Tremors in Colorado and New Mexico linked to coalbed methane extraction.
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A Wilderness Act skeptic comes out of the closet
Westerners celebrated two birthdays worth noting toward the end of summer, but most paid attention to only one, the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. The other was the 50th anniversary of the start of construction of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project in Colorado, which eventually moved a lot of water from the Colorado River Basin to […]
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Diversion plans for the Gila would have major impact, critics say
Small and medium-sized flows could be most affected.
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Best little bookstores of the West
Plus, readers’ favorite books about the region.
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Rural and small town employment still lags
Metro areas are bouncing back from the Great Recession more quickly.
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Fur flies over Montana bobcat farm
Will animal rights activists keep a bobcat farmer from setting up shop in Montana?
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Sweeping new rule for Alaska’s predator control
Federal versus state wildlife politics get even hotter.
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Former governor Tony Knowles on Alaska’s predator policies
During his 1994 to 2002 tenure, former Democratic Alaska governor Tony Knowles implemented non-lethal — albeit expensive — ways to control predator populations in Alaska: Instead of shooting wolves from helicopters, for example, he relocated and sterilized packs that preyed on the caribou herds Alaskans relied on for food. Since he’s left office, though, the […]
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Congress ignores the West’s firefighting needs
Congress still hasn’t figured out how to pay for wildfires. Choked by partisan bickering and entrenched refusals to compromise, the 113th Congress has passed the fewest pieces of legislation of any Congress in the past two decades — just 108 significant laws, compared to nearly 170 per session from 1995 to 2010. One of the […]
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Hurdles mount for Northwest coal exports
How high are the stakes for Western coal producers?
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Two flat tires on the sage grouse express
Some interests potentially inconvenienced by the Endangered Species Act are so terrified of the law that it often succeeds best when threatened but not invoked. So it may be with ongoing efforts to save the greater sage grouse. In 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave states, private landowners, the Forest Service and the […]
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A conversation with Chuck Bowden from 2002
The late writer discusses the ‘cannibalism of society’ and other ills.
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Nevada wins the Tesla battery factory giga-race
Massive incentive package raises questions about corporate welfare.
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Ruling green lights temporary nuclear waste storage
With no central underground depository, above-ground casks will have to do.
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At ease by a creek in the wilderness
I am on my way to Kootenai Creek, a neighbor and laughing friend who spends all day, all year, all everything, tumbling down the western side of the Bitterroot Mountains in southwestern Montana. This is the edge of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, over a million acres of forest that stretches between Montana and Idaho. Kootenai Creek […]
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Celebrating the birth of the Wilderness Act
High Country News coverage of the evolution of wilderness since 1970.
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We need new words for the Bakken boom
I live in western North Dakota in an area filled with life, from feisty small towns to wildlife, prairies, a national park and the national grasslands. But all of this has been buried underneath one simple term: The Bakken. The Bakken is the geological term for a shale formation of the same name that extends […]
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Yes, wildlife contraception works
When my 12-year-old son encounters any phenomenon that doesn’t yet fit into his worldview, he’ll sometimes ask, “Dad, is that a ‘thing,’” meaning, is it something worth caring about? This isn’t just my son’s problem, of course; at times we all face bewildering novelty. And if it’s a thing like a new technology that makes […]
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Want a trophy buck? Ditch the camo and get a guide
Study looks at successful types of big game hunters
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Rants from the Hill: The Bucket List
When making a to-do list is the most important thing on your to-do list.