The administration resumes oil and gas leasing — and fixes a dysfunctional system in the process.
Department of Interior
Posted inArticles
National parks center colonizer histories through place names
A recent study analyzes the impacts of appropriated and derogatory place names in the nation’s national parks.
Posted inMay 1, 2022: New Ways of Seeing the West
Cows, coal and climate change: A Q&A with the new BLM director
Tracy Stone-Manning discusses how the federal agency sees conservation, the climate crisis and the Indigenous history of public lands.
Posted inJune 1, 2022: A Legacy of Weapons and War
Powell’s looming power problem
Drought and demand threaten a critical component of the Western grid.
Posted inArticles
Interior is pushing states to replace derogatory place names with colonial ones
In Washington, 18 place names with the ‘sq—’ slur are being changed to names like ‘Columbia.’ State officials say that’s not good enough.
Posted inArticles
Wyoming politicians hatch a plan to continue sage grouse game farms
New legislation to extend a controversial practice is ruffling feathers in Wyoming.
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5 things to know about gray wolves regaining Endangered Species Act protection
Most importantly: The recent relisting doesn’t apply to the Rocky Mountains.
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What does the Bureau of Land Management need? More money.
A lot more money — and its new, nonprofit foundation is here to help.
Posted inArticles
Conservation groups should be able to lease land to protect it
‘Use it or lose it’ rules can bias public-land management in favor of extraction.
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Interior devotes billions to plugging old oil wells. Is it enough?
The agency under-counted abandoned wells by more than half, which means the effort covers only a fraction of the cost.
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Biden’s ‘herky-jerky’ first year on Western issues
The new president sacrificed bold executive action to try to win over Congress.
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40 years after its closure, the Jackpile Mine’s toxic legacy continues
‘They have to look at it every day and wonder if that’s the reason why they’re dying.’
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A federal drought relief program left southern Oregon parched
For two decades, the Bureau of Reclamation incentivized farmers to pump water faster than the resource could recover, despite warnings from its own scientists.
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Interior’s new oil-and gas-leasing roadmap sidesteps climate action
The report leaves the door open for new leases on public land. What does that mean for the West?
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What Biden’s infrastructure bill means for wildfire management
The bill allocates $3.3 billion for firefighter raises, prescribed fire, defending communities and more.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities
The Park Service buried its own study on harassment
The agency promised transparency and action. Instead, it kept the audit confidential.
Posted inArticles
The hunt for critical minerals in Colorado raises critical questions
When Earth MRI began surveying, residents grew concerned about the prospect of mining.
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Judge rejects a Trump-era water contract in a win for tribes in California
A bid to benefit agribusiness has stalled again, leaving the Hoopa Valley Tribe hopeful that the next contract follows the law.
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
How tribal leaders want Chuck Sams to lead the Park Service
The Umatilla leader would be the first Native person in charge of the agency, which has a thorny history with tribes.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
Bears Ears is back — but don’t celebrate just yet
Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk unpacks the deeper implications — and limitations — of Biden’s monuments proclamation.