• Your Dashboard
  • Features
  • Public Lands
  • Indigenous Affairs
  • Water
  • Climate Change
  • Arts & Culture
  • Subscribe
  • Donate Now
  • The Magazine
  • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Place a Classified Ad
    • Display Ad Info
  • Your Dashboard
  • Features
  • Public Lands
  • Indigenous Affairs
  • Water
  • Climate Change
  • Arts & Culture
  • Subscribe
  • Donate Now
  • The Magazine
  • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Place a Classified Ad
    • Display Ad Info
Skip to content
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.

Support

Water

This massive flare and the black smoke coming from the flare stack in New Mexico’s Permian Basin is a sign, according to Wild Earth Guardians, that the flare is not working appropriately and polluting above permitted emission limits.
Posted inArticles

New Mexico pushes back on Big Oil

by Jerry Redfern January 23, 2024February 1, 2024

New bills in the legislature could curb industry excesses.

Posted inArticles

In Northern California, Asian residents say they are being targeted by traffic stops

by Theo Whitcomb January 17, 2024May 1, 2024

The Siskiyou County sheriff’s department has been accused of racial profiling in the past.

Posted inArticles

Nyob Rau Qaum Teb California, Cov pej xeem Esxias hais tias tub ceev xwm tsom lawv tib co neeg dub hau nres nram kev xwb

by Theo Whitcomb January 17, 2024February 1, 2024

Siskiyou County Lub Hoob Kas Tub Ceev Xwm raug liam los lawm hais tias lawv tsom lwm haiv neeg xwb.

A view of Marble Canyon and the Vermillion Cliffs from above the Kaibab Plateau shows the northeastern parcel of the newly designated Avi Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon.
Posted inArticles

2023 in Native environmental news

by Anna V. Smith and Shana Lombard December 27, 2023January 31, 2024

The beat’s biggest news that you might have missed.

Posted inArticles

Stories that made us green with envy in 2023

by Susan Shain December 26, 2023January 31, 2024

A roundup of the articles we wish we’d written ourselves this past year.

The Glen Canyon Dam sits on the Colorado River, backed by Lake Powell. In 2022, the dam neared deadpool conditions due  to climate change-induced drought and increasing water demand.
Posted inArticles

Remove dams to fight the climate crisis

by Gary Wockner December 19, 2023January 31, 2024

Ten reasons bringing down these barriers are key for mitigation and adaptation.

A juvenile salmon capture and transport structure at Lower Granite Dam, one of the four Lower Snake River dams. Despite such efforts, multiple salmon runs on the river are veering toward extinction.
Posted inArticles

Lower Snake River dams closer to coming down with new agreement

by Anna V. Smith December 15, 2023January 31, 2024

After decades of litigation, the historic initiative among states, tribes and the federal government signals a dramatic change for the region.

An oil refinery on Puget Sound near Anacortes, Washington.
Posted inArticles

Washington lags behind in water-pollution oversight

by Kylie Mohr December 14, 2023May 16, 2024

State officials have been missing Clean Water Act deadlines for a decade.

A Christmas tree farm in central Oregon.
Posted inArticles

What’s on your Christmas tree? Hint: Not just ornaments

by Ruby McConnell December 8, 2023January 31, 2024

A lack of data obscures the possible polluted legacy of a holiday tradition.

Posted inDecember 1, 2023: December 2023

Take a toxic tour of the Great Salt Lake

by Brooke Larsen December 1, 2023January 31, 2024

Utah grapples with its future of industry around its dying inland sea.

A harmful algae bloom in Utah Lake in 2016. The bloom sickened more than 100 people and left farmers scrambling for clean water.
Posted inArticles

Another gunky, toxic season for Utah waters

by Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright November 9, 2023March 11, 2024

Harmful algae blooms, fueled by warming temperatures and nutrient runoff, plague the state.

Posted inNovember 1, 2023: November 1, 2023

When burn scars become roaring earthen rivers

by Kylie Mohr November 1, 2023June 26, 2024

Geologists in Washington are monitoring scorched forest to help create a better warning system for deadly debris flows.

