A cascade of changes is underway along its only northern highway.
Mining
Posted inArticles
Mining execs bought big in company stock days before Bears Ears’ cuts
House Democrats have opened an investigation for insider trading.
Posted inArticles
Pueblo leaders, New Mexico lawmakers speak out to protect Chaco Canyon
Officials call push to remove an oil and gas buffer around the culturally critical monument ‘an absolute gut punch.’
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Alaska Native communities prepare for man camps driven by new mining boom
How one village established a Native-led sexual assault response team to help address the oncoming chaotic boomtown atmosphere.
Posted inSeptember 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
Bears Ears cuts also end first-of-its-kind tribal land commission
A presidential proclamation slashed the monument by 90% despite a promise to involve tribes.
Posted inArticles
Treat water like family, not profit
Federal and state approaches to managing the Colorado River – as well as land and wildlife – reflect a lack of experience.
Posted inApril 2026: Inside the Attack on Public Lands
‘Energy dominance’ agenda sidelines tribes
Changes to NEPA come at the expense of tribal consultation. The administration has changed or revoked rules and policies to prioritize extraction.
Posted inArticles
Tribal leaders reflect on a year of uncertainty — and possibility
Federal turnover and policy shifts have forced Indigenous communities to adapt.
Posted inIssues
How I found trans joy in backcountry splitboarding
Under an administration threatening my existence, I find self-love through movement.
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.’
Posted inArticles
Karen Budd-Falen’s ethics documents spark renewed calls for an investigation
Interior’s new release of ethics disclosures shed new light on the official’s growing scandal.
Posted inArticles
Trump’s call for deep-sea mining off Alaska raises Indigenous concerns
“Whatever happens in the ocean, it really does affect our way of life.”
Posted inArticles
The AI Age perpetuates fossil fuel burning
Ancient energy sources power the future.
Posted inArticles
An EPA proposal would make it harder for tribes to protect their water
The agency’s plan would narrow water quality reviews and eliminate one of the few ways that tribes can their enforce treaty rights.
Posted inArticles
Lawmakers call for an investigation into Interior’s Karen Budd-Falen
House Democrats are demanding an ethics probe into the high-ranking Interior appointee over her financial ties to the massive Thacker Pass lithium mine.
Posted inArticles
Alaska’s public lands are a political battleground
The first year of the second Trump administration saw a bewildering array of federal actions in the 49th state. Here’s your guide to where things now stand.
Posted inArticles
Top Interior Department official has ties to Thacker Pass lithium mine
Karen Budd-Falen’s family ranching operation agreed to sell water rights to the company developing the controversial Nevada lithium project.
Posted inArticles
The nation’s energy dominance falters
Trump is killing clean energy, and it’s not even helping fossil fuels.
Posted inArticles
Trump looks to suffocate public lands
The administration and Congress divert funds away from conservation.
Posted inArticles
Court delays land transfer that would enable copper mine at Oak Flat
The Western Apache and a coalition of environmental groups have fought for years against the Resolution Copper mine, which would become one of the country’s largest at the cost of a site revered by the tribe.