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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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U.S. Department of Agriculture

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.

Posted inOctober 2024: Latino Vote

States own lands on reservations. To use them, tribes must pay.

by Anna V. Smith and Maria Parazo Rose September 16, 2024November 22, 2024

How schools, hospitals, prisons and other institutions in 15 states profit from land and resources on 79 tribal nations.

Posted inArticles

The New Mexico utility that wants to go all in on green hydrogen

by Mary Catherine O’Connor August 19, 2024August 22, 2024

The project, like the larger green hydrogen economy, will need to overcome skepticism from local communities and funding challenges.

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

Project 2025’s extreme vision for the West

by Michelle Nijhuis and Erin X. Wong July 19, 2024August 9, 2024

The demolition of public lands, water and wildlife protections are part of conservatives’ plan for a second Trump term.

Posted inArticles

When grasshoppers attack

by Christine Peterson July 10, 2024August 8, 2024

Is the cure for grasshopper outbreaks worse than the disease?

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 inArticles

Parques y vida silvestre en Nevada se podrían beneficiar gracias a ventas de tierras federales

by Amy Alonzo June 5, 2024August 8, 2024

El estado espera recibir un ingreso proveniente de la Ley de Administración de Tierras Públicas del Sur de Nevada.

Posted inArticles

The West’s wetlands are struggling. Some have been overlooked altogether.

by Natalia Mesa May 22, 2024August 8, 2024

Wetlands are carbon-storage powerhouses — and many are unmapped.

Roughly 5 miles separate the wildlife overpass just north of Daniel Junction, pictured, from the Trappers Point overpass outside Pinedale, Wyoming. Overpasses like these, along with underpasses and wildlife fences, have helped reduce wildife-vehicle collisions in the state by 80% to 90%, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys

For these mammals, migration is a means of survival

by Christine Peterson April 1, 2024May 8, 2024

Will Westerners repair a fractured landscape for mule deer, pronghorn, and elk?

Posted inNovember 1, 2023: November 1, 2023

What Montana’s independent ranchers need to survive: customers

by Susan Shain October 31, 2023February 22, 2024

Small-scale processing is on the rise, but ranchers still need buyers’ buy-in.

Looking into the many-sided canyons of the Kanab Creek Wilderness, near the newly designated Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
Posted inArticles

The state of tribal co-management of public lands

by Anna V. Smith September 22, 2023May 8, 2024

As National Public Lands Day approaches, Indigenous leaders discuss working with agencies to manage dispossessed lands.

Japanese beetle in the grass in Grandview, Washington.
Posted inArticles

Meet the beetle threatening Washington’s cherries, hops and other crops

by Natalia Mesa August 15, 2023January 24, 2024

Invasive Japanese beetles are drawn to flowers and fruit. Washington officials are trying to eradicate them from the state.

In Aurora, Colorado, a Say's Phoebe female with a miller moth, the adult stage of the Army cutworm, in its bill. During their migration, the moths are a crucial food source for native bird species.
Posted inArticles

The miller moth is hard to love, but it deserves our respect

by Samuel Shaw June 27, 2023January 24, 2024

Every summer, the migration of the small insect plays a role in the food web. Don’t be annoyed when they show up in your bedroom.

Posted inArticles

The recipe for restoring damaged lands is missing one key ingredient: seeds

by Christine Peterson February 17, 2023January 24, 2024

A new report highlights recovery solutions to fires, droughts and other climate catastrophes.

Posted inFebruary 1, 2023: The Reveal

What does the nation’s commitment to tribal co-stewardship mean for public lands?

by Anna V. Smith February 1, 2023January 24, 2024

The Biden administration’s policies signal a shift in lands management, but a sea change is yet to come.

Posted inArticles

Interior’s plan won’t solve the Colorado River crisis. Here’s what will.

by Nick Hagerty and Bryan Leonard October 19, 2022January 24, 2024

What if farmers competed with one another to cut water consumption?

Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge

Not-murder hornets, sentient chatbots and an AirBearNBear

by Tiffany Midge October 1, 2022January 24, 2024

Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.

Posted inArticles

New bird flu strain threatens North American wildlife

by Sarah Trent September 29, 2022January 24, 2024

Thousands of seabirds, geese, eagles and vultures are dead, as wildlife health experts recommend a revolution in disease management.

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