INFORMED AND INSPIRING!
I’ve read a lot of issues of HCN over the years, and to my mind the October 2025 magazine is, cover to cover, a real high point. The reportage is geographically diverse, incisive, balanced and well-researched, and the essays are intellectually challenging yet accessible, real people dealing with real problems in language that hits home, sentence by sentence.
And the features — wow! What a treat to have Tony Davis’ perspective in such a balanced piece (“Dried out in Phoenix”), giving us not only up-to-the minute news but sorely needed context — history, politics, the law — along with a view from the desert floor. He painted a picture (with the help of wonderful photographs) of those isolated suburban areas I won’t soon forget.
Finally, Jaclyn Moyer’s “Portrait of a Vanishing Tree,” printed on glowing green pages and lit up by those mind-blowing illustrations: What a fine blend of reporting, personal experience, science, deep history, poetry, philosophy and humor, all informed by palpable humility and unending curiosity.
What can I say? I set the magazine down feeling not only informed but inspired. Every piece prodded me with the question, “How can I better inhabit this place?” Please keep it up!
Devin Odell
Fort Collins, Colorado
INSATIABLE THIRST FOR MONEY
“Dried Out in Phoenix” is a great article, but Phoenix’s water problems are caused by the 142 data centers in the valley sucking up all the water. It’s all about the money.
Tom Kinnaman
Marana, Arizona
There is no one to blame for Phoenix’s problems but greedy townships seeking big business. Why would Glendale allow a Nestlé coffee-creamer bottling plant to be developed, or Phoenix allow TSMC to develop semiconductor chips, using billions of gallons of water yearly of the citizens’ precious water? Phoenix is also slated to be a Top 10 city for data centers, which require massive amounts of water to cool their servers. I am ready to leave Arizona, afraid that we may run out of our most crucial resource!
Stephen Oliva
Peoria, Arizona
I lived in northern Arizona for 10 years in the ’70s. It was hard to see, looking ahead, that Maricopa County was growing and developing faster than its water resources. Once money finds a way to tap the aquifers below the Colorado Plateau, it’s game over for the environment.
Drew Irby
Via email
Halting out-of-control growth in the Phoenix metro area, the country’s fifth largest, is long overdue. Arizona’s Department of Water Resources decision to pause development due to inadequate water supply must be applauded despite the political and industrial pressure. As an environmental geologist and longtime Arizona resident, I was troubled that the statewide groundwater resource crisis was downplayed for years. I recently retired and moved “upstream,” where the water supply is more reliable — for now.
Dave Palmer
Farmington, New Mexico
SEPTEMBER’S FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I enjoyed reading the “Who Controls Our Food?” September issue, which helped inspire me to start visiting my local farmers’ market each Sunday to buy fresh and support local sources. I am always excited when I receive another issue of High Country News. Keep up the great work!
Lynda Roberts
Sausalito, California
As a geographer with a long-standing interest in food who taught a course on the geography of food for many years, I found your September food issue to be exceptional, the best single issue of your magazine I’ve read.
I especially liked Eva Holland’s story about the difficulties of transporting food to Alaska; I’ve always wondered, as a vegetarian, if I could survive in remote Alaska (“The Road Not Taken”). (Probably not.) And Laureli Ivanoff’s essay on the joys of cutting fish (“Working Together Is Everything”) — yes, even a vegetarian could appreciate it.
Blake Gumprecht
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Thank you for such a great September issue! I usually read all the articles in each issue, but as an artist, I was particularly touched by the artwork of Narsiso Martinez, created utilizing produce boxes (“Dignified”) — beautifully painted, wonderful design, color, expression and ideas. The farmworkers are deeply honored by this work.
I was also moved by Paisley Rekdal’s “Eating Bitterness,” a profound exploration and powerful personal sharing of elements of Western history that are new to most of us. I knew only the topmost layer of history of Chinese railroad laborers and the Chinese Exclusion Act. Rekdal remedied my ignorance and offered so many insights and missing pieces of cultural history that I know I will read and refer to this article often.
Louise Minks
Leverett, Massachusetts
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