Gretchen King
@gbtking.bsky.social
Executive editor @highcountrynews.org News junkie; outdoor enthusiast; mom of college sophomore; optimist. West Slope of Colorado proud.
Big fan of @thenarwhal.ca This story is just one reason why. 🐻photos by Sonny Parker will delight you thenarwhal.ca/haines-junct...
Grizzly bear photos capture life in Haines Junction, Yukon | The Narwhal
These real, breathtaking images offer a rare glimpse into the lives of grizzly bears in the mountains and valleys around Haines Junction
thenarwhal.ca
This can’t happen soon enough (& I live on the Western Slope). Let the people ride! Story by Michael Booth at the @coloradosun.com coloradosun.com/2026/07/21/f...
How would a Front Range train work, what would it cost, and when would it start?
Colorado's Front Range Passenger Rail District revealed detailed cost and service plans as it prepares for a final vote on seeking a new sales tax.
coloradosun.com
Because we love to gamble so much, you can even bet on wildfires now. In today's sign of the dystopia, read @thatsmohrlikeit.bsky.social story about how you can trade on a wildfire's outcome 🤯 For @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/peo...
People are betting on wildfires. Should they? - High Country News
Fire survivors say “it’s morally reprehensible,” and experts worry the wagering could lead to arson.
hcn.org
I mean, always read @bengoldfarb.bsky.social but read this special fish story to really understand the resilience of salmon & what a little bit of flow can encourage. "Fish, it turned out, just needed water." For @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/the...
The curious comeback of Putah Creek’s salmon - High Country News
All the efforts to rewild a Northern California stream leads to salmon rewilding themselves.
hcn.org
You think you know Pacific newts? Well, you are NOT PREPARED for @highcountrynews.org new toxic mascot 🦎 the high country newt 🦎 reported & illustrated by the talented @btoastie.bsky.social Do yourself a favor & enjoy this read: www.hcn.org/issues/58-5/...
A generation raised in gun drills considers extremism. Is it really extreme or just part of their every day lives? Another @leahsottile.bsky.social excellent #longread www.thewesternedge.media/p/the-age-of...
The Age of No Innocence
What if all you knew was extremist politics? Welcome to being young in America.
thewesternedge.media
Go to Mars with @elenamsb.bsky.social in this delightful #longread about humanity and dreamers (and keep watching her space bc she is legit) harpers.org/archive/2026...
Redshift, by Elena Saavedra Buckley
Rehearsing for humanity’s future on Mars
harpers.org
Public lands everywhere have been under increased pressure after Trump's cuts to budgets & mass firings at agencies. Christine Peterson took a deep dive into what's happening in the Greater Yellowstone area, incl #infographics 4 @highcountrynews.org Dig in: www.hcn.org/issues/58-4/... #longreads
The Trump admin wants to consolidate @usfs.bsky.social & move the HQ to SLC. We've been through this before with the BLM, & it did not go well. Story in @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/for...
Forest Service overhaul sows confusion, concern - High Country News
In the Trump administration’s reorganization of the struggling agency, painful echoes of BLM’s past moves.
hcn.org
Utah is carrying out a study to kill as many mountain lions as possible in 6 hunting units to try and increase mule deer numbers. Does killing predators to save prey animals work? @thatsmohrlikeit.bsky.social reports for @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/uta...
Utah’s new study aims to kill ‘as many cougars as possible’ - High Country News
Critics say the state's attempt to boost ungulate populations lacks scientific grounding and transparency.
hcn.org
This incredible story by @mckaycoppins.bsky.social is worth the time it takes to read it. Articles like this are one of the reasons I love journalism. Damn good www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Incredible Story of the Cartel Olympics
A Mexican athlete said he was kidnapped and forced to compete for his life in a tournament of gangs. But was he actually playing a different game?
theatlantic.com
Not me crying bc a journalist's essay hits too close to home. Thanks @taffyakner.bsky.social, may you and Ezra enjoy more assignments together 😭💖
Taffy Brodesser-Akner@taffyakner.bsky.social · 5mo agoI took my poor son on a work trip to figure out if we could actually go on a vacation only to discover relatively early in the game that there is no vacation when you're working, which, what a relief. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/m...
This @blairbraverman.bsky.social essay really takes you there, gives you chills and will make you tear up. Gorgeous www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/m...
‘Their Power Feels Like Mine’: A Dog Sled Racer Says Goodbye to Her Pack
nytimes.com
Even if our winter has been terrible, at least we have people like billy barr. @jblevinscosun.bsky.social offers a charming profile of the local legend for @coloradosun.com coloradosun.com/2026/03/15/b...
