Years ago, the state’s largest utility rolled out a power outage program designed to reduce wildfires. Customers now experience thousands of outages a year.
State government
Posted inArticles
Firefighters question leaders’ role in ICE raid near Bear Gulch Fire
Firefighting veterans believe the management team overseeing fire crews played a key role in handing team members over to immigration authorities.
Posted inArticles
An Oregon law tries to tackle garbage gases
Surveys of U.S. landfills showed emission rates were, on average, 40% higher than reported.
Posted inJuly 2025: Seeds as Sustenance
Western states step up to save their wetlands
The West’s vital wetlands are in trouble — but states are working to safeguard them.
Posted inArticles
Protests greet Western governors in Santa Fe
After a bipartisan outcry, Senate proposal to sell public lands is blocked for now.
Posted inFebruary 2025: Immigrant Stories
The climate fight endures
Despite a hostile administration, local governments in the West recognize the need to
continue the energy transition, and they have plans.
Posted inArticles
Welcome to Daylight Nonsense Time
When the Yukon tinkered with the time change, it stretched the Mountain Time Zone to its breaking point.
Posted inOctober 2024: Latino Vote
States own lands on reservations. To use them, tribes must pay.
How schools, hospitals, prisons and other institutions in 15 states profit from land and resources on 79 tribal nations.
Posted inArticles
5 takeaways from our investigation into state trust lands on reservations
An investigation by High Country News and Grist reveals how public institutions benefit from extractive industries on Indian reservations.
Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing
Preventing the next ‘Fukushima’
As oil and gas operations at Portland’s CEI Hub grow, so do the chances of a catastrophic spill.
Posted inArticles
How carbon removal can help curb wildfires and build houses
Local governments in the Four Corners back homegrown carbon-removal projects.
Posted inArticles
Why Utah is suing the U.S. for control of public land
The state asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to weigh in on the future of federal lands.
Posted inArticles
Washington solar project paused amid concern about Indigenous sites
Avangrid Renewables said they plan to review comments from tribal nations and private landowners.
Posted inArticles
Is your community ready for a wildfire?
Local governments throughout the West are investing in wildfire defense. Here’s how to know if yours is one of them.
Posted inArticles
Wildlife habitat and tribal cultures threatened by Washington’s largest wind farm
The newly approved renewable energy project is planned across an eco-corridor and ceremonial sites.
Posted inArticles
Wenatchi-P’squosa people demonstrate against proposed solar project
The Badger Mountain development in eastern Washington threatens heritage foodways on sacred lands.
Posted inArticles
Washington’s controversial cap-and-trade program, explained. Really.
It’s hailed as the strongest in the nation, but will it reduce carbon pollution equitably?
Posted inArticles
Could building on public land address the housing crisis?
The West has a plethora of land and a shortage of houses. Some are wondering if a solution lies within.
Posted inArticles
The good, the bad and the ugly of the state legislative season
While Congress does nothing, Western state lawmakers pass a flurry of consequential and/or crazy — bills.
Posted inApril 2024: Epic Journeys
How states make money off tribal lands
Ten states own 1.6 million acres of land within 83 tribal nations’ reservations. How did they get there?