An Inupiaq writer welcomes the nourishing glow of a seal oil lamp into her home.
Essays
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
The hidden fires
Keeping honest about what we burn and why.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
The time of the Indigenous critic has arrived
Now that the industry is finally greenlighting Indigenous films and TV, Indigenous critics ought to lead the conversation.
Posted inArticles
The public lands that kept us sane
In honor of National Public Lands Day, High Country News staff reflect on access to spaces across the West.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
How wildlife sightings create community
What we share and what we keep quiet in small mountain towns.
Posted inArticles
Anxiety and hope in wildfire-prone Oregon
How might we live in the reality of our climate?
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
A new Conservation Corps for the climate
What it means to contribute to the future of a place.
Posted inArticles
The fires that follow us
A hiker copes with a new anxiety brought by a changed climate.
Posted inAugust 1, 2021: A Mega-Dairy Comes to the Desert
Is there really freedom in the outdoors?
After a year indoors, a writer remembers the joy — and pressures — of a childhood spent in Utah.
Posted inArticles
What makes a whimbrel?
A writer reflects on natural cycles of absence and abundance, loss and love.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
In Nogales, joy endures
The Borderlands may be militarized, but for writer Alberto Ríos, it’s still home.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
The lessons on storytelling that William Kittredge taught
The beloved teacher and writer was preoccupied with the particular.
Posted inArticles
Studying seabirds, the sentinels of the ocean
Perspective from one of the longest, largest and most comprehensive seabird monitoring efforts in the world.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
Through wildland firefighting, finding a space to heal
A grieving daughter encounters solace in an unexpected place.
Posted inArticles
Of hawks and hope
In a climate collapse, a wildlife biologist turns from sadness to action.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
How an intimate burial can make death human-sized
In burying a stranger, a writer learns that dying can be as small and personal as life.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
Hunting for myself in the high Montana sagebrush
A hunter celebrates a new vision of queerness and rural culture.
Posted inArticles
Inhospitable, remote and compelling: The island swallowed by nowhere
Alaska’s St. Matthew Island has had its share of human visitors, but none can remain long.
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
COVID-era lessons from homeschool
Don’t be terrified. Be ready.