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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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Fish

Posted inFebruary 2025: Immigrant Stories

A veteran transforms a legacy of violence into a campaign for restoration

by Alexander Lemons February 1, 2025January 31, 2025

How a former Marine found a road to repair.

Posted inArticles

2024’s biggest conservation wins for the West

by Kylie Mohr December 25, 2024December 23, 2024

There were glimmers of good news across the region, from restored habitats to growing wildlife populations.

Salmon swim up a small creek above where a dam once stood.
Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations

After the Klamath River dams came down, salmon came back

by Juliet Grable November 29, 2024December 2, 2024

What it’s like to witness the first run of fish above the removed dams in over a century.

Ryan Madros takes a boat full of children, teens and adults to this year’s culture camp upriver from Ruby, Alaska. Madros and his wife, Rachael Kangas Madros, played key roles in organizing culture camp this year.
Posted inIssues

Fish camp in Alaska – without the fish

by Julia O'Malley November 1, 2024October 31, 2024

Yukon River communities fight to maintain their salmon fishing traditions.

Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie

After half a century, the Apache trout swims off the threatened species list

by Ben Goldfarb September 12, 2024October 18, 2024

Arizona’s state fish is doing well but faces a daunting future.

Phil Rigdon, Corinne Sams and Shannon Wheeler (from left).
Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing

What tribal leaders think about Interior’s dams report

by B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster September 1, 2024September 3, 2024

The federal government has acknowledged the harms of Columbia River dams. Now what?

Posted inArticles

Alaska’s permafrost is thawing, releasing a concerning amount of mercury

by Anita Hofshneider August 28, 2024September 3, 2024

“It has that sense of a bomb that’s going to go off.”

Posted inArticles

When the dams come down, what happens to barge traffic?

by Kim Cross July 29, 2024August 8, 2024

Farmers and transportation experts are figuring out how to transport goods if the lower Snake River dams are removed.

Posted inArticles

In an era of dam removal, California is building more

by Theo Whitcomb July 12, 2024August 8, 2024

Proponents say a new reservoir off the Sacramento River is environmentally friendly.

Solar panels sit on top of buildings and homes in Lapwai, Idaho.
Posted inJuly 2024

How the Nez Perce are using an energy transition to save salmon

by Emily Senkosky July 1, 2024June 28, 2024

The tribe is working to replace the generating capacity of the Lower Snake River dams with solar power.

Posted inArticles

$350M in federal land sales likely to benefit Nevada public lands and wildlife

by Amy Alonzo June 5, 2024August 8, 2024

See what projects are expected to get the funding.

Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness

As the Gila Wilderness turns 100, the Wilderness Act is still a living law

by Marissa Ortega-Welch June 1, 2024June 2, 2024

Wilderness areas are changing in profound ways — and so are our ideas about them.

Posted inArticles

Spring on Alaska’s Unuk River shouldn’t mean fighting for our way of life

by Lee Wagner May 29, 2024August 8, 2024

Transboundary-mining pollution threatens our sovereign rights.

A view over Iron Gate Dam outside of Hornbrook, California, in February. The reservoir’s water level has continued to fall since drawdown began in January.
Posted inMay 2024: A River Returns

Undamming the Klamath

by Nika Bartoo-Smith May 2, 2024October 4, 2024

Tribal nations are restoring the river while reclaiming and revitalizing their cultural heritage.

Scene through end of a pipe.
Posted inArticles

Fixing culverts can save migratory fish

by Ben Goldfarb March 27, 2024March 27, 2024

A billion-dollar program is unblocking millions of killer culverts across the nation to help fish get to spawning grounds.

Monica Blanchard, a fish biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, uses electrofishing equipment to track down Pacific lamprey at Boardman Creek near Granite Falls, Washington, last October.
Posted inMarch 2024: Fertile Ground

Saving the Pacific lamprey

by Natalia Mesa March 1, 2024March 12, 2024

Documenting populations of
the ancient fish is a step toward ensuring their survival.

Posted inArticles

How the Colville Tribes are restoring traditional lands and wildlife

by Rico Moore February 20, 2024February 16, 2024

The tribes are re-establishing native species wiped out by systematic colonization.

Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

Reviving the Samish Tribe’s kelp

by Natalia Mesa February 1, 2024February 6, 2024

Researchers are documenting the decline of once-plentiful kelp beds in an effort to reverse the trend.

Central Valley Chinook salmon are released at Nimbus Hatchery in Gold River, California.
Posted inArticles

Gov. Newsom releases new plan to save California salmon

by Sharon Levy January 31, 2024February 2, 2024

A wave of dam removals is planned, but salmon strategy relies on voluntary water cuts.

Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

As glaciers melt, potential salmon habitat collides with outdated mining laws

by Maya L. Kapoor January 23, 2024February 1, 2024

In Alaska and British Columbia, climate change may open new rivers to fish – and to gold mines.

Posts pagination

1 2 3 … 15 Older posts

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