Science is essential to managing wildlife populations, but there are limits to what we know.
Endangered Species
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Yellowstone protects wolves. What happens when they leave the park?
Crossing what’s an arbitrary boundary for wildlife, an apex predator becomes prey.
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After Trump cuts, seeds sit in the warehouse
Western groups lose federal grants for urgent restoration and conservation projects.
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Public lands and wildlife turn to stopgap solutions
In the face of federal cuts, volunteers, businesses and others help keep programs afloat.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
How one California community is turning an old oil field into protected habitat
Despite federal policies complicating Fullerton’s conservation success story.
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The Trump administration’s repeal of the roadless rule could threaten wildlife
A 2001 policy restricts road construction on Forest Service land. What happens to at-risk species if it’s removed?
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The national parks are not OK
A former national park supervisor explains how toilets may be clean this summer, but the parks themselves are actually ‘hollowed out.’
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In Sitka, Łingít fishers share herring harvests with a surprise influx of grey whales
An unprecedented whale surge in Alaska waters has changed how humans interact with a vital yaaw fishery.
Posted inJune 2025: The Promised Land
Wolves return to the West
After being driven to near-extinction, these animals, and the politics around them, are back.
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USGS’ biological research arm could vanish
Trump is on a multipronged mission to eliminate a science agency that conservationists, toxicologists, universities and more call irreplaceable.
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Trump’s border wall expansion endangers wildlife and habitat
Migration pathways for animals will be further fragmented by the new additions to the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Trump asks Congress to cut at the heart of the West
The White House wants to alter life for U.S. hunters, anglers, RVers, off-road-vehicle drivers, backpackers, birdwatchers and hikers.
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‘De-extinction’ isn’t real, but the conservation questions it raises are
In the age of gene editing, what does it mean to protect a species?
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Trump administration plans Endangered Species Act rollback
Revisions to the law center on ‘harm,’ which would allow far more mining, drilling and other development that threatens critical habitat.
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Turkey vultures in California are testing positive for rat poison
Despite statewide restrictions on the deadly poisons, new research shows they’re still infiltrating the food web.
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In Montana, a new map flipped 12 red seats
A common thread runs through states where Democrats made largest gains: bipartisan maps.
Posted inFebruary 2025: Immigrant Stories
Bringing black abalone back from the brink
To save the species, researchers translocated the endangered California mollusk.
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Our imperiled public lands
President-elect Trump, a Republican-dominated Congress and Utah launch an all-out assault on environmental protection.
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2024’s biggest conservation wins for the West
There were glimmers of good news across the region, from restored habitats to growing wildlife populations.