Groups sue Utah, trying to save Great Salt Lake with the public trust doctrine

Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit to save the Great Salt Lake as its water continues receding and its lakebed blows dust. The case uses a legal concept that recently stifled plans to turn Utah Lake into a private island development and, years ago, stopped a salty lake from getting sucked dry in California.

sltrib.com

The Great Salt Lake is becoming too salty to support life

From brine flies to brine shrimp to eared grebes to pronghorn and buffalo, the lake supports an exquisite ecosystem whose collapse is literally making people sick.

thenation.com

‘Vanishing Oasis’

"Vanishing Oasis" — First-Place Winner of the Yale Environment 360 Film Contest — documents how massive withdrawals from rivers that feed the Great Salt Lake are threatening the survival of millions of migratory birds and creating bare lake beds that generate plumes of toxic dust.

vimeo.com

Interactive map shows location of inland port projects across Utah and their proximity to wetlands

What does Utah stand to gain and lose as open space gets paved over by port development?

sltrib.com

‘We must change or die,’ author Terry Tempest Williams says of saving Great Salt Lake

Utah Author Terry Tempest Williams discussed her piece on the Great Salt Lake during Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson’s book club event last weekend.

sltrib.com

The American West is built on contradicting ideals. These elk hunters were caught in the middle.

Over eight million acres of public lands are gridlocked by private property. When a group of hunters jumped from one plot of federal land to another, they ignited a debate around just how much a landowner can control.

outsideonline.com

Public lands had a roller coaster month

Rounding up the Biden administration’s ups and downs on land policy.

hcn.org

Who owns the West?

Increasingly, land is shifting into the hands of billionaires.

hcn.org

BLM shifts green on 2 million Western Slope acres, setting up Colorado clash of environment vs. oil

Far bigger chunks of pristine public lands would be walled off from extraction, as federal land managers are ordered to consider climate impacts of activities on land spanning Eagle, Mesa and Pitkin counties.

coloradosun.com

BLM recreation strategy preps for growing numbers of visitors

The agency reported more than 81 million visits last year, a 40 percent increase over 58 million in 2012.

eenews.net

Utah lands trust joins effort to downsize small town near Bears Ears

Will opposing a solar farm blow up Bluff’s boundaries?

sltrib.com

Ninth Circuit: Forest Service has no duty to regulate lead ammo waste

After hearing the case for the third time in a decade, the appeals court ruled that the federal government isn’t liable for hazards to critically endangered species caused by the disposal of lead ammunition on federal land.

courthousenews.com

Glacier National Park seeks input on controversial entry system

Glacier Park officials held back-to-back open-house meetings — one on the east side at St. Mary and another on the west side in Columbia Falls — to gather input on the ticketed entry system it has used to manage visitation during the peak summer months.

montanafreepress.org

How to wrangle Grand Teton crowds? Park seeks public input.

As visitation grows, GTNP is looking for input on how users view management instead of proposing specific plans like timed-entry or park reservations.

wyofile.com

Wind River Air is out. Yellowstone Helicopters is in — and under the microscope

Overflights of wilderness, possible ‘photo flights’ in Grand Teton raise watchdogs’ hackles.

jhnewsandguide.com

Feds give emergency status to new Seeley logging project

The determination allows the Forest Service to skip a step of the project’s public approval process: soliciting and responding to formal objections before the project is finally approved and implemented.

missoulian.com

The U.S. is spending billions to reduce forest fire risks. We mapped the hot spots where treatment offers the biggest payoff for people and climate

Forest thinning and controlled burns take away fuel for fires, but the U.S. can only treat so many acres. Which ones to choose?

theconversation.com

After a century, oil and gas problems persist on Navajo Lands

The legacy of fossil fuel development endures in leaks, spills and neglect.

capitalandmain.com

The long tail of toxic emissions on the Navajo Nation

Communities contend with ongoing air quality issues tied to gas and oil wells.

hcn.org

$1B oil and gas deal coming in Permian Basin despite slight dip in forecast oil production

For the assets, Viper agreed to pay $750 million along with 9.02 million in common stock units, totaling more than $1 billion in cash and stock.

currentargus.com

Researchers warn that changes in the Permian Basin surface due to oil and gas industry activities are leading to increasing number of geohazards

A new study published this month examines how the petrochemical industry in the Permian Basin has deformed the landscape by causing some areas to sink while other areas rise.

nmpoliticalreport.com

With last lease laid to rest, Blackfeet end 40-year fight to halt drilling on Badger-Two Medicine

Under a settlement agreement reached Friday, the Louisiana company Solenex relinquished the only remaining oil and gas lease on land sacred to Blackfeet traditionalists.

flatheadbeacon.com

Fossil fuel advocates revive ballot measure to prohibit local gas bans in Colorado

A leading fossil fuel advocacy group has once again proposed a ballot initiative to stop Colorado communities from banning natural gas hookups in new buildings.

www.cpr.org

New oil and gas rules would raise BLM royalties in Colorado and across nation, demand land protections

The BLM will raise oil royalties, add well insurance and layer other new protections as part of leasing overhaul.

coloradosun.com

What’s next for Utah’s Uinta Basin Railway after court forces railroad expansion project back to the start?

The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition could re-start the two-year environmental review of the project or petition review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

coloradosun.com

In wake of oil train legal win, Colorado mountain towns dream of passenger rail

Stakeholders in Colorado are girding for future battles around railroad and hoping passengers can replace petroleum along the mountain line.

coloradonewsline.com

BLM office in Wyoming has built national well-plugging model

Through years of trial and error, the Buffalo Field Office has developed a process to track down and hold accountable oil and gas companies for plugging their own idle wells, to ensure that federal taxpayers don’t have to take on the financial burden of cleanup.

buffalobulletin.com

Powered by wind, this $10B transmission line will carry more energy than the Hoover Dam

Executives with one of the largest wind and solar energy development companies in the world gathered with federal officials on the dusty plains of New Mexico to mark the groundbreaking of what will be the largest renewable energy infrastructure project in the United States.

apnews.com

On the SunZia transmission project and carbon tunnel vision

It seems at first glance like a win-win situation. And in some ways and places it is. But there’s at least one loser here, and that’s the San Pedro River valley in southern Arizona.

landdesk.org

Colorado’s largest proposed battery plant gets last-minute charge despite opposition, winning OK

Plans for Colorado’s largest battery plant in Brighton nearly ran out of juice in the face of strong opposition from neighbors who fear chemical contamination and fires from the planned lithium-ion manufacturing facility.

denverpost.com

A fight is brewing to build Colorado’s first geothermal plant as neighbors oppose development

A group of Chaffee County residents is battling a geothermal plant under consideration near their subdivision.

coloradosun.com

Wyoming could gain the most from federal climate funding, but obstacles are many

Ambitious climate action could reap rewards for the No. 1 coal state, one study concludes. But the state economy remains tied to fossil fuels.

insideclimatenews.org

Wyoming lawmakers use power bill increase to target renewable energy

Fossil fuels are the primary culprit behind rising electrical costs, utility says, yet lawmakers will consider measures to limit renewables, preserve gas and coal.

wyofile.com

The unplugging of a promising Alberta solar project

A solar energy project in western Alberta was poised to not only power 1,200 homes but innovate a new way to pay for such initiatives, say its backers. But then came the “gut-wrenching” decree by Premier Danielle Smith.

thetyee.ca

How to mine the world's largest known lithium deposit sustainably

The McDermitt Caldera in Nevada and Oregon could hold up to 100 megatons of lithium. Now companies are proposing a new method for mining it.

popsci.com

Burning Man’s climate reckoning has begun

The festival's biggest issue may be its opposition to renewable energy in its own backyard.

grist.org

Colorado, running out of options for a source of wolves, turns to Native American tribes

Colorado is running out of options to get the gray wolves it is supposed to reintroduce to the state by the end of the year.

coloradoan.com

Yellowstone lays out bison management approaches in draft plan

Park officials are soliciting public comment on the plan, which comes on the heels of a tumultuous year for bison management.

montanafreepress.org

Southern Ute Tribe’s bison herd at maximum capacity due to environmental restrictions

The Southern Ute tribe has successfully grown its bison herd to sustain its bison meat distribution program but is restricted in expanding the herd.

rmpbs.org

Federal government, salmon advocates agree to continue talks that could lead to breaching Snake River dams

After nearly two years of negotiating, the Biden administration and a coalition of Northwest tribes, environmental groups and other parties agreed Thursday to continue talks that could lead to breaching the Lower Snake River dams in an effort to help endangered salmon recover.

spokesman.com

Sow grizzly bear killed in self-defense encounter in Whitefish Range

Two local men scouting for hunting opportunities ahead of archery season in the Whitefish Range killed a grizzly bear in self-defense on Aug. 26.

flatheadbeacon.com

Man kills grizzly in self-defense surprise encounter in Tom Miner Basin

An angler shot and killed a grizzly bear in self-defense this week in the Tom Miner Basin, Montana, Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Friday.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Archery hunters in Island Park shoot and kill grizzly bear in self-defense

Two men shot and killed a grizzly bear in self-defense while hunting west of Island Park Reservoir Friday.

eastidahonews.com

Grizzly 399 has hopped Grand Teton's southern border — and crossed onto private land

Famous bruin, cub spotted on private land; wildlife managers urge caution with trash, food.

jhnewsandguide.com

Jackson Hole pronghorn counts nosedive

In 2022, Game and Fish, Teton park and the National Elk Refuge counted a record 708 pronghorn in the Jackson Hole valley and Gros Ventre drainage. This year, officials counted only 79, an 88% decline.

jhnewsandguide.com

Killing more lions to boost Wyoming deer draws scant support

Comments came in from across Wyoming and the country, mostly opposing a proposal to target 50% more mountain lions in areas where mule deer sustained sky-high winter mortality.

wyofile.com

Red Lodge logging project stalls again; judge rules lynx need more consideration

A logging project proposed outside of Red Lodge to reduce wildland fires has been delayed once again following a judge's ruling.

billingsgazette.com

In this Rocky Mountain wildlife corridor, a luxury development forges ahead despite fierce opposition

Hundreds of locals voiced opposition to the Galloway Lands development near Fernie, B.C. Despite their protests, development is forging ahead, making some residents suspicious of political donations and a developer who emerged from bankruptcy.

thenarwhal.ca

Wildlife and the inescapable impact of road noise

The “blab of the pave” disrupts animals’ lives everywhere, even in national parks.

hcn.org

Trouble in Wyoming

When a GOP megadonor didn’t like the coverage he was getting from Wyoming’s newsrooms, he funded a new one. Now it’s pushing anti-trans talking points and climate misinformation.

cjr.org

An Eastern Oregon effort to join Idaho reflects the growing American divide

The fact that the movement has gotten even this far illustrates the growing tear in the American fabric.

stateline.org

Legacy of Native American boarding schools comes into view through a new interactive map

A group focused on shedding more light on the troubled legacy of boarding schools where Indigenous children were stripped of their culture and language as part of assimilation efforts released a new interactive map that includes dozens of additional schools in the U.S. and Canada.

apnews.com

A year into its investigation into Indian boarding schools, History Colorado begins to lay out steps toward reconciliation

The state is outlining how it could begin to reconcile with a history of separating Indigenous children from their families and communities and forcing them to assimilate into white European culture at schools around the turn of the 20th Century.

cpr.org

Revisiting the Rock Springs Massacre

In 1885, white coal miners in Wyoming Territory, murdered at least 28 Chinese men and ran the rest of the Chinese out of town at gunpoint. These artworks bring that history back to the present.

hcn.org

The climate crisis could mean the twilight of the American West

In an excerpt from his book “River Notes,” leading anthropologist Wade Davis recalls how the taming of the Colorado River in the 1960s — “nature serves man” went the thinking — helped shape the nation. But now facing a historic drought, all that could be lost in a generation.

rollingstone.com

America is using up its groundwater like there’s no tomorrow

Unchecked overuse is draining and damaging aquifers nationwide, a data investigation by the New York Times revealed, threatening millions of people and America’s status as a food superpower.

nytimes.com

An evolving Salt Lake City hopes to be ‘just like Austin’

Shedding its stodgy image, the city has become a destination for start-ups looking for cheaper space and younger workers on the hunt for roomier housing.

nytimes.com

Montana property taxpayers could see highest tax increase in history

“In 2023, Montana homeowners and renters are about to experience the largest property tax increase in history, nearly $200 million, an 18% increase in one year,” said former state Revenue Director Dan Bucks. “That has never happened before.”

missoulian.com

A Montana town faces a homelessness problem similar to San Francisco and L.A.

Missoula’s parks are full of people in tents, but moving them is hampered by a court ruling that has frustrated many leaders in the American West.

wsj.com

Around Durango, chasing unhoused campers a game of cat and mouse for law enforcement

“I hate to say it, it’s Whac-A-Mole. We’ll chase them around and try to figure out solutions for them.”

durangoherald.com

Colorado's mountain town homeowners are tired of being cast as villains in the fight over short-term rentals

Homeowners in Colorado mountain valleys are pushing back on local regulations capping and taxing short-term rentals.

coloradosun.com

Alterra Mountain Co. goes big — bigger than Vail — on a Utah resort for skiers only

Plan for $3.2 billion Deer Valley expansion includes 3,700 new acres of ski terrain plus a village built by the developer of posh New York City residential towers.

coloradosun.com

Deer Valley stands by its snowboarder ban as it takes over new Utah ski resort

Deer Valley Resort announced it will retain its snowboard ban even as the luxe Park City resort expands to the Mayflower property, which will nearly triple its skiable terrain. Here's why.

sltrib.com

July was the hottest month ever recorded and Colorado’s mountains didn’t fully escape it

As the earth roasted last month, reaching a global average temperature that scientists have confirmed to be the highest on record for any month, the Colorado High Country got an uneven sampling of the heat.

summitdaily.com

Rikki Held fought the climate crisis in court. And won

Her name will always be tied to one of the landmark environmental decisions of our time. And she wouldn’t change a thing

rollingstone.com

Win for Montana youth fuels another climate battle in Hawaii

"The law is starting to catch up with the reality of the climate crisis," one legal observer said.

eenews.net

Was the leading Colorado River conservation program a flop? Officials say no, but it wasn’t perfect either.

