A sales-tax funded program pays ranchers and farmers to not develop their land or sell their water rights.
Public lands
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
The Biden administration’s critical role in Indian Country
Four important decisions will impact the forests, lands and waters of tribal nations.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
Under Biden, the BLM backtracks on Hammond grazing permit
Days before their herd was set to return to public lands near Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, two fire-starting ranchers lose their grazing rights.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
Who should pay for conservation?
Traditional sources of funding are dwindling, and some believe park visitors should step up.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
Idaho state lands could end up in private hands
How a developer’s proposed large land swap ignited a fight in small but growing McCall.
Posted inArticles
Put unemployed miners and drillers back to work in restoration
There’s economic development in reclaiming coal mines and plugging idled wells.
Posted inArticles
Should BLM be closer to Western communities or Congress?
After a messy move, Biden’s Interior Department faces tough questions about where the agency should be headquartered.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
How to reverse Trump’s harmful legacy on conservation
President Biden is off to a good start, but there is much to be done. The Restoration Project has a blueprint.
Posted inArticles
Biden halted border wall construction. Now what?
Environmental and human rights advocates hope to steer the administration toward a new vision at the border.
Posted inArticles
Border wall scars: ‘It feels like if someone got a knife and dragged it across my heart.’
Tribal leaders and Borderlands communities reflect on their fruitless struggle to stop the wall.
Posted inArticles
After months of border wall construction, a look at the damage done
As President Biden takes the helm, conservation groups take stock of the border wall’s environmental impacts.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Public land is no longer on sale to oil and gas companies
President Biden’s leasing pause signals a major shift in federal land policy.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
Reclaiming the National Bison Range
After decades of battling misinformation, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes recover their lands and the herd.
Posted inArticles
Oil lease sale for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge draws few bidders
The Trump administration succeeded in opening the refuge for drilling. The highest bidder? The state of Alaska itself.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
The Washington, D.C., siege has Western roots and consequences
History and the growing power of right-wing extremism point to a volatile future for the West during the Biden presidency.
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
Lawsuit over proposed fossil fuel railway in Utah moves forward
The plaintiff says funding earmarked for the project was meant for communities ‘to alleviate the boom and bust cycle of energy production.’
Posted inArticles
Interior denies all of New Mexico’s proposed LWCF projects
The rejection is considered political retribution for criticism of the Trump administration.
Posted inDecember 1, 2020: A Community Divided
Invocation perseverance; prolific Griz 399; errant GPS
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
The dust-up over California’s off-road beach
COVID highlights conflicts over air pollution, crime and accidents on California’s Central Coast.