High Country News

Land trust have been able to increase their holds during the last five years. Lower land prices and conservation easements on working ranches and farms have enabled greater conservation efforts.

Residents of the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco fear that redevelopment threatens to gentrify the area in a way that pushes out low- and middle-income black residents.

It's at Albuquerque's edge, it's the size of Manhattan, and it's happening, despite drought, recession and tightening state budgets. An annotation of Mesa del Sol's master plan explains how and why.

As water resources become increasingly important in the American West, new tactics for sharing among farmers, environmentalists and urban officials are showing how arid areas can withstand shortages.

High Country News offers a look at the Western U.S., based on recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, using a mapping tool from The New York Times.

When a nonprofit conservancy dissolves, their land trusts go into limbo, calling the restrictions on development into question.

Restorationists and environmentalists are placing their focus on urban streams and creeks, which struggle with urban pollution. Working to clean them up is turning out to be a good way to create jobs and stimulate the local economy.

This article from High Country News dissects the Arizona real estate collapse through the lens of one exurb.

High Country News reports on Fresno's infamous Taco Flat in this 4-pager. Seattle's Nickelsville and Portland's Dignity Village are held up as better examples of squatter settlements. Architecture and 'informal urbanism' of tent cities is examined.

As logging declines in Colorado forests, developers are preparing to build in pockets wedged in-between parkland. The proper use of historic easements is at the center of the debate.

With few options for obtaining more water, the small community of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, is going to replenish its dwindling water supplies by treating and recycling its own wastewater.

Libertarians are pushing ballot initiatives in six Western states to vastly reduce the government's power to regulate land uses. The initiatives seek to limit regulatory takings of land by requiring the government to compensate owners for any losses.

Many plans are underway in rethinking Denver's future -- from a new light rail service to high-density developments and new, mixed-use neighborhoods.

In California's Central Valley, farmers form a strategy for steering growth.

The razing of a luxury apartment complex in Florida has heartened environmentalists in their aim to keep out a Wal-Mart, Hernando Today reports.

The rush to develop energy in the Rocky Mountain West creates conflict between private surface and sub-surface property rights.

In California, a new Forest Service plan for the Sierra Nevada gives precedence to endangered species, trees, and streams over logging, recreation, and other uses.

As Arizona struggles with sprawl, the battle over state trust lands is heating up.

Interesting environmental science projects are being explored at the site of the world's most dangerous nuclear experiments.

A 49-year old marketing consultant is arrested for a string of fires targeting luxury homes in Arizona.