Rural America

Towns Across the West Face a Housing Crisis. More Sprawl Is Not the Answer.

The lack of affordable shelter in the region has dramatic economic and public health repercussions. Some places are working to solve the problem by building more densely.

Jake Bullinger

Indigenous Water Protectors Face Off Against the “Pandemic Pipeline”

Biden halted Keystone XL, but Enbridge’s Line 3 would pipe the same tar sands oil into the U.S. and across Anishinaabe treaty lands.

Clara Liang

Racing to Save Languages and Cultures, Native American Tribes Rapidly Roll Out Vaccines

Covid-19 has killed Native people at a faster rate than any other group in the U.S., but vaccine rollout in Indian Country has so far been a success story.

Alex Brown

An Open Letter to Biden from Indigenous Peoples

Trump wrecked the relationship between the U.S. government and Native nations. Here's how the Biden Administration can repair this damage.

Rural America In These Times

From Mad Cow Disease To a Failed Pandemic Response

Health officials did too little, too late to control an outbreak of mad cow disease in the 80s. Sound familiar?

Frank Carber

Here’s How Biden Could Help Fix the Rural Healthcare Crisis

Since long before Covid, rural health has suffered from federal misunderstanding and neglect.

Lauren Hughes and Sameer Vohra

Growing Food in Self-Defense

For years, Black folks in this small South Carolina town have tended gardens and raised animals to build personal resilience and protect their culture.

Gillian Richards-Greaves

Is the Walmart Family Capturing the Colorado River?

The Walton Family Foundation has been pouring millions into nonprofit groups concerned with the Colorado River — including media outlets that cover the issue.

Dave Marston

Remembering Charley Pride — and Country Music’s Long-Obscured Black Roots

Pride stood out as one of the very few Black superstars in a whitewashed genre.

Liam Kennedy

2020 Was The Year the Mask Came Off

We learned some things this past year that we shouldn’t forget. Here’s a roundup of stories from Rural America In These Times that bear re-reading.

Joseph Bullington

“This Is Why We Don’t Drink the Water”

Fracking threatens drinking water on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Meet the locals who are fighting back.

Elena Bruess

Our Food System Is Broken and Biden’s USDA Pick Won’t Fix It

Tom Vilsack showed his pro-corporate colors when he served as Obama's ag secretary. To build a just food system under his leadership, we will have to push from below.

Jim Goodman

There Are Only 300 Wolverines Left in the Lower 48. Why Won’t the Government Protect Them?

The Fish and Wildlife Service downplayed the threat of climate change and deferred to industry groups in a recent decision not to protect wolverines under the Endangered Species Act, according to two lawsuits.

Johnathan Hettinger

‘Buy It or Else’: How Monsanto and BASF Forced a Toxic Weed Killer on Farmers

Internal records show the companies knew crop damage from their weed killer would be extensive. They sold it anyway.

Johnathan Hettinger

Recognition of Native Treaty Rights Could Reshape the Environmental Landscape

The U.S. has largely ignored the nearly 400 treaties signed with tribal nations, but that may be starting to change. And some think that could prevent, or even reverse, environmental degradation.

Alex Brown

On Environment, Biden Needs to Do a Lot More than Roll Back the Rollbacks

President Trump gutted almost 100 environmental protections. Here’s a list of the ones Biden should undo first and why he must not stop there.

Jonathan Thompson

Regrowing Indigenous Agriculture Could Nourish People, Cultures and the Land

European settlement, government policies and monoculture have nearly eradicated Native American farming practices. A growing movement is reclaiming them.

Christina Gish Hill

Meatpacking Workers Say Attendance Policies Force Them to Work With Covid-19 Symptoms

As the pandemic rages, punitive attendance policies at corporate meat plants coerce sick workers into showing up, according to activists, experts and the workers themselves.

Heather Schlitz