With scant data on risk, Republicans push to open a ‘perfect’ mining opportunity.
Donald Trump
Posted inJune 25, 2018: Little Weed, Big Problem
Trump administration pauses California’s solar energy truce
The decision imperils the balance between desert conservation and development.
Posted inArticles
Nevada’s senators fight the Yucca Mountain resurgence
Republican political favors could again kill the nuclear waste project — for now.
Posted inJune 11, 2018: Reclaiming the Klamath
Sage grouse shake-up alienates conservationists
Some back away from cooperating as trust in Interior wanes.
Posted inMay 14, 2018: Death in the Alpine
Extreme mountain biker group fights for wilderness access
A new law could change the nature of wilderness travel.
Posted inArticles
Bears Ears is open for business
A reporter staked a mining claim on former monument lands. You could, too.
Posted inArticles
A sheriff’s dilemma in the face of Trump’s immigration agenda
How the controversy over ‘sanctuary cities’ is playing out in the rural West.
Posted inArticles
Can Montana Sen. Jon Tester survive Trump’s attacks?
Dust-ups with the president test an increasingly red state’s middle-ground politician.
Posted inArticles
Trump’s false narrative of chaos at the border
As asylum-seekers flee to the U.S., misguided immigration policies proliferate.
Posted inMay 28, 2018: The River of Lost Souls
At a range rights gathering, the press was in the crosshairs
In the era of social media, far-right activists aim to subvert mainstream journalists.
Posted inApril 30, 2018: Celebrity Scofflaw
Fish and Wildlife reconsiders protections for rare species
Susan Combs, who will oversee the service, has likened endangered species to incoming missiles.
Posted inArticles
West Obsessed: A desert divided on the Borderlands
What would it mean to sever life-sustaining links along the U.S.-Mexico border?
Posted inArticles
Park Service report nixes humans’ role in climate change
Interior promised not to interfere with agency science. A long-awaited report shows otherwise.
Posted inArticles
Beware the privatization of your town’s water
People often assume private providers will be cheaper and more efficient; often the opposite is true.
Posted inMarch 19, 2018: Desert, Divided
The desert, divided
The Borderlands thrive on connections. What would it mean to sever them?
Posted inArticles
Undocumented: A life, a home and a family in the rural West
What it’s like for one undocumented woman and her family in Trump’s America.
Posted inArticles
Scott Pruitt’s EPA drags its feet on controlling pollution
An anti-regulations agency delays enforcing the rules it was created to oversee.
Posted inArticles
MS-13 isn’t the real enemy
The gang’s brutality is undeniable. But the president’s rhetoric erodes American ideals.
Posted inMarch 5, 2018: Drilling Chaco
Resistance to drilling grows on the Navajo Nation
Indigenous activists try to quell a rising tide of oil and gas exploration in Chaco Canyon.
Posted inMarch 19, 2018: Desert, Divided
In Alaska, wildlands lose out to roads and drill rigs
An industry-friendly White House helps Sen. Lisa Murkowski score long-sought gains.