There’s economic development in reclaiming coal mines and plugging idled wells.
Mining
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Nevada lithium mine kicks off a new era of Western extraction
The hastily approved project went forward without comment from the Fort McDermitt Paiute Shoshone Tribe.
Posted inArticles
Alaskans pursue permanent protections for Bristol Bay
‘It’s time to put Pebble to rest.’
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
In Arizona, fighting a copper mine planned on sacred land
Oak Flat has been an important location to Indigenous peoples for millennia.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
The battle for the Black Hills
Nick Tilsen was arrested for protesting President Trump at Mount Rushmore. Now, his legal troubles are part of a legacy.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
When COVID hit, a Colorado county kicked out second-home owners. They hit back.
How a group of nonresident homeowners tried to influence a rural Colorado election.
Posted inArticles
Pebble Mine permit denied by Trump administration
The Army Corps of Engineers “concluded that the proposed project is contrary to the public interest.”
Posted inOctober 1, 2020: Democracy's Frayed Western Front
Energy dominance or climate action: Trump, Biden and the fate of public lands
In Grand Junction, Colorado, the presidential election is a choice between two distinct energy futures.
Posted inNovember 1, 2020: When the Smoke Clears
Once a boom town, now a ghost town. Always a hometown.
Over generations, the Soto family has lived through cycles of mining booms and the broken promises that come with them.
Posted inArticles
Rare Nevada wildflower diminished by 40% in one weekend
The remaining Tiehm’s buckwheat inhabits less than 20 acres near a proposed mine for lithium and boron.
Posted inArticles
Will a new copper mine risk Montana’s Smith River?
A group of conservation organizations have challenged the mine’s operating permit in court.
Posted inArticles
Questions surround Pebble Mine’s environmental review
As a decision on the open-pit mine nears, documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act unveil agency critiques.
Posted inArticles
Fallout: First cancer, now delayed compensation for Indigenous downwinder communities
Bureaucratic roadblocks mean ‘apology’ payouts are hard to access for Indigenous communities exposed to nuclear tests.
Posted inArticles
Uranium mining threatens our home, the Grand Canyon
Since time immemorial, the Havasupai have lived inside the natural wonder. We face yet another peril.
Posted inArticles
How Mormon history helps explain today’s public-land fights
Betsy Gaines Quammen’s new book looks at the Bundy family and religion’s connection to the Western landscape.
Posted inArticles
What are the Trump administration’s new plans for Utah monuments?
Tribal nations and conservation groups hope to dismantle the policies in court.
Posted inArticles
Forest Service delays copper mine planned on sacred land
‘Oak Flat is still on death row.’
Posted inMarch 1, 2020: Predator (Mis)perceptions
Trump targets a bedrock environmental law
Three years of rollbacks have taken a toll, without delivering real benefits.
Posted inArticles
Interior finalizes plans to welcome industry into Utah monuments
The plans for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante provide ‘certainty’ to business owners and communities, officials said.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Crossing to Safety
In rural Colorado, the kids of coal miners learn to install solar panels
Where the mines once provided steady employment, solar energy now offers jobs for the next generation.