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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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Communities

Posted inOctober 2024: Latino Vote

The Native vote dilemma

by B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster October 1, 2024October 1, 2024

Every election year, Indigenous people grapple with whether and
how to engage in electoral politics.

Posted inOctober 2024: Latino Vote

Remembering Colleen McElroy, the ‘literary North Star’ of the Pacific Northwest

by Robert Lashley September 30, 2024September 27, 2024

In the last quarter century, this Black poet was one of the most decorated in American literature.

Posted inOctober 2024: Latino Vote

How do you describe a sacred site without describing it?

by B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster September 27, 2024October 23, 2024

Western journalism puts Indigenous reporters in a tricky position
where values don’t always align.

Posted inArticles

A dinner party at the end of the world

by Katie Hill September 24, 2024September 30, 2024

Scenes from a Wyoming wild game potluck amid a climate crisis.

Posted inArticles

The California Forever debate moves underground

by Erin X. Wong September 17, 2024September 16, 2024

A billionaire-backed company will continue sowing support, while residents weigh their options.

Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing

Venezuelan migrants use social media to counter xenophobia

by Anthony J. Wallace September 1, 2024August 30, 2024

In the face of anti-immigration rhetoric, content creators show the ‘good outnumber the bad.’

South Los Angeles, California.
Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing

The scrappy store that gave me everything when I had nothing

by Tina Vasquez September 1, 2024August 30, 2024

Before its demise, the 99 Cents Only chain fed generations of families across four states.

Posted inArticles

Utah wants your public land — for more roads

by Jonathan Thompson August 29, 2024August 28, 2024

The state wants to build a highway through tortoise habitat.

Posted inArticles

The hunt for a great third place

by Stephanie Cher August 26, 2024August 28, 2024

The significance of discovering a place with charm, wit and different flavors of personality.

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.

Posted inArticles

As cities enact camping bans, where will California’s unhoused population go?

by Erin Rode August 8, 2024August 8, 2024

The number of people experiencing homelessness vastly exceeds the number of available shelter beds in the state.

Posted inArticles

How an unexpected storm reshaped Alaska’s west coast

by Emily Schwing August 7, 2024August 8, 2024

Disaster recovery is a long game and the boats and driftwood that pepper Western Alaska’s tundra are the perfect reminder.

Posted inArticles

Banning concentrated feedlots is on the ballot in Sonoma

by Nina Elkadi August 6, 2024August 8, 2024

Locals worry what this could mean for a region dominated by agritourism.

Posted inArticles

Is your community ready for a wildfire?

by Erin X. Wong August 5, 2024August 12, 2024

Local governments throughout the West are investing in wildfire defense. Here’s how to know if yours is one of them.

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.

Sleeping Buffalo and Medicine Rocks, Saco vicinity, Phillips County, Montana. October 1994
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods

The vision of Little Shell

by Chris La Tray August 1, 2024July 31, 2024

How Ayabe-way-we-tung guided his tribe in the midst of colonization.

Boats carry Hanford Journey attendees down the Columbia River in Washington toward Hanford reactors, one that’s cocooned and another that’s decommissioned but still standing.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods

Indigenous celebration of Hanford remembers the site before nuclear contamination

by B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster August 1, 2024August 1, 2024

At the fourth annual Hanford Journey, Yakama Nation youth, elders and scientists share stories about a land that is a part of them.

Dusk in Phoenix during July 2023, when the city saw 20 straight days of extreme heat.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods

The inequity of heat

by Jonathan Thompson August 1, 2024August 1, 2024

Extreme heat doesn’t discriminate; the ability to escape it does.

Teacher Sabrina Moquino works with students during circle time in a pre-K class at the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe’s Child Development Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. With the new state child-care program, the center no longer has to cap the number of students that receive subsidies.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods

How New Mexico made child care free for most families

by Susan Shain August 1, 2024July 31, 2024

The state, long known for its challenges with child wellbeing, is now a leader in early childhood education.

Wild blueberries in the foothills of the Alaska Range, near Cantwell.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods

What the tundra provides

by Laureli Ivanoff August 1, 2024October 30, 2024

Picking blueberries fills more than just a bucket.

Posts pagination

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Most popular stories

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

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

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The West in Perspective

AI on public lands and Biden’s environmental legacy

by Jonathan Thompson

We must protect our sacred lands

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Pay wildland firefighters a living wage

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