As the postmortem begins, Colorado River officials and water users say the program should continue even as they wonder if it had enough bang for the buck.

coloradosun.com

Tests find more Colorado towns' drinking water is contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’

New EPA test results for PFAS “forever chemicals” in drinking water supplies turn up more Colorado communities with contamination problems.

coloradosun.com

How far will Montana’s push to remove lead from school drinking water go?

Montana has earmarked $3.7 million to address widespread high levels of lead in school drinking water. But it likely isn’t enough to solve the problem.

kffhealthnews.org

Feet to the fire: Butte residents expect EPA to ensure a clean future for the young

The EPA held a public meeting Wednesday night in Butte to discuss the potential use of “onsite material,” or “grey dirt,” as fill at sites slated for Superfund remediation.

mtstandard.com

Wings over Wyoming

Cultivating pollinator support at state parks.

westernconfluence.org

'This changes everything': Experts respond to landmark youth climate ruling

Legal, scientific and industry experts say the ruling in Held v. Montana could have lasting legal consequences. But will it result in changes to Montana’s energy policies?

flatheadbeacon.com

How climate science won in the Montana youth climate case

The ruling in Held v. Montana is expected to bolster cases in other states with similar environmental protections in their constitutions.

hcn.org

Impacts of Held vs. Montana decision already being seen in Montana

The ramifications of a judge’s decision this week in the historic Held v. Montana trial are already being seen in the Treasure State, and policymakers and lawyers say its impact can’t be overstated in Montana and beyond.

dailymontanan.com

Montana youth climate ruling could set precedent for future climate litigation

"I thought this was one of the strongest decisions on climate change issued by any court anywhere," said Michael Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School's Sabin Center for Climate Change Law.

npr.org

Montana kids win historic climate lawsuit. Here's why it could set a powerful precedent

The case hinged on Montana’s “green amendment,” which guarantees a constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment.” Other states have similar amendments, and more are considering them.

theconversation.com

Q&A: A legal scholar calls the ruling in the Montana youth climate lawsuit 'huge'

Pat Parenteau explains how the judge ruled in favor of a group of young litigants, and why an expected appeal by the state of Montana could be hard to win before the Montana Supreme Court.

insideclimatenews.org

Montana's expert witnesses in climate change trial billed state $95K

The state of Montana was billed nearly $95,000 in total by the three expert witnesses the Attorney General’s Office utilized in the Held v. Montana climate change trial, two of whom the state never called to testify.

dailymontanan.com

Federal court vacates approval of Utah oil-train project opposed by Colorado local governments

A federal court has sent regulators back to the drawing board on their approval of a new short-line railroad in the oil fields of eastern Utah, finding major flaws in how the federal Surface Transportation Board analyzed the risks of increased oil-train traffic through western and central Colorado.

coloradonewsline.com

The oil business is booming in Utah’s Uinta Basin

With Utah oil production at an all-time high, the Uinta Basin is enjoying another boom economy. How long will it last?

sltrib.com

‘Unprecedented’ times: New Mexico revenue boom to generate $3.5B in new spending capacity

Fueled by an incredible oil and gas boom and strong consumer spending, New Mexico’s financial reserves reached about 52% of ongoing state spending this summer — a financial cushion of nearly $4.4 billion. And the geyser is still spewing.

abqjournal.com

As wildfires rage, canada's oil sector looks to ramp up production

Even as unprecedented wildfires hamper Canadian oil drilling, fossil fuel firms are seeking to boost production, ramping up Canada’s oil output by 8 percent over the next two years.

e360.yale.edu

Court sides with Interior in Wyoming NEPA fight

The 10th Circuit ruling is a loss for environmentalists who said the natural gas project at the heart of the fight poses risks to two iconic Western species.

eenews.net

95 oil and gas wells are in the way of economic development in Frederick. Town officials want the barrier gone.

Frederick, and its neighbor Dacono, are appealing to state regulators to force K.P. Kauffman to plug and abandon wells developers say are making them look elsewhere.

coloradosun.com

This Colorado-built satellite will leave methane polluters nowhere to hide

The Environmental Defense Fund says MethaneSAT, set to launch next year, is a new frontier for climate accountability.

cpr.org

What's to blame for too little water in Flathead Lake: climate or mismanagement?

Accusations of mismanagement have been flying while dam operators point to the role of a rapid runoff of a modest snowpack.

montanafreepress.org

The Great Salt Lake and its web of life face an uncertain future

"Vanishing Oasis" — First-Place Winner of the Yale Environment 360 Film Contest — documents how massive withdrawals from rivers that feed the Great Salt Lake are threatening the survival of millions of migratory birds and creating bare lake beds that generate plumes of toxic dust.

e360.yale.edu

Another inland port project approved on imperiled Great Salt Lake wetlands

Lake advocates balk at governor's claim Utah will have "the most environmentally friendly inland port anywhere in the country."

sltrib.com

Mining company responds to concerns about its plans at Great Salt Lake, but lawmakers aren’t happy

Following lithium “dust-up,” powerful legislator prepares to slap mineral extractors with unprecedented restrictions, including limits on how much lake water they can use.

sltrib.com

Feds ease Colorado River cutbacks after positive forecast, but more work remains

The latest study from the Bureau of Reclamation shows how a wet winter in 2023 helped boost Lake Powell and Colorado River water supplies. But experts say more cuts to demand for the water supply are needed.

kunc.org

Colorado River Basin states stake out positions on the future of Mead, Powell reservoirs

Colorado River Basin states don’t agree on very much when it comes to the future operations of the basin’s largest water savings banks.

coloradosun.com

Colorado River Basin ranks among the world's most water-stressed regions, analysis finds

A new global analysis finds U.S. states along the Colorado River are under extremely high water stress. The region is grappling with how to reduce water use.

latimes.com

Can Colorado's source streams make a comeback? These scientists, and beavers, think so

Restoring natural infrastructure, such as beaver habitat and the wetlands it creates, could shield communities from damaging floods, remove toxins and high sediment loads from water, and reduce the apocalyptic effects of megafires.

watereducationcolorado.org

Smallmouth bass survives eradication efforts in Colorado River

National Park Service data shows the invasive species' population growing below Glen Canyon Dam, posing a danger to threatened fish.

eenews.net

Why are we paying for crop failures in the desert?

Taxpayers are on the hook for heat-related crop losses in parched states like Arizona. That needs to change.

thefern.org

BLM invites public comment on Grand Staircase draft plan

“Your feedback during this public comment period is critical to shaping the future management of this unique and unparalleled Utah landscape.”

moabtimes.com

BLM's Utah monument plan emphasizes conservation

The proposal would establish four new areas of critical environmental concern in Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

eenews.net

GOP bill would require the BLM to manage Grand Staircase by Trump’s rules

The bill passed in July, which the full House of Representatives is expected to vote on in September, would tie the BLM’s hands in two fundamental ways.

sltrib.com

Federal judge tosses Utah lawsuit seeking to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments

A federal judge tossed a lawsuit by Utah political leaders who’d asked the courts to declare Presiden Joe Biden’s expansion of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments unlawful on Friday.

sltrib.com

Utah will appeal the decision against its Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante lawsuit

Last week, Utah gave notice of an appeal just days after a lower U.S. District Court tossed out its suit against the Biden administration.

kuer.org

See inside the Grand Canyon region’s new monument

A weeklong journey through the under-documented region, which now has new protections.

hcn.org

Uranium hunters in the West face partial ban, pollution fears

President Biden’s declaration of a new national monument put some Western areas off limits to uranium mining, but companies have plans in others—and tribes are pushing back.

bloomberglaw.com

BLM releases long-awaited management plan for Red Desert region

Update will guide management of 3.6 million acres of public lands in Rock Springs Field Office, including Red Desert and migration corridors.

wyofile.com

Spending time outdoors could get more expensive in parts of Wyoming

Two national forest systems and Grand Teton National Park are seeking to raise the costs of camping, backpacking and more.

wyofile.com

Wyoming’s first woman forester has plans for the future of the state’s forests

Wyoming Public Radio’s Hugh Cook spoke with Kelly Norris about the state of Wyoming’s forests, her plans for the agency, and being the first woman to fill the position of state forester.

wyomingpublicmedia.org

To defund or defend?

Amid congressional efforts to defund Glacier National Park’s vehicle reservation system, park administrators and stakeholders defend it as an adaptive tool that has evolved based on public feedback.

flatheadbeacon.com

BLM rolls out new ‘cautious approach’ to e-bikes

Green groups and off-roaders are divided on the agency's policy, which scales back a Trump-era exemption of e-bikes from rules governing vehicle use on backcountry trails.

eenews.net

BLM whistleblower says illegal grazing is ruining land along the Rio Grande River

A veteran employee of the Bureau of Land Management in the San Luis Valley filed a whistleblower complaint Monday, saying her bosses are failing to enforce livestock grazing rules on public lands and are jeopardizing the ecosystem along the Rio Grande River.

denverpost.com

More than 120,000 acres set aside in Idaho as conservation area

The Bennett Hills conservation area covers more than 120,000 acres of rolling grasslands in southwest Idaho, just outside Mountain Home. It’s home to upland game bird species and serves as winter habitat for elk and mule deer.

boisestatepublicradio.org

New ways to measure trail use could transform how outdoor recreation is developed and managed

Better data is needed to measure recreational use on public lands. New, accurate methods are being pioneered in Montana’s Bridger Mountains.

headwaterseconomics.org

Xcel will raise electric bills again next month. A quarter of the hike will cover closing coal-fired power plants.

Xcel Energy’s 1.6 million Colorado customers will see their bills rise again next month an average of 4.4%, or about $4, on residential bills.

coloradosun.com

Missoulians united in opposition to NorthWestern Energy plan

Invoking a recent Montana climate court case, many western Montana residents are calling for NorthWestern Energy to redo its energy management proposal for the next 20 years.

missoulacurrent.com

Southwest Montana solar project powers up

An 80-megawatt solar array in southwest Montana is now operating, roughly doubling the amount of the commercial solar energy in the state.

billingsgazette.com

Melville ranch adds solar, joins growing number in Montana taking advantage of federal grants

With an end to its hefty power bills, J Bar L anticipates the new system will pay for itself within a few years.

montanafreepress.org

Cleaning up Utah’s energy picture? These Utahns want to bank on it.

After years of failing to convince Utah legislators, green-minded Utahns are setting up a nonprofit to fund clean-energy projects.

sltrib.com

Want a hot tub at your Colorado ski town home? You might have to offset its emissions first.

Breckenridge — and soon Summit County — is adopting a “renewable energy mitigation plan” to offset greenhouse gases from outdoor amenities.

coloradosun.com

Colorado launches statewide e-bike rebates, pouring $10M into the program’s first year

Colorado’s e-bike rebate program is one of the largest in the country.

coloradosun.com

BLM reserving land for proposed Lava Ridge wind-energy project

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced last week that more than 106,000 acres of BLM-managed public lands in the proposed Lava Ridge Wind Project area northeast of Twin Falls will continue to be kept open for the project for two more years.

mtexpress.com

CCS 2.0: Company reboots bid to save New Mexico coal plant

A proposal from a New Mexico startup is in the race to be the nation's second large-scale carbon capture proposal on a power plant.

eenews.net

Appeals court upholds regional haze plans for Wyoming coal plants

PacifiCorp’s Wyodak coal-fired power plant near Gillette and its Naughton coal-fired power plant near Kemmerer are in compliance with federal requirements to reduce pollutants that contribute to regional haze, according to a ruling by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

wyofile.com

Washington’s carbon-pricing program nears $1 billion in revenue, far outpacing early estimates

Washington’s latest auction of carbon-emission allowances raked in an estimated $62.5 million last week, with revenue from the state’s carbon-pricing program now nearing a billion dollars and far outpacing early estimates.

seattletimes.com

Grizzlies roam, but where? A new study offers clues

If you were a grizzly bear on the move, where would you go and how would you get there?

missoulian.com

Majority of 2023 Yellowstone grizzly bear deaths happening in Wyoming

There were 15 grizzly bears that died or were reported dead in 2023 in Wyoming's portion of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, mortality data shows.

trib.com

Citing climate impacts and grizzly bear mortality, judge halts Yaak logging project

The 95,412-acre Black Ram timber sale was proposed on a segment of the Kootenai National Forest that is home to the imperiled Cabinet-Yaak grizzly population.

flatheadbeacon.com

Grand Teton National Park black bears raiding swimmers' coolers, backpacks

Black bears keep eating human items left along lakeshores while visitors dip in the water.

billingsgazette.com

Yellowstone's draft Bison Management Plan lays out case for less lethal control

The park’s Bison Management Plan draft environmental impact statement was released to the public for comment on Thursday, outlining three possible alternatives.

billingsgazette.com

Montana wildlife commission lowers wolf hunting quotas, but not in the area bordering Yellowstone

Commissioners passed a statewide hunting and trapping quota of 313 wolves. That’s higher than what was originally proposed by Montana FWP, but lower than last year’s quota.

mtpr.org

Wildlife crossings proposed on east side of Vail Pass could be funded through new state, federal programs

There are more female deer killed by cars than hunters in Colorado every year. Advocates hope three new wildlife crossings on Vail Pass will reduce collisions, improve animal health.

coloradosun.com

Yellowstone, Montana fight trout for territory in Lamar River drainage

Yellowstone, Montana battle invasive fish — and public opinion — for iconic waterway.

jhnewsandguide.com

Bad actor suspected in Yellowstone brook trout discovery

Scientific evidence still lacks, but signs point toward an illegal introduction of nonnative trout in already restored Soda Butte Creek.

wyofile.com

Water-quality testing could yield clues to declining trout populations in SW Montana

Water-quality testing underway in the Jefferson River Basin could help scientists form hypotheses about trout population declines and identify potential interventions.

mtstandard.com

Biden administration proposes $106 million for Western salmon and steelhead recovery

Grants may fund agencies with salmon protection missions, tribes and tribal partnerships in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and California.

idahocapitalsun.com

More than 150 years after the Sand Creek Massacre, descendants want more authority on the Colorado lands that tribes called home

Cheyenne and Arapaho descendants are asking why more hasn’t been done to welcome them back to their ancestral lands and heal the traumatic events of the past.

cpr.org

Native mental health providers seek to heal boarding school scars with informed and appropriate treatment

As more visibility is brought to the legacy of U.S. boarding schools, Indigenous mental health providers and social workers feel that therapy must address the unique trauma carried by survivors.

hcn.org

U.S. launches program to provide electricity to more Native American homes

In all, federal officials said $150 million is being invested from the Inflation Reduction Act to support the electrification of homes in tribal communities, many of which have seen mixed success over the decades as officials have tried to address the lack of adequate infrastructure in remote areas.

apnews.com

Tribal and first nation governments craft proposal to address transboundary mining concerns

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Ktunaxa Nation sent President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau a proposal to refer coal mining pollution on the Elk-Kootenai watershed to the International Joint Commission.

flatheadbeacon.com

Can affluence and affordable housing coexist in Colorado’s Rockies?

