News
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The year 2011, in apocalyptic weather events
Fire and flood, snowstorms and droughts, downburst winds and desert haboobs -- 2011 brought incredibly wacky weather to the West.
by Jonathan Thompson, Dec 25, 2011 -
Water-quality standards unfairly burden rural communities
The plight of a small water and sewer association in rural Mora, N.M -- caught in a tangle of federal and state clean water rules it can’t afford to meet -- echoes experienced by other rural communities around the West.
by Judith Lewis Mernit, Dec 20, 2011 -
Tribes try selective fishing to boost catch without harming wild salmon
Washington's Colville Tribes experiment with selective fishing techniques and bring home more salmon than before.
by Dawn Stover, Dec 15, 2011 -
Land trusts thrive despite, and because of, the Great Recession
The recession has afforded a unique opportunity for land trusts to protect more of the West’s private open land through direct acquisitions and, increasingly, conservation easements.
by Jon Christensen, Jenny Rempel and Judee Burr , Dec 13, 2011 -
The man beneath the hat: Ken Salazar's search for middle ground
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, a twelfth-generation Latino-American, works politely and quietly but stubbornly to protect the West’s environment in polarized times.
by Kate Sheppard, Dec 11, 2011 -
Did the Park Service bow to pressure from Coca Cola on its bottle ban?
A former Grand Canyon National Park superintendent believes that corporate pressure may have undermined a proposed ban on disposable water bottles in the park.
by Nathan Rice, Dec 11, 2011 -
How private efforts and economic troubles have combined to support conservation
by Geoff McGhee, Dec 11, 2011 -
Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time
The Environmental Protection Agency finds a connection between fracking and water pollution
by Abrahm Lustgarten and Nicholas Kusnetz, ProPublica, Dec 09, 2011 -
The Southwest's population and housing booms bite the dust
As the West's population and real estate boom stumble to a halt, the once fast-growing Southwest is filled with foreclosed homes and undeveloped lots.
by Jonathan Thompson, Nov 30, 2011 -
Western game wardens go after poachers
Overstretched game wardens like Colorado's Tom Knowles rely on tips from hotline informants to catch elusive poachers.
by Larry Keller, Nov 27, 2011 -
California's high-speed rail is slow to gain speed
The U.S. continues to trail the rest of the world in high-speed rail development, as California's long-planned bullet train is delayed yet again.
by Stephanie Paige Ogburn, Nov 27, 2011 -
Feds attempt to speed complicated process of building power lines
The Obama administration's electrical transmission permitting agencies are cooperating to speed grid updates and fast track clean energy projects, as demand for power grows.
by Sarah Gilman, Nov 15, 2011 -
Clean air regulations protect park views by targeting coal plants
The Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to reduce haze from air pollution near national parks and wilderness; some coal-fired power plants are cleaning up their act and others will shut down.
by Cally Carswell, Nov 13, 2011 -
Energy succeeds where housing developers can't
As the West's housing boom fades, natural resource extraction surges, and a defunct housing development on the east side of Colorado Springs, Colo., may soon face drilling by Ultra Petroleum.
by Sarah Gilman, Nov 13, 2011 -
BLM experiments with camouflage to hide renewable power structures
The Bureau of Land Management is working with landscape architects and camouflage experts to better disguise renewable energy infrastructure on public lands.
by Kimberly Hirai, Nov 03, 2011 -
Development near national parks impacts park ecology
Home building around national parks has a ripple effect on wildlife and habitat inside those parks.
by KIMBERLY HIRAI, Oct 30, 2011 -
Western voters love ballot initiatives -- and sometimes make a mess
A Western tradition of citizen legislation may cause more problems than it solves.
by Ray Ring, Oct 30, 2011 -
Cruising the ocean, counting seabirds
What an unconventional journey on a cruise ship can reveal about seabirds' enigmatic lives.
by Eric Wagner, Oct 27, 2011 -
Washington's Hanford Reservation and nuclear plant may lie on faults
Brian Sherrod, a government paleoseismologist, believes cities and infrastructure in eastern Washington may be far more earthquake-prone than previously realized.
by Bill Lascher, Oct 25, 2011 -
Obama message control blocks journalists covering the environment
The Obama administration makes it harder for its environmental message to be heard when it sets up roadblocks to information and blocks media access.
by Judith Lewis Mernit, Oct 23, 2011
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