Our changing climate is already transforming the West. In this issue, we visit a shrinking Lake Powell and witness the surprisingly swift return of Glen Canyon. The disappearance of Utah’s Great Salt Lake revives Latter-day Saints’ interest in environmental thinking. California’s forests are dying. When rising sea levels and destructive tides began gnawing away at its beach, one Washington community built a berm to counter erosion. Missoula, Montana, wants to guarantee public access to a ski hill on its outskirts. Why not power the West by putting solar panels on big-box stores and parking lots? The Biden administration is reshaping land management through tribal co-stewardship of public lands. A new book, Profit: An Environmental History, neither centers the environment nor demonstrates real understanding of capitalism. Los Angeles’ Hammer Museum examines Joan Didion’s relationship with the West. A simple glass shelf can embrace a lifetime of memories, and the year-round harvest of Alaska Native foods amply fills a family’s table in the wintertime.

Glen Canyon is defined by its finely sculpted maze-like topography, much of which has been submerged under Lake Powell for half a century. Credit: Elliot Ross

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