A new Endangered Species Act petition could trigger major conservation actions to save the West’s saline lakes.
Caroline Tracey
Caroline Tracey is a journalist who covers the Southwestern U.S., Mexico and the Borderlands. In 2022-2023, she was High Country News’ Climate Justice Fellow. She lives in Tucson, Arizona. @ce_tracey
Posted inArticles
A cartography of loss in the Borderlands
Mexicali’s Colorado River Family Album documents what is no more.
Posted inIssues
As migration routes shift toward New Mexico, so does death
Migrant deaths in the state have jumped from 2 to 109 in a few years.
Posted inJuly 1, 2023: Waiting for Water
How northern Mexico became a climate migration destination
U.S. and Central American immigrants are converging in Baja California after disasters.
Posted inJune 1, 2023: Seen and Unseen
In search of answers at the Salton Sea
To protect air and water quality, shoreline residents become community scientists.
Posted inArticles
Can retiring farmland make California’s Central Valley more equitable?
Planning for the future of groundwater also offers an opportunity to plan for climate justice.
Posted inJune 1, 2023: Seen and Unseen
How the tiny brine shrimp can help protect the Great Salt Lake
A conversation with the sixth-grade activists behind Utah’s new state crustacean.
Posted inApril 1, 2023: The Path Forward
Navigating the new health-care deserts
Post-Roe, startups help those seeking abortions shrink travel distances and carbon emissions.
Posted inArticles
Artist Cecilia Vicuña’s Sonoran Quipu reassembles the desert
The installation at Tucson’s Museum of Contemporary Art is made from the landscape.
Posted inArticles
As extreme weather outpaces response, could crowdsourced data help?
Tijuana’s Citizens’ Flood Monitor offers a model for data collection in the flood-affected West.
Posted inArticles, En español
Cómo usar datos de colaboración colectiva para repensar los desastres naturales
El Monitor Ciudadano de Inundaciones de Tijuana puede servir como modelo para la colección de datos en el oeste estadounidense impactado por las inundaciones.
Posted inArticles
Does California’s Friendship Park need a taller border wall?
Advocates protest plans for reconstruction of the barrier at the binational meeting point.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2023: The Reveal
LDS environmentalists want their institution to address the Great Salt Lake’s collapse
Advocates call for healing the rift between scripture and politics.
Posted inArticles
Researchers solve one of the Borderlands’ biggest water puzzles
Officially, the U.S. and Mexico share 11 groundwater basins. A new map bumps that figure up to a stunning 72.
Posted inArticles
The West’s salt lakes are turning to dust. Can Congress help?
A new research and monitoring program aims to conserve threatened but overlooked saline ecosystems.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
Why are Saudi farmers pumping Arizona groundwater?
A conversation with Natalie Koch, author of ‘Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arabia and Arizona.’
Posted inArticles
A year in the Borderlands: The biggest stories from 2022
With a little help from our friends, HCN untangles the complexities of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
How protecting trees can fight gentrification
LA activists are wielding black walnut protections to stop development.
Posted inArticles
Federal, state and local agencies reach agreement to address Salton Sea crisis
The $250 million commitment will support public health and habitat while conserving Colorado River water.
Posted inArticles
The environmental consequences of Gov. Ducey’s rogue ‘border wall’
Slicing across Arizona’s Coronado National Forest, the barrier will stop more migrating mammals than humans.