Tribal college and university presidents discuss how they’re navigating the fluctuating budget changes to higher education and its impacts on tribal communities. buff.ly/8xQraXV

Who is furloughed, and who isn’t, remains uncertain, according to agency employees and observers interviewed by High Country News; it is not being carried out in an orderly or consistent fashion across the agency.

National parks left their gates open the last time the government shut down and sent park rangers home in late 2018, and national parks paid a high price. buff.ly/FDJXa6x

Researchers find that the best bear-safety road signs are authoritative, engaging and persuasive. buff.ly/xgARJu6

On the necessity of recharging the spirit in order to keep fighting. buff.ly/AYFPm8w

Under the federal government shutdown, public lands agencies say they’ll keep parks open and continue oil and gas permitting — even as they furlough tens of thousands of employees. Advocates warn the approach will do lasting ecological damage. buff.ly/pRNqypO

October issue has dropped 🔥 From Phoenix’s shrinking groundwater to whale songs under Arctic ice, the West is reckoning with change. New issue ➡️ buff.ly/WDJzIny

The Trump administration’s war on wind is throttling offshore and onshore wind projects, in turn, hurting local economies and decarbonization movements in the West. buff.ly/Jzn2NOO

A coalition said no to selling its public lands. Will it coalesce around other public land issues? buff.ly/8scDKZG

The Trump administration’s plans would remake the agency and public lands. The deadline to comment is tomorrow, Sept. 30.

Efforts to restore and protect Colorado’s high-altitude fens help protect regional water supply and promote storage of carbon that would otherwise contribute to climate change.

Idaho’s newest wildlife crossing didn’t need to be built. It already existed near Coeur d’Alene.

My favorite job reminds me that working together is everything.

In 2006, large-scale ICE raids in Greeley, Colorado, and elsewhere, triggered massive changes to the meatpacking workplace that continue reshaping the center of the country.

Powerful food interests in the West are putting profit ahead of the environment. buff.ly/y54FfyY

After oil companies go bust, the state is left paying to clean up abandoned wells, tanks, machinery and sludge pits.

While often frowned upon, the story of sex work is as American as any, in which people use available resources to overcome obstacles, and should be viewed as such. buff.ly/kRy6pNt

A wild marmot somehow hitched a ride inside the wheel well of a Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance field truck and ended up taking a three-hour road trip from a field near Minturn, Colorado, all the way to Denver.

The Western U.S. in remaking its energy structure by expanding trade among power generators and utilities across a wider geographical footprint, potentially lowering energy costs, enhancing grid reliability and empowering renewable development across the West. buff.ly/K9yWnJk

🏆 Congrats to B. 'Toastie' Oaster, winner of a 2025 Covering Climate Journalism Award! Their reporting on WA’s solar permitting exposed risks to tribal resources & helped pause a project until Indigenous concerns were addressed. buff.ly/2qyNQ4Z

After 85 years, Luis Torres still has answers to our many challenges. buff.ly/bvjBpyS

The Trump administration is eager to abandon the Forest Service’s founding mission. buff.ly/eQQ96U0

Washington public lands commissioner Dave Upthegrove has announced that the state will conserve 77,000 additional acres of trust-held forest lands, shifting the balance of state trust-land management toward conservation. buff.ly/5ugFyLK

A defunct bridge near Osburn, Idaho, has been repurposed as a wildlife crossing over busy Interstate 90. buff.ly/I1U00bT

🚨 Tomorrow! Indigenous photographers: join us at 11 a.m. MT for tips on freelancing + working with HCN. Free event w/ @tailyrirvine.bsky.social, Bear Guerra & @clahchischiligi.bsky.social Register here ➡️ buff.ly/ftMGXen

The Chinese immigrants who built the Transcontinental Railroad quietly endured racism and violence, fostering a complicated legacy for Chinese-Americans.

In Doña Ana County, New Mexico, residents have long struggled to access clean water. Now, developers plan to spend $165 billion on a massive data center complex.

Bureaucracy and budget constraints couldn’t stop CalPoly Humboldt’s Native American Studies Department from founding an Indigenous foods research lab.

Tech is facilitating land access in new, and sometimes fraught, ways. buff.ly/d3MewN1

Narsiso Martinez aims to dignify farmworkers through his artwork.

Preserving forests is one of the best things we can do to maintain a climate that is conducive to growing food. buff.ly/7fxsw7R

A wild marmot somehow hitched a ride inside the wheel well of a Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance field truck and ended up taking a three-hour road trip from a field near Minturn to Denver — quite an adventure for the fuzzy little chonk — who came out of it completely unharmed. buff.ly/4zEA2UJ

Thank you CCN for recognizing our @highcountrynews.org and @propublica.org investigation into how solar developers use for-profit archeologists to harm Indigenous cultures! 🏆🪶 Read the story here: www.hcn.org/issues/56-2/...

In this first-person column, Inupiaq writer Laureli Ivanoff describes how cutting salmon with her family on the Unalakleet River, Alaska, reminder her that she belongs, and that working together is the cornerstone of everything that gives meaning in life. buff.ly/zBJS84x

After oil companies go bust, the state is left paying to clean up abandoned wells, tanks, machinery and sludge pits, shares Capital & Main. buff.ly/e0MObUj

At Fourth World Farm, we have rematriated over 70 native species, which encourages the repopulation of the valley in and of itself; everything that has been erased gets to seed and go back out into the zone. #IAMTHEWEST buff.ly/IVMy5Sg

The House voted to nullify three Bureau of Land Management plans, and critics fear many more could follow. buff.ly/EkP6elK

Join freelance photographer, Tailyr Irvine, HCN Visuals Editor, Bear Guerra, and HCN’s Indigenous Affairs Editor, Sunnie Clahchischiligi on September 23, 2025 at 11a.m. MT for an informative conversation about freelancing and collaborating with HCN.

The Native American Studies department at Cal Poly Humboldt fought an uphill battle to establish the California State University system’s first food sovereignty lab. It was the result of student initiative, community involvement, and a shapeshifting approach to learning. buff.ly/n29N5IU

A study this summer, led in partnership between the Yakama Nation, Heritage University and Northwest Indian College, is the first to document the presence of an invasive fruit fly in huckleberry fields on tribal land. buff.ly/llJ0GJu

“No other corporation in history has ever amassed this degree of control over the U.S. food system.”

After Trump threatened Canada, a writer discovers the uncertainty of the state’s food supply chain.

The Trump administration is turning environmentalists’ legal playbook against them.

How post-9/11 policy and immigration enforcement reshaped meatpacking - and the West. This @highcountrynews.org & @thefern.org investigation digs into how meatpacking's increasing reliance on refugee labor created an escalating crisis for the industry - and the small towns where plants are based.

Residents of Santa Teresa and Sunland Park, New Mexico, struggle to access clean water — but their county wants to bring a $165 billion data center campus to town. buff.ly/CjZMbVU

The Chinese immigrants who built the Transcontinental Railroad quietly endured racism and violence, fostering a complicated legacy for Chinese-Americans. buff.ly/tD8FyMR

Madrid was once a booming coal town. At radio camp, its youngest inhabitants had big questions about its past — and present.

Smartphone apps are facilitating access to private and public land in new, sometimes fraught ways. buff.ly/d3MewN1

As fire season ramps up, thousands of Forest Service firefighting positions are vacant.

when A & D come to dinner? Last time: minestrone and vegetable tart–roast asparagus and carrots on feta creamed with a clove of garlic on crisp baked pastry. Dessert? Those thin and crunchy gingersnaps with oats and buckwheat? What else? ✍️ A poem by Natasha Sajé.