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High Country News

High Country News

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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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Dams

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.

Sign with direction arrow for Tolt Dam Flood Evacuation Route in Carnation.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie

Tolt River Dam false alarms prompt worry and distrust

by Hannah Weinberger November 1, 2024October 31, 2024

The town of Carnation has declared a state of emergency and is threatening dam managers with a lawsuit.

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

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.

Teck Coal’s Fording River coal mine in British Columbia at the headwaters of the Elk and Kootenai River watersheds.
Posted inJuly 2024

Pollution knows no borders

by Kylie Mohr July 1, 2024June 28, 2024

A long-awaited agreement will address Canadian mine waste flowing downriver into Montana
and Idaho.

Posted inArticles

Audio: Undoing the dams

by Ruxandra Guidi June 19, 2024August 8, 2024

Bringing flow back to Western waterways.

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.

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.

Larry Alameda (Yurok), left, and Javon Mitchell (Karuk) collect water samples as part of the tribes’ work to monitor water quality after the removal of the Klamath dams.
Posted inMay 2024: A River Returns

Scientists are tracking ecological changes as the Klamath River dams come down

by Juliet Grable May 1, 2024April 30, 2024

A giant sediment pulse — millions of cubic yards of silt, clay and dead algae — trapped for decades behind the dams is now flowing downstream.

Posted inArticles

When dams come down, what happens to the ocean?

by Natalia Mesa April 19, 2024August 8, 2024

A long-term study of the Elwha River Delta reveals lasting change — and a healthier ecosystem.

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.

A view of Marble Canyon and the Vermillion Cliffs from above the Kaibab Plateau shows the northeastern parcel of the newly designated Avi Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon.
Posted inArticles

2023 in Native environmental news

by Anna V. Smith and Shana Lombard December 27, 2023January 31, 2024

The beat’s biggest news that you might have missed.

The Glen Canyon Dam sits on the Colorado River, backed by Lake Powell. In 2022, the dam neared deadpool conditions due  to climate change-induced drought and increasing water demand.
Posted inArticles

Remove dams to fight the climate crisis

by Gary Wockner December 19, 2023January 31, 2024

Ten reasons bringing down these barriers are key for mitigation and adaptation.

A juvenile salmon capture and transport structure at Lower Granite Dam, one of the four Lower Snake River dams. Despite such efforts, multiple salmon runs on the river are veering toward extinction.
Posted inArticles

Lower Snake River dams closer to coming down with new agreement

by Anna V. Smith December 15, 2023January 31, 2024

After decades of litigation, the historic initiative among states, tribes and the federal government signals a dramatic change for the region.

The braided channels of the Skagit River, which were created by sediments washed down the river, are vital juvenile salmon habitat. The dams on the river have starved the lower river of sediments.
Posted inArticles

Seattle proposes fish passage on its dams

by Rico Moore May 5, 2023January 24, 2024

The Upper Skagit Tribe has been pushing for the move for years.

Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects

Can dam removal save the Snake River?

by Hayley Austin and Anna V. Smith January 1, 2023January 24, 2024

See the river as the climate changes, development continues and consequences grow with inaction.

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