High Country News https://www.hcn.org/ A nonprofit independent magazine of unblinking journalism that shines a light on all of the complexities of the West. Wed, 20 May 2026 18:58:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2-32x32.png High Country News https://www.hcn.org/ 32 32 229054741 High Country News, Mountain Journal and Montana Free Press hire Nick Mott as Report for America corps member covering environment in Montana https://www.hcn.org/media/2026/high-country-news-mountain-journal-and-montana-free-press-hire-nick-mott-as-report-for-america-corps-member-covering-environment-in-montana/ Wed, 20 May 2026 18:56:12 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=344159 Mott will report from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and his stories will be available to republish for free.

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]]> 344159 The Continental Divide Trail is being militarized for the border wall https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-continental-divide-trail-is-being-militarized-for-the-border-wall/ Tue, 19 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=343982

A new border wall has turned one end of the long-distance trail into a construction zone.

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]]> 343982 Migrating wildlife need lots of space between houses, research shows https://www.hcn.org/articles/wildlife-need-up-to-a-mile-or-more-of-space-between-rural-houses-to-migrate/ Mon, 18 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=343979

Sometimes a mile or more. Clustered rather than scattered rural homes could help.

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]]> 343979 How Interior helped pushed bison off Montana’s federal lands https://www.hcn.org/articles/a-top-interior-officials-former-ranching-clients-wanted-bison-off-public-land-the-interior-secretary-helped-make-it-happen/ Thu, 14 May 2026 23:03:35 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=343960

In an uncommon move, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum intervened in a case that involved the former legal clients of Karen Budd-Falen, one of his top deputies.

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]]> 343960 The Southwest’s superbloom was a beautiful nightmare https://www.hcn.org/issues/58-5/the-southwests-superbloom-was-a-beautiful-nightmare/ Thu, 14 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=343266

A writer experienced everything in spring: supernatural plants, chronic illness and a multi-generational curse called climate change.

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]]> 343266 The billionaires’ club at the center of America’s public lands fight https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-billionaires-club-at-the-center-of-americas-public-lands-fight/ Wed, 13 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=343851

A controversial land swap orchestrated by the mega rich could be ‘a harbinger of what’s to come’ for public lands under Trump.

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]]> 343851 Ted Turner owned vast swaths of Western land. What happens to them now? https://www.hcn.org/articles/ted-turner-owned-vast-swaths-of-western-land-what-happens-to-them-now/ Tue, 12 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=343853

The media mogul had a lifelong commitment to endangered species, ecotourism and supporting rural agriculture.

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]]> 343853 Colorado’s Arkansas Valley water confronts contamination, climate change and political drama https://www.hcn.org/issues/58-5/contamination-climate-change-and-political-drama-stall-clean-water-for-colorados-arkansas-valley/ Mon, 11 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=343191 Unburied sections of the Arkansas Valley Conduit in Pueblo, Colorado.

‘If you don’t have clean water, you really don’t have anything.’

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]]> 343191 The resilience of the elusive vaquita https://www.hcn.org/issues/58-5/the-resilience-of-the-elusive-vaquita/ Fri, 08 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=343271

Nature’s enduring mysteries buoy efforts to save the most endangered marine mammal on Earth.

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]]> 343271 The facade of the Red Wind commune https://www.hcn.org/issues/58-5/the-facade-of-the-red-wind-commune/ Thu, 07 May 2026 13:20:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=343155

There’s ongoing harm from Indigenous identity fraud.

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