Across Indian Country, advocates claim Indian Health Service is failing Indigenous women.
Public health
Trump targets a bedrock environmental law
Three years of rollbacks have taken a toll, without delivering real benefits.
Utah’s condoms; border blown; Cluck the cat
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Do wilderness therapy programs really work?
The expensive treatments for troubled teens have been around for years — but researchers still aren’t sure whether wilderness makes a difference.
Trump administration manipulated wildfire science to promote logging
Emails show Interior appointees crafted a narrative that blamed forest protection efforts for wildfires.
A novel idea for mental health care in rural Washington
In Dayton, population 2,500, behavioral health care is woven directly into primary care appointments.
Study finds 26,000 lives were saved by shift from coal to natural gas
“When you turn coal units off you see deaths go down.”
Smog and smoke: The West’s air is the dirtiest it’s been since 2009
A growing economy, looser regulations and uptick in fires are all factors.
Can a campaign for nature and community rights stop aerial spraying in Oregon?
The push for more local control upends the typical pattern of Westerners fighting against regulation.
Diseases are spreading with climate change. Panic doesn’t have to.
As illnesses like Valley fever emerge in new areas, health officials keep residents informed instead of in fear.
Antibiotic resistance is spreading among marine mammals
A new study of seals and porpoises in the Salish Sea shows how antibiotic-resistant bacteria proliferate in coastal waterways.
In the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting, investigators try to heal
At the coroner’s office, mental health issues arise in the wake of tragedy.
National politics put California’s air quality in the crosshairs
On the ground, one teen deploys pollution monitors to make his community safer.
An uptick in street prostitution challenges Seattle’s progressive policies
Community outcry and overwhelmed services lead to police arresting more sex workers than buyers.
In New Mexico, schools struggle to address a teen suicide crisis
Sixteen-year-old Aurra Gardner ended her life after her mother repeatedly asked school counselors for help.
Eco-fascism featured in El Paso terrorism suspect’s alleged manifesto
The racist rant calls for mass killings to make America more ‘sustainable.’ Other terrorists have done the same.
Who pays for infrastructure in Borderland colonias?
In places like Vado, New Mexico, good roads are hard to find.
The fallout of uncertainty in nuclear test communities
For downwinders of bomb testing, plans for compensation to redress past harms makes for tricky politics.
New Mexico’s oil boom has made rural roads deadly
As oil wells multiply in the Permian Basin, the influx of heavy vehicles exacerbates risks for those living in the area.
It’s time to move the Bureau of Land Management out of D.C.
(Most) of those living in the West have the public lands’ best interest at heart.
