Karen Budd-Falen, Interior’s associate deputy secretary, former private attorney and grazing advocate, intervened in the release after meeting with former clients.
Politics
Posted inArticles
Do chainsaws belong in designated wilderness?
The Forest Service has approved the tools for use in some protected areas to clear neglected trails.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
Bazillions of bunnies, Montecito’s ‘hog heaven,’ and pride will always prevail
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
How socialism built the reddest states in the West
The history of labor in the region gets shouted down by corporations.
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.
Posted inArticles
Can resistance stop a massive data center next to the Great Salt Lake?
Utah has become the latest front in a high-stakes fight to build the infrastructure powering the A.I. boom.
Posted inArticles
Making grazing great again?
The Trump administration looks to preserve ranching heritage, but it’s not clear it will work.
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 inArticles
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.
Posted inArticles
The billionaires’ club at the center of America’s public lands fight
A controversial land swap orchestrated by the mega rich could be ‘a harbinger of what’s to come’ for public lands under Trump.
Posted inMay 2026: Pinecone Cowboys
Colorado’s Arkansas Valley water confronts contamination, climate change and political drama
‘If you don’t have clean water, you really don’t have anything.’
Posted inArticles
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.
Posted inArticles
War, climate change and AI are at stake at the 2026 UN Indigenous forum
Delegates are arriving in New York for the world’s largest gathering of Indigenous peoples, despite the U.S. presenting challenges for attendees to secure visas.
Posted inArticles
Interior Department crafted talking points for public lands sell-off agenda
The agency’s leadership distanced itself from the controversial proposal even though staff helped research public-land sales.
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 inApril 2026: Inside the Attack on Public Lands
The Trump administration sent Greater Yellowstone into chaos. What’s next?
The region survived a year of deep cuts and layoffs. Here’s who is picking up the pieces.
Posted inArticles
The public got one week to comment on Chaco Canyon drilling. It’s almost over
Indigenous leaders, New Mexico political leaders accuse feds of rushing a decision about the sacred site.
Posted inApril 2026: Inside the Attack on Public Lands
What a bombing in Nevada reveals about the nation’s appetite for violence
The rise of domestic terrorism in the West.