As the Gila Wilderness turns 100, the Wilderness Act is still a living law
Wilderness areas are changing in profound ways — and so are our ideas about them.
Water inequality on the Colorado River
A new accounting reveals deep disparities in Western water consumption.
The race to understand the risks of the energy transition on wildlife
Researchers are trying to understand how utility-scale solar affects New Mexico pronghorn.
Molé Negro
A poem by Alison Hawthorne Deming.
New York’s Whitney Biennial turns its attention to the West
Contemporary artists and Western aesthetics get their due with ‘Western art’ for the 21st century.
What if the future is the past?
Degrowth offers a path for dealing with our serious environmental issues.
Learning how to live and die with long COVID
The late artist David Wojnarowicz’s work has brought me back from the dead.
On wild hearts and wilderness
Why protecting places matter.
Elusive elephants, zany zebras and Idaho anti-anthropophagists
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
New life landmarks and fond farewells
HCN welcomes good news among staffers and thanks a longtime board member who’s stepping away.
Trump vs. Biden on the climate
The next presidential election will have huge ramifications for the planet.
‘It’s our stories that ground us to home’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
Spring on Alaska’s Unuk River shouldn’t mean fighting for our way of life
Transboundary-mining pollution threatens our sovereign rights.
This Montana school solved its teacher shortage by opening a day care
On-site day cares are being used as a recruitment tool. Turns out, they help more than just the teachers.
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In This Issue
June 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
As New Mexico’s Gila Wilderness Area — the nation’s first designated wilderness — turns 100, HCN considers how the nature — and concept — of wilderness have changed over the years. Political conflict, violence and bigotry have deep roots in the Western U.S., as the…
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Water
The West’s wetlands are struggling. Some have been overlooked altogether.
What’s next for the Owyhee Canyonlands?
When dams come down, what happens to the ocean?
Wildlife
Killing one owl to save another
When is it appropriate to call out bad trail etiquette?
Audio: The Joshua tree-yucca moth link
Public Lands
Federal grazing lands fail their checkup
Will changes at San Gabriel Mountains National Monument serve LA’s communities of color?
An environmental justice coalition for all
Indigenous Affairs
A wildflower is teaching the non-Native public about food sovereignty
Undamming the Klamath
Art without the mask of Native identity
Communities
When school lunch is free
Denver’s new immigration plan, explained
Denver lanza programa de asistencia para solicitantes de asilo
Books
The end of a frontier dream amid the Unabomber’s reign of terror
Desert Subdivision: The paradox of naming a development after Edward Abbey
History, addiction and community in Tommy Orange’s latest novel
In the News
Save public lands: Put solar on Walmart!
Parking lots and big-box store roofs could generate oodles of clean power.