The West is experiencing growing pains, as its cities continue to expand. This issue’s feature takes you inside the night of an oil and gas explosion in suburban Colorado, where drilling and production facilities are springing up next to new neighborhoods and schools. Inside the issue, we also investigate efforts to bring more people and water to southern Utah, where the estimated costs for the Lake Powell Pipeline don’t seem to add up. Also in this issue are stories about the president’s attack on public lands and how that may help Democrats in November’s elections; how to battle climate dread; and an artist’s response to the 20-year anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s murder in Wyoming – and more.
A fresh face and folks in the field
Fall brings a change in the weather, a new staffer and visitors.
Can two quintessential Western booms co-exist?
The friction between Colorado’s growing population and gas-drilling infrastructure remains explosive, sometimes literally.
Elaborate hoaxes; respect in Rifle; lost lovers
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Abandoned places
Eileen Muza is one of us (“The Pioneer of Ruin,” HCN, 9/17/18). How many of us there are, I have no idea, but we can be found in condemned houses in cities and scattered across the countryside. I myself bought a piece of land adjoining the Chanchelulla Wilderness Area in California in 1987. I moved…
Compassion keeps us human
If killing sentient beings is what keeps us human, then heaven help us (“Can hunting keep us human?” HCN, 10/15/18). Taking the life of another being is a regrettable act that is sometimes unavoidable in an imperfect world. However, there is something very dreadful about sanitizing the killing of our animal brethren with a convoluted…
Going downhill
I agree with letter-writer John Mumaw (“Letters,” HCN, 10/15/18). HCN is really going downhill. I’m not ready to pull the subscription plug yet, but will cut back on donations. I think you should read, and re-read, daily if necessary, tributes to Ed Marston and Tom Bell. I don’t think either of those guys would have produced…
The precarious plan for the Lake Powell Pipeline
Officials in Utah’s fastest-growing county are obscuring details of what a high-stakes project will cost taxpayers.
A Denver high school welcomes the world’s refugees
The Newcomers explores the lives of immigrant teens and what it takes to become an American.
Enter the grandeur of the redwoods
Scientists, writers, environmentalists and photographers capture the wonder of this ancient forest.
The rising risks of the West’s latest gas boom
An explosion in suburban Colorado raises questions on safety and accountability.
Latest: Supreme Court upholds Grand Canyon uranium mining ban
A twenty-year moratorium on uranium extraction in northern Arizona will stand.
Latest: Yurok Tribe cancels salmon season on Klamath River
For the third year in a row, the tribal citizens won’t have commercial fishing.
The ascension of Matthew Shepard
A painter examines the aftermath of a murder motived by hate, 20 years later.
We traveled 2,000 miles to save Chaco Canyon
Pueblo historic sites face oil and gas development on unprotected public lands.
Volunteer scientists study flowers to battle climate dread
The data they’re collecting is helping researchers evaluate how ecosystems change.
Trump’s attacks on public lands could help Democrats out West
Monument reviews, wilderness access are key sticking points in the midterms.