Karen Budd-Falen, Interior’s associate deputy secretary, former private attorney and grazing advocate, intervened in the release after meeting with former clients.
Endangered Species
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Elk herd habitat near Dinosaur National Monument to open for drilling
On June 16, the feds will open Colorado’s biggest public land sale in modern history, threatening wildlife and recreation.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
Dredging the Columbia River at the expense of tribal and aquatic communities
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has transformed the estuary and robbed the river of sediment over the last century.
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Ted Turner owned vast swaths of Western land. What happens to them now?
The media mogul had a lifelong commitment to endangered species, ecotourism and supporting rural agriculture.
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A new era of industrial logging looms
Mapping the possible impacts of the Roadless Rule overhaul
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The BLM wants to ramp up logging. Oregonians aren’t so sure.
People are grappling with the agency’s notice that signals a significant increase in timber harvesting across 2.5 million acres.
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Trump’s BLM is going all-in on resource extraction
The agency’s new plan for ecologically significant areas of western Oregon is not responsible forest management.
Posted inMarch 2026: The Uncertainty of Farming in the Colorado River Basin
How Montana tribes are using sovereignty to restore their waterways
‘We live at the backbone of the world, where the water begins.’
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Would you pay 1% more for wildlife?
A bill in the Oregon Legislature would tax tourists for conservation.
Posted inFebruary 2026: The Recording Artists
Mexican wolves are rebounding, but are they ready for delisting?
A new bill from Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar looks to remove endangered species protections.
Posted inDecember 2025: Wild Harvest
Congress made it easier to ignore grazing’s harm to public lands
Federal law requires agencies to review the environmental impacts of grazing, but government employees allege the system is riddled with loopholes.
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The mystery of wildlife and a world beyond our understanding
Science is essential to managing wildlife populations, but there are limits to what we know.
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Yellowstone protects wolves. What happens when they leave the park?
Crossing what’s an arbitrary boundary for wildlife, an apex predator becomes prey.
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After Trump cuts, seeds sit in the warehouse
Western groups lose federal grants for urgent restoration and conservation projects.
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Public lands and wildlife turn to stopgap solutions
In the face of federal cuts, volunteers, businesses and others help keep programs afloat.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
How one California community is turning an old oil field into protected habitat
Despite federal policies complicating Fullerton’s conservation success story.
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The Trump administration’s repeal of the roadless rule could threaten wildlife
A 2001 policy restricts road construction on Forest Service land. What happens to at-risk species if it’s removed?
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The national parks are not OK
A former national park supervisor explains how toilets may be clean this summer, but the parks themselves are actually ‘hollowed out.’
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In Sitka, Łingít fishers share herring harvests with a surprise influx of grey whales
An unprecedented whale surge in Alaska waters has changed how humans interact with a vital yaaw fishery.
Posted inJune 2025: The Promised Land
Wolves return to the West
After being driven to near-extinction, these animals, and the politics around them, are back.