A home with a swimming pool abuts the desert on the edge of the Las Vegas valley on July 20, 2022, in Henderson, Nevada.
Posted inArticles

What the fed’s new proposal for management of Colorado River reservoirs means

by Brooke Larsen October 31, 2023January 24, 2024

Lake Powell and Lake Mead remain historically low, but modeling shows risk of crisis levels has lessened over the next three years.

Posted inNovember 1, 2023: November 1, 2023

How Green River celebrates its melon farmers

by Brooke Larsen October 27, 2023January 24, 2024

Thousands turn out for Melon Days, but the future looks uncertain.

Posted inArticles

States opposed tribes’ access to the Colorado River 70 years ago. History is repeating itself.

by Anna V. Smith and Mark Olalde October 17, 2023January 24, 2024

Records shed new light on states’ vocal opposition in the 1950s to tribes claiming their share of the river.

Posted inArticles

The National Park Service’s efforts to protect Quitobaquito Springs almost destroyed it

by Maria Parazo Rose and Daniel Penner October 16, 2023January 24, 2024

‘Indigenous presence is vital to the stewardship of the land.’

Posted inOctober 2, 2023: The Dark Side of the Sheepherding Industry

Short-lived or shallow, it’s still water

by Kate Schimel October 2, 2023March 4, 2024

Notes on what is fluid and flowing, even if ephemeral.

Posted inOctober 2, 2023: The Dark Side of the Sheepherding Industry

Staving off a bass invasion

by Ben Goldfarb October 2, 2023January 24, 2024

As Lake Powell shrinks, smallmouth bass threaten the Grand Canyon’s native fishes.

A view of Compass Minerals evaporation ponds looking toward the Promontory Mountains where the Bear River feeds into the Great Salt Lake. Due to a record snowpack this year, there is water passing through this area. In 2022, the Bear River dried up before reaching the Great Salt Lake.
Posted inArticles

Environmental groups sue Utah over crisis at the Great Salt Lake

by Brooke Larsen September 11, 2023January 24, 2024

Plaintiffs invoke the public trust doctrine to restore the lake to a healthy level.

A BNSF Railway train travels east along the Colorado River in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, on its way toward Denver, following the same route proposed for the Uinta Basin Railway project.
Posted inArticles

Federal court derails proposed Utah oil railroad

by Samuel Shaw August 23, 2023January 24, 2024

Failures to assess risks to Colorado River and ‘numerous NEPA violations’ in project’s impact analysis highlighted.

Posts navigation

Newer posts 1 2 3 4 … 81 Older posts

Support nonprofit news

High Country News relies on donations as well as subscription fees to produce independent reporting on the West. Help continue the legacy of reader-supported journalism by making a tax-deductible contribution today.

Make a contribution

Find out more about how we use your contributions in our annual reports and filings.

Subscribe to High Country News

Get access to on-the-ground reporting from across the West and support continued coverage of our region.

Get our newsletters

Sign up to receive news and updates from High Country News.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Most popular stories

  • Lake Mead’s illegal road network is growing
  • Collaborating to create more resources for rural students
  • The New Mexico utility that wants to go all in on green hydrogen
  • Land-grab universities
  • Trump’s impact on Indian Country over four years

Featured Stories

Collaborating to create more resources for rural students

Collaborating to create more resources for rural students

After losing his sight, the Tijuana River Estuary offered other ways to see

After losing his sight, the Tijuana River Estuary offered other ways to see

Endurance and the spirit of wrestling in the West

Endurance and the spirit of wrestling in the West

The West in Perspective

Can words help us out of climate despair and toward repair?

by Ruxandra Guidi

Grabbing public land in the name of housing

by Jonathan Thompson

Who is spouting violent rhetoric?

by Jonathan Thompson

About High Country News

  • Our history
  • How to support HCN
  • Submissions

Know the West.

Get 2 free issues ↓

119 Grand Avenue
PO Box 1090
Paonia, CO 81428
(970) 527-4898

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS Feed
  • Contact Us
  • About us
  • Careers
  • Pitch us a story
  • Fellowships
  • Education
  • Support our work
  • Advertise
  • Syndication
  • Subscriber services
Get 2 free issues ↓
Magazine cover: January 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

Sign up for a free trial of High Country News. Learn what’s happening across the West today and see if becoming a subscriber is for you.

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

© 2024 High Country News. All rights reserved Powered by Newspack