A new report shows tribal communities have adapted to meet the needs of their people in ways that state and federal governments can’t.
Politics
Posted inMarch 1, 2022: The Cloning Conundrum
Wolf hazing legalized in Colorado
Colorado wildlife officials are planning for reintroduction. A wolf pack is complicating their efforts.
Posted inArticles
The Supreme Court is set to weigh in on the Clean Water Act’s reach
The high court is taking up an Idaho case that could obliterate federal protection for much of the West’s waters.
Posted inArticles
What does the Bureau of Land Management need? More money.
A lot more money — and its new, nonprofit foundation is here to help.
Posted inArticles
Conservation groups should be able to lease land to protect it
‘Use it or lose it’ rules can bias public-land management in favor of extraction.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2022: Essential
Tribes call out Oregon’s reckless gaming regulation
Using horse-racing laws, a shadowy state agency and a billionaire push for a private casino that threatens tribes’ self-sufficiency.
Posted inArticles
Interior devotes billions to plugging old oil wells. Is it enough?
The agency under-counted abandoned wells by more than half, which means the effort covers only a fraction of the cost.
Posted inArticles
Biden’s ‘herky-jerky’ first year on Western issues
The new president sacrificed bold executive action to try to win over Congress.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities
‘Cultural resources are not a renewable thing for us.’
The West’s largest green energy storage project would destroy a Yakama sacred site. Now, the nation is fighting back.
Posted inArticles
Harry Reid’s legacy will be remembered on the land
A reflection on what endures after the death of the longtime senator from Nevada.
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Stories we wish we’d written
A look at some of the journalism from 2021 that inspired us, made us feel seen, and, sometimes, even made us cry.
Posted inArticles
At the Colorado River conference, ‘It’s really no longer a drill’
Water managers announce new measures to deal with dwindling water supply.
Posted inArticles
In California’s Central Valley, the water is contaminated and solutions are slow
The communities dealing with the carcinogenic water worry and aren’t kept well informed.
Posted inArticles
A federal drought relief program left southern Oregon parched
For two decades, the Bureau of Reclamation incentivized farmers to pump water faster than the resource could recover, despite warnings from its own scientists.
Posted inArticles
Utah has a water dilemma
Record-breaking drought along the Wasatch Front forces tough decisions about water supply.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities
Who should pay to fix California’s sunken canals?
Agribusiness and its proponents say repairs will benefit disadvantaged towns. Those residents disagree.
Posted inArticles
Where is central California’s water going?
Small farmers struggle as ag titans wheel water for profit.
Posted inArticles
How to solve the rural-urban digital divide
The author of ‘Farm Fresh Broadband’ draws on history to chart a better future for rural internet access.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
Wild horses, buffalo and the politics of belonging
On the Wind River Indian Reservation, two animals slip between the cracks of what is wild and what isn’t.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
Income inequality proliferates across the West
How history, tax policies and gentrification play into wealth inequity.