A conversation with the head of the preventive search and rescue program in Joshua Tree National Park.
Kylie Mohr
Kylie Mohr is a correspondent for High Country News writing from Montana. Email her at kylie.mohr@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor.
Posted inArticles
Repeal of the Chevron doctrine will have profound consequences for federal rulemaking
Climate, public lands and tribal law regulations are now likely to face legal challenges.
Posted inArticles
What happens to birds when it’s smoky outside?
A community science initiative along the West Coast is using volunteer observations to study the effect of wildfire smoke on birds.
Posted inJuly 2024
When a utility sparks a wildfire, who pays?
How Western utility companies are trying to shield themselves from wildfire costs and liabilities.
Posted inJuly 2024
Pollution knows no borders
A long-awaited agreement will address Canadian mine waste flowing downriver into Montana
and Idaho.
Posted inArticles
What’s next for the Owyhee Canyonlands?
Supporters call it ’the largest conservation opportunity in the West.’
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys
Managing predators from the sky
How to harness drones for conservation.
Posted inArticles
Fund conservation as you drive
Colorado’s new wolf-themed specialty license plate joins a regional menagerie of critter-themed plates.
Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst
Fire is driving animals’ evolution
Can species evolve fast enough to keep up with changing wildfire conditions?
Posted inJanuary 1, 2024: January 2024
Homeowner’s insurance is going up in smoke
A Q&A with California’s former insurance commissioner about coverage in the age of climate change.
Posted inArticles
Washington lags behind in water-pollution oversight
State officials have been missing Clean Water Act deadlines for a decade.
Posted inDecember 1, 2023: December 2023
Does voluntary conservation work?
Can pre-listing conservation save the last native population of Arctic grayling in the Lower 48?
Posted inArticles
Wildfires are thawing the tundra
Researchers discovered recently burned areas emit more methane gas than the rest of the landscape.
Posted inNovember 1, 2023: November 1, 2023
When burn scars become roaring earthen rivers
Geologists in Washington are monitoring scorched forest to help create a better warning system for deadly debris flows.
Posted inOctober 2, 2023: The Dark Side of the Sheepherding Industry
The dangerous consequences of wildland fire dispatcher burnout
An internal Forest Service survey shows a critical link in the wildfire fighting apparatus is struggling.
Posted inArticles
Conservation groups sue BLM for rangeland degradation
The lawsuit alleges the agency isn’t conducting environmental assessments before renewing grazing permits.
Posted inArticles
How climate science won in the Montana youth climate case
The ruling in Held v. Montana is expected to bolster cases in other states with similar environmental protections in their constitutions.
Posted inArticles
People are starting a lot of fires in the Pacific Northwest
The Forest Service reports 197 human-caused or undetermined starts since the beginning of June.
Posted inAugust 1, 2023: In the Line of Fire
‘We have fire all around us and we can’t get out’
What happened when two experienced hikers got caught in the Bolt Creek Fire.
Posted inJuly 1, 2023: Waiting for Water
Elk calls have regional dialects
Whales, bats and birds sound different depending on where they live. So do elk, according to new research.