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High Country News

High Country News

A nonprofit independent magazine of unblinking journalism that shines a light on all of the complexities of the West.

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U.S. Fish & Wildlife

Posted inArticles

Wolverines may return to Colorado

by Christine Peterson August 9, 2024August 12, 2024

But can they survive in the warming southern Rockies?

Posted inArticles

Project 2025’s extreme vision for the West

by Michelle Nijhuis and Erin X. Wong July 19, 2024August 9, 2024

The demolition of public lands, water and wildlife protections are part of conservatives’ plan for a second Trump term.

Posted inArticles

Who is spouting violent rhetoric?

by Jonathan Thompson July 17, 2024August 8, 2024

Reflections on this fraught moment in history.

Posted inArticles

Repeal of the Chevron doctrine will have profound consequences for federal rulemaking

by Nick Bowlin, Joaqlin Estus, Natalia Mesa, Kylie Mohr and Erin X. Wong July 15, 2024August 8, 2024

Climate, public lands and tribal law regulations are now likely to face legal challenges.

Wilson’s phalaropes eating brine flies at the Great Salt Lake.
Posted inJuly 2024

Wilson’s phalarope to the rescue

by Caroline Tracey July 1, 2024July 5, 2024

A new Endangered Species Act petition could trigger major conservation actions to save the West’s saline lakes.

Posted inArticles

Endangered wildflower threatened by Nevada lithium mine

by Wyatt Myskow June 13, 2024August 8, 2024

Tiehm’s buckwheat is found nowhere else in the world, and the planned mine would sit square in its habitat.

Posted inArticles

The West’s wetlands are struggling. Some have been overlooked altogether.

by Natalia Mesa May 22, 2024August 8, 2024

Wetlands are carbon-storage powerhouses — and many are unmapped.

Posted inArticles

Killing one owl to save another

by Michelle Nijhuis May 10, 2024August 8, 2024

Is it ever the right thing to do? Two ethicists weigh in.

Posted inArticles

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is still a bipartisan unicorn

by Erin X. Wong April 22, 2024August 8, 2024

As a competing bill emerges, supporters defend RAWA as the ’gold standard.’

Posted inArticles

Allegations of Wyoming wolf torture trigger calls for penalty reform

by Mike Koshmrl April 10, 2024August 8, 2024

Currently, illegally possessing warm-blooded wildlife in the state is punishable by only a $250 citation.

Monica Blanchard, a fish biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, uses electrofishing equipment to track down Pacific lamprey at Boardman Creek near Granite Falls, Washington, last October.
Posted inMarch 2024: Fertile Ground

Saving the Pacific lamprey

by Natalia Mesa March 1, 2024March 12, 2024

Documenting populations of
the ancient fish is a step toward ensuring their survival.

Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

Can coexistence with wolves be bought?

by Ben Goldfarb February 1, 2024May 8, 2024

When Colorado voted for wolf reintroduction, it also mandated compensation for ranchers. The hard part: figuring out the details.

Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

The Northwestern Shoshone are restoring the Bear River Massacre site

by Brooke Larsen January 29, 2024May 8, 2024

The tribe is reclaiming their gathering place and returning water to the Great Salt Lake.

Posted inArticles

Will the Supreme Court allow agencies to continue interpreting ambiguity in laws?

by Robin Kundis Craig January 22, 2024February 1, 2024

If the ‘Chevron deference’ is overturned, federal enforcement of key environmental and health care regulations will be sharply curbed.

The sun sets over the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge.
Posted inArticles

The culling of Alaska’s bears and wolves

by Lois Parshley January 18, 2024February 6, 2024

As the state’s wildlife numbers decline, predators are getting the blame. The true threat is much more complex.

Posted inJanuary 1, 2024: January 2024

Defending the Tijuana Estuary

by Ruxandra Guidi January 1, 2024April 22, 2024

Stewardship saved a Southern California estuary from development. Climate change is the next challenge.

Huachuca water umbel at the Phoenix Zoo.
Posted inArticles

Tending the shoots of possibility

by Olivia Davis December 21, 2023May 8, 2024

On the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, a researcher contemplates the future of species we’ve tried to protect.

Grizzly boars take turns eating a bison carcass in Yellowstone National Park.
Posted inArticles

How grizzly bear poachers are getting away with it

by Ryan Devereaux and Jimmy Tobias December 20, 2023January 31, 2024

Investigation finds that Department of Justice rarely prosecutes grizzly bear killers under the Endangered Species Act.

Posted inArticles

Paws on the ground: How Colorado got its wolves back

by Ben Goldfarb December 19, 2023May 8, 2024

Five wolves were released in remote western Colorado yesterday, marking the beginning of an ambitious reintroduction program.

Deseret milkvetch, a flowering plant found only in central Utah, grows only between 5,400 and 5,600 feet elevation.
Posted inArticles

A Westerner’s guide to the Endangered Species Act

by Michelle Nijhuis December 18, 2023May 8, 2024

What you need to know about the law that’s shaped our region.

Posts navigation

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