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.

The Earth loves in species

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

The dubious legacy of a pseudo-Native community • The Red Wind commune raised white people’s consciousness about Native issues. The problem? It was all a facade.

The winter that wasn’t • How a nearly snowless winter landed differently in different places.

Get to know the Pacific newt • These amphibians may be cute, but they’ll kill you if you eat them.

The absence of clean water • The political drama over Colorado’s Arkansas River Valley obscures deeper problems.

What happens when we die? • A NEW NOVEL BRINGS MANY LONGTIME SUBSCRIBERS TOGETHER TO PONDER AN AGE-OLD QUESTION.

Thank you, readers! • YOUR GENEROUS AND DEDICATED SUPPORT MAKES THESE PAGES POSSIBLE

A LEGACY OF DISEASE

PINECONE COWBOYS • The future of Western forests depends on climbers harvesting seeds from the canopy. Now, the profession itself is imperiled.

A ghost town opera house battles the elements • In Death Valley Junction, a legendary ballerina’s hand-painted theater is slowly giving way to the brutal logic of the desert.

A beautiful nightmare • The queer horror of an off-season superbloom.

The resilience of the elusive vaquita • Nature’s enduring mysteries buoy efforts to save the most endangered marine mammal on Earth.

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

#IAM THE WEST