High Country News

High Country News is the nation's leading source of reporting on the Western United States. Through in-depth reporting, High Country News covers the West’s social, political and ecological issues.

High Country News

Know The West.

The long view

Geologic past • See how the West is remade throughout Earth’s history.

LETTERS • High Country News is dedicated to independent journalism, informed debate and discourse in the public interest. We welcome letters through digital media and the post. Send us a letter, find us on social media, or email us at editor@hcn.org

Unmet scientific potential • Grand Staircase-Escalante’s age-old geology faces modern threats.

The crater and the canyon • The surprising link between two of Arizona’s iconic landscapes.

Our place in history • ‘Time immemorial’ appears in many stories about Indigenous communities, but what does it actually mean?

Thank you, readers! • Your generous and dedicated support makes these pages possible.

A wilderness warrior to the core

CONTINENTAL SHIFT • THE WOMAN AT THE CENTER OF A GEOLOGIC REVOLUTION

What’s past is prologue • Three books anchor readers in deep time while contemplating the future.

10 Wyomings • The oldest rocks in the Western U.S. tell stories of the Earth’s history.

Lessons from an Ice Age Survivor • PRONGHORN OUTRAN THE PLEISTOCENE. CAN THEY GUIDE US THROUGH THE ANTHROPOCENE?

Seattle rocks • A trip through deep time in the urban cityscape.

Weathering time • How geology shapes the world, and us.

Heard Around the West • Tips about Western oddities are appreciated and often shared in this column. Write heard@hcn.org.

Take the plunge!

#IAM THE WEST • GOURAV KHULLAR (HE/HIM) Baum postdoctoral fellow for innovative astronomy at the University of Washington Seattle, Washington