The outdoorsy lifestyle of Colorado mountain towns has become a magnet for the new remote-worker class, upending life for those already rooted there.

nytimes.com

What ballooning home values mean for one tenant and her landlord

Rising prices are reshaping Montana, ramping up pressure on both sides of the ownership divide.

montanafreepress.org

Reading between the front lines

Montana’s libraries are the latest battlefield in a culture clash over community standards.

montanafreepress.org

ACLU, tech coalitions file amicus briefs in favor of overturning Montana's TikTok ban

The American Civil Liberties Union is among nonprofit organizations and tech-oriented business coalitions that filed amicus briefs in the TikTok ban lawsuit– in favor of enjoining the law

dailymontanan.com

EPA's plan to sanction use of slightly contaminated fill dirt in Butte remains controversial

EPA released a position paper Friday touting the benefits of using onsite material, also known as slightly contaminated “grey dirt,” at Superfund sites in Butte. The plan is controversial.

mtstandard.com

Colorado sues EPA to stop public access to air pollution records

Feds are holding up approving a state air quality improvement plan unless Colorado agrees to give public access to air pollution information.

coloradosun.com

Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola: A timeline of the decision, and what comes next.

UDOT decided on an 8-mile gondola for Little Cottonwood Canyon last month. Explore the 5-year-process that led to the gondola's selection, and what's to come by 2050.

sltrib.com

Who will pay for Utah gondola to bring skiers to Alta, Snowbird?

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox says the state shouldn’t be the only one paying for a gondola up Little Cottonwood Canyon, which some estimates suggest could cost over $1 billion.

deseret.com

Copper Mountain starts seeding to spark a landscape-scale biodiversity effort

Copper Mountain’s 10-year plan to sink carbon into native grasses on ski slopes is one of many sustainability projects underway at Colorado ski areas that are working together to deflect the impacts of climate change.

coloradosun.com

Foraging for data

The power of mushroom hunting as both outdoor recreation and community science.

westernconfluence.org

How climate change stoked Canada's record-breaking wildfires

A study finds eastern Canada's fire weather this summer was made twice as likely by the influence of global warming.

eenews.net

Red alert

In the summer of 2023, Canadians woke up to the reality of climate change amid fire and smoke. Now that we have seen and smelled the future, what will we do?

theglobeandmail.com

An arts oasis on Colorado's high plains is reckoning with changing climates of all kinds

Maureen Hearty and Kirsten Stoltz’s idea for Prairie Sea Projects is to get people thinking about their uncertain future by embracing the best of rural life.

coloradosun.com

Could weathered rock vault us towards our climate goals?

Building on previous research, a new study estimates how much carbon farmers could lock away by spreading crushed rock on croplands. Their numbers are enormous.

anthropocenemagazine.org

Opinion: 47 days in extreme heat, and you begin to notice things

As the red rock desert broils us in beauty, will we have to leave?

nytimes.com

Climate chaos is outpacing science and outrunning journalism

A new type of disaster reporting is needed to keep up.

capitalandmain.com

The local-news crisis is weirdly easy to solve

Restoring the journalism jobs lost over the past 20 years wouldn’t just be cheap—it would pay for itself.

theatlantic.com

Mountain Journal (2017-2023): Our summit was truth

An open letter of gratitude to Mountain Journal's valued readers and supporters as we fade into the sunset.

mountainjournal.org

Biden dedicates new monument for Arizona tribes and 'the soul of the nation'

President Joe Biden visited a windswept sage flat at Red Butte, a sacred Havasupai landmark, on Tuesday to proclaim it and nearly 1 million acres of federal lands as Arizona’s newest natural preserve, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.

azcentral.com

President Biden announced new monument at Red Butte. Here's why it is sacred to tribes

Wii'l Gdwiisa, or "Clenched Fist Mountain," stretches more than 1,000 feet over the high plateau about 12 miles south of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is known to the Havasupai as the abdomen of Mother Earth. Red Butte, and nearby Mat Taav Tiivjunmdva, a meadow about 3 miles north of Red Butte close to the Canyon's South Rim, is her navel.

azcentral.com

New national monument comes after more than a decade of advocacy by Native nations

The new national monument that President Biden is designating in Arizona today comes after Native nations advocated for decades to protect the area

knau.org

Biden protects land by Grand Canyon but will still allow mining

The monument isn’t expected to block Energy Fuels Inc. from mining for uranium at its existing Pinyon Plain Mine, which will be within the monument about 13 miles south of the Grand Canyon.

news.bloomberglaw.com

New Arizona national monument is ‘frustrating news’ for Utah Gov. Cox

At a time when the Biden administration is pursuing a carbon-free economy and pouring millions upon millions of dollars into the development of next generation nuclear technology, the Tuesday designation of a new national monument in Arizona is confounding to Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox.

deseret.com

We carry the burden of repatriating our ancestors. Here’s what it’s like to report on the process as an Indigenous journalist.

Mary Hudetz describes the financial cost and emotional distress that tribal communities face as they continue to wait for the return of the remains of their ancestors, thousands of which are held in museums across the country.

propublica.org

Native students learn how to preserve threatened languages and pass them on to the next generation

Fort Lewis College’s All Our Kin Collective is meant to help students find a deeper sense of belonging within their communities.

co.chalkbeat.org

Interview: Lorelei Cloud makes history in a critical time as first tribal council member on the Colorado Water Conservation Board

Lorelei Cloud joined the Colorado Water Conservation Board in March as the first tribal council member to serve in the position. She spoke to Colorado Matters about including Indigenous voices in water discussions and the challenges ahead for the Colorado River.

cpr.org

Billions spent on hatcheries, habitat fails to help native Columbia River salmon, study finds

An Oregon State professor and U.S. Geological Survey biologist reviewed 50 years of data on fish survival and hatchery costs.

oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Tribes call for feds to ban chemical in car tires that is linked to salmon deaths

Two tribes in Washington are asking federal regulators to ban a chemical widely used in car tires that scientists have identified as highly toxic to salmon and other fish.

invw.org

Summit County to lease federal land to build housing under new Farm Bill rules

A potential lease between Summit County, the Town of Dillon and the U.S. Forest Service would be the first in the country to allow a local municipality to build affordable housing on National Forest land.

cpr.org

Happy trails? Lessons from Curt Gowdy on outdoor recreation design

Visitation to Wyoming’s Curt Gowdy State Park mushroomed by more than 900% since crews started building a trail system there in 2006. As it strives to balance benefits with impacts, what can the state learn from Gowdy?

wyofile.com

In a tale as old as the West, wealthy Californians moved to Montana and blocked historic river access

A conflict in the state’s richest valley pitted out-of-state landowners against local hunters and anglers over a few crucial feet of land.

outdoorlife.com

Whitebark pine restoration projects funded in Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton national parks

The project includes working with partners and tribes to plant blister rust resistant seed and seedlings, identify rust resistant trees, monitor seedling survival, and identify climate refugia, the Department of Interior announced. The project builds on 20 years of work at Glacier National Park and within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

billingsgazette.com

A trillion trees could cool the planet. But where to get them? There’s a massive disconnect.

The team of scientists, which included federal U.S. Forest Service researchers, conducted what is essentially an audit of the nursery system, ticking off a number of shortcomings that could hobble tree planting initiatives.

anthropocenemagazine.org

Big Oil holds more federal leases than previously known

An analysis provided to E&E News from Accountable.US cross-referenced leasing data from the Bureau of Land Management with oil majors’ Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

eenews.net

Watchdog urges BLM to boost tracking of idle oil and gas wells

The Office of Inspector General found the agency is failing to fully track and monitor wells that risk becoming abandoned.

eenews.net

Judge orders Forest Service to consult again on forest travel plans, impacts on grizzlies

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Forest Service to consult again with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the road closure effectiveness in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, saying it may have affected grizzly bears.

helenair.com

Hitting reset: Forest Service approves rainbow trout removal project in Buffalo Creek

The U.S. Forest Service approved a plan last week to remove invasive rainbow trout from the Buffalo Creek drainage near Yellowstone National Park as agencies struggle to stop the fish from hybridizing with Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Daines reintroduces bill declassifying 100,000 acres of wilderness study areas

Montana Sen. Steve Daines has said he will continue to refuse to support Sen. Jon Tester’s Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act, also reintroduced this summer, unless these wilderness study areas are declassified as general public lands.

mtpr.org

Fatal grizzly attack renews debate over how many bears are too many

Authorities have been unable to find the bear that killed a woman near Yellowstone National Park late last month. The attack has renewed calls to take grizzlies off the endangered species list.

mtpr.org

FWP reports grizzly bear sightings in Missoula area, 3 confirmed in Bitterroot in 3 days

With grizzly bears getting captured in the Sapphire Mountains and photographed on the fringe of the Missoula Valley, state wildlife officials are expanding their outreach efforts to avoid conflicts this summer.

missoulian.com

Environmentalists sue Alaska over sanctioned killing of 99 bears

Activists say that a program intended to protect a declining caribou herd in Southwestern Alaska was approved without a public comment period or proper environmental review, at the expense of 99 black and brown bears in southwestern Alaska.

courthousenews.com

‘Wolverines really need Colorado’: Federal decision looms over another reintroduction plan

Wolverines — also called “mountain devils” and “skunk bears” — could be the next large mammal reintroduced in Colorado after wildlife officials implement the voter-mandated reintroduction of wolves by the end of the year.

denverpost.com

Groups threaten to sue over Montana's wolf trapping laws due to potential threat to Canada lynx

Two Montana conservation groups have told federal authorities that they plan to sue within 60 days if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doesn’t reconsider its agreement with the state regarding exporting wolf pelts.

dailymontanan.com

Migration concerns stall ‘Path of the Pronghorn’ bottleneck development

Citing concerns over migration, the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments delayed finalizing a lease sale that could allow development to occur in a Path of the Pronghorn bottleneck area for the price of $19 an acre.

wyofile.com

Feds can allow gas drilling in sage grouse habitat, Tenth Circuit rules

Gas drilling can go ahead in the Wyoming land where sage-grouse live and migrating pronghorns pass through, a Tenth Circuit panel ruled.

courthousenews.com

People are shooting birds off power lines in the West

Gunshots outnumber electrocution as a cause of death, according to a new study.

hcn.org

Birds, bullfrogs and bison: NPS outlines 'restoration and resilience' projects

The Inflation Reduction Act is providing $44 million for park service work in 39 states. The project list includes $481,000 to control invasive bullfrogs and restore native amphibians in parks in New Mexico and Arizona and $300,000 to advance bison reintroduction efforts at Glacier National Park in Montana.

eenews.net

Snake River sockeye run sputters

The promising start to the Snake River sockeye run appears to have melted away as the adult fish progressed upstream.

lmtribune.com

State focuses on research for answers to trout woes in southwest Montana

If any uncertainly lingered about whether people care deeply about the Big Hole River and its sister streams, all doubt evaporated last Wednesday afternoon.

mtstandard.com

Pitkin County aims to bring back beavers

Pitkin County Healthy Rivers is hoping to teach landowners how to coexist peacefully with beavers, correct beaver misconceptions and maybe even reintroduce them onto carefully chosen areas of the watershed.

aspenjournalism.org

Insects are in dramatic decline in Colorado, 35-year-long study reveals

Dramatic insect declines previously reported around the world are also occurring in Colorado. Researchers with the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, or RMBL, report that flying insects in the mountains outside of Crested Butte have declined more than 60% since 1986.

coloradosun.com

High-altitude buzz

A 20-mile hike in the Tetons rewarded bumble bee researcher Ellen Keaveny with a special Bombus occidentalis sighting.

wyofile.com

Night moves

The Nocturnal Pollinator BioBlitz, a collaboration between Montana Moth Project and Glacier National Park Citizen Science Program, allows participants to capture and identify nocturnal insects with the help of experts.

hungryhorsenews.com

Early closure of Pueblo coal plant could force Xcel customers to pay up to $89M for water it doesn’t need

Customers of the state’s largest utility also are responsible for $27M spent on never used southeastern Colorado ditch rights.

coloradosun.com

Colorado gas rule ignites debate over pace of electrification

The state's largest gas utility says electrification is just one part of decarbonization. Environmentalists want it to be more.

eenews.net

Tech companies look to set example by providing clean energy to Idaho Power’s grid

Micron, Meta invest in renewable energy facilities in Idaho to offset energy demand.

idahocapitalsun.com

The Kemmerer nuclear project looks to Ohio for their fuel problem

The nuclear facility project that is planned for the Kemmerer area has a key issue: it lacks a fuel source. But officials say they now have an answer to that problem.

wyomingpublicmedia.org

As feds look to cut red tape, more local governments are curbing wind and solar

The number of counties with ordinances on wind turbines quadrupled from 2018 to 2022, a new federal study found.

huffpost.com

EIA hikes forecast for record U.S. oil production

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday raised its U.S. oil production forecast for this year and next, predicting output would reach record levels for both years as high energy prices keeps drilling activity humming.

eenews.net

Alberta risks losing billions in renewable energy investments with moratorium, companies say

The renewable energy industry says it was blindsided by the Alberta government’s moratorium on new wind and solar projects, and some executives warned the move could cause billions of dollars in green investments to flow to the United States and Europe instead.

theglobeandmail.com

A plan to protect Utah from US Magnesium’s toxic waste relies on something that is disappearing

Add another potential disaster to the growing list associated with the shrinking Great Salt Lake: the implosion of the cleanup plan for the US Magnesium Superfund site.

sltrib.com

Golf course operators are teaming up to survive Colorado River water cuts and a future that’s less green

Golf professionals and course owners in the Southwest will meet for the first time to discuss how an industry defined by manicured grass can survive climate change, government water cuts and attract players to fairways and greens nourished with less Colorado River water.

cpr.org

Greens press Biden to curb alfalfa exports to save Colorado River

Environmentalists will press the Biden administration to restrict exports of water-intensive crops like alfalfa and ask Western state lawmakers to curb the growth of new tree nut farms, in a bid to address fallout from the shrinking Colorado River Basin.

eenews.net

Heat from global warming is drying up the Colorado River, UCLA says

It’s not just drought impacting the snowpack, researchers say. Higher Western temperatures are sucking vital water from the seven-state basin.

coloradosun.com

Idaho’s water supply is declining. Officials discuss challenges at state summit.

