In this issue, we bring you not one but two feature stories: The first dives into the Chinook Nation’s century-long battle for federal recognition, while the second looks at how a proposed land exchange in McCall, Idaho, pushed the locals to seek new ways to preserve public access. In reportage, we learn how Colorado gets stuck with the cleanup bill when energy companies abandon old oil and gas wells. The Biden administration faces major decisions on issues affecting tribal lands and water, and a new report focuses on internet infrastructure in Indian Country. With traditional sources of conservation funding dwindling, we ponder a difficult question: Who should pay to preserve the West’s land and wildlife? Elsewhere, we discuss Montana’s new anti-trans legislation and delve into the shadowy history of Albuquerque’s racist housing market. Our “Facts and Figures” department explains how the West’s unusually deadly avalanche season is, ironically, largely due to the region’s low snowfall. We talk to Kathy Reed, who hopes to carry on the legacy of Alma Smith Jacobs, Montana’s first Black librarian, and we review two promising debut novels, along with a thriller by a young Indigenous filmmaker. Finally, in “Heard around the West,” we learn that mountain lions don’t belong in basements, and that it’s not necessarily a good idea to invite large wildlife to a big backyard buffet.

‘Family,’ by Greg A. Robinson, a member of the Chinook Indian Nation in Washington and a primarily self-taught artist who works in a variety of mediums. His traditional Chinookan-style images pay tribute to the Columbia River ancestors for whom art, life, stories and culture are strongly interrelated. Credit: Illustration by Greg A. Robinson

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High and dry

As someone who lives in a city that depends on Colorado River water for its residential water supply, I worry about the trends of increasing demand and decreasing supply. I was disappointed, though, to see the article “High and dry” (March 2021) close with a warning that “people need to ditch way more lawns.” To…

by Charlie Kenslea

Insurgence analysis

The analysis in the article about Western roots of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was excellent (“A siege with Western roots and consequences,” February 2021). Resistance to public-land takeovers is now going on in Washington County, Idaho, where three county ordinances that place restrictions on federal lands may be repealed because a new…

by Wayne P. Fuller

Life After Coal

The excellent February 2021 “End of the Line” issue hit home in several ways today as I read Jessica Kutz’s “Life After Coal.” I was halfway through the article when the outbound (read: filled) Union Pacific coal train from the West Elk Mine, east of Paonia, passed only 160 feet from our home. Nothing new,…

by Rick Freimuth

The next mining boom

As a long-time HCN subscriber (going back to the tabloid format in the 1980s), I’d like to thank Maya L. Kapoor for her excellent reporting in general, and for “The next mining boom” (March 2021), in particular. I was not aware of this mining proposal, but I have some personal connections to the Thacker Pass…

by Joel Geier

Top-notch photography

The color photographs in the “End of the Line” issue helped me link the stories:  the sun shining on the site of a future hospital, bison grazing in the soon-to-be-tribal Bison Range, and alpacas grazing in Colorado ranchland under the eyes of LGBTQ+ herders. Smokestacks of the Navajo Generating Station come tumbling down in a giant…

by Phil and Joyce Nelson

Looking for leaders

Our thanks to retiring board members and a quest for new people to help the organization set course.

by Paul Larmer

Did James Plymell Need to Die?

Just wanted to commend Leah Sottile and HCN for an excellent article, “Did James Plymell Need to Die?” (March 2021). I worked at the County Alcohol and Drug program in Albany, Oregon, years ago, and it seems the same difficulties in service delivery are still at play. Issues of homelessness and chemical dependency are complicated…

by Ken Brown

End of the Line

I wanted to thank you for the February issue “End of the Line.” I grew up in Billings, Montana; saw Colstrip more times than a teenager should; read the Global 200 Report to the President shortly after it came out; and hiked Canyonlands in the smog from the Four Corners plants. I’ve been a rabid…

by Dean C. Heizer