The author of ‘Farm Fresh Broadband’ draws on history to chart a better future for rural internet access.
Communities
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
What would a healthy Klamath River look like?
An illustration of a complex ecosystem that could exist again.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
Wild horses, buffalo and the politics of belonging
On the Wind River Indian Reservation, two animals slip between the cracks of what is wild and what isn’t.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
Wind turbines proposed near a Japanese American incarceration camp prompt outrage
The Lava Ridge Wind Farm in Idaho would more than double the state’s wind energy output, but at what cost?
Posted inArticles
The threat to Colorado’s acequias and the communities that depend on them
In the San Luis Valley, the communal and egalitarian resource offers a way of life.
Posted inArticles
The hunt for critical minerals in Colorado raises critical questions
When Earth MRI began surveying, residents grew concerned about the prospect of mining.
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
Alaska Native villages band together to keep the Yukon River’s wild salmon afloat
‘As a unified voice, we are unstoppable — and we can manage the river better.’
Posted inArticles
150 years ago, 19 Chinese Angelenos were murdered in California
In October 1871, a frenzied mob was responsible for one of the largest lynching in Western U.S. history.
Posted inArticles
Coming out as trans in the rural West
A high schooler’s photo essay documents what it’s like to go through intense change in a place that never changes.
Posted inArticles
Nevada’s Thacker Pass highlights how federal courts routinely dismiss Indigenous concerns
‘These legal systems are not set up for Indigenous people at all.’
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
Hmong Americans in Northern California fight wildfire — and distrust
Wary of local authorities, a community forms an ad-hoc firefighting force to defend its property.
Posted inArticles
Black entrepreneurs built beach havens in California. Racism shut them down.
The hidden history of Santa Monica’s Black coastal enclaves.
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
Afghan refugees find a home in the West
A resettlement agency in Twin Falls, Idaho, prepares for newcomers.
Posted inArticles
7 statistics that illuminate the housing crisis
Headwaters Economics shines a light on record-breaking costs in the West.
Posted inArticles
7 questions about Freedmen answered
Descendants of those enslaved by Native tribes are gaining political momentum. Here’s a primer on the issues surrounding Freedmen and tribal recognition.
Posted inArticles
Home after fire: A new housing model aims to give kids stability
Wildfires often hit low-income, minority families the hardest. Talent, Oregon, offers a home-grown solution to the displacement that follows.
Posted inArticles
How community control of housing and land can help solve the housing crisis
Communities are turning to land trusts and real estate cooperatives as possible solutions.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
Collecting seeds to restore prairie grasslands
‘These youth are going to be able to take ownership of healing the land at Fort Belknap.’
Posted inArticles
Indigenous women tackle college during a pandemic
How three Native American students took on the challenges of their first year away from home.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
When public health becomes the public enemy
Far-right extremists are robbing the West of the officials who protect community health.