The rule sought to elevate conservation’s status as a valid public land use, but Trump’s Interior Secretary stressed the importance of balancing development alongside protection.
Web exclusive
Farmers face frozen jobs and heavier workloads under DOGE ‘efficiency’ budget
Billions in halted or canceled grants, gutted local offices, market turmoil and broken trust are at stake across the West.
The crusade to end federal public lands in New Mexico
Howard Hutchinson, a private property rights activist, leads a coalition that’s quietly organizing a county-level rejection of the Antiquities Act.
Audio: Under the shade of a nurse tree
Sacrificing for the benefit of other species.
The horses and mules that moved mountains and hearts
Forest Service stock animals are indispensable to trail work on public lands in the West. Trump’s radical upheaval is accelerating the death of a dying art.
Forest Service pauses commercial huckleberry picking in Gifford Pinchot National Forest
The berries are a critical resource for the Ḱamíłpa Band of the Yakama Nation and have become a big market of the Pacific Northwest food industry.
After losing everything in the Eaton fire, a family holds onto joy
Navigating grief displacement and the small moments makes recovery possible for one Black family.
A return to the fight against Alaska’s Ambler Road
Alaska Native tribes and activists will use previous momentum to try and keep a road from being built through caribou migratory paths, subsistence harvest areas and remote Indigenous land.
Trump’s unprecedented attack on America
We need an army of Raúl Grijalvas to stem the flood of ‘bullshit’ emanating out of the White House.
Trump halts historic orphaned well-plugging program
Western states were using funds from the Infrastructure Act to clean up pollution left behind by industry.
The art of moving a buffalo
Pedro Calderon-Dominguez’s daily work requires calm, quiet and patience.
Five books to help young readers understand wildfire
Age-appropriate narratives and beautiful illustrations teach children how wildfire touches people’s lives.
Access to public land through corner crossing remains legal
A federal appeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of four hunters who faced civil trespassing charges for violating airspace above private land they never touched.
Raúl Grijalva: A patriot for public lands
The legacy and words left by the committed and compassionate politician carry forward with public servants across the world.
The indomitable Butte, Montana
The misunderstood, often-maligned mining town helps itself.
Judge rules federal job cuts ‘unlawful’
The Forest Service, Park Service and other agencies must immediately reinstate workers purged by Trump.
How U.S. guns fuel violence south of the border
As Trump pressures Mexico to address drugs and migration, an expert says border security goes both ways.
Contamination threatens the last source of clean groundwater in west New Mexico
The toxic legacy of Cold War uranium mining and milling has shattered lives, destroyed homes and created a pollution problem for an entire region.
Cutting ‘boots-on-the-ground, getting-it-done stuff’ could harm the West’s fish and wildlife for decades
The research co-ops funded by Congress each year since 1960 provide substantial returns for taxpayers.
As Colorado closes its coal plants, some schools neglect to prepare
The state’s closures can mean less funding for education and fewer jobs for graduates.