Officials recognized that water levels in Idaho are in decline, and some of the main challenges they discussed at the Governor’s Water Summit include population growth, outdated water infrastructure and climate change.

idahocapitalsun.com

Summer water supply 'bouncing between extremes,' hydrologist says

This summer the Bozeman area has seen above normal precipitation, keeping Gallatin County from seeing extensive drought conditions after a fast melting of the snowpack raised concerns.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Carcinogens found at Montana nuclear missile sites as reports of hundreds of cancers surface

The Air Force has detected unsafe levels of a likely carcinogen in samples taken at a Montana missile base where a striking number of men and women have reported cancer diagnoses.

apnews.com

The terrible emptiness of ‘Oppenheimer’

The blockbuster movie leaves out the real story’s main characters: New Mexicans.

searchlightnm.org

People are starting a lot of fires in the Pacific Northwest

The Forest Service reports 197 human-caused or undetermined starts since the beginning of June.

hcn.org

Yellow jerseys of the fireline: A day fighting wildfires can require as much endurance as riding the Tour de France

Twenty-five years of research show what it takes to fuel wildland firefighters through an average day, and the toll the long seasonal work takes on their bodies.

theconversation.com

Hail storms, slim margins and regulations leave Colorado farmers with an uphill battle

This year’s wheat harvest season has been particularly difficult. And many farmers are saying it’s hard to stay profitable.

coloradosun.com

Colorado’s biggest buildings clash with air regulators over coming greenhouse gas rules

State regulators will vote this month on demanding emissions savings from landlords as the next key step in the climate change battle.

coloradosun.com

Colorado cities with residential growth caps start to contend with new state law banning the limits

The law prohibits cities from imposing residential growth caps and requires municipalities with existing caps to remove them. The measure is aimed at boosting housing stock to drive down prices.

coloradosun.com

How a mobile-home park saved its community from a corporate buyout

In southwest Colorado, a cooperative and a land trust partnered to preserve affordable housing.

hcn.org

New housing model in Montana turns tenants into shareholders

A statewide organization that helped craft a new design for affordability is using the first-of-its-kind model in a second project.

dailymontanan.com

How one family is carrying on generations-long ecological research near Crested Butte

The overlapping career paths of David Inouye, his son Brian Inouye and daughter-in-law Nora Underwood have them all “outside looking at stuff” at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.

coloradosun.com

The Montana youths behind a historic climate lawsuit, and the places they love

It has been described as “landmark” litigation, “groundbreaking” and “first-of-its-kind.” But behind one of the nation’s most watched climate lawsuits — aimed at demonstrating that Montana’s promotion of fossil fuels violates the state’s constitution — are 16 young people, driven by passionate dread over the places they cherish.

washingtonpost.com

On vanishing in the age of surveillance

Contemplating the mystery of those who have gone missing and remembering a lost friend.

landdesk.org

U.S. tech groups back TikTok in challenge to Montana state ban

Two tech groups on Monday backed TikTok in its lawsuit seeking to block enforcement of a Montana state ban on use of the short video sharing app before it takes effect on Jan. 1.

reuters.com

Oregon’s Greater Idaho movement echoes a long history of racism in the region

Over time, Greater Idaho—the movement the seeks to slice off almost everything east of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and add it to Idaho—has slowly revealed itself to be something of a poisoned apple: framed as a gift to discontented rural people, but actually a front for far-right culture war talking points, including racist ones.

hcn.org

Despite setbacks, far-right extremists are winning positions in mainstream Northwest politics

The Greater Idaho movement is an example of how commonplace once extreme views have become. The state boundary change would require an extremely unlikely act of U.S. Congress. But even if it never succeeds, Joe Lowndes, a political science professor at the University of Oregon, said it still functions as a vehicle to spread far-right ideology and shape Republican identities.

opb.org

How wingnuts made violent extremism the new normal

From Ruby Ridge to January 6 and beyond, the radical right has unrelentingly attacked democratic norms for almost half a century.

thedailybeast.com

A discussion with David Neiwert, author of the new book ‘The Age of Insurrection’

“The book is like body armor for the mind of anyone who cares about democracy,” writes Leah Sottile.

leahsottile.substack.com

How the loss of local newspapers is fueling political divisions in the U.S.

Over the past few decades, more than 2,000 newspapers across the country have closed, leaving many communities without a reliable source of local information. Researchers say this crisis in journalism, driven by changes in technology, is fueling the country's political divisions

pbs.org

BLM proposes end to new oil leases on 1.6M acres in Colorado

The Bureau of Land Management proposed Thursday removing more than a million acres of public lands in Colorado from future oil and gas leasing, while also designating tens of thousands of acres of new protected areas in the western part of the state as part of an effort to resolve a series of legal challenges from environmental groups.

eenews.net

An antiquated law rules mining in the West

Hardrock mineral exploration on public lands is governed by the General Mining Law of 1872, which makes “all valuable mineral deposits” in public lands “free and open to exploration.” The law hasn’t fundamentally changed in 151 years, making it one of the most persistent of what the late scholar Charles Wilkinson dubbed the “Lords of Yesterday,” the old and obsolete laws governing natural resource use and extraction.

hcn.org

Judge rejects request to halt ruling that corner crossing is not trespassing

U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl on Monday refused to temporarily suspend his decision that corner crossing is not trespassing, denying a request by Elk Mountain Ranch owner Fred Eshelman.

wyofile.com

In the Utah desert, can golf justify itself?

The struggle for water is straining St. George, Utah, where golf – and grass – are sacred cows.

hcn.org

What the snowy winter gives, the heat takes away

“We can’t be lulled into complacency by a good snow year, even a record-breaking one, or some flash-flood-triggering downpours.”

landdesk.org

‘Sell them for nothing or watch them starve’: Farmers face difficult decisions amid B.C. drought

As B.C.’s drought worsens, farmers are scrambling to protect their livestock and crops. The impacts could be felt for years to come.

thenarwhal.ca

Environmentalists sue to stop Utah potash mine that produces sought-after crop fertilizer

Environmentalists have filed a lawsuit to prevent the construction of a new potash mine they say would devastate a lake ecosystem in the drought-stricken western Utah desert.

apnews.com

'A fighting chance': Forest Service whitebark pine orchard helping restore the keystone species

The Forest Service hosted a tour its Little Bear Orchard on Monday to teach people about the threatened whitebark pine and share details on efforts to restore the keystone species.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Lawsuit: BLM ignored residents in approving Wyoming power line

Environmentalists and a retired government biologist say a project designed to carry wind-generated power across the West is "fatally flawed."

eenews.net

Nevada shows states how to build workforce for solar energy boom

Phasing out fossil fuels requires a lot of clean energy infrastructure like solar farms. And one sun-soaked part of the Mountain West is grabbing a share of that green gold rush by retraining workers to handle the growth.

kunr.org

The first generation of solar panels will wear out. A recycling industry is taking shape

The largest solar panel recycling plant in North America has opened in Yuma, Arizona, just as the flow of used and spent solar panels sharply ramps up.

apnews.com

The 'future of housing' has arrived in all-electric Colorado developments

Colorado is promoting all-electric buildings, which reduce utility costs, to help the state achieve its emissions reduction targets.

coloradonewsline.com

Xcel Energy’s latest climate plan sparks a heated fight over heat pumps

As Colorado races to cut its climate impact, environmental groups have united around all-electric heat pumps as the best replacement for natural gas furnaces. Now it’s clear one major player isn’t entirely on board: Xcel Energy.

cpr.org

Two big nuclear regulatory milestones for Idaho NuScale SMR project

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on July 31 accepted a standard design approval application for NuScale Power’s VOYGR-6, a plant design that will be featured in the 462-MWe Carbon-Free Power Project proposed at an Idaho National Laboratory site.

powermag.com

Big Flat lithium exploration back on the table

The Bureau of Land Management has reopened public comment on a lithium exploration project that was suspended in April for further environmental analysis, per an agency statement.

moabtimes.com

Oil driller Pioneer tests lithium mining from shale wastewater

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. CEO Scott Sheffield says the company started doing tests about three years ago to see whether it’s feasible to extract minerals from the large amounts of dirty water generated by drilling in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico.

news.bloomberglaw.com

A cold snap boosted Wyoming revenue by $175M

The extreme temps that sent demand and prices soaring for natural gas this past winter sapped ratepayers, but boosted Wyoming's revenue outlook.

wyofile.com

A sweltering world is likely to match record coal use of 2022

Growing coal consumption by China and India is offsetting cuts by U.S. and Europe and shows the difficulty of meeting climate targets.

eenews.net

‘We have fire all around us and we can’t get out’

What happened when two experienced hikers got caught in the Bolt Creek Fire.

hcn.org

A giant Oregon wildfire shows the limits of carbon offsets in fighting climate change

To help counter their greenhouse gas pollution, Microsoft and other companies invested millions in a project to store more carbon in Southern Oregon trees. The 2021 Bootleg Fire upended that plan.

opb.org

As unprecedented fire year rages on, experts warn of longer, more destructive season

Wildfires sparking earlier in the spring and burning longer into the fall have prompted government agencies to change how they plan to fight and prevent them.

cbc.ca

Threatened by wildfire smoke, West Coast cities are piloting clean-air centers

Libraries, community centers, and other buildings are getting air-filtration upgrades so residents can stay safe during hazardous smoke.

grist.org

Secretive federal agency’s days of killing pets with poison bombs may finally be ending

Banning the cyanide bombs — planted throughout the American West in service of the livestock industry — has been the Mansfield family’s mission.

theintercept.com

Wyoming is expanding its sage grouse protections. Will it work?

Skepticism has enveloped a fraught process that’s proposing to increase protected acres for the embattled western bird, but policymakers remain hopeful their map revision can help avert an Endangered Species Act listing.

wyofile.com

Wyoming elk feedground draft management plan out for public comment

In an attempt to address concerns over disease spread, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has released a Draft Wyoming Elk Feedgrounds Management Plan for public review and comment.

billingsgazette.com

Federal judge halts U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Arctic grayling plans in southwestern Montana

A federal judge has said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan to install a permanent pipeline and several other modifications to help protect the imperiled Arctic grayling, a species of native fish, would likely violate the Wilderness Act, and granted a preliminary injunction that will halt work at the Red Rock Lakes Wilderness Area in southwestern Montana.

dailymontanan.com

Brook trout reappear in Yellowstone creek, 7 years after eradication

Despite intensive efforts to eradicate nonnative brook trout in Yellowstone National Park’s Soda Butte Creek, the fish have reappeared.

billingsgazette.com

FWP to anglers: Catch, kill and report smallmouth bass in Bitterroot River

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has enacted an emergency regulation for the lower stretches of the Bitterroot River after officials last week announced the “first confirmed smallmouth bass in the Bitterroot.” The department is asking anglers who catch the species to keep it, kill it, and report the catch.

montanafreepress.org

Big Hole algal bloom tied to low flows, warm water, nutrients

A miles-long algal bloom on the Big Hole River has been linked to warm water, low flows and nutrient loading. Dense algal blooms can harm aquatic life.

mtstandard.com

8 Colorado lakes suspected of toxic algae blooms. Here’s why it’s getting worse.

Colorado’s lakes serve as a needed respite during sweltering summer days, but as the days become warmer the state’s lakes are becoming more susceptible to toxic blooms of algae.

denverpost.com

Meet the $2.7 billion frog

There’s political peril in the whopping price tags the Fish and Wildlife Service attaches to recovering some endangered species.

eenews.net

Interior wants advice on first-of-its-kind nature study

The Interior Department wants the public to help shape an ambitious, first-of-its-kind study called the "national nature assessment," which is designed to probe the impacts of a warming planet and communicate those potentially dire findings.

eenews.net

Swaths of the U.S. are living through a brutal summer. It's a climate wake-up call for many

Across the U.S., many people are living through one of the most brutal summers of their lives. And some psychologists believe the attention on a cascade of record-shattering heat, wildfire smoke, extreme flooding and Jacuzzi-hot ocean water could be “another turning point” in efforts to raise awareness about the everyday impact of climate change.

apnews.com

Phoenix has ended 31-day streak of highs at or above 110 degrees as rains ease a Southwest heat wave

