-
![]()
Marc De Simone / Alamy The Chile Capital of the World Is Running Out of Water
New Mexico’s Hatch Valley faces its biggest test yet.
-
![]()
iStock / Getty The American West Has Way Too Many Fences
Ecologists are starting to better understand just how bad barbed wire is for wildlife.
-
![]()
OST / Getty Weighing a Fat Bear Is a Great Idea Until You Actually Do It
Alaska’s “Fat Bear Week” is not all fun and games.
-
![]()
Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty ‘What Is This Doing to Their Lungs?’
Wildfire smoke is taking a toll on cows in the West, potentially even diminishing how much milk they produce.
-
![]()
Kevin W. Smith / Maricopa County Parks and … Hallucinogenic Toads Are Too Popular for Their Own Good
A trendy drug comes at a high environmental cost.
-
![]()
Brandon Yadegari Moreno / High Country News ‘Our Next Option Was the Back of My Pickup’
Oregon is converting motels into homes for wildfire survivors with nowhere else to go.
-
![]()
Pieter Ten Hoopen / Agence VU / Redux You Can’t Just Throw Away a 200-Ton Boat
Alaska’s abandoned ships are turning into a multimillion-dollar environmental nuisance.
-
![]()
Gabriel Wolken The Alaska Tsunami That Can’t Be Stopped
Melting ice has left one small town on the brink of disaster.
-
![]()
Mike Greener / High Country News Sewers Are Now a COVID-19 Early-Warning System
Wastewater samples can give communities a near-immediate snapshot of how the pandemic is spreading.
-
![]()
Irina Zhorov A Growing Lifeline for Navajo Ranchers: High-End Beef
Livestock has long been a way of life for Navajo families. Now it’s also a way for them to make money.
-
![]()
Max Whittaker / High Country News The Pandemic Hunger Crisis Is Only Just Getting Started
In California, food banks are struggling to keep up with surging demand.
-
![]()
Jia Sung / High Country News An Endless Fight Between Snowmobilers and Wolverines
Conservationists want to protect an elusive animal’s habitat. Snowmobilers want to preserve a cherished pastime.
-
![]()
Sarah Gilman What It Means to See a Cougar
One brief encounter with a big cat motivated a search for others.
-
![]()
Chris Miller / AP Alaska’s Ferries Aren’t Doing So Well
The system that connects many of the state’s rural communities may soon shut down.
-
![]()
Luna Anna Archey / High Country News How Coal Country Becomes Solar Country
In one Colorado county, solar-energy-training classes are helping ease the transition from fossil fuels to renewables.
-
![]()
Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks / AP The Grizzlies Are Coming
Electric fences and bear-resistant garbage cans are helping humans in Montana adjust to the new normal.
-
![]()
Luna Anna Archey / High Country News A Year in Jail for the Death of a Fish
Has the National Park Service gone too far to protect the endangered Devils Hole pupfish?
-
![]()
Blue North Fisheries The Right Way to Kill a Fish
Cows have to be stunned before slaughter. Why doesn’t our finned fare?
-
![]()
Roberto “Bear” Guerra / High Country News A California Mayor Wants His Beach Town to Retreat From the Shore
In Imperial Beach, a dramatic solution to coastal flooding
-
![]()
Mavrick / Shutterstock Is Social Media Luring Hikers Into 'Death Gully'?
On one Instagram-famous Colorado peak, five people were killed in six weeks.
