In this issue we examine how Indian boarding schools were at the center of a policy to hold Indigenous children hostage to open the West for settlement. We look at how the collection of data can be fatal for wildlife and travel to California where keeping Indigenous food culture alive risks jail time. Using audio leaked to HCN, we listen to BLM staff confront leadership over their pending headquarters move. In New Mexico, a fading mining town looks to revive itself with Airbnb. We ask what it will take to save Columbia and Snake River salmon and check in on the rebuilding of a 100-year-old boat that became a YouTube star.
What shows up when the sun goes down?
See the winners of our annual photo contest, plus other favorites.
Reexamine history in the service of justice
Understanding our shared histories can help us think critically about accountability in the West.
The West moves ever closer to a unified power grid
A unified grid would allow for easier sharing of wind and solar power.
Packing heat; a ministeroni; wipes frenzy
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
The U.S. stole generations of Indigenous children to open the West
Indian boarding schools held Native American youth hostage in exchange for land cessions.
Exotic management narrative
Based on the photos accompanying “A high-flying act in Olympic National Park” (HCN, 9/2/19), it looks like your reporter participated in an exciting adventure. However, the article unwittingly reflects a false narrative that has been used to justify the park’s management goals for more than four decades. The transfer of mountain goats to other areas,…
Not-so-speculative journalism
I’ve never been a fan of science fiction and was skeptical of your “speculative journalism” issue (HCN, 8/19/19), so I only skimmed most of it. But the article on Glacier National Park 50 years in the future got me thinking about how much the West has changed since I moved here 46 years ago. Winters…
Tell the whole story
Suggesting that Robert “Lavoy” Finicum “was later killed by law enforcement at a traffic stop during the (Malheur) occupation” vastly underreports the facts of that law enforcement contact (“Extremists appropriate Indigenous struggles for violent ends,” HCN, 9/16/19). Mr. Finicum blew through a stop, nearly hit a law enforcement officer, asked to be shot and reached…
Skip the talking points
An HCN article, “Frontier myths crash into Trump’s border wall” (HCN, 9/16/19), recently came across my Facebook news feed. I’m a fairly new subscriber and just started following along on social media, and I was mildly shocked at the complete lack of nuanced thought in the comments. That’s the typical online climate today, but I…
The time is right for new leadership at HCN
As the organization enters its 50th year, we prepare for the future.
Courts can’t keep Columbia and Snake River salmon from the edge of extinction
After decades of court cases have rebuffed federal management, it may take a political fix to restore salmon in the Columbia Basin.
One man’s mission to save a historic ship built a digital community
If you (re)build it, they will come.
How BLM employees really feel about moving West
Leaked audio from a recent agency meeting is filled with fumbles by leadership, disapproving rumbles and derisive laughter from staff.
The prospect of more Airbnbs tempts a struggling New Mexico town
Vacation rentals have gutted the culture of nearby communities, but a new project in Questa flips the narrative.
An Indigenous way of life for these California tribes breaks state laws
In Mendocino County, ‘guerrilla gatherers’ risk fines and jail time to keep food culture alive.
Amid the climate crisis, a parent commits an act of hope
Sometimes you need to take a weekend off from worrying about climate change and just go camping with your kid.
For sage grouse, science can be fatal
Is the value of data worth the death of individual animals?