Recent studies found that attitudes toward wolves became more polarized when people’s political identities were activated.
Politics
Posted inJanuary 2026: Deep Time in the West
An age-old monument faces modern threats
Scientists say Grand Staircase-Escalante isn’t reaching its full research potential.
Posted inArticles
Colorado cannot heal until it confronts Sand Creek honestly
To move forward, Coloradans must face the massacre’s trauma and begin to repair trust.
Posted inArticles
Washington approves over 99% of archaeological permits, records show
As tribes struggle to protect their heritage, the nation’s leading state archaeologist says she lacks the authority to stop development projects.
Posted inArticles
‘We’re basically slitting our own throat’: Montana rolls back water-quality standards
The EPA approved Montana’s weaker standards for nutrient pollution during the government shutdown.
Posted inDecember 2025: Wild Harvest
How the gaming economy helps tribes navigate shifting policies
Tribal sovereignty and prosperity are tied to gaming’s sovereign source of income.
Posted inDecember 2025: Wild Harvest
How ranchers accused of breaking the rules dodge oversight
Elected officials interfere with agency efforts to protect the land.
Posted inDecember 2025: Wild Harvest
Congress made it easier to ignore grazing’s harm to public lands
Federal law requires agencies to review the environmental impacts of grazing, but government employees allege the system is riddled with loopholes.
Posted inArticles
After Trump cuts, seeds sit in the warehouse
Western groups lose federal grants for urgent restoration and conservation projects.
Posted inArticles
Why Colorado River negotiations are so difficult
Basin states have had 2 years to figure out how to share the shrinking river. Will they get there before the feds step in?
Posted inNovember 2025: Precious Metalheads
Aspen ‘eyes’ keep us accountable to the natural world
In times of crisis, their gaze is a summon from nature to take action.
Posted inNovember 2025: Precious Metalheads
For rural Californians, unreliable power has become the norm
Years ago, the state’s largest utility rolled out a power outage program designed to reduce wildfires. Customers now experience thousands of outages a year.
Posted inArticles
Fix Our Forests Act divides environmental community
But it’s a rare instance of bipartisan lawmaking and the biggest wildfire legislation in recent history.
Posted inArticles
The aging Los Alamos lab at the center of America’s nuclear overhaul
Contamination incidents, work outages and declining infrastructure have plagued the site, but the lab remains the linchpin in an effort to modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons.
Posted inArticles
La carrera armamentística nuclear pone a prueba el laboratorio de Los Álamos
El laboratorio donde Oppenheimer desarrolló la bomba atómica es el eje del esfuerzo de EE. UU. por modernizar sus armas nucleares. Pero el centro ha enfrentado incidentes de contaminación, interrupciones de obras e infraestructuras obsoletas.
Posted inArticles
The first film made in Idaho was headed back to the big screen. Then DOGE intervened
When a large-scale restoration effort was halted by feds, history could not be forced back into the archives.
Posted inNovember 2025: Precious Metalheads
Want fluoride in the water? Too bad.
Across the West, lawmakers are skipping over the will of voters and yanking fluoride.
Posted inArticles
More than 2,000 jobs could be cut at Interior during shutdown
Research, wildlife and conservation are in the crosshairs.
Posted inArticles
Montana’s Chinese past isn’t past
A forgotten Chinese cemetery reveals how Missoula buries its past — and why the present is so familiar.
Posted inArticles
The rural West’s increasing health care costs haunt the shutdown
Health insurance costs are skyrocketing, and federal tax credits that make it more affordable are expiring.