The nation is using the courts and lobbying congressional Democrats to stop construction near Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Southern Arizona.
Tribes
Posted inSeptember 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
Large solar project on Navajo Nation leaves residents skeptical
As renewable energy expands, questions about how renewable the projects are regulated on Diné land emerge.
Posted inArticles
Nuclear power drive boosts southwestern uranium mills — and tribal health concerns
Havasupai, Ute Mountain Ute, Najavo (Diné) tribes worry that southwestern uranium mills may foul groundwater for generations.
Posted inSeptember 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
In Arctic Alaska, 1.4 million acres of federal land is shifting to state hands
A cascade of changes is underway along its only northern highway.
Posted inArticles
What the new rules for a shrinking Colorado River mean for tribal nations
‘None of us is in the exact same situation.’
Posted inAugust 2026: The Conversations Issue
What Standing Rock’s propaganda war means today
Ten years after the standoff, exclusive documents reveal that digital mercenaries targeted local communities and stirred up anti-protest sentiment.
Posted inArticles
Protect Sandia Mountain, our church
The Pueblo of Sandia urges lawmakers to transfer lands within the T’uf Shur Bien Preservation Area.
Posted inArticles
Mining execs bought big in company stock days before Bears Ears’ cuts
House Democrats have opened an investigation for insider trading.
Posted inAugust 2026: The Conversations Issue
‘Quite frustrating:’ what it’s like to have a treaty with the United States
Heirs to the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott explain their ancestors’ wisdom and how they defend it today.
Posted inArticles
What’s destroying Utah’s monuments
The administration wants to open 3 million acres to mining claims and oil and gas leasing at the expense of the landscape.
Posted inArticles
Tribally contested Badger Mountain solar project canceled by developer
Avangrid withdrew its application from the Washington state permitting process following years of objections and delays.
Posted inArticles
Pueblo leaders, New Mexico lawmakers speak out to protect Chaco Canyon
Officials call push to remove an oil and gas buffer around the culturally critical monument ‘an absolute gut punch.’
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Alaska Native communities prepare for man camps driven by new mining boom
How one village established a Native-led sexual assault response team to help address the oncoming chaotic boomtown atmosphere.
Posted inSeptember 2026: On the Trail with Gary Paul Nabhan
Bears Ears cuts also end first-of-its-kind tribal land commission
A presidential proclamation slashed the monument by 90% despite a promise to involve tribes.
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
The Chinese immigrants trafficked on New Mexico’s weed farms
Migrant workers were trapped in the Southwest’s illicit cannabis boom and treated as criminals — until investigators began chasing their bosses.
Posted inArticles
How a Utah Republican’s quiet battle for hunting access undercut LandBack hopes
Rep. Casey Snider worked behind the scenes for years to transfer large blocks of roadless state trust land to wildlife officials — cutting the Ute Tribe out in the process.
Posted inArticles
The rules for grazing on 155 million acres of public lands are getting overhauled
The new rule cuts public involvement and favors the livestock industry.
Posted inJuly 2026: Lost in the Weeds
Can restoration save the Delta smelt?
In the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, new wetlands await the threatened fish.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
On Oregon’s McKenzie River, an unprecedented approach to restoration takes shape
A bold process aims to repair the damaged watershed.
Posted inJune 2026: River Revival
Dredging the Columbia River at the expense of tribal and aquatic communities
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has transformed the estuary and robbed the river of sediment over the last century.