A record 31-day streak in Phoenix of daily highs of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit has ended as the dangerous heat wave that suffocated the Southwest throughout July starts abating with cooling monsoon rains.

apnews.com

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is selling to insiders

Rather than sell to Vail Resorts or Alterra Mountain Company, the two giants in the American ski industry, the Kemmerer family, which has owned the resort since 1992, intends to sell the western Wyoming ski mountain to two board members — Eric Macy and Mike Corbat — their families, and a small group of co-investors.

jhnewsandguide.com

Maryland hospitality company buys Chico Hot Springs for $33 million

“Chico Hot Springs Resort is another example of DiamondRock’s leadership in identifying attractive investment opportunities that align with our focus on unique, leisure-oriented experiential hotels and resorts,” DiamondRock President and Chief Executive Officer Mark W. Brugger said.

montanafreepress.org

Boulder’s NOAA leads international blitz of research as battle against air pollution escalates

Boulder’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is leading a three-nation summer blitz of air pollution sensors ranging from high-altitude aircraft to rooftops to backpacks, in a massive escalation of the battle against ozone and particulate toxins, scientists announced Thursday.

coloradosun.com

160 acres of sculptures are on display in rural Colorado through June 2025

Marguerite Humeau’s “Orisons,” the largest earthwork by a single female artist, will be open in Colorado through June 2025.

coloradosun.com

In the Flathead Valley, the homeless crisis is at a crossroads

The violent death of 60-year-old Scott Bryan forced a reckoning in the northwest Montana community, where the loss of critical mental health resources has intensified the plight of unsheltered individuals.

flatheadbeacon.com

‘Father of Indian Education’: Blackfeet legend Earl Barlow dies at 96

Earl Barlow, a prominent Blackfeet leader who advocated for Indigenous education and helped shape the state’s Constitution, died on July 26.

missoulian.com

How Colorado’s wolf reintroduction is supposed to go — and how it’s going

Wildlife biologists have developed a three-phase approach to restore the wolf population in Colorado. Here's how it's going so far.

coloradosun.com

Wolf report spawns debate over population, hunting

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' annual wolf report sparked debate over the animals' population, how they are counted, upcoming hunting seasons and a new wolf management plan.

billingsgazette.com

FWP releases plan to manage one of Montana’s most iconic and controversial game species

Elk counts have increased 42% since the state adopted its current Elk Management Plan. A new draft plan, now out for public comment, seeks to balance the state’s biological, ecological and social carrying capacities for the species.

montanafreepress.org

Idaho's senators want to remove grizzly bears from the endangered species list

On Thursday, Republican lawmakers Sen. Jim Risch and Sen. Mike Crapo and Rep. Russ Fulcher of Idaho, as well as Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming proposed a bill, the Grizzly Bear Review and Resource Restart Act, to remove the grizzly bear from the endangered species list.

deseret.com

Bear tags as revenue generators: How much will Wyoming make bringing back griz hunt?

One of the arguments states use in pushing for grizzly delisting is bringing back a trophy season to help them recoup money they've spent on bear recovery. Does the premise add up?

mountainjournal.org

Christopher Servheen: Don't short-circuit ESA on grizzly bears

The former U.S Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear recovery coordinator had supported the eventual delisting of recovered grizzlies and turning them over to state management, but he’s changed his perspective as “science-based state wildlife management has been replaced by legislation founded on anti-predator misinformation and emotion.”

billingsgazette.com

Feds fight to build planned pipeline into wilderness lake

Environmentalists say a planned pipeline to bring oxygen-rich water to arctic grayling violates the Wilderness Act's ban on human-made improvements.

courthousenews.com

GOP measures would undo protections for endangered lesser prairie chicken, northern bat

Congress has approved two measures to undo federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken and northern long-eared bat — two endangered animals that have seen their populations plummet over the years.

apnews.com

When you gotta go — pack it out

Finding solutions for human waste in the backcountry.

westernconfluence.org

Scared bears and crowded camps: Weighing outdoor recreation’s impacts

Researchers find as more humans play outside, a smaller proportion are engaged in stewardship that can protect the lands from growing impacts.

wyofile.com

Yellowstone unionization comes amid surge of labor activity

Yellowstone’s interpretive rangers, park guides, fee collectors, researchers and administrative staff voted 66-15 to form a union. Some 350 employees were eligible to vote.

jhnewsandguide.com

USDA: Forests will emit carbon, not hold it

A new report says U.S. forests are losing their ability to absorb carbon and could become a major emitter by 2070.

eenews.net

Chasing carbon

What happens when forests release more carbon than they absorb?

fs.usda.gov

Two popular fourteeners reopen with ‘temporary’ solution to landowner concerns

In order to climb the peaks legally now, hikers will need to sign an electronic waiver of liability.

denverpost.com

In Yellowstone, teepees to light the night, illuminating age-old connections

Several days of festivities at Roosevelt Arch and Madison Junction honor the heritage of indigenous Yellowstone. The public is invited to attend these August events.

mountainjournal.org

Garden of the Gods’ new manager says she’ll look to her Indigenous background to steward the popular park

Anna Cordova knew since she was a college student that Indigenous voices needed to be heard within the field of archeology, seen as a “colonial kind of practice.”

cpr.org

Why a conservancy nonprofit purchased a 320-acre plot of land in Bears Ears

A conservation nonprofit completed a $2.15 million purchase of a 320-acre parcel of land within Bears Ears National Monument earlier this month, setting up a new easement for it.

ksl.com

‘It feels like you’re a part of something bigger:’ Federal infrastructure dollars reach the West

The federal government is spending billions on infrastructure projects, including ecosystem restoration. Here's a look at what some of those dollars are buying in Wyoming.

wyomingpublicmedia.org

The West sizzles — even at midnight

Climate change and the urban heat islands take their toll from Phoenix to Portland.

hcn.org

July has been so blistering hot, scientists already calculate that it's the warmest month on record

July has been so hot so far that scientists calculate that this month will be the globally hottest on record and likely the warmest human civilization has seen, even though there are several days left to sweat through.

apnews.com

As temperatures grow hotter, cheatgrass, invasive species thrive in Montana, the West

As the climate grows warmer, scientists have noticed a huge uptick in the rise of invasive grasses in the West.

dailymontanan.com

Yellowstone proposes nonnative trout removal to restore native cutthroat species

As record high temperatures are recorded around the nation and world, Yellowstone National Park’s fisheries division is proposing to protect its native cutthroat trout by securing a high mountain stream as a coldwater refuge.

billingsgazette.com

Heat and smoke drive for Idaho farmworkers continues

A coalition of Idaho nonprofits is organizing a heat and smoke drive for a third yearto buy supplies that help farmworkers stay safe in the heat and wildfire smoke. Over the past two years, the Idaho Immigrant Resource Alliance has raised $35,000 to buy water, electrolyte drinks, cooling clothing and other gear.

boisestatepublicradio.org

Migrant workers, unhoused people face blistering temps in Montana

Seasonal migrant farmworkers in Montana and other people living unhoused have had to deal with the recent scorching temperatures without much relief.

missoulian.com

Amid climate change, Colorado’s mountain towns are warming with the rest of the planet, but high elevations provide some refuge from extreme heat

As temperatures in Denver neared record highs last week, Summit County remained almost 20 degrees cooler — but the fingerprints of climate change were still present.

summitdaily.com

Biden announces steps to help communities deal with extreme heat

Scientists called the new measures important but insufficient. With research showing that recent heat waves in the United States and Europe would have been “virtually impossible” without the influence of man-made climate change, many climate experts said Mr. Biden needed to take a strong stand against new fossil fuels.

nytimes.com

The Colorado provides drinking water to 40 million people. Do they know what Utah does to it upstream?

A closer look at what’s happening in the Uinta Basin, where dystopian industrial development overshadows its critical ecological role as the watershed of the endangered Colorado River.

motherjones.com

Oil-train opponents look to railroad's expiring Moffat Tunnel lease for bargaining power

Colorado officials have quietly been reaching out to communities about a railroad's expiring lease of the state-owned Moffat Tunnel.

coloradonewsline.com

Zero oil companies bid in BLM's Nevada lease sale

The bust amplified conservationists' calls to turn away from oil production in the state, where 95 percent of acres leased for oil development are nonproducing.

eenews.net

‘Path of the Pronghorn’ bottleneck leased for development at $19/acre

Wildlife advocates are decrying the Wyoming’s decision to offer critical migration habitat for drilling, and are renewing calls to protect the famous antelope thoroughfare via the long-stalled state designation process.

wyofile.com

The tiny lizard at the center of a big Endangered Species Act fight

Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed federal protections for a lizard found only in the Permian Basin, one of the world’s most lucrative oil- and gas-producing regions. Now, the tiny lizard is fueling a big fight between House Republicans and the Biden administration over the reach of the 50-year-old Endangered Species Act.

washingtonpost.com

How wildfires are threatening Colorado water supplies — and costing lots of money

Wildfires reduce reservoir capacities and make water more difficult to treat — two expensive problems for water utilities and towns that might start manifesting in residents’ water bills.

denverpost.com

Xcel Energy tells shareholders Marshall fire lawsuits could seriously hurt its finances

The CEO of Colorado’s largest utility continued to dispute its power lines were partially responsible for the most destructive wildfire in state history, but executives acknowledged to shareholders Thursday it might not have enough insurance coverage to pay damages in more than a half-dozen related lawsuits.

cpr.org

'I'm amazed': A streak of lightning, then fast-moving flames

Blow-ups like the Colt fire’s — the rapid spread of wildfire when flames are whipped through dense, dry fuels by strong and often erratic winds — are a marquee trait of the largest fires burning in western Montana so far this year.

missoulian.com

Fire danger goes to very high and extreme across western Montana and central Idaho

Fire danger has increased across western Montana and central Idaho — and some restrictions have been enacted — after a handful of new wildfires exploded to hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of acres this week and last.

missoulian.com

Wildfire fighter in B.C. dies on front lines of largest fire in province's history

The death is the fourth such fatality among wildfire fighters in Canada this year, which is considered to be the worst wildfire year on record.

cbc.ca

For this smoky summer, 12 new books and reports on wildfires

Photographs of dusky orange skylines have become part of the iconography of climate change. Successful action, including adaptation, requires that we better understand the dynamics of the fires behind the smoke.

yaleclimateconnections.org

How will Jackson Hole house its growing workforce?

The demand for local workers appears to be hitting a wall amid a lack of affordable housing in Jackson Hole.

891khol.org

Jackson’s new workforce housing units go for nearly one million a piece

the condos are geared toward dual-professional households — people like doctors and lawyers who make too much to qualify for affordable housing, but still can’t afford market rate prices.

891khol.org

Homebuilders ‘only game in town’ as sales of existing homes slow down

Homeowners don’t want to sell amid high interest rates, so builders are finding foothold in the market — especially in Utah

deseret.com

Colorado affordable housing advocates urge local governments to opt into Proposition 123. Only 14 have applied for funding so far.

Colorado governments must pledge to increase their affordable housing stock by 3% each year for the next three years

coloradosun.com

Flathead population growth continues to outpace housing supply

According to data from the U.S. Decennial Census, Flathead County’s housing supply grew by 6.2% from 2010 to 2020 while the population grew by 14.8%.

flatheadbeacon.com

Whitefish council approves proposal to reallocate portion of resort tax for community housing

The plan calls for 10 percent of the resort tax revenue to go towards community housing. Voters in this fall’s municipal election will have to approve the change.

flatheadbeacon.com

Barriers to buying

Salish and Kootenai envision homeownership for their middle class

flatheadbeacon.com

What happened when a Tesla came to Ekalaka, Montana

A Los Angeles couple, an electric vehicle and an unattended utility outlet energized the gossip mill in the 400-person eastern Montana town last week.

montanafreepress.org

Will the reduction of red tape put conservation success at risk?

Two state commissions are merging into a larger program that some worry could lose sight of its goals to protect the watersheds of western Montana.

montanafreepress.org

Colorado River losing vast amounts of water due to warming climate, study finds

New research examines how much global warming has sapped the Colorado River since 2000. It shows the region has lost more water than Lake Mead can hold.

latimes.com

Water war at Whitney: How history and hydrology are colliding on the upper Eagle River

Mark Twain may or may not have actually said it first — “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting!” — but even if he didn’t, the high-altitude wetlands, ancient fens, and mountain meadows of southeastern Eagle County, peaceful as they seem now, are all places that fit perfectly within what’s become the West’s most descriptive and divisive aphorism of the last century.

vaildaily.com

Colorado’s drought is back after only a short reprieve

The U.S. Drought Monitor last week reported that 20% of the state is back in drought, just two weeks after its July 6 finding that the state was drought-free for the first time since 2019.

denverpost.com

Would you drink wastewater? What if it was beer?

