Meet the flower whose evolution is outpacing climate change
This common perennial blossom, beloved by hummingbirds and biologists, offers key insight on which plants might save themselves from climate stress.
Duck banding in the Centennial Valley helps save the lesser scaup
The longest-running study on breeding ducks has given Montana state biologists the highest-resolution dataset to aid in the bird’s survival.
Native nations sue over Endangered Species Act changes
Environmental work being done by tribes across the country will be made more difficult now that the Trump administration has more narrowly defined ‘harm.’
Toxic algal blooms are spreading across the West
Climate change is increasing the frequency of the blooms. Here’s what you need to know.
How old battles over land, power and identity continue to shape the West’s politics
Origin stories from an unsettled region.
The past is present
Reporting illuminates the moment we’re in and records where we’ve been.
New leadership for HCN
Plus a forthcoming listening tour.
The Forest Service is poised to hand off one of the West’s most visited landscapes
Critics say this is a test case for privatizing public lands.
Montanans are demanding better Indian education, setting an example for other Western states
Experts say good education is about relationships – and a constitutional amendment doesn’t hurt.
The crows in our midst
When thousands of these birds roost together, some consider it a nuisance. But can we learn to live with them?
Hail is a multibillion-dollar problem — and could get worse
At a Colorado cold lab, scientists race to better understand hail in a warming world.
How the Interior secretary has let down public lands and the nation
Doug Burgum was once seen as a conservationist. Reality shows otherwise.
As bears ‘spin out’ in southern Montana, wildlife managers are at wit’s end
Amid a record-breaking year of Western bear conflict, the historically tolerant Red Lodge community is grappling with opposing views on how to live with the species — and if a ‘fed bear’ really should be a ‘dead bear.’
American Samoans punished for voting in Alaska get relief after a yearslong nightmare
Alaska officials accused American Samoans caught in a unique legal limbo of illegally voting but finally dropped those charges this month.
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High Country News Classifieds
- High Country News is seeking a mission-driven, experienced, and ambitious teammate to serve as our Charitable Gifts Advisor. The ideal candidate will bring a deep interest and understanding of HCN's mission to inform and inspire people to act on behalf […]
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
What will happen to the Grand Canyon as water levels drop?
The massive infrastructure projects of the 1960s wouldn’t work today
On the road with a desert sage
Wildlife
Wyoming chooses public lands at the ballot box
Tohono O’odham fight border wall on sacred, sovereign lands
Hexing AI slop with queer magic
Public Lands
In Arctic Alaska, 1.4 million acres of federal land is shifting to state hands
Arctic drilling in Alaska won’t get environmental review in new proposal
The BLM may stop notifying landowners about drilling under private land. Ranchers are alarmed
Indigenous Affairs
Large solar project on Navajo Nation leaves residents skeptical
Protect Sandia Mountain, our church
‘Quite frustrating:’ what it’s like to have a treaty with the United States
Communities
‘Everyone deserves to have a good quality of life’
How Bozeman is preventing human-wildlife conflicts before they start
The GOAT of all goats, a mystery solved, and the rez dog who chose not to ‘stay’
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
Roads and wildlife don’t mix
Grizzly 399’s death sparks a broader conversation on how to live with wildlife.