From oil in the Arctic to the Ambler Road, Alaska’s resource and conservation battles await a new administration’s fate, affecting communities, ecosystems and industries alike.
Politics
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
How the climate is changing your energy bill
Wildfires and winter storms are costing utilities and families.
Posted inArticles
Montana’s Jon Tester might lose. Here’s why that matters
What the Senate contest says about the unexpected shift in Western politics.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
Is a farm that hosts weddings still a farm?
Agritourism divides a rural Washington county.
Posted inJanuary 2025: The West's Most Wanted
What Project 2025 has to say about Native communities
The initiative focuses heavily on resource extraction of tribal lands but lacks detail on other key issues.
Posted inArticles
President Biden to apologize for federal Indian boarding schools
The U.S. government hopes to assuage cynicism and begin a new chapter of healing for Native people.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
Pam Houston has things to say about abortion
The author’s new book is an unflinching treatise on Roe v. Wade and life post-Dobbs.
Posted inArticles
In rural Washington, a ‘constitutional sheriff’ and his growing volunteer posse provoke controversy
Where some see a ‘rural neighborhood watch’ that saves money, others worry about liability and ties to extremism.
Posted inOctober 2024: Latino Vote
The Native vote dilemma
Every election year, Indigenous people grapple with whether and
how to engage in electoral politics.
Posted inArticles
Kamala Harris tries to navigate the convoluted politics of oil and gas
Drill, Democrats, drill?
Posted inArticles
The absolute urgency of voting with the climate in mind
Though it’s been urgent for years.
Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing
Preventing the next ‘Fukushima’
As oil and gas operations at Portland’s CEI Hub grow, so do the chances of a catastrophic spill.
Posted inArticles
Utah wants your public land — for more roads
The state wants to build a highway through tortoise habitat.
Posted inArticles
Trying to escape sea-level rise, Northwest coastal tribes are drowning in paperwork
A new study shows how federal grant funding has actually become an obstacle to climate adaptation.
Posted inArticles
Arizona and Nevada edge toward Harris and Walz
The Democratic ticket is hitting home in Western swing states with young, minority and independent voters.
Posted inArticles
Why Utah is suing the U.S. for control of public land
The state asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to weigh in on the future of federal lands.
Posted inArticles
As cities enact camping bans, where will California’s unhoused population go?
The number of people experiencing homelessness vastly exceeds the number of available shelter beds in the state.
Posted inArticles
Is your community ready for a wildfire?
Local governments throughout the West are investing in wildfire defense. Here’s how to know if yours is one of them.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods
A silicon revival in the West
Is the region ready to produce the world’s most advanced technology?
Posted inArticles
Grabbing public land in the name of housing
Have politicians finally found a way to take public land out of the public’s hands?