Saguaros are struggling to cope with extreme weather, monitoring studies reveal.
Scientific research
Posted inArticles
Public lands and wildlife turn to stopgap solutions
In the face of federal cuts, volunteers, businesses and others help keep programs afloat.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
A hotshot’s search for belonging among the flames
A wildland firefighter reckons with the male-dominated culture found on the fireline.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
Get to know the American kestrel
This small falcon faces an existential crisis.
Can nest boxes help?
Posted inArticles
In stressful times, what do the plants and animals have to say?
The time-honored tradition of humans looking to the natural world can help us survive difficult times.
Posted inArticles
Mass layoffs can move forward, with devastating impacts for conservation and science
‘Shortsighted’ cuts could eliminate bird banding program, federal bee research and much more.
Posted inArticles
Meet LA’s detective for dead marine mammals
A day in the life of a scientist studying the aftermath of the city’s deadly algal blooms.
Posted inArticles
See what trail cams captured about Borderlands wildlife
Alongside stunning footage, scientists found that the border wall deters wildlife.
Posted inJuly 2025: Seeds as Sustenance
Western states step up to save their wetlands
The West’s vital wetlands are in trouble — but states are working to safeguard them.
Posted inJuly 2025: Seeds as Sustenance
Politics and science can mix
The time for trying to remain neutral has passed.
Posted inJuly 2025: Seeds as Sustenance
Necesitamos científicos-activistas
La política y la ciencia pueden mezclarse.
Posted inArticles
What Sonoran Desert fungi are teaching scientists
The understudied mycorrhizal fungi are vital to ecosystems and may prove critical to the survival of fragile deserts stressed by climate change.
Posted inJune 2025: The Promised Land
As Trump comes after research, Forest Service scientists keep working
Scientists describe how they’re preparing for the upcoming field season despite the challenges.
Posted inArticles
USGS’ biological research arm could vanish
Trump is on a multipronged mission to eliminate a science agency that conservationists, toxicologists, universities and more call irreplaceable.
Posted inArticles
Trump asks Congress to cut at the heart of the West
The White House wants to alter life for U.S. hunters, anglers, RVers, off-road-vehicle drivers, backpackers, birdwatchers and hikers.
Posted inJuly 2025: Seeds as Sustenance
Searching for sparrows in the Sky Islands
Grassland restoration in Sonora, Mexico, helps to conserve North America’s bird life.
Posted inMay 2025: The Art of the Cruise
The hidden costs of wolf conservation
‘Pay for presence’ aims to compensate ranchers for predator-related losses, but Western states might not be able to afford it.
Posted inArticles
NOAA issues critical drought warnings during cuts to agency
The embattled agency continues to disseminate crucial updates in a hostile political environment.
Posted inArticles
Cutting ‘boots-on-the-ground, getting-it-done stuff’ could harm the West’s fish and wildlife for decades
The research co-ops funded by Congress each year since 1960 provide substantial returns for taxpayers.
Posted inArticles
Turkey vultures in California are testing positive for rat poison
Despite statewide restrictions on the deadly poisons, new research shows they’re still infiltrating the food web.