High Country News

High Country News is the nation's leading source of reporting on the Western United States. Through in-depth reporting, High Country News covers the West’s social, political and ecological issues.

High Country News

Know the West.

Do over

CONTRIBUTORS

ON THE COVER

LETTERS • High Country News is dedicated to independent journalism, informed debate and discourse in the public interest. We welcome letters through digital media and the post. Send us a letter, find us on social media, or email us at editor@hcn.org.

Lalíik • Yakama people gather to remember what the land was like before the Hanford Site.

Smoke alarm • A citizen science initiative is piecing together how wildfire smoke changes bird behavior.

Morning Mist

The inequity of heat • Extreme heat doesn’t discriminate; the ability to escape it does.

A deer corridor through sprawl • How one fast-growing Utah exurb is trying to preserve a path for migrating ungulates.

The end of a journey

A silicon rush in the West • Is the region ready for more of the world’s thirstiest technology?

The land of accessible child care • New Mexico has used oil and gas revenues and COVID funds to become a leader in early childhood education.

Thank you, readers! • Your generous and dedicated support makes these pages possible.

Memories of summer road trips

After the Floods • When historic storms hit California in 2023, the safety net failed small farmers.

The Vision of Little Shell • How Ayabe-way-we-tung fought for his people in the face of colonization.

The tundra provides • Picking blueberries and other forms of sustenance.

Come and get your love • Indigenous people deserve gushy romance novels.

After despair comes repair • Can words change how we think about climate change?

Heard Around the West • Tips about Western oddities are appreciated and often shared in this column. Write heard@hcn.org.

#IAM THE WEST