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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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Encounters

“Encounters” is a serial column by Ruxandra Guidi exploring life and landscape during the climate crisis.

Posted inArticles

Urban wildfires shouldn’t surprise us

by Ruxandra Guidi February 14, 2025February 13, 2025

Southern California is jolted into a new reality.

Posted inArticles

Los incendios urbanos no deberían sorprendernos

by Ruxandra Guidi February 14, 2025February 13, 2025

El sur de California se ve sacudido a una nueva realidad.

The “Grandpa” saguaro at Catalina State Park in Tucson, Arizona, in 2022.
Posted inJanuary 2025: The West's Most Wanted

What an ancient saguaro can teach us

by Ruxandra Guidi January 1, 2025December 31, 2024

A ‘grandpa’ desert keystone species has seen more than you have.

The “Grandpa” saguaro at Catalina State Park in Tucson, Arizona, in 2022.
Posted inJanuary 2025: The West's Most Wanted

Lo que un antiguo saguaro puede enseñarnos

by Ruxandra Guidi January 1, 2025January 2, 2025

Un ‘abuelo’ del desierto que ha visto mucho más que tú

Posted inArticles

Audio: How nature can thrive despite human impact

by Ruxandra Guidi November 27, 2024November 27, 2024

What disturbance-loving plants teach.

Posted inArticles

Audio: What do we really learn from trail cams?

by Ruxandra Guidi September 27, 2024September 30, 2024

Documenting wildlife can bring us back to nature.

Posted inArticles

The absolute urgency of voting with the climate in mind

by Ruxandra Guidi September 23, 2024September 20, 2024

Though it’s been urgent for years.

Stargazing party at the Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter Observatory.
Posted inIssues

Can words help us out of climate despair and toward repair?

by Ruxandra Guidi August 1, 2024July 31, 2024

How naming the climate struggle matters.

Posted inArticles

Audio: What’s so funny about climate change?

by Ruxandra Guidi July 26, 2024August 8, 2024

Resorting to absurdity can make people care.

Posted inArticles

Audio: Undoing the dams

by Ruxandra Guidi June 19, 2024August 8, 2024

Bringing flow back to Western waterways.

The Bowtie parcel in Los Angeles, California.
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness

What if the future is the past?

by Ruxandra Guidi June 1, 2024May 31, 2024

Degrowth offers a path for dealing with our serious environmental issues.

Posted inArticles

Audio: The Joshua tree-yucca moth link

by Ruxandra Guidi May 2, 2024August 8, 2024

These desert species wouldn’t survive without the other. Can they weather climate change together?

Collage features Juliana v. United States plaintiff Levi Draheim and other young climate protesters.
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys

Youth are leading the way on climate action

by Ruxandra Guidi April 1, 2024April 1, 2024

Start thinking like young people to secure our future.

Wupatki Pueblo in Northern Arizona.
Posted inArticles

Audio: Listen to the Earth breathing

by Ruxandra Guidi March 18, 2024March 15, 2024

Blowholes are more common than you think.

A visitor takes a photo of “Cruz,” a mountain lion at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum who was rescued as a cub in California.
Posted inArticles

We need to reframe our thinking about what’s wild

by Ruxandra Guidi November 29, 2023March 14, 2024

Why we should take a look from wildlife’s perspectives.

Posted inSeptember 1, 2023: Food Justice

We don’t need utopias

by Ruxandra Guidi September 1, 2023March 14, 2024

What if Eden is chilling out in your neighborhood?

Tucson, Arizona's Rillito River as seen after a summer monsoon storm in 2022.
Posted inMay 1, 2023: Reemergence

The spirit of the Rillito

by Ruxandra Guidi May 1, 2023March 14, 2024

‘New animism’ seeks a connection to nature’s pulse.

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Most popular stories

  • People brace for impacts on land, water and wildlife after feds fire thousands over holiday weekend
  • Trump’s funding cuts leave the nation vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire
  • ICE in your community? Here’s what to know.
  • Bringing black abalone back from the brink
  • The Forest Service is cutting its seasonal workforce and public lands will suffer

Featured Stories

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

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

ICE in your community? Here’s what to know.

ICE in your community? Here’s what to know.

Trump’s funding cuts leave the nation vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire

Trump’s funding cuts leave the nation vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire

The West in Perspective

AI on public lands and Biden’s environmental legacy

by Jonathan Thompson

We must protect our sacred lands

by Clark Tenakhongva

Pay wildland firefighters a living wage

by Riley Yuan

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Magazine cover: January 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

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