As the housing crisis in the West deepens, more unhoused people are making a home outside.
Public lands
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
Idaho denies proposed land exchange
The state found that the timber tracts offered in a proposed trade are worth much less than the land around Payette Lake.
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Federal judge allows excavation work on Native massacre site
The decision could shape the way electric vehicles are powered.
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National park managers search for answers to overcrowding
Timed-entry reservations and apps that point visitors to less-trafficked areas work to disperse the denizens.
Posted inArticles
The lack of diversity in outdoor rec is systematic and disconcerting
I want people of color to feel called to reclaim natural spaces.
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 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 Apache community running to rescue its holy mountain
Indigenous spiritual leaders say the Vatican’s observatory is searching for something it doesn’t understand.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
Tree DNA thwarts black market lumber
How the genetic code of flora helped catch timber thieves.
Posted inArticles
How yellowcake shaped the West
The ghosts of the uranium boom continue to haunt the land, water and people.
Posted inAugust 1, 2021: A Mega-Dairy Comes to the Desert
A quest for Alaska oil sparks a fight over tribal sovereignty
An energy company with a history of environmental violations is conducting exploratory drilling in the Yukon Flats.
Posted inArticles
The return of the endangered Mexican wolf
A program that places captive-born pups into wild dens is helping North America’s rarest wolf subspecies reclaim its native territory in the Southwest.
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 inArticles
A reality check on Biden’s ‘30 by 30’ conservation plan
The plan has lofty ambitions, but what’s happening on the ground tells a different story of how it might play out.
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The threat of wildfire in the West arrives alongside tourists
In Mammoth Lakes, California, residents are still anxious from the 2020 fire season.
Posted inArticles
Can the sun solve New Mexico’s energy conundrum?
The state is dependent on oil and gas, but Carlsbad has opportunity to become the epicenter of renewable energy.
Posted inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
Crowds swarm the public lands
Land managers and gateway communities struggle to keep up.
Posted inArticles
Why I changed my mind about Bears Ears
The benefits of a national monument in San Juan County outweigh the costs.