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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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Plants

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

A wildflower is teaching the non-Native public about food sovereignty

by B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster May 24, 2024August 8, 2024

Oregon’s third Camas Festival highlights the joys and responsibilities of tending the iconic northwestern plant.

Rikki Longino, founder of Mobile Moon, in the garden at the Moonstead last summer.
Posted inIssues

A Salt Lake Valley collective brings gardening and queer communities together

by Brooke Larsen April 29, 2024April 30, 2024

At the Mobile Moon Co-op, LGBTQ+ folks find a safe space to nurture land and one another.

Posted inArticles

More than a year later, a record storm still thwarts subsistence food harvests in Alaska

by Emily Schwing April 9, 2024August 8, 2024

Destroyed boats, gear, berries and more left some Alaskans reliant on expensive store-bought food and neighbors.

A garden with native plants in Tucson, Arizona.
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys

The complex case of growing native plants

by Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton April 1, 2024April 1, 2024

As the use of native plants becomes more widespread, Indigenous communities could lose out.

Posted inMarch 2024: Fertile Ground

Underground seed banks hold promise for ecological restoration

by Josephine Woolington March 1, 2024March 4, 2024

Indigenous science is using natural regeneration to restore Western
ecosystems.

Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

Reviving the Samish Tribe’s kelp

by Natalia Mesa February 1, 2024February 6, 2024

Researchers are documenting the decline of once-plentiful kelp beds in an effort to reverse the trend.

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.

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.

Posted inDecember 1, 2023: December 2023

Horrible holly: A festive plant runs amok

by Steven Hsieh December 1, 2023January 31, 2024

Meet the scientists and conservationists fighting to save the Northwest’s forests from an invasive plant.

Posted inArticles

How to save the whitebark pine

by Kylie Mohr January 5, 2023January 24, 2024

The tree is getting federal protection. But plenty of people were already trying to save it.

Posted inArticles

Hotter summer nights affect everything from death rates to crop yields to firefighting

by Sarah Trent August 25, 2022January 24, 2024

What happens when the Earth can’t cool off overnight?

Posted inArticles

The most destructive forest pest in North America is now in Oregon

by Sarah Trent July 18, 2022January 24, 2024

The invasive emerald ash borer threatens the state’s salmon habitat, urban forests and agency budgets.

Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears

How a pandemic-related drop in Oregon Lottery revenues could lead to a rise in invasive plants

by Jane C. Hu October 13, 2020January 24, 2024

Spiky-stemmed gorse pushes out native plants — and COVID-19 is imperilling measures to keep it in check.

Posted inMay 1, 2020: Lives on Lockdown

Pro tips on physical distancing from the nonhuman world

by Maya L. Kapoor April 13, 2020January 24, 2024

Get lit, howl and mind your paws.

Posted inArticles

Trump’s Fish and Wildlife pick is entangled with industry

by Jimmy Tobias and Emily Holden September 26, 2019January 24, 2024

Aurelia Skipwith has ties to water interests fighting endangered species protection and worked for ag giant Monsanto.

Posted inArticles

A quick guide to threatened terrestrial and freshwater species in your state

by Jolene Yazzie and Helen Santoro September 5, 2019January 24, 2024

New rules would weaken protections for plants and animals listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Posted inAugust 5, 2019: From Prison to Fireline

The tyranny of lawns and landlords

by Kevin Kelley July 12, 2019January 24, 2024

Renting culture puts dreams of cultivating wildness out of reach.

Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime

Country-life shooters; moose acceptance; Phil Lyman’s unpaid debt

by Betsy Marston April 15, 2019January 24, 2024

Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.

Posted inArticles

Online privacy is for the birds

by April Glaser April 11, 2019January 24, 2024

As wildlife sharing apps proliferate, unintended consequences threaten endangered species.

Posts navigation

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