As the climate crisis worsens, what will happen to snow?
Features
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
The nation’s last uranium mill plans to import Estonia’s radioactive waste
Utah says the White Mesa Mill isn’t contaminating groundwater, but its neighbor, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, disagrees.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
Where do public lands factor into the homelessness crisis?
As the housing crisis in the West deepens, more unhoused people are making a home outside.
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.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
Why have gray wolves failed to gain a foothold in Colorado?
The Green River Corridor, a pathway from Wyoming to Colorado, highlights the political and physical barriers wolves face.
Posted inAugust 1, 2021: A Mega-Dairy Comes to the Desert
A mega-dairy is transforming Arizona’s aquifer and farming lifestyles
Minnesota’s Riverview Dairy has deep pockets and long straws.
Posted inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
How a trail in rural Oregon became a target of far-right extremism
To understand the state’s urban-rural divide, start by looking at Yamhill County’s proposed walking trail.
Posted inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
Reclaiming LA
Communities in Los Angeles are turning industrial sites into pockets of green.
Posted inJune 1, 2021: Once and Future Fires
Facing future wildfires, a community fights for its forest
Conflicting visions in central Idaho force tough decisions over logging and prescribed burning.
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
See the first-ever survey of the Atascosa Highlands
An ecologist and a photographer teamed to document and build a living archive of the Borderlands’ biodiversity — before it’s too late.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
The ‘slow-motion genocide’ of the Chinook Indian Nation
Federal recognition provides tribes with critical healthcare and education. What happens to the tribal nations that the U.S. refuses to recognize?
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
Idaho state lands could end up in private hands
How a developer’s proposed large land swap ignited a fight in small but growing McCall.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Did James Plymell need to die?
How homelessness is criminalized in small cities and towns across the West.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
The fight for an equitable energy economy for the Navajo Nation
Diné activist Nicole Horseherder’s long quest for equity from the rise and fall of the coal economy.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
When COVID hit, a Colorado county kicked out second-home owners. They hit back.
How a group of nonresident homeowners tried to influence a rural Colorado election.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
Divided prospects: The fight over an immigration detention center
When a private prison company came to Evanston, Wyoming, local officials believed an economic revival was at hand. Instead, it unleashed a bitter debate.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
Northwest co-op builds for a local food future beyond big ag
‘I’ve always felt like this was something to do in case the world doesn’t end.’
Posted inArticles
Bullock, Daines and Montana’s growing pains
In a critical Senate race, the two Steves lay claim to the “Montana way of life.”
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
Energy dominance or climate action: Trump, Biden and the fate of public lands
In Grand Junction, Colorado, the presidential election is a choice between two distinct energy futures.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2020: The Next West
‘Somebody has to keep people on their toes’
High Country News’ unlikely and remarkable origin story.