Bipartisan support for the act highlights the outdoor industry’s growing political clout, but questions remain about its cultural and environmental impact.
Politics
Posted inArticles
Montana’s ag tax slashes bills for thousands of million-dollar homes
Properties classified ‘agricultural’ get a tax break despite no bona fide operations. Can lawmakers’ new proposals tighten qualifications?
Posted inArticles
Jimmy Carter’s mixed environmental record
The former president emphasized conservation, protection — and coal mining.
Posted inJanuary 2025: The West's Most Wanted
Who voted in the 2024 election?
Many Democrats stayed home, while independents swung to the right.
Posted inArticles
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 set the stage for clean energy on public lands
Thanks to Biden administration policies, the momentum behind the energy transition could be hard to stall.
Posted inMarch 2025: The Berry Pickers
Utah’s coal mines can’t find enough workers
A mine just reopened in eastern Utah, but the industry has changed.
Posted inArticles
The Supreme Court decisions that gutted environmental protections in 2024
Several major cases destroyed federal agencies’ ability to address climate change and pollution.
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Beautiful Bears Ears is at risk, again
What are the consequences for the land if the incoming president shrinks the national monument?
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My family experienced Indian boarding schools – and genocide
Why Biden’s apology didn’t go far enough.
Posted inArticles
Western voters reject ranked-choice voting
The alternative electoral system has many benefits, but public opinion remains mixed.
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Washington voters stand up for climate action
The state’s landmark climate law survived a repeal effort — and has raised billions of dollars. Here’s where that money is going.
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Key Senate and House races remain uncalled across the West
A dramatic shift by Latino voters toward Trump helped create a red wave.
Posted inArticles
Resource production or preservation? Election puts Alaska lands on the line
From oil in the Arctic to the Ambler Road, Alaska’s resource and conservation battles await a new administration’s fate, affecting communities, ecosystems and industries alike.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
How the climate is changing your energy bill
Wildfires and winter storms are costing utilities and families.
Posted inArticles
Montana’s Jon Tester might lose. Here’s why that matters
What the Senate contest says about the unexpected shift in Western politics.
Posted inJanuary 2025: The West's Most Wanted
What Project 2025 has to say about Native communities
The initiative focuses heavily on resource extraction of tribal lands but lacks detail on other key issues.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
Is a farm that hosts weddings still a farm?
Agritourism divides a rural Washington county.
Posted inArticles
President Biden to apologize for federal Indian boarding schools
The U.S. government hopes to assuage cynicism and begin a new chapter of healing for Native people.
Posted inNovember 2024: The Once and Future Prairie
Pam Houston has things to say about abortion
The author’s new book is an unflinching treatise on Roe v. Wade and life post-Dobbs.