Some books, happenings and other cultural endeavors that helped expand our sense of place in 2024.
HCN staff
Posted inArticles
Books on the West we think you might like
Some brand new, some from the shelves, some for the kids and some for you.
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 inJuly 1, 2021: An Urban Greenspace Revolution
Bittersweet departures and celebrations
We wish a wide-ranging journalist well and give gratitude over our final 50th anniversary event.
Posted inJune 1, 2021: Once and Future Fires
The final stretch of our 50th anniversary campaign
We’re down to the wire and need your help.
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
Spread the news, and take us higher!
We’re on a quest to transform HCN for another 50 years, and you can help.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
HCN in the 2010s
The era was defined by Malheur, pipeline protests and the beginning of the Trump presidency.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Our expanding universe
New staff, new technology, more readers.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
New interns join the team
And our latest Virginia Spencer Davis Fellow is announced.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
HCN in the 2000s
A look back at time when extraction was king and Jonathan Thompson was our editor-in-chief.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
Former HCN interns look back
Our internship provides real-world skills, and a community, for a lifetime.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
Elections in the West highlight divisions and diversity
Justice, power and environment: The 2020 elections were defined by grassroots organizing and deep partisanship.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
High Country News in the ’80s
Resentment from environmental regulations and the Sagebrush rebels ramped up in the ‘decade of greed.’
Posted inArticles
Dear readers, take our four-minute survey!
HCN.org is getting a facelift. Don’t miss the action.
Posted inSeptember 18, 2006: Going Big
A little wild
Percentage of land in each Western state that is federally owned, versus what is designated as wilderness. 47.2 | 6.2 Arizona 45.1 | 14 California 36.2 | 4.8 Colorado 61.6 | 7.5 Idaho 27.9 | 3.6 Montana 83 | 4 Nevada 33.8 | 2.3 New Mexico 52.4 | 3.7 Oregon 62.2 | 1.5 Utah 28.3 […]
Posted inSeptember 18, 2006: Going Big
Energy Colonizes the West
Since 1982, the federal government has offered more than 225 million acres of public and private land for lease to gas and oil companies. In the Western states, there are approximately 35 million acres of active leases, nearly half of which are in Wyoming. New Mexico, Colorado and Montana each contain more than 4 million […]
Posted inAugust 3, 1998: Tribes reclaim stolen lands
Editor’s note
Note: this front-page editor’s note introduces this issue’s feature story. In the 1960s, revolutions in Indian country were political, and the media swarmed in to cover sit-ins, demonstrations and fiery speeches. When the sit-ins and occasional violence ended, the media left and people on the reservations found little had changed. Today, Indian country is in […]
Posted inMay 9, 1988: Two Forks Dam: Push comes to shove
Two Forks Dam: Push comes to shove
When the dust settles a year or so from now, it is likely that the struggle over the proposed Two Forks Dam on the Front Range of Colorado will rank with the fights to stop the damming of the Grand Canyon and to halt the construction of the huge coal-fired power plant once proposed for […]