An investigation by High Country News and Grist reveals how public institutions benefit from extractive industries on Indian reservations.
Climate change
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
After half a century, the Apache trout swims off the threatened species list
Arizona’s state fish is doing well but faces a daunting future.
Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing
What happens when a concrete jungle becomes a ‘sponge city’
Engineering for flood resilience can address storms heightened by climate change.
Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing
Get to know the western bumblebee
Bombus occidentalis may soon be the West’s new face for insect conservation.
Posted inArticles
How carbon removal can help curb wildfires and build houses
Local governments in the Four Corners back homegrown carbon-removal projects.
Posted inArticles
Alaska’s permafrost is thawing, releasing a concerning amount of mercury
“It has that sense of a bomb that’s going to go off.”
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
Wolverines may return to Colorado
But can they survive in the warming southern Rockies?
Posted inArticles
How an unexpected storm reshaped Alaska’s west coast
Disaster recovery is a long game and the boats and driftwood that pepper Western Alaska’s tundra are the perfect reminder.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods
After historic floods, the safety net failed small farmers
Climate disasters are killing the largest subset of California farms. Government programs are too.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods
The inequity of heat
Extreme heat doesn’t discriminate; the ability to escape it does.
Posted inIssues
Can words help us out of climate despair and toward repair?
How naming the climate struggle matters.
Posted inArticles
California’s Park Fire rekindles trauma from previous blazes
‘The PTSD is horrible.’
Posted inArticles
Audio: What’s so funny about climate change?
Resorting to absurdity can make people care.
Posted inArticles
What a Kamala Harris presidency could mean for the West
Harris has prioritized protecting public lands and pursued accountability for polluters, but her track record on tribal affairs is mixed.
Posted inArticles
Will the Northwest Forest Plan finally respect tribal rights?
Tribal representatives are pushing the U.S. Forest Service to respect treaty rights and bring cultural fire back to the region’s forests.
Posted inArticles
Repeal of the Chevron doctrine will have profound consequences for federal rulemaking
Climate, public lands and tribal law regulations are now likely to face legal challenges.
Posted inArticles
In an era of dam removal, California is building more
Proponents say a new reservoir off the Sacramento River is environmentally friendly.
Posted inArticles
When grasshoppers attack
Is the cure for grasshopper outbreaks worse than the disease?
Posted inArticles
Fireworks trigger wildfires. Climate change may increase the risk.
Research found that twice as many wildfires were recorded on July 4 as almost any other day in the West.