In an era of drought, turning treated wastewater into drinking water may be the future. Utility companies are working with breweries to get people past the “ick factor.”

nytimes.com

Salt Lake City west-siders, at last, may have the proof they need to fix air pollution

EPA study could bring more funding to help west-siders, who suffer from worse air and higher health risks than others in the Salt Lake Valley.

sltrib.com

Coal ash cleanup advances at Colstrip even as costs rise

Coal ash cleanup is progressing at Colstrip Power Plant, though inflation is pushing costs upward, according to state environmental officials.

billingsgazette.com

Finding a fix for ‘forever chemicals’

Tests found PFAS in nearly all the public drinking water in Vancouver, Washington. The city is testing a solution that could take years — and more than $170 million — to build.

hcn.org

USGS: Biofuel crops could hurt grassland birds more than oil

U.S. Geological Survey biologists studied grassland birds in North Dakota and found that the biofuel crops cause more habitat disturbance than oil and gas development.

eenews.net

Sacred seeds provide pathway for Native preservation

While working with Indigenous people on six continents, ecologist Cristina Eisenberg has found a common thread – seeds are sacred. “There are seeds in medicine bundles in almost every culture,” she said. “There are seeds in burial mounds. Seeds are sacred. Each seed is a life.”

spokesman.com

B.C. is weighing the merits of appointing a ‘chief ecologist,’ internal docs show

As species disappear and ecosystems collapse, the new role could help keep B.C. accountable on forthcoming biodiversity laws and policies

thenarwhal.ca

Spiked: A conservative 'shadow' hangs over Colorado newspapers owned by GOP billionaire Phil Anschutz

An investigation by the Colorado Times Recorder shows that the editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette has failed to stop Anschutz or his lieutenants from siphoning unwanted information out of the news at the Gazette; that news affecting the interests of Anschutz gets special scrutiny and extra editing; that journalists steer clear of stories touching on Anschutz; that former and current Gazette journalists are clamming up when asked about Anschutz; that Anschutz-owned news platforms align with conservative groups; and more.

coloradotimesrecorder.com

Montana considers ‘hoot owl’ restrictions on northwest Montana rivers for first time

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials in northwest Montana are considering instituting “hoot owl” fishing restrictions for the first time on the Flathead River, as well as others, as warm weather and low streamflows threaten the region’s trout, particularly westslope cutthroat and bull trout.

montanafreepress.org

In lieu of mandatory restrictions, FWP urges anglers to minimize stress on Flathead River trout

Northwest Montana rivers and streams are historically low, prompting agency officials to ask anglers to take voluntary steps to reduce stress on native cold-water trout species, or else face the prospect of closures.

flatheadbeacon.com

County commissioners seek disaster declaration to offset economic losses on Flathead Lake

The Flathead County Commissioners on July 24 requested Gov. Greg Gianforte issue a disaster declaration for both Flathead and Lake counties to alleviate the economic impacts of Flathead Lake’s historic low water levels.

flatheadbeacon.com

Heat prompts more fishing restrictions on southwest Montana rivers

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks implemented fishing restrictions on additional rivers in southwest Montana this week, adding to a growing list of area waterways impacted by high temperatures and low stream flows.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Sockeye begin epic Northwest journey

Snake River sockeye salmon are making a good showing at Bonneville Dam, but the endangered fish must contend with rising water temperatures to complete their daunting 900-mile journey back to Idaho.

lmtribune.com

Groups plan to sue to remove Snake River dams over hot water troubles for salmon

Several groups say the Snake River dams are making the river too hot for sockeye salmon. Now, they’re planning to sue the federal government.

opb.org

Drought conditions threatening B.C. salmon as river levels drop

Last week, the River Forecast Centre reported 74 of roughly 350 river monitoring stations across the province measured record low flows, including a number of stations in the Fraser Valley. "This is unprecedented," said Dave Campbell, RFC head.

cbc.ca

New public-land drilling rules would overhaul the Western oil industry

Under the new rules, bonds for a new oil or gas lease would jump from the current level of $10,000 to a minimum of $150,000. The rules would also raise the royalty rate from 12.5% to 16.67%, with the potential for further increases after 10 years — a major influx of cash to the budgets of Western oil states.

hcn.org

BLM proposes sweeping changes to oil and gas reclamation program

If finalized, the rule would put companies under more pressure to see their drilling projects through — a notable change to a federal program that has struggled to prevent wells from being abandoned in the past.

wyofile.com

New BLM leasing terns challenge Montana's marginal oil plays

Both conservationists and the petroleum lobby say the higher bonding amount would scuttle leasing in low-probability areas, which is mostly what Montana has.

billingsgazette.com

Nevada’s oil speculation rush fades as interest drops, fees rise

This week’s federal oil and gas lease sale of just four parcels of land in Nevada shows that an Obama and Trump-era rush by drillers to lease land in a state with little oil has ended for now, even as it has inspired anti-speculation legislation in Congress.

news.bloomberglaw.com

Colorado adopts groundbreaking methane emissions measurement requirements for oil and gas

Colorado on Thursday approved the nation’s first requirements for having oil and gas companies measure and document methane emissions from their wells in ways state regulators can validate.

bizjournals.com

No oil-train risk analysis performed, Union Pacific safety chief tells Colorado lawmakers

Public concerns about rail safety have grown in the wake of the East Palestine disaster and the approval of the Uinta Basin Railway.

coloradonewsline.com

‘Airbnb for outdoors’ comes to Idaho, backed — and used — by billionaires Wilks brothers

A website that has been described as “Airbnb for outdoor recreation” is being backed by two Texas billionaire brothers who’ve drawn criticism in Idaho after discontinuing public access on roads that cross their properties. Now they’re offering entry to some of those properties through the site — for a fee.

idahostatesman.com

14,000 feet up, liability fears block access to iconic Colorado peaks

Battles over public and private lands throughout the American West have played out for generations, often over the massive swaths of territory owned by the federal government or the vast expanses closed off by wealthy landowners. This is a different sort of tussle, perhaps a distinctly 21st century one, featuring property owners who don’t want to keep others out but fear potential liability and litigation.

washingtonpost.com

Corner crossers: Halt of court ruling would harm public’s land access

Four hunters are fighting a Wyoming landowner’s effort to temporarily block a judge’s order that corner crossing is not trespassing.

wyofile.com

Climbers want to know whether they can use fixed anchors to improve safety on public lands

Climbers in western Colorado know the thrill of working their way up the tricky rock faces of desert canyons and mountain crags. But those who enjoy practicing the sport in remote areas worry they could lose safe access to some routes, if a key piece of safety equipment is banned on some public lands.

cpr.org

Hanging in there

Lander’s International Climbers’ Festival hits 30 years. A founder looks back on three decades of sending and celebration.

wyofile.com

See what the Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola might actually look like

Utah’s Department of Transportation released renderings of the finished product, and people are surprised.

outsideonline.com

Martin Drake Power Plant demolition underway, study of 'once-in-a-century opportunity' takes shape

In the coming weeks — slowly, deliberately, piece by piece — the recognizably tall smokestacks of the now-closed Martin Drake Power Plant that pepper the skyline of Colorado Springs' downtown will be no more.

gazette.com

New global solar plant plans to bring 350 jobs to Colorado Springs

A solar cell production facility is coming to Colorado Springs and soon, hundreds of new jobs will open for the Switzerland-owned Meyer Burger Plant.

krdo.com

As solar harvesting booms in Nevada, conservationists call for a state-specific development plan

“We are about to see another energy industrial revolution, and Nevada is at the center of that,” said Jaina Moan, Nevada external affairs director for the Nature Conservancy. “But there’s no one master plan to guide all of this development.”

thenevadaindependent.com

One big battery: Thousands of homes joined in a ‘virtual power plant’

Rocky Mountain Power program gives rebates to customers who let the utility use their home-battery systems when needed.

sltrib.com

Another lithium-ion battery factory in Colorado

Windsor chosen by Microvast for its second U.S. factory. Unlike its plans in Kentucky, this one is getting no pushback from members of Congress.

bigpivots.com

As Colorado's electric vehicle charging infrastructure grows, the question remains: Who will pay for it?

Private companies are already making major investments in EV charging. But should monopoly utilities, like Xcel, support them or build their own?

coloradosun.com

Ready to mine: Uranium industry execs say preparations for mining nearly complete

Checking roads. Running tests. Fixing pipes. But most important? Watching prices. That's how life goes for Donna Wichers, the vice president of Wyoming operations for Uranium Energy Corp., which has mining and processing facilities in Johnson County that are primed for launch – when the price is right.

buffalobulletin.com

Bill Gates on next-generation nuclear power technology

In Wyoming, Bill Gates and his energy company TerraPower are planning their first cutting-edge nuclear power plant. He talks with correspondent Barry Petersen about building a more efficient power plant that creates significantly less nuclear waste.

cbsnews.com

Another Western state says it won’t send wolves to Colorado, citing ‘enormous price’ of managing the species

Idaho will not provide wolves for Colorado’s reintroduction efforts, citing federal regulation and disagreements about how wolves should be managed.

denverpost.com

What does the reintroduction of wolves mean for Colorado’s deer and elk herds?

While livestock drew much of the focus during wolf reintroduction meetings, deer and elk will also share the state with Colorado’s new lupine residents.

cpr.org

Idaho removed mountain lion quotas. Other states went further. Is the animal in peril?

Several states in the West, including Idaho, have loosened hunting laws to promote culling more cougars. But the belief that this will lessen conflict ignores what we know of how mountain lions structure their societies, critics say.

idahostatesman.com

Banished to a remote Idaho valley, beavers created a lush wetland

Beavers relocated to a remote Idaho valley have transformed the landscape into a lush wetland and a haven against fire and drought, satellite imagery shows.

e360.yale.edu

Woman found dead after grizzly bear encounter near Yellowstone National Park

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said in a statement on Sunday that the woman was found deceased on a trail near West Yellowstone, a Montana town nestled in the Custer Gallatin National Forest just west of Yellowstone National Park.

apnews.com

48-year-old Kansas woman confirmed as the victim in Montana grizzly bear attack

The victim of the fatal grizzly bear mauling on a popular trail system west of the town of West Yellowstone last Saturday was a 48-year-old woman from Kansas, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office announced, and efforts to trap the bear will cease on Tuesday.

greatfallstribune.com

Climate change leaves fingerprints on July heat waves around the globe, study says

Climate change’s sweaty fingerprints are all over the July heat waves gripping much of the globe. A new study finds these intense and deadly hot spells in the American Southwest and Southern Europe could not have occurred without it.

apnews.com

Colorado River Basin has lost water equal to Lake Mead due to climate change

From 2000 to 2021, climate change caused the loss of more than 40 trillion liters (10 trillion gallons) of water in the Colorado River Basin — about equal to the entire storage capacity of Lake Mead — according to a new study that modeled humans’ impact on hydrology in the region.

news.agu.org

To prop up Lake Powell, water managers drained Flaming Gorge. Are they sacrificing the wrong reservoir?

Colorado River researchers say the system’s mega-reservoirs will likely never fill to half way. Smaller ones higher in the watershed are less prone to evaporation.

sltrib.com

Parched in ‘Podunk,’ New Mexico

Timberon has water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink (or flush). Blame the pipes.

searchlightnm.org

Tar balls are being found 100 miles downstream from Yellowstone River train derailment

More than 66 tons of the black, gooey stuff have been removed from the river since the June 24 accident, officials said. Most of the spilled material — a binder for asphalt that sticks to river rocks and gets harder to handle as it warms — is expected to get left behind.

apnews.com

Opinion: Restoring our waters is restoring ourselves

Using water quality research to bring healing and sovereignty to the Apsáalooke.

ehn.org

The ‘Veggie Lady’: Wyoming’s locally grown food broker

LeAnn Miller works to connect rural producers with urban consumers in a state of vast highways and harsh growing conditions.

wyofile.com

Your organic trash is this business’ treasure at composting facility near Durango

Table to Farm Compost strives to capture food waste across La Plata County.

durangoherald.com

A travel guide's warning to avoid Lake Tahoe may jolt the region into managing huge tourist crowds

Tourism officials at Lake Tahoe were surprised when a respected international travel guide included the iconic alpine lake on a list of places to stay away from this year because of the harmful ecological effects of overtourism.

apnews.com

Trinity nuclear test’s fallout reached 46 states, Canada and Mexico, study finds

The study also documents significant deposition in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona and Idaho, as well as dozens of federally-recognized tribal lands, potentially strengthening the case for people seeking expanded compensation in those areas.

nytimes.com

Despite victory in the Supreme Court, a dark ruling hangs over tribal nations

The recent Haaland v. Brackeen victory for Indian children is undermined by a 2022 ruling authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

washingtonmonthly.com

Far-right activist Ammon Bundy loses defamation case and faces millions of dollars in fines

A far-right activist who led the takeover of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon now must pay millions of dollars in damages after a hospital in Idaho won a defamation lawsuit against them.

apnews.com

What’s driving sudden flare of solar energy and storage in Colorado?

Large projects across Colorado are being driven by the ongoing shift in the fundamental economics of energy toward cheaper renewables, experts say. Lucrative tax credits and grants from the Inflation Reduction Act pumped in accelerants.

coloradosun.com

Agrovoltaics offer dual use on land used for solar energy development

In the agricultural community of Dove Creek, Colorado, Colten Schlegel is hoping to start an agrovoltaics vineyard that will pave the way for similar development in the currently solar-averse communities of rural Southwest Colorado.

dailyyonder.com

How Wyoming's Carbon County came to embrace renewable energy

“The entire revenue model of this state is based on exporting energy and taxing other people,” said Rob Godby, interim dean of the College of Business at the University of Wyoming. “That’s not to say wind is a direct replacement for the declining coal sector and the oil and gas sector that could decline in the future. But it creates much-needed jobs in the energy sector when other parts are declining.”

eenews.net

Developer of hybrid solar farm in Converse County, Wyo., holding public comment sessions

Stakeholders in the 499MW BrightNight Dutchman Renewable Power Project, which is proposed to be located on 4,738 acres of land 1.5 miles northeast of Glenrock, will hold two open house meetings July 26 and July 27 to obtain public comment on the proposed solar hybrid facility/battery energy storage project.

douglas-budget.com

Vestas invests in Windsor, Colo., plant expansion for new turbine line

Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems plans to invest up to $40 million in its Windsor and Brighton plants to manufacture and bring to market its new V163-4.5MW turbine that offers increased power output at medium and lower wind speeds when demand for energy is highest. The new manufacturing line will create between 800 and 1,000 new jobs, including about 150 high school interns, according to the company.

coloradoan.com

Nevada utility aims to replace last coal plant with gas, solar

NV Energy plans to ask state utility regulators to swap more than 500 megawatts of coal power in favor of gas power and 400 MW each of solar and storage at the North Valmy Generating Station in northern Nevada.

eenews.net

Chart: Wind and solar are outperforming coal on U.S. grid this year

Renewables are making progress in replacing coal, but to decarbonize U.S. electricity by 2035, they'll need to replace fossil gas too.

