inArticles
National Parks are warming twice as fast as the U.S. overall
Climate change poses the greatest threat to some of the country’s most prized areas.
Posted inArticles
An Alaska ballot measure could kill Pebble Mine
In November, voters will decide how to balance resource development and salmon habitat protections.
Posted inAugust 20, 2018: Where the West is Moving - and Why
The long, strange trip of Deer 255
The 242-mile migration underscores the need to protect wide tracts of land that sustain migrating wildlife.
Posted inAugust 6, 2018: What Are We Doing Here?
In the Southwest, ‘drought’ doesn’t tell the whole story
Why ‘aridification’ is a better term for our new, more parched reality.
Posted inJune 11, 2018: Reclaiming the Klamath
Tribal nations hold some of the best water rights in the West
But to use them, tribes often must negotiate settlements that need federal approval.
Posted inArticles
All (climate) politics is local
During a dry spring, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet visits rural Colorado to talk economics and agriculture.
Posted inApril 16, 2018: Cashing in on Standing Rock
A flurry of research illuminates snow’s foes
New studies detail how hotter temperatures, humid air and wind-blown dust can pummel the Western snowpack.
Posted inFebruary 19, 2018: Unfrozen North
HCN welcomes a few new faces
Winter interns have arrived, as well as a new office mate.
Posted inMarch 5, 2018: Drilling Chaco
Fight over household wells highlights rural growing pains
Can Washington balance development with the needs of rivers, fish and water users?
Posted inFebruary 5, 2018: Caught Between Crises
The cyclone in the Great Salt Lake
An encyclopedia encapsulates a lasting earthwork of the 70s Land Movement.
Posted inFebruary 5, 2018: Caught Between Crises
A new venue and a bittersweet goodbye
A satellite office to open in Gunnison, and a staffer moves on.
Posted inFebruary 5, 2018: Caught Between Crises
What went wrong at Oroville?
Dam experts release a report on the California dam’s spillway vulnerabilities.
Posted inJanuary 22, 2018: A Separatist State of Mind
Ringing in the new year with an avalanche of mail
The holidays and a new year bring more subscriptions and visitors.
Posted inJanuary 22, 2018: A Separatist State of Mind
The ski resorts of the West
From Alaska to New Mexico, a new map offers a comprehensive look at where to shred.
Posted inFebruary 5, 2018: Caught Between Crises
‘Atmospheric rivers’ aid the West — and imperil it
Improved storm forecasts could help reservoir managers store more water while avoiding floods.
Posted inArticles
The tiny power plant that shapes the Colorado River — merely by existing
The Shoshone power plant is the cornerstone for water rights in the upper river.
Posted inArticles
2017 in natural disasters
From massive wildfires to melting ice, the calamities that affected the West this year.