FEATURES and High Country News COVER STORIES
Drilling Chaco A deep-dive into the oil boom ravaging the Chaco region and the Navajo communities there, along with historical context on resource colonization there, and the Indigenous resistance that has grown up there.
The Bid for Bears Ears My look at the effort to protect a big swath of Southeastern Utah, and the deep history behind it.
Silverton’s Gold King Reckoning The story behind the Gold King mine blowout that turned the Animas River orange and launched lawsuits and congressional hearings. May 2016.
The Rise of the Sagebrush Sheriffs So-called constitutional sheriffs are doing the bidding of the hard right to take over the US, county-by-county. February 2016.
Unlocking the Mystery of the Four Corners Methane Hot Spot Scientists rely on planes, satellites and automobiles to find sources of a concentrated methane plume in the Southwest. August 2015.
Lessons from Boom and Bust in New Mexico A deep dive into what happens to an oil- and gas-patch community when the price of commodities crashes. March 2015.
After a Ski Patroller’s Death, A Flurry of Questions A tale of the fallout from an avalanche fatality of a Wolf Creek Ski Area avalanche expert. January 2015.
Transportation Transformation (Light rail enters the West’s most sprawling metropolis) Battling Phoenix sprawl, at last, with transit. September 2014.
Two-wheel Revolution in Gallup Can bikes and trails save this down and out New Mexico reservation border town? May 2014.
The Vegas Paradox In Sin City, excess and efficiency walk hand-in-hand. Jan. 2014.
Haywired The power grid may determine whether we can kick our carbon habit. June 2013.
How the Mormon GOP Runs Utah with a Collectivist Touch One of the reddest states in the country and its socialist underpinnings. Nov. 2012.
SHORTER FEATURES, COMMENTARY, and NEWS STORIES
A comprehensive list of my work for High Country News.
Coal, Guns, Freedom? How the Trump administration — and many before it — have seized on the mythology behind fossil fuels.
National monuments protect meaning, not just landscapes Why a holistic view of the cultural landscape is necessary to protect the context of cultural sites.
One grid to rule them all The story of Lucien Nunn, Telluride pinheads, and an effort to better integrate the Western electrical grid in order to make it greener.
Jonathan P. Thompson 