What if farmers competed with one another to cut water consumption?
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Posted inOctober 1, 2022: Making Refuge
Not-murder hornets, sentient chatbots and an AirBearNBear
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
Posted inArticles
New bird flu strain threatens North American wildlife
Thousands of seabirds, geese, eagles and vultures are dead, as wildlife health experts recommend a revolution in disease management.
Posted inArticles
Local priorities and USDA funding strategies meet up in Southeast Alaska
The Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy shifts how the federal government finances the region’s rural development projects.
Posted inArticles
The Colorado River’s alfalfa problem
Growing less hay is the only way to keep the river’s water system from collapsing
Posted inArticles
Botanists find one of ‘the world’s worst weeds’ spreading in the Boise foothills
Cogongrass is the latest of a fast-growing number of invasive plants threatening Idaho’s fire-prone rangelands.
Posted inArticles
Was Yellowstone’s deadliest wolf hunt in 100 years an inside job?
Veteran park service employees were involved in last year’s hunt, but one says he’s a victim of a federal ‘witch hunt.’
Posted inJune 1, 2022: A Legacy of Weapons and War
Wildlife in the West: The good, the bad, the in-between
Conservation and wildlife corridors can help, but is it enough?
Posted inArticles
Yes, the drought really is that bad
The Western U.S. is experiencing its worst drought since 800 A.D.
Posted inArticles
Why rural communities struggle to bring in much-needed federal grants
A new analysis suggests that over half of communities in the West lack the capacity to take advantage of infrastructure bill funding. Now what?
Posted inMay 1, 2022: New Ways of Seeing the West
Cows, coal and climate change: A Q&A with the new BLM director
Tracy Stone-Manning discusses how the federal agency sees conservation, the climate crisis and the Indigenous history of public lands.
Posted inArticles
Corporations are consolidating water and land rights in the West
With farms, ranches and rural communities facing unprecedented threats, a worrying trend leads to a critical question: Who owns the water?
Posted inArticles
Where is central California’s water going?
Small farmers struggle as ag titans wheel water for profit.
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 inArticles
After more than 50 years in captivity, will Tokitae ever get justice from Seaquarium?
A new USDA report finds further mistreatment of the exploited Washington orca.
Posted inNovember 1, 2021: The Radioactive Waste Next Door
Hmong Americans in Northern California fight wildfire — and distrust
Wary of local authorities, a community forms an ad-hoc firefighting force to defend its property.
Posted inArticles
Klamath River issues explained
Confused about what’s happening on the Klamath? Dams, salmon, irrigation and more.
Posted inArticles
The ‘ecological hate speech’ developed around wildfire
A new book examines the myths that help fuel forest management.
Posted inArticles
Alaska bumblebees are thriving
Extreme environments offer them an unexpected paradise, and now researchers are working to get a head count.
Posted inArticles
A reality check on Biden’s ‘30 by 30’ conservation plan
The plan has lofty ambitions, but what’s happening on the ground tells a different story of how it might play out.