An industry-friendly ruling contradicts years of concerns over potential damage to endangered species, water systems and Native American cultural sites.
U.S. Forest Service
Posted inMay 27, 2019: Public Pushback
Climate cases set the stage for oil and gas leasing reform
The decisions could curb greenhouse gas emissions from public lands.
Posted inApril 29, 2019: A History of Violence
Critics of the Green New Deal rail against socialism. We’ve seen this before.
In the 1930s, nationalizing forests was labeled ‘socialist.’
Posted inArticles
Mining companies pollute waterways. Citizens pay.
Nearly 2 billion pounds of toxic waste were dumped into western waterways in 2017, and taxpayers are left to clean up the mess.
Posted inArticles
Utah asks for exemption from Forest Service roadless rule
For two decades, the rule has protected nearly four million acres in Utah.
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
The Karuk Tribe fights a growing wildfire threat and a lack of funding
Surrounded by forests they often can’t manage without breaking the law, California tribes struggle to protect themselves from wildfires.
Posted inMarch 18, 2019: Arizona's Wild Horse Paradox
Commercial honeybees threaten to displace Utah’s native bees
Federal lands could offer hives a respite from pesticides.
Posted inFebruary 18, 2019: Barriers to Entry
As shutdown ends, rural Washington considers life without feds
‘We’re going down a road to bitterness.’
Posted inFebruary 4, 2019: Nizhoni Girls
Update: Forest thinning won’t stop destructive fires
Fire-proof structures can prevent homes from adding to fuel loads in wildfires.
Posted inMarch 18, 2019: Arizona's Wild Horse Paradox
Arizona’s wild horse paradox
Activists and agencies try to balance the West’s horse mythology against herd impacts.
Posted inArticles
Update: Court blocks old-growth logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
Meanwhile, the Trump administration pushes to allow roads and more cutting.
Posted inNovember 26, 2018: Follow the fish
Critics skeptical of mining company’s plans for restoration
Midas Gold hopes to reopen and revitalize an abandoned gold mining site in Idaho.
Posted inArticles
Inside Colorado’s ‘hotbed’ of wildlife conflict
Documents show flawed management leads to unnecessary killings of bighorn sheep.
Posted inArticles
Vicki Christiansen to stay on as head of Forest Service
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue appoints a permanent Forest Service chief.
Posted inArticles
Zinke announces mining ban near Yellowstone
Locals and some conservationists applaud; others cry favoritism by the Montanan.
Posted inArticles
Reckoning with History: When we overcame political division
50 years ago, a functional Congress enacted four important conservation bills.
Posted inArticles
Wildfires don’t hurt hot real estate markets
Our love for nature causes more homes to be built in the path of destructive wildfires and leads to more blazes.
Posted inSeptember 17, 2018: The Pioneer of Ruin
Latest: Forest Service report calls for changes in wildfire management
Increases in timber sales, prescribed burns and thinning projects are needed to save life and property.
Posted inArticles
Gender diversity on the fire line
A photographer chronicles several of the firefighters combating and cleaning up after California’s Donnell Fire.
Posted inArticles
Wildfire suppression is a decades-old conundrum
Wilderness managers are still trying to balance the risks and necessity of fire.