canarymedia.com

Report documents local backlash against renewable energy

Matthew Eisenson, the study’s author and a senior fellow for the Sabin Center’s Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative, said in an interview that the findings emphasize the importance of cities, towns and counties in the clean energy transition.

eenews.net

Oil and gas companies would pay more to drill on public lands under new Biden rule

A rule proposed by the Interior Department raises royalty rates for oil drilling by more than one-third, to 16.67%, in accordance with the sweeping climate law approved by Congress last year. The previous rate of 12.5% paid by oil and gas companies for federal drilling rights had remained unchanged for a century.

apnews.com

Colorado is first in the U.S. to make rules tying pollution reduction to oil and gas production

The “emissions intensity” rule requires companies to closely monitor methane releases and limits allowed pollution based on how much oil and gas they produce.

coloradosun.com

PNM takes steps to demolish the San Juan Generating Station

Steps are underway to demolish the San Juan Generating Station in northwest New Mexico. The coal-fired power plant closed last year and Laura Sanchez, executive director of government and public affairs for the Public Service Company of New Mexico, says the utility recently identified a demolition contractor who will oversee the work.

nmpoliticalreport.com

After long wait, money starts to roll out for former employees of shuttered coal plant

The New Mexico Legislature made changes this year to the state’s Energy Transition Act in an effort to speed up funding and job training opportunities for former employees of the San Juan Generating Station and coal mine in Farmington. Some of the $20 million available has begun rolling out this month and officials say they’re making plans to get the rest out as quickly as possible.

kunm.org

Mayor: Combined 29% electric rate increase may threaten lives

Rocky Mountain Power says extreme weather and increasing costs for natural gas and coal are primary drivers for two historic rate increase requests.

wyofile.com

Opinion: Coal CEOs are running out of excuses

Coal barons claiming poverty to avoid accountability simply does not match the reality they are sharing with their wealthiest stockholders, a former coal miner opines.

wyofile.com

Potential mine near Sheep Creek worries Bitterroot Valley residents

While companies exploring the area tout the potential for a multi-billion dollar operation, community members fear for the environment and their way of life.

montanafreepress.org

Bureau of Land Management pulls plug on lithium mining plan near endangered wildlife refuge

The BLM will not go through with a planned lithium exploration project near Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in southern Nevada, an area home to 12 species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

courthousenews.com

A vast untapped green energy source is hiding beneath your feet

New experiments in the deserts of Utah and Nevada show how advances in fracking—technology developed by the oil industry—can be repurposed to tap clean geothermal energy anywhere on Earth.

wired.com

For clean energy, miners want a road in one of the most remote national parks

A proposed copper mine near two national parks in Alaska is turning into a test of values — how to protect wilderness while supplying minerals.

washingtonpost.com

Is climate change making Colorado’s weather crazier? Yes.

A NOAA meteorologist connects southwestern heat domes, Canadian wildfires, Phoenix furnace and more to climate change.

coloradosun.com

Lowering Montana lake stresses tourism, energy production

Flathead Lake in Montana is paradise for many boaters. But this summer the lake is down almost two feet due to climate change.

scrippsnews.com

Utah’s first steps to ‘clean’ hydrogen will rely on not-so-clean greenhouse gas

Hydrogen is seen as a climate-friendly fuel, but Utah's contributions to a federal "hydrogen hub" will rely heavily on methane, a greenhouse gas.

sltrib.com

Utah’s Community Renewable Energy Program is projected to come to fruition in 2024

The program, coordinated by Rocky Mountain Power, aims to help communities meet a goal of net-100% renewable energy by 2030. In all, 18 Utah communities are poised to take the next step in realizing a yearslong process to establish it.

kuer.org

Are the current heatwaves evidence that climate change is speeding up?

All sorts of records are being broken in all sorts of places.

economist.com

Climate collapse could happen fast

As temperature and weather records fall, Earth may be nearing so-called tipping points.

theatlantic.com

Yellowstone rangers are voting on unionization

Yellowstone National Park’s rangers and other staff have until Thursday to decide whether to unionize, a change that would give them the ability to lobby Congress directly for higher pay and better working conditions.

jhnewsandguide.com

Proposed Grand Canyon monument could turn 1.1 million acres into protected land. Here's what to know

Supporters of the monument proposal say it would protect fragile landscapes and important cultural sites, but critics say it's a land grab.

azcentral.com

A proposed national monument in Arizona impacts Utah ranchers, energy

A possible 1.1 million-acre monument designation in northern Arizona being sought by Native American tribes and conservation organizations has potential to impact a significant number of Utah ranchers who can only access winter range within its boundaries.

deseret.com

Longtime leader of sportsmen's org announces departure

One of the foremost advocacy groups for public lands and waters access is losing its leader of 10 years, the organization announced Wednesday. Land Tawney, CEO and president of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, will leave at the end of July.

eenews.net

Building the outdoor recreation economy in natural resource-dependent communities

Lessons from communities dependent on natural resource extraction that have successfully diversified their economies with outdoor recreation.

headwaterseconomics.org

Myth and might: New book explores bears in Montana and globally

Gloria Dickie interviewed trophy hunters, scientists, wildlife advocates, ranchers, land managers, the Chinese government's senior panda breeder and Peruvian women fearful of Ukuku, a mythical bear-man believed to abduct young women.

missoulian.com

The bear in your back yard

Throughout North America, they’re showing up in unexpected places. Can we coexist?

newyorker.com

‘We will decide their future’: Q&A with ‘pro-bear’ environmental journalist Gloria Dickie

Journalist and author Gloria Dickie, in an exclusive Mongabay interview, recounts her global journey of discovery culminating in her new book, “Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future.”

mongabay.com

Zinke moves to delist grizzlies

U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke secured amendments in federal spending bills this week that would shield Colstrip from tougher pollution laws and remove grizzlies from the endangered species list.

billingsgazette.com

Perspective: How Greater Yellowstone grizzlies could be delisted and remain protected

States are pushing hard to remove America's most famous grizzly population from federal protection. The primary reason is obvious. Why aren't we doing the same with bald eagles?

mountainjournal.org

White House scrutinizes North Cascades grizzly bear plan

A revived proposal that could bring grizzly bears back into the North Cascades region of Washington state is now getting a final White House scrub, following a lively public review that attracted attention from as far away as Switzerland, Portugal and France.

eenews.net

Returning 'relatives': Yellowstone sends more buffalo to tribes, less to slaughter

The number of buffalo that Yellowstone National Park has sent to slaughter over time has ticked down from about 1,500 in 2008 to about 25 in the winter of 2022 and about 80 this past winter.

jhnewsandguide.com

Idaho won't give wolves to Colorado, which still hasn't found a source

Colorado Parks and Wildlife plans to reintroduce wolves before the end of the year, but 9NEWS confirms Idaho and Wyoming won't give wolves to the state.

9news.com

Mexican wolf recovery hinges on maternal instincts

Fifty years after the passage of the Endangered Species Act, the Mexican wolf recovery plan walks a fine line between human meddling and trusting mother nature.

hcn.org

Killed dog ruling relieves trappers, leaves pet owners stricken

A recent Wyoming Supreme Court decision buffers trappers from paying emotional damages when they accidentally kill people’s pets.

wyofile.com

Virtual fences can benefit both ranchers and wildlife

Coupled with the removal of existing barbed-wire fencing, virtual fencing could open up whole landscapes for wildlife by removing injurious barriers for migratory herds, reducing mortality from fence strikes for numerous bird species, and protecting sensitive habitats from trampling by cattle.

mongabay.com

On the frontlines of B.C.’s wildfire fight

As B.C. faces its worst wildfire season ever — and the worst in Canada — fire crews are being tested like almost never before.

thenarwhal.ca

Canadian wildfires hit Indigenous communities hard, threatening their land and culture

The worst wildfire season in Canadian history is displacing Indigenous communities from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, blanketing them in thick smoke, destroying homes and forests and threatening important cultural activities like hunting, fishing and gathering native plants.

apnews.com

How to fight Canada’s wildfires in the era of climate change

“We can add billions and billions and billions of dollars, and even then we wouldn’t be able to extinguish all the wildfires,’’ said Yves Bergeron, an expert on forest ecology and management at the University of Quebec. “We need a paradigm shift from viewing the role of wildfire agencies as putting out fires to protecting human society.’’

nytimes.com

Wildland firefighters inch toward permanent pay hike

A temporary pay increase for federal crews battling more frequent woodland blazes is set to expire this fall.

courthousenews.com

Lawmakers introduce wildfire smoke emergency bill

Democratic Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley has reintroduced legislation to boost the federal response to wildfire smoke, including giving the president the authority to declare "smoke emergencies" that bring federal help to affected communities.

eenews.net

Wildfires start, grow in Montana and Idaho as heat looms

While some small fires started and grew in western Montana, a new fire near Salmon, Idaho, exploded to nearly 2,000 acres in its first 24 hours.

missoulian.com

Meteorological experts say Northwest Montana should prepare for prolonged, intense fire season

Representatives from federal and state environmental agencies warned that hot, dry conditions are setting the Flathead Valley up for extreme fire events in the coming months.

flatheadbeacon.com

A scientist said her research could help with repatriation. Instead, it destroyed Native remains.

Federal agencies have awarded millions of dollars to scientific studies on Native American human remains, undermining the goals of NAGPRA as tribes fight for repatriation.

propublica.org

This is how Phoenix is surviving its worst-ever heat wave

America's hottest big city is in the middle of the worst-ever heat wave, but people continue to work and play, with a few extra precautions.

azcentral.com

Idaho jury finds 5 from white nationalist group guilty of criminal conspiracy to riot at Pride event

Five members of the white nationalist hate group Patriot Front have been convicted of misdemeanor charges of conspiracy to riot at a Pride event in Idaho.

apnews.com

What it means to stand at the crossroads of the West

In her latest book, "True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America," Betsy Gaines Quammen takes a deep look into the myths of the West and how we our future lies in the balance

mountainjournal.org

The case of the Colorado River’s missing water

Researchers are trying to unravel the mystery of snow that falls but never shows up in the river.

hcn.org

A quarter of rural water systems likely contain ‘forever chemicals’

USGS research confirms widespread PFAS contamination in drinking water — including in rural communities and private wells that are almost never tested.

hcn.org

Opinion: We’ll build a $728 million gondola so the rich can play. It’s The Utah Way.

Once the idea of building the longest gondola on planet Earth up a spectacular, treasured canyon was proposed we saw Utah’s Holy Trinity — power, money and influence — get on board, and everything that happened after was purely entertainment and distraction, Robert Gehrke writes.

sltrib.com

Experiment to pay Denver’s homeless has reached $5 million and 846 people

Organizers say the payments to the homeless population from Denver Basic Income Project have been life altering for some.

coloradosun.com

The Salt Lake Tribune will experiment with a ‘free-for-all model’ after acquiring Moab weekly

The Moab Times-Independent, owned for generations by the Taylor family, will be donated to the Tribune. The newspaper will transition to free in print for Moab residents and free online for all.

niemanlab.org

The Ute Tribe’s kids have been failed by the public school system more than any other students in Utah

The Salt Lake Tribune has examined hundreds of pages of records, from the boarding school era to the transition to public schools to recent grades, ACT scores and graduation rates in Uinta Basin school districts. Decade after decade, Native children have been the students most likely to drop out of the districts’ high schools — at a rate worse than most anywhere in the state.

sltrib.com

Utah’s education system is failing Ute kids, and a former tribal education leader thinks that’s intentional

Former tribal education leader Forrest Cuch believes shortcomings are intentional because it “keeps the Indian down.”

sltrib.com

Ute Tribe members say their kids are being denied an effective education. The data backs them up.

Today, members of the Ute tribe say — and the data shows — Utah has been failing to effectively educate their children for decades.

sltrib.com

The Ute Tribe is trying to make up for the state’s education shortcomings, but resources are limited

The school districts in the Uinta Basin haven't done much to incorporate Ute language and culture into the curriculum, which experts say would help them succeed.

sltrib.com

The Ute Tribe has its own high school. It outperforms its public school neighbors.

At Uintah River High, Rosalia Cornpeach takes classes on looming, beading and speaking Ute. “We get to learn our own language,” the 16-year-old said excitedly. Her school is an outlier in providing those cultural lessons in the classroom. And that’s because of who runs it — the Ute Indian Tribe.

sltrib.com

Ute Indian boarding schools saw nearly 60 student deaths

The number of student deaths documented by The Salt Lake Tribune is likely an undercount, as no official tally was kept.

sltrib.com

Paiute Tribe confirms bodies of 12 children buried at former boarding school site in southern Utah

Tribal leaders say they are now considering “how best to honor and memorialize” the children who died at the Panguitch Boarding School, which operated from 1904 to 1909.

sltrib.com

What was life like in the Indian boarding schools for Utes in eastern Utah?

