In Micah McCarty’s art, the past and future are one, and the whales never left.
Features
Posted inMay 1, 2023: Reemergence
Tenacious specimens of the Grand Canyon
In the 1930s, two women risked their lives to record a scientific survey of the region’s plants.
Posted inApril 1, 2023: The Path Forward
A deadly disease stalks deer and elk. Do predators help or hurt?
In the Rockies, chronic wasting disease can devastate herds; scientists are looking for solutions.
Posted inMarch 1, 2023: Moving Parts
‘Gold in the hills, but not for us’
Scenes from California’s backyard petroculture.
Posted inMarch 1, 2023: Moving Parts
The 90-foot sentinel of Butte, Montana
What does a statue dedicated to mothers reveal about women’s rights?
Posted inFebruary 1, 2023: The Reveal
Tending a remnant of home
How a glass shelf connected a woman to what mattered most.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
Can dam removal save the Snake River?
See the river as the climate changes, development continues and consequences grow with inaction.
Posted inDecember 1, 2022: Beyond Illusion
An expedition through Kim Stringfellow’s Mojave
The artist’s transmedia project highlights the vitality of the desert’s many histories.
Posted inNovember 1, 2022: The Futures of Conservation
Carving a future for the Tongass National Forest
In Southeast Alaska, youth help manage a forest and protect an ancient art.
Posted inNovember 1, 2022: The Futures of Conservation
How a rare butterfly returned
The revival of Fender’s blue illustrates the collaborative nature of survival.
Posted inNovember 1, 2022: The Futures of Conservation
In Colorado, a storied valley blooms again
The San Luis Valley’s Acequia Institute is raising new traditions from multicultural roots.
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
Recollecting life on the edge of the prairie
Portraits of queer life and landscape in rural Washington.
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
Pacific lamprey’s ancient agreement with tribes is the future of conservation
Despite dams, drowned waterfalls and industrial degradation, the practice of eeling persists.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2022: Going Under
How a hidden cave can help scientists understand the climate
Sometimes learning about the past to figure out the future requires crawling beneath tons of rock.
Posted inAugust 1, 2022: Our Fiery Future
How to rebuild in a time of endless fire
Okanogan County, Washington, had hardly recovered from the last devastating wildfire when the next one struck.
Posted inAugust 1, 2022: Our Fiery Future
The fires below
The world’s least understood ignition source is causing devastating wildfires across Montana’s Powder River Basin.
Posted inJuly 1, 2022: Living with Rivers
How a salmon farm disaster changed Northwest aquaculture forever
Thousands of salmon escaped into the Puget Sound. Then the controversy began.
Posted inJuly 1, 2022: Living with Rivers
Who does the state of Wyoming consider a poacher?
Three years ago, the Supreme Court upheld the Crow Tribe’s off-reservation hunting rights. But treaty hunters in Wyoming still risk prosecution, even as non-Natives poach wildlife on tribal land with impunity.
Posted inJune 1, 2022: A Legacy of Weapons and War
When the heat is unbearable but there’s nowhere to go
How last year’s record-breaking heat wave caused misery and chaos for Washington’s incarcerated population — and why it’s set to happen all over again.