But conservation groups fear contamination at Colorado’s Rocky Flats still lingers.
News
Posted inApril 16, 2018: Cashing in on Standing Rock
Along the border, 500 miles of desert species
As Trump’s wall lurches forward, ‘BioBlitz’ records the Borderlands’ biodiversity.
Posted inArticles
Fire funding fix comes with environmental rollbacks
The legislation sets up an emergency disaster fund but also weakens protections for trees and wildlife.
Posted inApril 16, 2018: Cashing in on Standing Rock
A flurry of research illuminates snow’s foes
New studies detail how hotter temperatures, humid air and wind-blown dust can pummel the Western snowpack.
Posted inArticles
Land trusts move from the country to the city
To battle inequality and sprawl, conservation groups are looking beyond rural areas.
Posted inArticles
Judge: Agency cherrypicked science for bison management
Amid protests, Fish & Wildlife has been ordered to reexamine protections for the iconic Yellowstone beast.
Posted inApril 16, 2018: Cashing in on Standing Rock
What’s quelling the anxiety of electric-car drivers?
Charging corridors will make an interior West electric-car roadtrip increasingly possible.
Posted inArticles
In Congress, both parties agree on one public lands bill
A bill allowing public land sales for conservation inches towards passage.
Posted inArticles
A billionaire tests the strength of public access laws
In California, a dispute over a public beach could head to the Supreme Court.
Posted inArticles
Forest Service chief resigns over allegations of sexual misconduct
Tony Tooke stepped down from his role but disputes allegations against him.
Posted inMarch 19, 2018: Desert, Divided
Latest: Berkeley Pit cleanup ahead of schedule
The EPA will begin treating the pit’s toxic water five years earlier than planned.
Posted inArticles
In Arizona, a push for school choice targets Latino voters
The program, which would primarily benefit wealthy families, has received support from a Koch-funded group.
Posted inArticles
A way out of Bozeman’s shadow
Belgrade, Montana, is growing just enough to assert an identity separate of its adjacent city.
Posted inArticles
BLM speeds ahead on Grand Staircase-Escalante plans
The agency won’t wait for the courts to rule on monument boundaries to start planning.
Posted inFebruary 19, 2018: Unfrozen North
Latest: EPA puts brakes on Pebble Mine proposal
Agency says risks to fisheries and natural resources justify gathering more data.
Posted inMarch 5, 2018: Drilling Chaco
Interior opens more Western waters to offshore drilling
Officials from both parties ask Secretary Ryan Zinke to reconsider.
Posted inFebruary 19, 2018: Unfrozen North
Latest: Washington state denies oil-by-rail terminal
Citing risks, Gov. Inslee rejects plans for the nation’s largest oil terminal.
Posted inMarch 5, 2018: Drilling Chaco
Fight over household wells highlights rural growing pains
Can Washington balance development with the needs of rivers, fish and water users?
Posted inFebruary 19, 2018: Unfrozen North
The protectors of British Columbia’s coast
In the Great Bear Rainforest, Indigenous guardians enforce tribal and environmental laws.
Posted inMarch 19, 2018: Desert, Divided
Western states lead the fight to maintain net neutrality
Siding with tech giants, some lawmakers are pushing back against the FCC.