How residents across the region are engaging with the yearly weather phenomenon.
Southwest
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Searching for the lost: The people called to find missing migrants
Many Aguilas del Desierto volunteers once crossed the dangerous desert in the Borderlands themselves.
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6 things you should know about the 2021 Native American Voting Rights Act
Indigenous communities face disproportionate barriers to voting, but the act would help protect this important right.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2021: Where Wolves May Tread
The incredible shrinking Colorado River
Climate change and rising demand are sucking the life out of the Southwest’s water supply.
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The orchardist rescuing fruit trees in New Mexico
Once-diverse apple varieties are declining. Gordon Tooley wants to save them before they are gone.
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The once-perennial Gila River ebbs to an uncertain future
‘We are in uncharted territory.’
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The return of the endangered Mexican wolf
A program that places captive-born pups into wild dens is helping North America’s rarest wolf subspecies reclaim its native territory in the Southwest.
Posted inJune 1, 2021: Once and Future Fires
Rapid growth in Arizona’s suburbs bets against an uncertain water supply
‘The alternative is something they don’t want to think about.’
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There are no clear winners in the West’s water wars
As climate stressors raise the stakes, states put energy into litigation before conservation.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
Albuquerque’s racist history haunts its housing market
Policymakers and activists fight to remove pro-segregation, anti-immigrant provisions from property deeds.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Will the climate crisis tap out the Colorado River?
Water availability is going from bad to worse in the seven states that rely on the drought-stricken river.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
The alternatives to Instagram-ready desert art
Popular installations often frame the desert as austere and inhospitable. But there are artists who look at the land differently.
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Biden halted border wall construction. Now what?
Environmental and human rights advocates hope to steer the administration toward a new vision at the border.
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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.
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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.
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The Border Patrol is leaving migrants to die
A new report shows that the agency systematically ignores emergencies — neglecting thousands of lives.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2021: No Place Like Home
From boxes of memorabilia, sifting out a life
In her debut memoir, Danielle Geller researches her elusive mother — and the meaning of family.
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How Indigenous voters swung the 2020 election
In Arizona and Wisconsin, Native turnout — which often leans liberal — made the difference in Biden’s slim but winning margin.
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In Arizona, building a wall — and destroying a canyon
In a mountain range too steep to cross, DHS is spending millions of dollars on five miles of border wall.
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Violence at the U.S.-Mexico border as a presidential election nears
Law enforcement deploys tear gas and rubber bullets in confrontation with Indigenous activists.