• Your Dashboard
  • Features
  • Public Lands
  • Indigenous Affairs
  • Water
  • Climate Change
  • Arts & Culture
  • Subscribe
  • Donate Now
  • The Magazine
  • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Place a Classified Ad
    • Display Ad Info
  • Your Dashboard
  • Features
  • Public Lands
  • Indigenous Affairs
  • Water
  • Climate Change
  • Arts & Culture
  • Subscribe
  • Donate Now
  • The Magazine
  • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Jobs & Classifieds
    • Place a Classified Ad
    • Display Ad Info
Skip to content
High Country News

High Country News

A nonprofit independent magazine of unblinking journalism that shines a light on all of the complexities of the West.

Support

Alaska

Posted inArticles

How an unexpected storm reshaped Alaska’s west coast

by Emily Schwing August 7, 2024August 8, 2024

Disaster recovery is a long game and the boats and driftwood that pepper Western Alaska’s tundra are the perfect reminder.

Wild blueberries in the foothills of the Alaska Range, near Cantwell.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods

What the tundra provides

by Laureli Ivanoff August 1, 2024July 31, 2024

Picking blueberries fills more than just a bucket.

Posted inArticles

What does the BLM Public Land Rule mean for tribal stewardship of public lands?

by Anna V. Smith June 26, 2024August 8, 2024

The rule offers further pathways for tribes to proactively protect certain public lands.

Posted inArticles

Alaska’s capital plans to limit cruise ship tourists

by James Brooks June 20, 2024August 8, 2024

‘Juneau is hitting pause on growth.’

Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness

‘It’s our stories that ground us to home’

by Ḵaa Yahaayí Shkalneegi Muriel Reid May 30, 2024May 29, 2024

#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.

Posted inArticles

Spring on Alaska’s Unuk River shouldn’t mean fighting for our way of life

by Lee Wagner May 29, 2024August 8, 2024

Transboundary-mining pollution threatens our sovereign rights.

Posted inMay 2024: A River Returns

An all-lady seal-hunting crew

by Laureli Ivanoff May 1, 2024April 30, 2024

Seeking sustenance from the sea.

Posted inMay 2024: A River Returns

Bird-naming brouhahas, buggy burritos and a goat-milking meetup

by Tiffany Midge May 1, 2024April 30, 2024

Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.

Posted inArticles

Is Biden a public-lands protector? 

by Jonathan Thompson April 25, 2024August 8, 2024

The administration makes the biggest land-management moves in a half century.

Posted inArticles

More than a year later, a record storm still thwarts subsistence food harvests in Alaska

by Emily Schwing April 9, 2024August 8, 2024

Destroyed boats, gear, berries and more left some Alaskans reliant on expensive store-bought food and neighbors.

Scene through end of a pipe.
Posted inArticles

Fixing culverts can save migratory fish

by Ben Goldfarb March 27, 2024March 27, 2024

A billion-dollar program is unblocking millions of killer culverts across the nation to help fish get to spawning grounds.

Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

Learning to live with musk oxen

by Megan Gannon February 1, 2024May 8, 2024

The species were introduced to Alaska’s Seward Peninsula decades ago, without local consent. Now they pose danger to life and property.

A black bear in the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.
Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

A bear hunt illuminates the complexities of a marriage

by Laureli Ivanoff January 30, 2024February 1, 2024

Will the gift of a significant harvest be individual or shared?

The West Dock Causeway is part of the oil and gas infrastructure on Alaska’s North Slope. Gravel is a prized commodity for the oil and gas industry. [
Posted inArticles

Alaska is short on gravel and long on development projects

by Emily Schwing January 26, 2024February 1, 2024

The state’s North Slope communities need rocks, and they’re hard to come by.

Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

As glaciers melt, potential salmon habitat collides with outdated mining laws

by Maya L. Kapoor January 23, 2024February 1, 2024

In Alaska and British Columbia, climate change may open new rivers to fish – and to gold mines.

The sun sets over the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge.
Posted inArticles

The culling of Alaska’s bears and wolves

by Lois Parshley January 18, 2024February 6, 2024

As the state’s wildlife numbers decline, predators are getting the blame. The true threat is much more complex.

Posted inJanuary 1, 2024: January 2024

An Alaska Native mutual aid network tackles the climate crisis

by Joaqlin Estus January 1, 2024January 31, 2024

The Smokehouse Collective invests in “our resilience as Native peoples to persevere in our cultures despite the global impacts we are facing.”

A view of Marble Canyon and the Vermillion Cliffs from above the Kaibab Plateau shows the northeastern parcel of the newly designated Avi Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon.
Posted inArticles

2023 in Native environmental news

by Anna V. Smith and Shana Lombard December 27, 2023January 31, 2024

The beat’s biggest news that you might have missed.

The author casts for trout with this tenkara rod on a creek in southcentral Alaska.
Posted inArticles

An angler goes ever farther upstream with tenkara

by Matthew Komatsu December 4, 2023January 31, 2024

How a centuries-old Japanese method of fly-fishing awoke a strong connection to hāfu lineage.

In 2022, The Kwethluk Fire burns 9,693 acres in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.
Posted inArticles

Wildfires are thawing the tundra

by Kylie Mohr November 15, 2023January 31, 2024

Researchers discovered recently burned areas emit more methane gas than the rest of the landscape.

Posts navigation

1 2 3 … 19 Older posts

Support nonprofit news

High Country News relies on donations as well as subscription fees to produce independent reporting on the West. Help continue the legacy of reader-supported journalism by making a tax-deductible contribution today.

Make a contribution

Find out more about how we use your contributions in our annual reports and filings.

Subscribe to High Country News

Get access to on-the-ground reporting from across the West and support continued coverage of our region.

Get our newsletters

Sign up to receive news and updates from High Country News.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Most popular stories

  • Lake Mead’s illegal road network is growing
  • Collaborating to create more resources for rural students
  • The New Mexico utility that wants to go all in on green hydrogen
  • Land-grab universities
  • How do you protect wildlife from sprawl?

Featured Stories

Collaborating to create more resources for rural students

Collaborating to create more resources for rural students

After losing his sight, the Tijuana River Estuary offered other ways to see

After losing his sight, the Tijuana River Estuary offered other ways to see

Endurance and the spirit of wrestling in the West

Endurance and the spirit of wrestling in the West

The West in Perspective

Can words help us out of climate despair and toward repair?

by Ruxandra Guidi

Grabbing public land in the name of housing

by Jonathan Thompson

Who is spouting violent rhetoric?

by Jonathan Thompson

About High Country News

  • Our history
  • How to support HCN
  • Submissions

Know the West.

Get 2 free issues ↓

119 Grand Avenue
PO Box 1090
Paonia, CO 81428
(970) 527-4898

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS Feed
  • Contact Us
  • About us
  • Careers
  • Pitch us a story
  • Fellowships
  • Education
  • Support our work
  • Advertise
  • Syndication
  • Subscriber services
Get 2 free issues ↓
Magazine cover: January 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst

Sign up for a free trial of High Country News. Learn what’s happening across the West today and see if becoming a subscriber is for you.

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

© 2024 High Country News. All rights reserved Powered by Newspack