What it takes to unfence the West
Can virtual fencing transform ranching in the region?
A top Trump appointee was ordered to remove an unauthorized cabin from the Sawtooths. Two years later, it’s still there.
The Forest Service, which Michael Boren now oversees, appears to have abandoned any further enforcement action.
The Northwest poet whose writing is as expansive as the land
Freaked out about everything? Aileen Keown Vaux has a poem for you.
How a law to allow microgrids made way for a massive data center in New Mexico
Critics say a last-minute amendment made an “end run around public regulation” for Project Jupiter.
Permitting reform would de-fang bedrock environmental laws
Proposed bipartisan legislation would eviscerate laws meant to prevent irreversible environmental destruction.
Who gets a buyout after rural New Mexico’s flooding?
A new program offers a lifeline for homeowners, but the disaster aid isn’t available to everyone.
Diné leaders demand the return of Bears Ears, fully intact
‘They call it protection. We call it theft.’
Eugene could fund climate projects across the city
If passed, the measure would tax large corporate retailers to help the Oregon city meet its climate goals and improve quality of life for residents.
AI gets people into trouble in the backcountry
ChatGPT and other chatbots are the latest new technology to lead to wilderness rescues.
‘We come from people who work the land’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
Arizona joins Nevada to fight federal Colorado River plan
The Grand Canyon State is suing over Trump administration rules that would sharply reduce the amount of water Arizona receives from the river.
The future of wolf protections in the West hangs on the Ninth Circuit
An appeals court hearing could determine whether feds reconsider Endangered Species Act protections for wolves across the West.
How climate change is messing with the West’s weather
Record fires, floods and weather whiplash makes for a region of extremes.
What my dog taught me about how to live
The luck we don’t know we have.
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In This Issue
October 2026: Origin Stories
In this unusual issue, “Origin Stories,” we resurrect three High Country News stories on topics that continue to influence the West, sometimes in unexpected ways. “Rebels Revel in New Power, Polish” — from December 1980, when the then-newspaper was based in Lander, Wyoming — takes…
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Water
Utah’s coal country pushes back against data centers
Watersheds near Río Frijoles bear the brunt of wildfire
Native nations sue over Endangered Species Act changes
Wildlife
Will Coloradans choose the ‘right to hunt’?
OnlyMarms, dino doings, sailor cats and “Thank you, Jimothy!”
The ‘grandmother’ cottonwood trees bulldozed for the border wall
Public Lands
How old battles over land, power and identity continue to shape the West’s politics
The Forest Service is poised to hand off one of the West’s most visited landscapes
How the Interior secretary has let down public lands and the nation
Indigenous Affairs
Montanans are demanding better Indian education, setting an example for other Western states
Large solar project on Navajo Nation leaves residents skeptical
Protect Sandia Mountain, our church
Communities
As bears ‘spin out’ in southern Montana, wildlife managers are at wit’s end
American Samoans punished for voting in Alaska get relief after a yearslong nightmare
‘Everyone deserves to have a good quality of life’
Books
Why I talk to animals
On Mount Shasta, a photographic record outlasts living memory
Let’s go in on the American dream, together
In the News
‘Si, se puede’
Activist Dolores Huerta continues to inspire after 50 years.