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High Country News

High Country News

A nonprofit independent magazine of unblinking journalism that shines a light on all of the complexities of the West.

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HCN has covered the lands, wildlife and communities of the Western U.S. for more than 50 years. Get to know the West better by signing up to receive HCN’s on-the-ground reporting and investigations in your inbox.

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Labor

Posted inArticles

People brace for impacts on land, water and wildlife after feds fire thousands over holiday weekend

by Christine Peterson February 17, 2025February 17, 2025

Career employees told HCN they were unsettled by the termination email sent by HR, which cited ‘performance issues.’

Two AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps members participate in field training in California last summer.
Posted inArticles

The American Climate Corps fades away

by Kate Yoder January 20, 2025January 21, 2025

After just 8 months, Biden’s green jobs program shut down before Trump took office. What did it do?

Posted inArticles

What it’s like to be an incarcerated firefighter 

by Natalia Mesa January 14, 2025January 13, 2025

Eddie Herrera, a formerly incarcerated firefighter, talks about the job and how he sees what’s happening in Los Angeles.

Posted inArticles

How the Park City ski patrol won concessions from Vail

by Brooke Larsen January 10, 2025January 10, 2025

As patrollers and management reach an agreement, other ski patrols are learning from Park City’s example.

Workers at Wild Horse Wind Farm in central Washington.
Posted inJanuary 2025: The West's Most Wanted

Wind energy jobs are taking off, but so are risks 

by Brooke Larsen January 1, 2025December 31, 2024

Workers are pushing for improved training and safety standards to help avoid falls, electrocution and equipment failure.

Posted inArticles

Utah’s coal mines can’t find enough workers

by Brooke Larsen December 23, 2024February 17, 2025

A mine just reopened in eastern Utah, but the industry has changed.

Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations

Denver rideshare drivers just launched a worker-owned co-op

by William M. Adler October 31, 2024November 21, 2024

A new alternative to Uber and Lyft aspires to give workers more income and more say over their working conditions.

Posted inArticles

What Nevada’s Culinary Union wants this presidential election

by High Country News and Quiet Pictures October 28, 2024October 28, 2024

La Culinaria, which represents 60,000 hospitality workers in the battleground state, faces a high stakes election year.

Posted inArticles

Denver’s last slaughterhouse is on the ballot

by Raksha Vasudevan October 24, 2024October 24, 2024

Voters face a complicated choice between jobs, workers’ rights and animal welfare.

Posted inArticles

The Forest Service is cutting its seasonal workforce and public lands will suffer

by Nick Bowlin October 8, 2024October 10, 2024

Temporary employees warn that important work will go undone all over the country.

Picoso Farm in Gilroy, California, is still trying to recover from a series of devastating floods.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods

After historic floods, the safety net failed small farmers

by Sarah Trent August 1, 2024July 31, 2024

Climate disasters are killing the largest subset of California farms. Government programs are too.

Posted inArticles

Repeal of the Chevron doctrine will have profound consequences for federal rulemaking

by Nick Bowlin, Joaqlin Estus, Natalia Mesa, Kylie Mohr and Erin X. Wong July 15, 2024August 8, 2024

Climate, public lands and tribal law regulations are now likely to face legal challenges.

Posted inArticles

The American Climate Corps take flight, with most jobs based in the West

by Brooke Larsen June 6, 2024August 8, 2024

Biden’s climate jobs program will put young people to work starting this summer.

Posted inArticles

This Montana school solved its teacher shortage by opening a day care

by Susan Shain May 28, 2024August 8, 2024

On-site day cares are being used as a recruitment tool. Turns out, they help more than just the teachers.

Posted inArticles

Cancer is killing firefighters. So this city is going PFAS-free.

by Susan Shain May 23, 2024August 8, 2024

San Francisco is the first major American city to ban the substance from protective gear.

New homes in Bozeman's Valley West.
Posted inMay 2024: A River Returns

Bozeman’s boom depends on immigrants but struggles to support them

by Nick Bowlin May 1, 2024May 6, 2024

One of the nation’s fastest-growing cities relies on a vulnerable population of workers to fuel its economic explosion.

New homes in Bozeman's Valley West.
Posted inMay 2024: A River Returns

Los motivos ocultos de la prosperidad de Bozeman

by Nick Bowlin May 1, 2024May 6, 2024

El auge económico de una de las ciudades estadounidenses con mayor crecimiento depende del trabajo de un grupo vulnerable de personas.

Posted inArticles

These Washington nurses want their hospital to be more like Oregon

by Susan Shain April 19, 2024August 8, 2024

Nurses at PeaceHealth Southwest, in Vancouver, Washington, protest unsafe staffing and pay.

Posted inJanuary 1, 2024: January 2024

Labor unions and environmentalists are working together on the energy transition

by Brooke Larsen January 1, 2024March 30, 2024

In 2023, groups found solidarity on the climate, but work lies ahead.

Posted inArticles

New Mexico’s displaced coal miners have gotten the shaft on severance pay

by Nick Bowlin November 7, 2023January 31, 2024

The state’s just transition plans promised by the Energy Transition Act haven’t panned out for many workers.

Posts pagination

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Most popular stories

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