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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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Water

Posted inArticles

EPA takes unprecedented step to remove uranium waste from the Navajo Nation

by Natalia Mesa January 17, 2025January 23, 2025

The decision opens the door for new ways to manage uranium pollution on tribal land.

Posted inArticles

Wildfires are too much for municipal water systems. In Los Angeles, firefighters tried anyway.

by Kylie Mohr January 14, 2025January 16, 2025

Water systems aren’t designed for unlimited demands during wildland-urban interface fires.

Posted inArticles

The Biden administration weighs in on Colorado River management

by Natalia Mesa December 3, 2024December 2, 2024

Amid mounting drought, changing federal leadership and stalled state negotiations, new federal proposals aim to chart a forward path.

Jade Stevens rests near Lake Putt on land in California’s Tahoe National Forest that is owned and managed by the 40 Acre Conservation League.
Posted inDecember 2024: Land as Reparations

Can land repair the nation’s racist past?

by Adam Mahoney December 1, 2024November 26, 2024

California’s approach to Black reparations shifts toward land access, ownership and stewardship.

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.

Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie

The future of New Mexico’s beloved bosque

by Anna Marija Helt November 1, 2024November 8, 2024

In a warmer, drier climate, restoration has its limits.

Posted inArticles

Migrating birds find refuge in pop-up habitats

by Natalia Mesa October 11, 2024October 28, 2024

A program that pays rice farmers to create wetland habitats is a rare conservation win.

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 inArticles

The mother-daughter duo fighting fossil fuels in Colorado

by Raksha Vasudevan October 8, 2024October 8, 2024

How Madhvi and Lalitha Chittoor teamed up against a proposed oil and gas development.

Posted inArticles

Will exploratory lithium mining continue near a sacred hot spring?

by Maya L. Kapoor October 2, 2024November 7, 2024

A judge will decide the fate of Ha’Kamwe’ as the Hualapai Nation fights the drilling in court.

Dead trees line the forest floor around Basin Creek Reservoir in Butte, Montana.
Posted inOctober 2024: Latino Vote

Wildfires could devastate Butte’s water supply

by Kylie Mohr October 1, 2024October 1, 2024

How officials are working to get ahead of disaster.

The living roof of the H2 Hotel in Healdsburg, California, both cools the building and mitigates rainwater runoff.
Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing

What happens when a concrete jungle becomes a ‘sponge city’

by Jonathan Thompson September 1, 2024August 30, 2024

Engineering for flood resilience can address storms heightened by climate change.

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 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.

President Joe Biden at the Intel Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona. Intel received the largest investment under the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods

A silicon revival in the West

by Erin X. Wong August 1, 2024July 31, 2024

Is the region ready to produce the world’s most advanced technology?

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

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.

The Bessemer ditch near Pueblo, Colorado.
Posted inJuly 2024

A new documentary confronts water scarcity in the West

by Natalia Mesa July 1, 2024July 1, 2024

In Mirasol: Looking at the Sun, Colorado farmers fight to save their communities.

Posted inArticles

Supreme Court curtails agencies’ ability to enforce regulations

by Erin X. Wong June 28, 2024August 8, 2024

The repeal of the bedrock Chevron doctrine throws climate and conservation laws into doubt.

Posts pagination

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