Can we learn from past mistakes? That’s the underlying question this issue, where we revisit the misery of last summer’s “heat dome” from inside a state prison in Walla Walla, Washington. The scars of Cold War nuclear testing endure, as shown by Emmet Gowin’s photos of the Nevada Test Site and a powerful essay by Terry Tempest Williams. With drought emptying Lake Powell, Glen Canyon Dam’s days as a power source may be numbered. Can rare-earth metals like tellurium help solve our energy problems and boost the economy of Grants Pass, Oregon? A “Wildlife Welfare Check” brings good as well as bad news, Western teens are fighting climate change in the courts, and the Yurok Tribe is returning giant condors to the California skies. We meet the Navajo Nation’s first economist, and science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson talks about the High Sierra. Laureli Ivanoff prepares her grandmother’s summer greens dessert, and a young writer searches for identity in rural Utah.
As Lake Powell levels drop, see inside Glen Canyon Dam
The hydropower plant that powers about a quarter of a million homes is run by a team of mechanics, electricians and more.
Witness to the Cold War in the desert
Terry Tempest Williams on Emmet Gowin’s unflinching photos of the Nevada Test Site.
When the heat is unbearable but there’s nowhere to go
How last year’s record-breaking heat wave caused misery and chaos for Washington’s incarcerated population — and why it’s set to happen all over again.
Wildlife in the West: The good, the bad, the in-between
Conservation and wildlife corridors can help, but is it enough?
Meet you in the metaverse
Well, how about at a HCN Live! event?
Too hot to handle
The dangerously hot future is here. How will we respond?
Idiot invasion; outhouse fail; rim-to-rim rule rupture
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Letters to the editor, June 2022
Comments from readers.
How cooking, eating and harvesting beach greens ties a family together
An Inupiaq writer remembers her family roots through a favorite dish.
Who’s after rare metals in the Klamath Mountains?
While the region has a small cache of tellurium, politics and economics are in the way.
poem after a poem by césar vallejo w/ a nod to donald justice
A poem by Jay Hopler.
Seeing Mars on Earth
Kim Stanley Robinson on how the High Sierra has influenced his science fiction.
Western courts grapple with climate change
Rocky Mountain teens sue over fossil fuel-friendly policies.
The Yurok Tribe is bringing condors home to Northern California skies
Hunters, dairy farmers, utility operators, loggers, government agents and conservationists have all supported the tribe in helping North America’s largest land-based birds.
The Navajo Nation’s first economist takes a fresh view on development
Alisha Murphy discusses her vision of a robust tribal economy and the importance of community input.
How to choose a pronoun
The land does not care what parts of you are male or female.
Powell’s looming power problem
Drought and demand threaten a critical component of the Western grid.