In Interior Department listening session, Gillette miners air fears of new regulations.
Department of Interior
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Interior launches national conversation on federal coal
Should royalties be higher to account for social costs of climate change?
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New data released on violent threats to federal employees
Documents show 15 incidents in 2014, but don’t account for the Cliven Bundy standoff.
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Oath Keepers show up for a public lands dispute in Oregon
Plus a Cliven Bundy supporter is charged and BLM emails about the Nevada standoff were released.
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Interior considers hike in oil and gas royalty rates
Industry opposes reforms at a time when low oil prices deter drilling.
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Will public-lands ranchers pay more for grazing?
An Obama administration proposal would more than double fees.
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BLM’s new fracking rules strike middle ground
But they’re unlikely to resolve today’s fierce skirmishes over oil and gas development.
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Jewell vows to make energy development on public lands cleaner
A long-delayed fracking rule will be announced within days.
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Jewell, Murkowski square off
The Interior Secretary and Alaskan Senator spar over money and the environment.
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New state and fed efforts to protect sage grouse
Plans aim to keep the wide-ranging bird off the endangered list.
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New Mexico commission votes to divert Gila River
Decision greenlights contentious multi-million dollar diversion project.
Posted inOctober 27, 2014: Defuse the West
The Latest: Sustainable seafood advocates vs. wilderness purists
After years of court battles, an oyster company in a national park agrees to shut down.
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A plan for California desert conservation comes online
Will it stop more solar and wind projects from being built in the wrong places?
Posted inJuly 21, 2014: On the Wild Edge
The Latest: Interior commits to restoring bison on select lands
BackstoryJust a few free-roaming bison herds remain in the West. Roughly 4,000 bison inhabit Yellowstone, but they are hindered by ranchers who fear they spread brucellosis, which can cause cattle miscarriages. The park and state agencies limit the herd’s roaming and remove “excess” animals by hunting, slaughter and transplanting to other areas (“The Killing Fields,” […]
Posted inApril 28, 2014: Two-Wheel Revolution
Mulies on the move
Scientists discover a surprising migration in western Wyoming.
Posted inDecember 9, 2013: The Tree Coroners
The Latest: Interior approves a 990-mile-long transmission line
BackstoryThe proposed Gateway West transmission line through southern Wyoming and Idaho could deliver up to 3,000 megawatts of power, including wind. But such projects require complex permitting and lengthy review processes, even as upgrading the grid becomes increasingly urgent. In 2011, the Obama administration created a “rapid response team” to help expedite clean-energy infrastructure, including […]
Posted inOctober 31, 2011: Omens from a Vanished Sea
Lawyer Laird Lucas on how and why he fights for the West
Laird Lucas, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Advocates for the West, entered an Idaho courtroom last spring to examine a witness. As he prepared to take over from a junior colleague, the judge adjourned for the day. “You mean I had to put on a suit for nothing?” Lucas griped. In his Boise […]
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Cobell, settled at last
Federal government finally accounts for money mismanagement of tribal nations.
