Gov. Mike Dunleavy slashed university funding by $130 million, alarming Alaskans, scientists and climate specialists.
Economy
Posted inAugust 5, 2019: From Prison to Fireline
With coal in free fall, Wyoming faces an uncertain future
As demand shrinks and the industry retracts, counties and the state are in an untenable situation.
Posted inAugust 5, 2019: From Prison to Fireline
The tyranny of lawns and landlords
Renting culture puts dreams of cultivating wildness out of reach.
Posted inArticles
Much of rural America is doomed to decline
Public policy solutions need to grapple with, not ignore, this economic reality.
Posted inArticles
New Wyoming coal company abandons mines and miners
State officials are picking up the pieces after Blackjewel goes belly up.
Posted inArticles
Nevada teens find community as they navigate homelessness and adulthood together
Clark County has one of the largest unaccompanied homeless youth populations in the nation.
Posted inJuly 21, 2019: A Radical Return
Rural anxieties derailed Oregon’s climate plans
Arguments over state environmental policy impacts ignore broader challenges to rural communities.
Posted inArticles
Bees, trees and a sense of unease
Will mutual dependence mean shared destruction for California’s almonds and bees?
Posted inJuly 21, 2019: A Radical Return
Close encounters with the bear kind
The very places that attract visitors and newcomers for their proximity to wildlife grapple with a spike in bear-human incidents.
Posted inJune 24, 2019: Losing Lake Coeur d'Alene
The West’s worst fires aren’t burning in forests
Range fires get bigger every year, threatening sagebrush habitat and rural towns.
Posted inArticles
Farmers turn to prisons to fill labor needs
With immigration numbers low, the agriculture industry looks to another form of disenfranchised workers.
Posted inJune 10, 2019: 'None of this happened the way you think it did'
What it’s like to navigate life below the poverty line
A new book humanizes the work America’s poor must go through to try and stay afloat.
Posted inJune 10, 2019: 'None of this happened the way you think it did'
‘None of this happened the way you think it did’
For years, the clients of a Colorado funeral home kept their loved ones’ cremated remains. Then the FBI called.
Posted inJune 10, 2019: 'None of this happened the way you think it did'
Ranchers sue major meatpackers
Plaintiffs allege ‘The Big Four’ conspired to reduce cattle prices.
Posted inJune 24, 2019: Losing Lake Coeur d'Alene
See where PFAS pollution has been confirmed in the West
Western states lag behind in both monitoring and regulating the class of ‘forever chemicals.’
Posted inArticles
Where water is life, many on the Pine Ridge Reservation go thirsty
A pipeline’s promise is fulfilled for white ranchers while tribal communities are left waiting.
Posted inArticles
A wild winter threatens summer profits in Colorado’s high country
The potential for a cascade of water may slow the flow of tourists to Lake City.
Posted inJune 24, 2019: Losing Lake Coeur d'Alene
Fires are indiscriminate. Recovery isn’t.
The disparate timeframes of rebuilding in California’s wine country and its poorest county, shown by data.
Posted inMay 13, 2019: Atomic Tourists
How recreation boosts the economy
From travelers to new residents, outdoor enthusiasts make an impact on the West’s bottom lines.
Posted inArticles
The Blackfeet Nation is opening its own national park
Members of the Blackfeet Nation want tourists to understand how the story of Glacier National Park is really the story of their nation.