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With more monuments, Republican backlash mounts
A proposed bill moves to weaken executive power of the Antiquities Act.
In the final days, our POC-in-chief delivers
Obama’s monument designations set a blueprint for diversity and inclusion in federal public lands.
Bedrooms for burrowing owls
In Oregon, the Global Owl Project builds artificial burrows to help owls recover.
How to name a rose
A recent book provides a road map to finding literature in nature.
Michael Engelhard
Jan. 13, 2017
Web Exclusive
Interior cancels oil and gas leases in Montana’s Badger-Two Medicine
The Blackfeet Tribe fought for this decision for more than 30 years.
Elizabeth Shogren
Jan. 11, 2017
Web Exclusive
Ranch owner builds in the path of pronghorn migration
It’s not clear if the new building could interfere with the animal’s long-distance travels.
Angus M. Thuermer Jr./ WyoFile
Jan. 10, 2017
Web Exclusive
In Canada, a move to protect data from Trump
Researchers and citizens are rushing to back-up government data on climate change and other issues, fearing political interference.
Sarah Tory
Jan. 10, 2017
Web Exclusive
Ski areas add warm-weather options
Forest Service has made it easier for resorts to include summer activities.
Allen Best
Jan. 9, 2017
Web Exclusive
For tribes, new designations are culturally monumental
Obama created national monuments at Bears Ears and Gold Butte, sites with huge significance to Native Americans.
U.S. House changes its rules to ease federal land transfers
The Western movement to transfer federal lands scores an early victory in the new Congress.
West Obsessed: Obama’s region-wide legacy
The staff of High Country News discuss the 44th president’s impact on the West’s land, energy and the environment.
Photos: A year around the West, for people who love it
2016 in pictures.
Bears Ears a go — but here’s where Obama drew the line
The designation’s concessions are unlikely to appease ardent opponents.
House Republicans want to ‘repeal and replace’ the ESA
After attempts to chip away at the law bill by bill, Utah Rep. Rob Bishop says he’d rather scrap the Endangered Species Act altogether.
The five biggest stories of 2016
From Sagebrush Rebels, to spills and surprise wins.
The Park Service centennial celebration’s damage to the lands
The numbers behind the 100th year celebration of our overflowing parks.
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Why a scientist cut down ‘the oldest living tree’
Obama, close the wolf-killer loophole
With more monuments, Republican backlash mounts
In Canada, a move to protect data from Trump
Top 10 reasons not to move to Bozeman
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Why a scientist cut down ‘the oldest living tree’
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Obama, close the wolf-killer loophole
Andrew Gulliford
Who was ‘the last wild Indian’?
Joseph Belli
Photos
Peace River flood survivors live with a dam’s disruptive legacy
Tensions remain between residents and the hydropower company responsible for the event.
Water
‘New Mexico’s DAPL’ is dead
The pipeline would have carried crude oil drilled around Chaco Culture National Historic Park.
Feds withheld key documents from Standing Rock Sioux
Still, Trump’s election reduces chances that the Dakota Access pipeline will be permanently blocked.
Can Trump undo Obama’s policies?
What the President-elect can — and can’t — do when it comes to water, coal and climate change.
Wildlife
In California caves, a millipede mystery
A new species in Sequoia National Park reminds scientists of what is yet to be discovered.
In Arizona, reptile poaching made easy
Why some wildlife crimes are difficult to prosecute.
Election roundup: What happened in the West
A rundown of the West’s political shifts and ballot measures.
December 26
Growth & Sustainability
Alaska’s gas pipeline dreams
A decades-long plan to deliver the state’s gas reserves to the market remains in purgatory.
Will a dam save the pallid sturgeon, or doom it?
On the Yellowstone River, farmers and conservationists clash over controversial infrastructure.
An end to old-growth logging in Alaska’s Tongass?
Does a Forest Service plan to end clear-cuts of old stands go far enough?
Tribes
‘New Mexico’s DAPL’ is dead
The pipeline would have carried crude oil drilled around Chaco Culture National Historic Park.
Through the years: Here’s what to read on Obama’s presidency
High Country News stories show how Obama wrangled the West.
What Trump’s Interior Secretary pick could mean for tribes
Rep. Ryan Zinke has long listened to Montana tribes, but environmentalists say he tilts in favor of extractive industry.
1995: Did toxic stew cook the goose?
Communities
How Oregon predicted Trump’s partisan politics more than a decade ago
Timber communities gave way to right-wing nostalgia and a wave of progressive populism.
Tolerance in Trump’s America
Amid fear and despair, we’ll have to find ways to talk to each other.
West Obsessed: The view from inside Standing Rock’s camps
In a special episode, we talk to reporter Tay Wiles, who is in North Dakota reporting on DAPL protests.
Books
‘The blurring of the then and the now’
An author returns West, looking for unexpected intersections.
Seeking ancient lives in harsh lands
A review of “The Lost World of the Old Ones,” a voyage through Southwestern archaeology.
The captivating magic of a dry, dusty text
An encyclopedia-style book published in 1933 offers surprising perspective.