Checking in with a farmer who traded some of his water for long term survival.
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Can small communities tackle global food security?
Climate change has profound impacts on growing seasons and crop yields, but local solutions have promise.
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The Hopi man who runs to protect his tribe’s water
What do you think about when you run? This is my favorite question to ask long-distance runners in the Arizona desert. When I asked Hopi runner and farmer Bucky Preston this question, he thought about the thousands of miles he has run to protect and honor his people’s water. “When I run, I meditate and […]
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On E.M. Frimbo and riding the Western rails
People in the Western United States like their trains, or so E.M. Frimbo, The New Yorker magazine’s great rail writer with the unusual name, liked to say. But Frimbo believed that Westerners lost track of what happened to so many railroad lines: We spent the last half of the 19th century building them up, then […]
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How Western towns profit from detaining immigrants
Detention facilities provide economic stability for many rural towns.
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Ranch Diaries: Spared from drought, for now, in New Mexico
Dry spells take a toll on landscapes and livestock, but are also hard on people.
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Thanks, BLM, for letting the dirt shine through
Editor’s note: The following is a recent letter from Collin Smith, an aspiring geologist, to the Bureau of Land Management in Utah. He said he was happy to share it with us because the federal agency receives so little praise these days. Dear BLM: I am pleased as punch! I just got back from my […]
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Contaminated soil lingers where apples once grew in Washington
Soil at hundreds of properties contains lead and arsenic that can lower children’s IQs and increase cancer risk.
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Rants from the Hill: Fall brings a new bird to the neighborhood
A Northern Mockingbird stops by, its varied song a reminder of October’s restless nature.
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Drilling proposed in Montana’s Badger-Two Medicine
Tribes and former federal officials fight to cancel energy leases on sacred land.
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BLM mulls energy development in sage grouse habitat
Feds may restrict hardrock mining and put oil and gas leases on auction block.
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Washington’s long summer of fire and smoke
On Spokane’s west side, the Houston Fire was growing fast. If a wind were to come up and whip flames across a field of weeds, the gate that keeps the world at bay at the entrance to Erika and Andrea Zaman’s lane would do no good. Just in time, Andrea blasted back from the airport, […]
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Alaska’s wolves and bears get new protections
New regulations help wildlife on federal lands. But they’re still no match for state predator control.
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Park Service may strengthen its oil and gas regulations
Current rules give the agency little leverage to protect lands or restore damage once drilling companies pull out.
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Find a way to travel in the wilderness, without carrying a gun
Hiking the Mad Creek Trail north of Steamboat, Colorado, one day this fall, I glanced back at another hiker, who was accompanied by two yelping dogs. I was taken aback to see the man wore a pistol in a holster on his hip. He fell into step for a while with my daughter, Greta, who’s […]
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A look back on 45 years of HCN
Continuing the tradition of in-depth, passionate coverage of the West’s defining issues.
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A pumpjack is not a coal mine
Eight things you need to know about coalbed methane mining.
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Jeb Bush outlines plans to limit federal control of Western lands
The presidential hopeful would move Interior Department from Washington to the West.
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Farmers team up with Humane Society on behalf of animals
Like all farmers and ranchers, Kevin Fulton has experienced his share of tough days at work. But he does everything possible to make sure that his animals – goats, sheep, cattle and chickens – never have to experience more than one bad day themselves. “If we can provide an environment where our animals only have […]
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To save Washington’s Yakima Basin fish, just add water
A drought plan in one of the West’s most forward-thinking watersheds reconciles salmon and agriculture.