An unexpected theme runs through our feature stories – the idea of “Making Refuge” in the West – as we consider how humans and other species can work together to enhance our mutual survival. June T Sanders’ photos and Abigail Hansel’s essay celebrate a community on the Washington-Idaho border that thrives despite anti-trans paranoia and extremism, while B. Toastie teaches us about the age-old relationship between lamprey and tribal communities in the Pacific Northwest. Alliances often spring up in response to crisis: Arizona mobile home owners facing extreme heat, wildland firefighters struggling with long COVID, Westerners working to ensure access to reproductive care. The challenges can seem overwhelming, as Nevada gold miners confront a powerful corporation, Indian Country awaits important Supreme Court decisions, and Westerners worry about the upcoming midterm elections. Arianne Zwartjes’ new book “These Dark Skies” doesn’t hesitate to confront modern-day brutality even as she looks for solutions. But Westerners still come together in joy, whether moose hunting in rural Alaska or discussing Native literature with Native writers in Montana.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/54-10-October-2022-cover.jpg?resize=500%2C603&ssl=1)
Letters to the editor, October 2022
Comments from readers.
A family works together to fill the freezer for another year
In Alaska, a fall moose hunt is a collective effort.
A smoldering threat to wildland firefighters
Long COVID affects more than 16 million Americans, and firefighters are at increased risk of getting it.
Refuge is a practice
Protecting ourselves and other species has always been an active endeavor.
Recollecting life on the edge of the prairie
Portraits of queer life and landscape in rural Washington.
Not-murder hornets, sentient chatbots and an AirBearNBear
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Pearl & Lee
A poem by Sean Hill.
Pacific lamprey’s ancient agreement with tribes is the future of conservation
Despite dams, drowned waterfalls and industrial degradation, the practice of eeling persists.
Can Indian Country withstand the new Supreme Court?
The High Court is set to hear a case that will affect thousands of Native kids. Is it qualified to judge?
Native Lit is more than a marketing term
Its use is just another fence, and we’re busting them down.
In a post-Roe West, abortion is on the ballot
Reproductive rights are in the hands of the states — and their voters.
‘You’re living in a tin can’
Arizona’s mobile-home residents are far more likely to die from excessive heat.
‘Estás viviendo en una lata’
En Arizona, los residentes de casas rodantes son más propensos a morir de calor excesivo.
Races to watch throughout the West
The midterm elections promise to be a referendum on Joe Biden — and Donald Trump.
How can we live with the constant threat of violence?
Arianne Zwartjes’s new book ‘These Dark Skies’ considers the brutality of our time, its causes and how we might change it.
Workers report feeling unsafe at Nevada’s largest gold-mining corporation
After a controversial merger put the company in the hands of Barrick Gold Corp, employees say the shift has incentivized production over worker safety.