In the 1930s, two women risked their lives to record a scientific survey of the region’s plants.
Arizona
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San Carlos Apache call for international intervention over copper mine at Oak Flat
At the U.N., leaders describe the destruction of Indigenous sacred sites as a ‘major human rights violation.’
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Atmospheric rivers ease Western drought
Record-breaking rain and snow bring salvation — and destruction — to a drought-parched West.
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Artist Cecilia Vicuña’s Sonoran Quipu reassembles the desert
The installation at Tucson’s Museum of Contemporary Art is made from the landscape.
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Q&A: The Diné worldviews in the SCOTUS water rights case Arizona v. Navajo Nation
What would it look like to interpret the treaties as tribes understood them?
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Western legislatures take on foreign land ownership
Six bills in six states propose limits on who can own land, homes and natural resources in the region.
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What the heck is the Sonoran Avalanche Center?
A sardonic social media account gains popularity from taking down sacred ski idols and imagining a future without snow.
Posted inMarch 1, 2023: Moving Parts
‘I’ve always been a fan of getting people to empathize with a landscape’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
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Could Arizona’s new governor shift Colorado River politics?
There’s a historic reckoning in the Colorado River Basin — and Katie Hobbs is here to play hard ball.
Posted inMarch 1, 2023: Moving Parts
For Black families, it isn’t simple creating roots in Phoenix
Many have moved to the nation’s fastest growing city seeking community as well as a better life. Few are finding it.
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What happens when an affluent Arizona suburb’s main water supply is cut off?
As the Colorado River crisis worsens, an unregulated housing development faces a reckoning.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2023: The Reveal
Armed bots, an HOV Grinch and bikes for all
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2023: The Reveal
Save public lands: Put solar on Walmart!
Parking lots and big-box store roofs could generate oodles of clean power.
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Researchers solve one of the Borderlands’ biggest water puzzles
Officially, the U.S. and Mexico share 11 groundwater basins. A new map bumps that figure up to a stunning 72.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
Toad lickers, bear wrestlers and beard fanciers
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
La Niña expected to serve up a hat trick
The weather pattern hits the West for a third consecutive winter.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
Why are Saudi farmers pumping Arizona groundwater?
A conversation with Natalie Koch, author of ‘Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arabia and Arizona.’
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Will the Senate ban uranium mining in the Grand Canyon?
Before the legislative slate is wiped clean on Jan. 3, senators needs to pass the Grand Canyon Protection Act.
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Radioactive waste sickened his community. Then it caught up with him.
Earl Tulley fought for justice for the Navajo communities harmed by uranium mining. Then he found a lump in his jaw.