High Country News is the nation’s leading source of news on the West. In award-winning, in-depth reporting, HCN covers the most-pressing social, political and ecological issues in our region.

Sign up for a trial Try HCN for free to start Water ‘We’re basically slitting our own throat’: Montana rolls back water-quality standards

Her fact-checking, writing and sometimes even photography has appeared in HCN, Audubon Magazine, Outside, Bay Nature, Sierra Magazine, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and more.

Jan 29, 2025 · In the spring of 2003, newlyweds Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison strapped into cumbersome packs and skinny skis and set off across the snow near Old Crow, in Canada’s Yukon. …

Jun 1, 2025 · See our letters to the editor policy. This article appeared in the June 2025 print edition of the magazine with the headline “ HCN welcomes our newest board member.”

Jan 23, 2025 · We welcome reader letters. Email High Country News at [email protected] or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.

HCNU classrooms receive free full access to HCN’s website and five decades of archives as well as the print magazine for sharing and lesson planning.

Sep 29, 2023 · April 24, 1989: HCN’s Guide to Outdoor Education in the West April 24, 2000: At your service: Unions help some Western workers serve themselves April 25, 1975: Who profits from our …

Mar 13, 2025 · The toxic legacy of Cold War uranium mining and milling has shattered lives, destroyed homes and created a pollution problem for an entire region.

Mar 20, 2025 · A federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of four hunters who faced civil trespassing charges for violating airspace above private land they never touched.