High Country News

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Independent journalism dedicated to shining a light on all the complexities of the Western U.S since 1970.

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The Nez Perce Tribe is using solar power to help save the salmon and steelhead populations on the Snake River, and catalyzing clean energy transition to help loosen hydropower grip on the Pacific Northwest.

How the Nez Perce are using an energy transition to save salmon - High Country Newswww.hcn.org The tribe is working to replace the generating capacity of the Lower Snake River dams with solar power.

New Supreme Court decision will allow Western cities and towns to criminalize homelessness even in the absence of shelter beds.

Supreme Court gives cities and towns power to criminalize homelessness - High Country Newswww.hcn.org The Oregon case has been closely watched by Western cities and states.

“If I had to pick one bird species to venerate, it would be the long-billed curlew,” writes author and naturalist Priyanka Kumar.

In search of the continent’s largest shorebird - High Country Newswww.hcn.org The elusive long-billed curlew finds refuge in fragmented grasslands.

Federal regulation of environmental and conservation laws faces an uncertain future after SCOTUS repeals Chevron.

Supreme Court curtails agencies’ ability to enforce regulations - High Country Newswww.hcn.org The repeal of the bedrock Chevron doctrine throws climate and conservation laws into doubt.

In a career spanning only two decades, Bernal produced a body of work that constitutes a Chicanx imaginary, a worldview absent of discrimination and marginalization.

The father of Chicano art photography - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Louis Carlos Bernal saw his role as creating art of and for the people.

Opinion: The Biden administration has made progress protecting lands that belong to all Americans. But there’s more to be done.

Voters from both parties want enduring public lands protection - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Opinion: The Biden administration has made progress protecting lands that belong to all Americans. But there’s more to be done.

New Mexico’s above average levels of air pollution are harming infants.

Polluted air threatens the health of New Mexico infants - High Country Newswww.hcn.org A new study finds a link between air pollution and low birth weight.

A community science initiative along the West Coast is using volunteer observations to study the effect of wildfire smoke on birds.

What happens to birds when it's smoky outside? - High Country Newswww.hcn.org A community science initiative along the West Coast is using volunteer observations to study the effect of wildfire smoke on birds.

Colorado’s oil and gas rules are not doing enough to ensure that companies assume the cost of plugging their own wells.

Colorado’s oil and gas rules put taxpayers at risk, according to study - High Country Newswww.hcn.org The report contradicts claims that the new rules are the ‘most robust in the country.’

Crypto, AI and data centers are throwing a wrench into the energy transition.

Data centers could set back climate progress - High Country Newswww.hcn.org AI, cryptocurrency “mining” and our digital lifestyles imperil the energy transition — and the planet.

The new Public Lands Rule established by the Bureau of Land Management prompts employees to account for cultural sites, consider Indigenous traditional knowledge, suggest a co-stewardship agreement, and allow tribes an active role in the management of the ACECs.

What does the BLM Public Land Rule mean for tribal stewardship of public lands? - High Country Newswww.hcn.org The rule offers further pathways for tribes to proactively protect certain public lands.

It’s time to turn away from land ownership and back to land relationship.

The theft of the commons - High Country Newswww.hcn.org It’s time to turn away from land ownership and back to land relationship.

This month, HCN goes bird-watching, checking up on the health of two fascinating birds. In this issue: 📌Can the Wilson’s phalarope help save UT’s Great Salt Lake? 📌Will the long-billed curlew find refuge on NM’s ranchlands? Ditigal issue now live. www.hcn.org/issues/56-7/

The federal government has used the tribal need for cultural confidentiality as an excuse to not consult, advancing a plan to destroy sacred Yakama lands for renewable energy.

In green energy boom, one federal agency made the Yakama Nation an offer they had to refuse - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Federal rules and a lack of protection for sacred places left the Indigenous nation with an impossible choice.

Because of America’s unique way of administering elections, rural elections look very different than urban elections.

What being a rural election official is like - High Country Newswww.hcn.org And what’s worrying one expert this November.

From the building of the Hoover Dam in 1928 to current day’s removal of the Klamath Dams, listen to the flow of water and what it might mean to bring down the nation’s dams.

Audio: Undoing the dams - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Bringing flow back to Western waterways.

There's a severe lack of data on how utility-scale solar installations impact vulnerable pronghorn herds in the Four Corners region; one group of scientists is trying to change that.

The race to understand the risks of the energy transition for wildlife - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Researchers are trying to understand how utility-scale solar affects New Mexico pronghorn.

California’s increasingly intense storms are threatening unhoused people living in and along flood control channels, rivers, and washes.

California’s homelessness and climate crises leave unhoused communities vulnerable to floods - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Seeking shelter, people are living in flood control channels and other flood-prone places.

Cautiously optimistic about increased representation of “Western Art” at Whitney Biennial.

New York’s Whitney Biennial turns its attention to the West - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Contemporary artists and Western aesthetics get their due with ‘Western art’ for the 21st century.

Ever since I became disabled with the disease at the beginning of the pandemic, the force of Wojnarowicz’s art has hit me like amphetamine.

Learning how to live and die with long COVID - High Country Newswww.hcn.org The late artist David Wojnarowicz’s work has brought me back from the dead.

A new accounting reveals deep disparities in Wester water consumption.

Water inequality on the Colorado River - High Country Newswww.hcn.org A new accounting reveals deep disparities in Western water consumption.

It’s astounding that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee can solicit a billion-dollar bribe to sell out America’s public lands and not be immediately disqualified or even prosecuted.

Trump vs. Biden on the climate - High Country Newswww.hcn.org The next presidential election will have huge ramifications for the planet.

Thousands of young people are getting to work this summer with the recently launched American Climate Corps. Over half of the jobs are in the West.

The American Climate Corps take flight, with most jobs based in the West - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Biden’s climate jobs program will put young people to work starting this summer.

When white supremacists showed up in Centralia, Washington, some people weren’t surprised. The roots of the bigotry have been growing here since 1919.

How Western Washington history explains the rise of hate groups - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Not everyone was surprised when white supremacists disrupted a Pride celebration in Centralia. Some say bigotry has been a fixture here since 1919.

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Deer 255, a mule deer famous for her yearly 240-mile migration from southwest Wyoming to central Idaho, has died. She migrated farther than any deer known to science.

Deer 255 reaches the end of her journey - High Country Newswww.hcn.org The ungulate migrated farther than any deer known to science.

#Summertime is the best time to catch up on reading. Until July 31 get a digital subscription to #HighCountryNews for $1/month! ✨ PDF copy of the each issue 🗞️ Unlimited access to the latest reporting and stories 📚 Access to 50+ years of story archives ow.ly/GX4x50S7IiE

An essay considers what things might look like if we aim for degrowth and try to bring the natural world back to a past state. It asks: Is our future actually the past?

What if the future is the past? - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Degrowth offers a path for dealing with our serious environmental issues.

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

As the Gila Wilderness turns 100, the Wilderness Act is still a living law - High Country Newswww.hcn.org Wilderness areas are changing in profound ways — and so are our ideas about them.

People have created hundreds of miles of unofficial roads trying to reach the water as levels decline. Federal officials want funds to address the issue.

Lake Mead’s illegal road network is growing - High Country Newswww.hcn.org People have created hundreds of miles of unofficial roads trying to reach the water as levels decline. Federal officials want funds to address the issue.