Just as I was about to go on leave from High Country News last summer, I received a letter from a subscriber in Oregon. He’d read my editor’s note about the great blue heron and, being a heron admirer himself, as well as a professional photographer, offered to send me a print of one of his photos. Accompanying the letter was a spiral-bound book of image proofs from which to choose. It was a heartwarming gesture, made doubly meaningful because of a diagnosis I’d received suddenly, without warning.
I pored over the book and marveled at the graceful outlines of herons in all kinds of light, settings, poses and plumage. I have encountered many acts of generosity in my life, yet this seemed exceptional. I marveled that a longtime HCN reader had been inspired to reach out like this based on some words I’d shared about my affinity for a bird. I accepted his offer, thinking: Isn’t this what it’s all about — mutual care and concern for each other, for other species, for the integrity of the ecosystems that sustain us all?
It sounds self-evident. Nevertheless, it can be difficult for such a sensible ethos to prevail, particularly in times of scarcity. In this issue, through an investigation undertaken in partnership with ProPublica, we describe how tribes in the Colorado River Basin must negotiate and litigate to gain access to water they were guaranteed through a 1908 Supreme Court ruling. The state of Arizona has been especially ruthless in its dealings with tribes over water that is needed not just for drinking and agriculture, but for the continuance of cultural practices that go back centuries, if not millennia. To force tribes that were living in the West long before colonists laid claim to anything to make yet more concessions in order to get water they’ve already been promised is a staggering injustice.
I’m proud of the team that worked on this investigation, and thankful to Michelle Nijhuis for serving as acting editor-in-chief, and to everyone at HCN for all their hard work, during my months-long absence. And I’m grateful for the readers who keep HCN going, who see HCN as a community of caring and concerned individuals of which they are a valued member. It’s good to be back in the editor’s chair, with a framed photograph of a great blue heron watching over me as I type.
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This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Mutual care.
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