Colorado’s accidental climatologist taps 52 years of daily winter weather reports to confirm a troubling trend
From his remote cabin in the once snowier hinterlands above Gothic, billy barr tracks decades of warming, snow-starved winters
coloradosun.com
What is UP with the #ColoradoRiver negotiations? Why can't these negotiators just get along? History, ditches vs canals and - could it be greed? - have something to do with it. @landdesk.bsky.social offers a ton of deep context for @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/the...
The Colorado River rift abides - High Country News
States’ stalemate persists as Lake Powell races toward de facto deadpool.
hcn.org
What's the deal w/homemade snow? Does it flow back into rivers the same once it melts? Can ski areas just make more when there's a lack of the natural stuff (ahem, Colorado)? Susan Shain has some answers at @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/sno...
Snowmaking could be the future of skiing. But at what cost? - High Country News
As the climate changes, ski resorts have begun relying more on machine-made snow, which comes with environmental consequences and limitations.
hcn.org
What if protesters became more like tumbleweed — mounding together, blossoming in scorched space & carrying the seeds of hope? @mayalkapoor.bsky.social offers the weed's history & influence for @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/wha...
What tumbleweed can teach protesters - High Country News
Learning from a reviled and inspiring weed.
hcn.org
When I got a tour of @washingtonpost.com back in 2017, I was wowed. They were fresh under big investment from Bezos, & the newsrooms were energized. It's disappointing & upsetting to see what the billionaire is doing to this important institution. I wish the best for everyone laid off & remaining.
"It is not wrong to seek solace in nature. But we cannot turn a blind eye to injustice, however far away it occurs." @highcountrynews.org EIC with some thought fodder www.hcn.org/issues/58-2/...
Ansel Adams in the age of ICE - High Country News
Ansel Adams took one of his most famous nature photos while documenting the American citizens of Japanese ancestry who were imprisoned at Manzanar during World War II. Our country is both the darkness...
hcn.org
If weather affects you, consider contacting your congressman about @ncar-ucar.bsky.social - good explainer from @eos.org eos.org/opinions/wha...
What Americans Lose If Their National Center for Atmospheric Research Is Dismantled - Eos
Five ways dismantling NCAR will cost the American people, and two ways to save it.
eos.org
I'm a geologist's daughter myself, and this essay really hit me 🥹 If you are a parent or have parents, don't miss reading @ninamcconigley.bsky.social latest for @highcountrynews.org Such a pleasure to edit and read 💖 www.hcn.org/issues/58-1/...
How geology not only shapes the world, it shapes us - High Country News
Deep time and how geology shapes us all.
hcn.org
"Time immemorial sweeps the debate itself aside & makes space for our ancestors to speak their silent gravitas from beyond the grave, prophesying a future so beautiful it defies the colonized imagination." Just wow from @btoastie.bsky.social for @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/issues/58-1/...
What does ‘time immemorial’ really mean? - High Country News
If you’ve seen the phrase time immemorial used repeatedly in Indigenous affairs reporting, there are some compelling reasons why.
hcn.org
Wolves don't know boundaries, and after Colorado reintroduced them into the state, they're moving beyond state lines. @thatsmohrlikeit.bsky.social checks into what that means for @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/col...
Colorado wolves are on the move - High Country News
Almost two years after reintroduction began, wolves are nearing the state’s southern and western borders.
hcn.org
Who's missing fresh powder this year? ⛷️ In the end, we all will. @hhansman.bsky.social ponders the stakes for @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/ski...
Skimpy snow makes life worse for skiers — and everyone else - High Country News
The sport may seem selfish, but it reminds us why good snowpack matters.
hcn.org
For about $1.50/month (or less if you go digital), you can give your pal the gift of @highcountrynews.org in their mailbox - a magazine full of stories about the complicated and beautiful West. I might be biased, but I'm not wrong! They will thank you for the whole year: www.hcn.org/subscribe/gi...
Having had some unfortunate dog-related porcupine run-ins, I was surprised by this @goesbykim.bsky.social reporting for @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/the...
The West’s vanishing porcupines - High Country News
Scientists are racing to figure out why porcupines are disappearing from their former stomping grounds.
hcn.org
“We’ve all had periods of hurt. And this music was the medicine we didn’t know we needed until we’re in it.” Give this @btoastie.bsky.social story for @highcountrynews.org a read to feel hopeful for a change 🎸🤘 www.hcn.org/issues/57-11... Heads up @longreads.com
Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation - High Country News
In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.
hcn.org
