Innholdsfortegnelse for May Vol. 57, No 5 i High Country News

FOR SEVERAL YEARS I served on the board of a rural school district, and every year, when our draft budget was presented at our monthly public meeting, the audience would fill with people concerned about higher taxes. Seniors on fixed incomes spoke about the precarity of their budgets, while people of significantly greater means railed against “irresponsible” spending. As a board, we were trying to keep class sizes small enough for good learning outcomes and to avoid having to cut art and music and Spanish classes. I typically let the more senior board members handle the tough questions, but one year, as a young mom, I felt compelled to speak on behalf of the intergenerational social contract: the idea that when we were in school, we benefited from the investment…

YOU, CYBERTRUCK, are not just repulsive; you are comical. It’s not your fault that you’re not really a truck. But if your operating system is listening, I have to tell you: You are the dumbest vehicle ever engineered. Your sleek, commercial kitchen-shaped exterior, which is called a “cantrail,” can’t even stay on: It peels off your body at high speeds when the glue holding it together malfunctions. It lives up to its name, because, in so many ways, this car just can’t. You and the other 46,906 Cybertrucks manufactured since 2023 have been ordered off American highways for immediate repair. You are a road hazard, a danger to other drivers. In ordinary circumstances, we would just laugh at you. And I do laugh when I think about the head of…

With lunar phrases I cry to diorama houses—adrenaline, scorn—on your hills I prowlto the frisk of minor keys, Ha,a “gullible vermin”—lecherous, deceitful, immoral, vile,remembering towns before rivers bequeathed them to highways, Ha,Roosevelt’s “beasts of waste and desolation,” Ha,Nelson’s Denver-to-Disappointment-Valley kill machine, Ha,5 million scalps, 7 million,strychnine and thallium sulfate, Compound 1080, Ha,recommissioned Jeeps, mounted rifles with high-powered scopes,a map’s crisp elevations,peripherals and foolproof systems, Ha,Predator & Rodent Control Branch of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service(joke sister of the “Bureau of Indian Affairs”) Ha, Ha,aerial hunting from copters, Ha, dying rabbit calls, Ha,rabbit calls leading to hounds,sterilizations, bait carcasseswith cubes of poisoned animal fat stuffed inside, Ha,toxic collars on sheep, Ha, beyond, Ha,beyond Bering Strait and shamanic ledge, beyond coyotl, iisaw, Canis latrans, Ha,Guatemala, Alaska, Ha,Gary Snyder, Ha,mad druggists, bounties,…

Estate planning — at any age — can help bring you peace of mind, knowing the loved ones and organizations you treasure will be cared for. The easiest way to leave a lasting legacy is by bequest. Here is some simple language you can choose to include in your will or trust: “I bequeath to High Country News, a nonprofit corporation, organized and existing under the laws of the State of Colorado, with tax identification number 23-7015336 and the principal business address of P.O. Box 1090, Paonia, CO 81428, the sum of $ ____ (or ____% of my estate; or the property described herein) for its general purposes.” For other giving options, visit our Planned Giving Guide. Questions? Contact us anytime: fundraising@hcn.org HCN COMMUNITY Thank you, readers! Your generous and dedicated support makes…

An exploration of life and landscape during the climate crisis. IN 1968, Stanford Research Institute scientists Elmer Robinson and R.C. Robbins produced a landmark study for the trade association American Petroleum Institute, which represents the nation’s oil and natural gas industry. The rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would result in rising temperatures at the Earth’s surface, they warned, and in turn that could lead to melting ice caps and rising seas and cause serious environmental impacts. “There seems to be no doubt that the potential damage to our environment could be severe,” they concluded. Their findings were buried, however — dismissed and later denied for the sake of profit. Meanwhile, CO2 levels have continued to grow exponentially. Misinformation — climate denial — took hold even as the…

BRYCE SPARE (HE/THEY) and TUCK (GOOD DOG) Lead backcountry ranger in Payette National Forest (recently fired and reinstated), ultra runner and backcountry skiier McCall, Idaho There’s this idea that queer, trans, nonbinary and two-spirit people live in urban areas. But they have lived and continue to live all over, and living rurally is where I feel best and most comfortable. As somebody who’s transmasculine and white, I have a lot of privilege, so it’s important for me to use my voice right now. This administration is literally trying to write us out of existence. It’s hard for it to be such a negative focus point. But it’s important to continue to find joy and live your life, and that’s what I intend to do. The reasons I want to live…

HEARTBREAKING AND HEALING Thank you for this outstanding article on the Wakasa monument and the issues surrounding its discovery, excavation and future (“The Topaz Affair,” April 2025). Kori Suzuki did a thorough and sensitive job researching and reporting an emotional and volatile subject, and he photographed the story beautifully. It’s not clear that Mr. Wakasa, his relatives and the Wakasa Stone will ever find peace and resolution. But I expect any resolution will come, in part, from Suzuki’s fine reporting. Tom Graves San Francisco, California ANOTHER SIDE OF THE STORY It would be easy to read “No helping hand here” (April 2025) and walk away with the sense that the Veterans Park Neighborhood doesn’t care about the needs of the unhoused community in Boise. Interfaith’s current location sits in west…

SHORTLY AFTER PRESIDENT Donald Trump took office for the second time, he created the Department of Government Efficiency to eliminate all the “waste, bloat and insularity” allegedly plaguing federal agencies. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has already donated hundreds of millions to Trump and whose businesses have tens of billions of dollars’ worth of government contracts, took the quasi-agency’s helm and set about making the government more efficient, or so he said, even as he pursued his other goal: killing the so-called “woke mind virus.” But Musk’s approach has been anything but efficient. In fact, it’s done little but sow chaos: Hours after firing federal employees, the administration — realizing it was eliminating critical positions — found itself scrambling to rehire them. And judges and government boards have ruled that…

First, a heartfelt thank-you to all who have contributed to our spring fund drive — and a quick nudge to get in on the action if you haven’t done so already! In a year when journalism is under attack and an administration in Washington is spreading chaos, your notes and contributions renew our sense of purpose. We’ve said it before, but it’s absolutely true: The West has never needed High Country News more. Fair-minded reporting by journalists with a deep understanding of the people and places they cover is like a miracle drug for our communities. Research has shown that it can reduce polarization, increase civic engagement and decrease government waste and corruption. HCN’s journalism gives readers a sense of agency and empowers them to become a part of the…

ON A SNOWY Saturday in February, seven just-fired U.S. Forest Service employees — my partner and I among them — gathered in a small town nestled against the east slope of the Washington Cascades, to mourn, rage and toast the end of an era. Each of us had worked for the Forest Service for at least five years — some for over a decade — and after years of seasonal work, all of us had finally, last year, been promoted to permanent positions. None of us made more than $23 an hour or ever received a negative performance review. We sipped whiskey from jam jars. We made a pyramid of Rainier beers on the coffee table and picked them off, one by one. We shared brownies, chips and dips, and…