Predators continue to be shot in the West despite their known ecological value.
Endangered Species
Posted inArticles
Experts: Captive breeding of sage grouse won’t work
Zinke calls for a review of conservation plans.
Posted inJune 12, 2017: The Big Swing
Hooligan Island; Tree-hoppers in Joshua Tree; Kanye for president?
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
Why the Endangered Species Act can’t save whitebark pines
Politics, money and climate change threaten one of the West’s iconic trees.
Posted inMay 29, 2017: The Cost of a Comeback
The cost of the bighorn comeback
In California’s Eastern Sierra, bringing back bighorn has meant killing more mountain lions.
Posted inMay 29, 2017: The Cost of a Comeback
Conflicts dog Trump’s Interior secretary nominee
David Bernhardt’s former clients have big business with the department he would run.
Posted inArticles
Oregon keeps the Elliott State Forest public
The state reverses course and decides not to sell its first state forest.
Posted inArticles
Oregon may sell a state forest that’s no longer profitable
Elliott State Forest shows the difficult balance between profit and conservation.
Posted inApril 3, 2017: Firestorm
Latest: Gray wolves delisted in Wyoming
The state will take over management of the species.
Posted inMarch 20, 2017: The Tree Ring
‘Look for something white’
Discovering the North through its most iconic birds.
Posted inMay 1, 2017: Change Comes to Short Creek
Republicans push to split the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
Bills to break up the big Western court have reappeared in Congress.
Posted inMarch 20, 2017: The Tree Ring
Where the wild things swim — again
In a borderlands river, improved water quality allows an endangered fish to return.
Posted inJanuary 23, 2017: For Which it Stands
Why OR7 is a celebrity
Once wolf populations fully recover, we’ll no longer know the story of individual animals.
Posted inFebruary 6, 2017: River of Healing
As Trump takes power, the House targets regulations
At stake is the power agencies have long used to protect people and nature.
Posted inJanuary 23, 2017: For Which it Stands
Bedrooms for burrowing owls
In Oregon, the Global Owl Project builds artificial burrows to help owls recover.
Posted inArticles
Close the wolf-killer loophole
For the benefit of all endangered species, hunters should face consequences for killing vulnerable species.
Posted inArticles
House Republicans want to ‘repeal and replace’ the ESA
After attempts to chip away at the law bill by bill, Utah Rep. Rob Bishop says he’d rather scrap the Endangered Species Act altogether.
Posted inDecember 26, 2016: Obama and the West
Obama’s mixed impact on endangered species
The administration delisted more species, but ultimately weakened the act itself.
Posted inArticles
Through the years: Here’s what to read on Obama’s presidency
High Country News stories show how Obama wrangled the West.
Posted inDecember 12, 2016: How the Park Service is Failing Women
The historical lifetime of the beaver
Explaining our complex relationship with North America’s largest rodent.