The communities dealing with the carcinogenic water worry and aren’t kept well informed.
Politics
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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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Utah has a water dilemma
Record-breaking drought along the Wasatch Front forces tough decisions about water supply.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities
Who should pay to fix California’s sunken canals?
Agribusiness and its proponents say repairs will benefit disadvantaged towns. Those residents disagree.
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Where is central California’s water going?
Small farmers struggle as ag titans wheel water for profit.
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How to solve the rural-urban digital divide
The author of ‘Farm Fresh Broadband’ draws on history to chart a better future for rural internet access.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
Wild horses, buffalo and the politics of belonging
On the Wind River Indian Reservation, two animals slip between the cracks of what is wild and what isn’t.
Posted inDecember 1, 2021: Visions of Wildness
Income inequality proliferates across the West
How history, tax policies and gentrification play into wealth inequity.
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What’s going on with the Tongass?
Newly reinstated protections continue decades of conflict over a 17 million-acre national forest in Alaska.
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Salmon need better infrastructure, too
Aging culverts block salmon migration between freshwater streams and the Pacific Ocean.
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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.
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Two Democrats kill chances of reforming outdated hardrock mining law
The nearly 150-year old law allows mining companies to extract resources like copper and lithium royalty-free.
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The Westiest programs in Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
The act is the New Deal redux, with a splash of ecosystem restoration.
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Bringing the fight against dams to COP26
Indigenous activists and allies from Oregon to Chile are highlighting how dams harm the climate and Indigenous peoples worldwide.
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.
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What’s going on with redistricting in the West?
Yurij Rudensky of the Brennan Center breaks down the politics — and potential issues — Western states face in this year’s redistricting process.
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How community control of housing and land can help solve the housing crisis
Communities are turning to land trusts and real estate cooperatives as possible solutions.
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9 numbers that explain the BLM’s headquarters boomerang back to D.C.
A look at what happened to the reorganization of the agency under the Trump administration.
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California Farmworkers Union fights to vote by mail in union elections
For a largely unorganized sector, expanded voting access would be a huge win.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
How wildlife sightings create community
What we share and what we keep quiet in small mountain towns.