Officials call push to remove an oil and gas buffer around the culturally critical monument ‘an absolute gut punch.’
New Mexico
Posted inArticles
The clock is ticking for New Mexico to cut Rio Grande water use
For now, the state is counting on voluntary cuts among vegetable and pecan farmers. But that might not be enough.
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
The Chinese immigrants trafficked on New Mexico’s weed farms
Migrant workers were trapped in the Southwest’s illicit cannabis boom and treated as criminals — until investigators began chasing their bosses.
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Interior delayed endangered wolf release in New Mexico
Karen Budd-Falen, Interior’s associate deputy secretary, former private attorney and grazing advocate, intervened in the release after meeting with former clients.
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Billions in border wall contracts are going to a Montana firm run by a Trump donor
Barnard Construction’s leadership donated over $1 million to the president’s campaign. They’re among the administration’s top wall contractors.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
Managed retreat in Ruidoso could mean more public lands
Facing fires and floods, homeowners in Lincoln County, New Mexico, are considering buyouts designed to move them out of harm’s way.
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O’Keeffe Country was never O’Keeffe’s to begin with
Indigenous Tewa artists reassert their relationship with the land in a new exhibition at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
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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.
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The Continental Divide Trail is being militarized for the border wall
A new border wall has turned one end of the long-distance trail into a construction zone.
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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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Controversial gas pipeline across Navajo Nation to begin
The pipeline would eventually cross 234 miles of tribal land. The hearing initiating the project caught community members off guard.
Posted inMay 2026: Pinecone Cowboys
The dark legacy of the atomic age is still playing out in New Mexico
‘We were a sacrifice zone.’
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Nukes and AI require 1.4 million gallons of water a day at New Mexico lab
In a state that’s already short on the resource, Los Alamos National Laboratory expects to double water use.
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Emergency plans for the Colorado River buy time, not solutions
The federal government ordered Flaming Gorge water released and cuts to Lake Powell releases, to prevent collapse.
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How New Mexico is ‘building a forest’ by solving a seedling shortage
A Q&A with the New Mexico Reforestation Center director about what it takes to replant a burn scar post-wildfire.
Posted inApril 2026: Inside the Attack on Public Lands
How I learned to stop worrying and love flies
These underdogs of the animal world have superhero-like powers. Why don’t we appreciate them more?
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Border wall blasting hits a treasured New Mexico mountain
A planned 1.3-mile wall across Mount Cristo Rey has drawn opposition from environmentalists and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces.
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New nuclear safety rules reduce protections for workers, the public
‘They’re pulling away from what’s kept us safe all these years.’
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The Colorado River rift abides
States’ stalemate persists as Lake Powell races toward de facto deadpool.
Posted inFebruary 2026: The Recording Artists
LandBack advances across the West
More ancestral lands are being returned to tribes, while other important sites remain at risk.