The protests are fueled by a diverse array of causes, from tribal sovereignty to fossil fuel dependence.
Social justice
Posted inArticles
Tribes win one fight, lose another in pipeline protest
The Obama administration intervened in favor of tribes, for now.
Posted inArticles
Northern New Mexico’s fight against food insecurity
In the region’s most impoverished rural areas, food pantries fill gaps of grocery stores.
Posted inSeptember 5, 2016: When the Doctor is Out
A cure for the ‘catch-all’ emergency room
In Colorado, a new movement aims to provide an alternative for people experiencing mental health crises. But does it work?
Posted inSeptember 5, 2016: When the Doctor is Out
The West’s widening health care gaps
Changing demographics, including an aging rural population, put more pressure on health care systems.
Posted inArticles
Tribes band together to fight an oil pipeline
The Standing Sioux protest in North Dakota reverberates around the world.
Posted inArticles
Photos of the North Dakota pipeline protest
Background on the Standing Rock Sioux pipeline protests and how social media and climate activism raised their profile.
Posted inAugust 22, 2016: 100
Inside a park succeeding at recruiting diverse employees
Antonio Solorio helps national park reach L.A.’s Latino majority.
Posted inAugust 22, 2016: 100
Meet the aspiring ranger locked out by National Park Service practices
The Park Service has seemed to get in its own way when it comes to hiring more diverse applicants.
Posted inAugust 22, 2016: 100
Why has the National Park Service gotten whiter?
The agency is trying to hire more racially diverse staff — but can’t seem to make headway.
Posted inArticles
Border wall divides lands, but not culture
A wall bars the physical passage of people in a park near San Diego— but music scales that barrier.
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How a police chief used compassion to combat his community’s drug problem
The approach taken by Gloucester, Massacusetts, might falter in New Mexico, where it’s desperately needed.
Posted inArticles
Española has tried everything to stop drug overdoses
What we can learn from the fight against addiction in a small New Mexico town.
Posted inAugust 8, 2016: Line of Descent
Columbia River ‘shadow tribes’ face a housing crisis
The feds have promised lodging at traditional fish camps — but haven’t delivered.
Posted inArticles
Congress pushes Park Service harder on the agency’s legacy of harassment
Using documents obtained by High Country News, representatives look into discrimination investigation from 2000.
Posted inArticles
Why an outdoor group’s work is ‘more relevant than ever’
The founder of Outdoor Afro talks about racial violence and why we all need a dose of nature.
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
Salmon power
A historic legal victory could give Alaska tribes more control over their fish, wildlife and homelands.
Posted inArticles
The importance of Black Lives Matter in a white rural West
A Westerner reflects on racial injustice close to home.
Posted inArticles
Meet Utah’s first transgender candidate for US Senate
Democratic candidate Misty Snow is progressive, transgender and, she says, increasingly representative of Utah.
Posted inJune 27, 2016: The New Advocates
Diversity in the outdoors, one hashtag at a time
A conversation with Teresa Baker, founder of Hike Like a Girl.