Explore first-person accounts.

sltrib.com

Day and night Phoenix has sweltered from heat that will break a record for American cities

Phoenix’s relentless streak of dangerously hot days is finally poised to smash a record for major U.S. cities on Tuesday, the 19th straight day the desert city is to see temperatures soar to 110 degrees Fahrenheit or more.

apnews.com

Arizona heat wave causes utilities to break electricity use records — twice

Salt River Project and Arizona Public Service both reported record power use over the weekend, and usage in coming days could eclipse the new highs

azcentral.com

Salt Lake City still sweltering after weekend heat broke records

After smashing a heat record and coming within a degree of the all-time hottest day ever recorded in Salt Lake City, more triple-digit temperatures are expected this week.

sltrib.com

The world is reeling from record heat and flooding. Scientists say its the cost of climate inaction

A record-hot June, followed by a disaster-packed July has climate scientists “shocked” by just how extreme the extreme weather has been, including some ocean waters feeling like “a hot tub.”

insideclimatenews.org

How Canada’s record wildfires got so bad, so fast

Wildfires in Canada have burned a staggering 25 million acres so far this year, an area roughly the size of Kentucky. With more than a month of peak fire season left to go, 2023 has already eclipsed Canada’s previous annual record from 1989, when over 18 million acres were scorched. And the country’s worst wildfire season on record continues to rage.

nytimes.com

'Zombie fires' in the Arctic: Canada's extreme wildfire season offers a glimpse of new risks in a warmer, drier future

Large stretches of the Arctic are carbon-rich peat bogs. As the region warms and dries, lightning strikes can spark underground fires that can burn for years.

theconversation.com

How climate change is making us sick

People around the world are living longer, healthier lives than they were just half a century ago. Climate change threatens to undo that progress.

grist.org

Feds walk back BLM boss’ corner crossing directive

BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said she directed her state offices to “implement” corner crossing, the Billings Gazette reported Thursday, even though a high-profile Wyoming dispute over the act is headed for appeals court. On Friday, the BLM walked it back.

wyofile.com

Two steps back for ranch owner in corner-crossing fight

A wealthy Carbon County landowner who has tried to block public access to public land enmeshed in his sprawling ranch has hit a legal snag. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has told the Elk Mountain Ranch owner Fred Eshelman he cannot yet appeal a federal judge’s decision that corner crossing is OK.

wyofile.com

FEMA has so far paid out less than 1% of what Congress allocated for victims of New Mexico wildfire

Congress gave FEMA $3.95 billion to compensate victims of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire in northern New Mexico. Seven months later, just $3 million has been paid, and most hasn’t gone to households.

propublica.org

Montana sees climate pressure on waterways amid warmest global temperatures in decades

Drought and a quick-melting snowpack have put Flathead Lake at record-low levels, and anglers are under the first fishing restrictions of the season on portions of the Sun and Madison rivers due to warm water temperatures and low flows.

dailymontanan.com

Frustration builds as Flathead Lake continues to drop

Days after federal managers rejected a plan to release more water from the Hungry Horse Dam, Flathead Lake was almost two feet below full pool.

montanafreepress.org

Steve Running explains Flathead Lake level connection to climate change

“Everything we know about climate change is little by little it is going to keep getting warmer, the snowpack is going to start melting earlier,” says Dr. Steve Running, a Nobel Prize-winning climate scientist.

kpax.com

Program plants, collects Seeds of Success on Fort Belknap Reservation

On the northern plains of Montana, several persistent professional women have connected to create a program based on humility, healing tribal relationships and Indigenous people, working to restore native habitat.

billingsgazette.com

Ten years in, the emerald ash borer breaches the Western Slope as it continues its steady — but slow — spread in Colorado

Evidence of the ash-devouring beetle was found in Carbondale in June.

denverpost.com

Shorn down, growing back: Woolgrowers eye opportunity

The winter of 2022-’23 walloped large-scale sheep operations in western Wyoming, even putting some ranchers out of business. There’s hope in the industry, however, and new niches are growing.

wyofile.com

As farms and ranches face development threats, feds renew push to preserve open space

Farm and ranch lands across the West face many threats – like inflation and outside development. But the federal government is working with agricultural producers to preserve open space and the benefits it provides.

wyomingpublicmedia.org

UDOT’s gondola renderings changing opinions in Little Cottonwood Canyon

Images of cabins floating above campsites, iconic vistas creates conflicting reactions in canyon visitors.

sltrib.com

Twin Falls County, Idaho, considers a pause on renewable projects

As more and more renewable projects are proposed for both public and private lands in southern Idaho, the Twin Falls County Commission has heard from a lot of residents who don’t want to see any additional projects in the area. With the feedback of the community in mind, the commission wants to hit the pause button on large-scale commercial energy development.

magicvalley.com

9th Circuit denies bid by environmentalists and tribes to block Nevada lithium mine

The latest bid by conservationists and tribal leaders to block construction of a huge lithium mine already in the works along the Nevada-Oregon line was denied by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.

apnews.com

Free speech or interference? In rare move, Lithium Americas sues Thacker Pass protesters

After getting hammered with lawsuits aimed at halting development of a lithium mine at Northern Nevada’s Thacker Pass, a Canadian-based mining company has turned the tables and is suing the mine’s protesters.

thenevadaindependent.com

New court order seeks to block lithium project at Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge

A new court order is seeking to block the launch of a lithium exploration project on the border of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge near the Amargosa Valley.

kolotv.com

Enviro groups file to halt drilling by mining firms in Southern Arizona mountains

A coalition of conservation groups asked a federal judge to halt drilling in the Patagonia Mountains on Friday afternoon. At the same time, they issued notice of their intent to sue the Forest Service over breach of the Endangered Species Act.

tucsonsentinel.com

Xcel Energy wants to mix hydrogen into the natural gas system. It’s starting with this neighborhood.

The company plans to test the controversial climate strategy in Box Elder Creek Ranch, a subdivision near Hudson, Colo.

cpr.org

Colorado Springs Utilities among group seeking future renewable natural gas developers

Colorado Springs Utilities and three other utility companies operating in Colorado are seeking new sources of renewable natural gas as part of ongoing statewide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

gazette.com

Lesser prairie chicken could see protections via renewable energy projects in New Mexico

The lesser prairie chicken was listed as endangered in southeast New Mexico and West Texas but could see conservation from renewable energy projects.

currentargus.com

Grizzly bears sighted in Helena, Clancy areas after long absence

Over the last couple of months, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff have confirmed grizzly bear sightings in the North Hills and Grizzly Gulch areas near Helena, the Elkhorn Mountains near Clancy, near Ulm, in the Pryor Mountains southeast of Billings, the Shields Valley, Little Belt Mountains, near the Judith River east of Denton, and on the lower Dearborn River.

helenair.com

The cougar whisperer

Maurice Hornocker, whose work in the 1960s and ‘70s unraveled the secret lives of mountain lions and led to their classification as big game animals across the West, has published a memoir, “Cougars on the Cliff: One Man’s Pioneering Quest to Understand the Mythical Mountain Lion.”

lmtribune.com

The Great Plains: Bringing back an ‘American Serengeti’

Ecologist Curtis Freese’s new book, “Back From the Collapse: American Prairie and the Restoration of Great Plains Wildlife,” is a call to protect and restore the northern Great Plains and the biodiversity it once held in great numbers.

therevelator.org

Animal-rights groups urge Ottawa to ban strychnine poison for causing unnecessary suffering

A coalition of animal-welfare groups, conservationists and veterinarians is urging Ottawa to ban the use of strychnine poison, saying it causes undue suffering to animals and is leading to the deaths of non-target animals such as dogs and grizzly bears. Alberta is the only province in Canada still to use strychnine to kill animals, including wolves and coyotes, and it has asked Ottawa, which regulates the poison’s use, for permission to continue using it.

theglobeandmail.com

B.C. sanctions shooting, logging in endangered spotted owl habitat

Only one spotted owl remains in Canada’s wild. The B.C. government says it is committed to recovering the species, even as it approves new clearcuts and recreational shooting in a Fraser Valley wildlife area set aside for the owl.

thenarwhal.ca

Meet the tiny owls that nest at Snowbasin, keeping Utah wildlife researchers busy

Studying the small owls has taught researchers about Utah’s changing environments.

sltrib.com

Colorado wildlife managers plan to kill off existing fish, restock lake with native trout

Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Thursday a plan to treat a small lake with an organic poison to wipe out its current population of fish in order to restock the lake next year with a vulnerable species of native trout.

cbsnews.com

As the Roaring Fork and Colorado rivers heat up, managers try to keep fish cool

In the latest story in Aspen Public Radio’s four-part climate series “Adaptation,” we look at how stressful conditions impact the coldwater fish who live in our rivers and streams.

aspenpublicradio.org

‘Beaver believers’ see impacts of rewilding via NASA data

A NASA-supported effort in Idaho adds remote sensing data to the suite of tools used to predict which streams can support beavers and to monitor how water and vegetation change once they return.

nasa.gov

A river runs above us

Atmospheric rivers can cause catastrophic flooding and landslides but are crucial for water supply. In an era of increasing weather whiplash between flood and drought, can we learn to embrace the rains?

hakaimagazine.com

How a Saudi firm tapped a gusher of water in drought-stricken Arizona

Lax rules let the foreign-owned company pump water from state land to grow alfalfa for the kingdom’s cattle. After almost a decade, the deal is in jeopardy.

washingtonpost.com

Fort Belknap tribes are closing in on a bipartisan water rights deal in Congress

The Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes of north-central Montana are closing in on a bipartisan deal to settle their water rights in Congress. The more than $1 billion policy comes after decades of negotiation and would close out a century of tribal water disputes in the state.

mtpr.org

Workers lack protections when wildfire smoke makes the air dangerous

Experts are calling on federal regulators to adopt standards protecting outdoor workers from worsening air quality, potentially modeled after the few states that have such standards, including California and Oregon.

stateline.org

Parts of Colorado’s Front Range have topped ozone limits for nearly 20 years. Will they ever do better?

Can the 9-county nonattainment area ever meet EPA air quality thresholds, as Atlanta did, or will it be a perennial offender like, Sheboygan?

coloradosun.com

Gliding to the Sun: E-bikes make light work of Glacier goal

Battery-assisted e-bikes make a trip over Glacier Park's Going to the Sun Road easy for all, but raise challenges for park managment.

missoulian.com

This Utah company wants to change the way people work from home

Backyard Office Utah specializes in building custom stand-alone offices in clients’ backyards.

deseret.com

The cost of a state line

Eastern Oregon wants to join the state of Idaho. But can Oregon afford to leave Oregon?

deseret.com

‘An absolute crisis’: Millions in Southwest stare down weeks of brutal heat

More than 113 million people in the U.S. are suffering under extreme heat as another massive “heat dome” expands from Texas westward toward California. Meteorologists expect the Southwest’s heat wave to intensify over the weekend, delivering some of the year’s highest temperatures and pushing California’s Death Valley near its all-time-record temperature of over 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The midday heat in cities like Phoenix, Arizona, has become so intense that ordinary surfaces such as streets and metal railings are too dangerous to touch without risking burns.

grist.org

Dangerous heat warnings and watches issued for much of Utah — including the Wasatch Front

The National Weather Service, which earlier this week issued a heat watch in southern Utah, is now warning of “dangerously hot conditions” with temperatures up to 104 degrees in northern Utah from noon Saturday until 9 p.m. Monday.

sltrib.com

A Phoenix power outage amid a heat wave could possibly kill thousands, study says

If the city were to lose power for air conditioning, roughly half the city could end up in the emergency room.

washingtonpost.com

How extreme heat takes a toll on the mind and body, according to experts

With so many consecutive days of excessive heat, forecasters, physicians and local health officials throughout the Southwest are recommending that people limit their outdoor exposure and know the warning signs of heat illness.

apnews.com

Heat waves now last longer, spurring an air-conditioning boom

Parts of the U.S. unaccustomed to hot summers crank up ACs and pay more for electricity.

wsj.com

When will the Southwest become unlivable?

Air-conditioning and swimming pools are sustaining my community. I worry about the day when they won’t be enough.

theatlantic.com

Opinion: In Texas, dead fish and red-faced desperation are signs of things to come

Extreme heat is the engine of planetary chaos. We ignore it at our peril.

nytimes.com

Last month was the hottest June ever

Last month was the hottest June ever recorded globally, according to multiple independent analyses. Surface temperatures were 1.89 degrees F above average, according to NOAA.

e360.yale.edu

‘Giant methane factories’: Hydropower has long been touted as clean energy. But is it?

Decades of research suggests that hydropower has a far greater climate impact than once thought. Now a growing chorus of scientists want to change the conversation about it.

insideclimatenews.org

Natural gas can rival coal's climate-warming potential when leaks are counted

Climate-warming greenhouse gasses from natural gas could be as damaging as those from coal, according to a new analysis.

npr.org

Industry wants new pipeline on Navajo land scarred by decades of fossil fuel extraction

Developers tout hydrogen as a clean energy source; Navajo opponents say it is another way outsiders will profit by harming their environment and health.

capitalandmain.com

Idaho Power to shift solar compensation to on-peak, off-peak times

The state’s largest electric utility is proposing to lower net-metering compensation and bring about other marked changes that solar advocates say could hurt the burgeoning renewable energy business and reduce the resiliency of local electricity grids.

idahostatesman.com

Utah ‘blessed’ with potential sites to store climate-wrecking carbon dioxide

Utah is "blessed" with good sites for carbon sequestration, and the Utah Geological Survey has received a Department of Energy grant to map them out.

sltrib.com

Should there be a nuclear power plant in Utah? Most residents say yes

A majority of Utah residents are on board with a nuclear power plant in Utah, with 65% who say they are in support, compared to 31% who are opposed and another 4% who have yet to make up their mind.

deseret.com

Clean energy and cattle: Wind farm begins operation on historic ranch in northern Arizona

The first phase of the Chevelon Butte wind farm is complete, as 57 large wind turbines tower over one of the state's longest-running cattle ranches.

azcentral.com

Jobs in Brighton, Colorado. But what about Craig?

Transportation matters greatly to solar and battery factories arising along metro Denver's I-76 corridor. What about Craig and other coal towns?

bigpivots.com

Lithium drilling plans near Ash Meadows refuge on pause

After pushback, the BLM said it will require a full environmental review for Rover Metals’ lithium drilling project outside Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Nevada.

reviewjournal.com

Toad's endangered listing forces Ormat, Interior to rethink proposed geothermal project

A planned geothermal plant in Nevada was sent back to square one last week after federal land managers decided to reexamine their approval of the project following the listing of a small rare toad living in adjacent springs as endangered.

nevadacurrent.com

Treaty rights, bison and the country’s most controversial hunt

Last winter’s harvest in the Yellowstone region illustrates the complexity of bison restoration.

hcn.org

Montana FWP confirms grizzly sighting in Shields Valley

Sighting comes on the heels of a confirmed sighting in the Pryor Mountains of southeastern Montana.

montanafreepress.org

Bears aren’t as deadly as you’ve been taught

In Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, Parks Canada is hiring Indigenous employees to change the way people think about bears.

thenarwhal.ca

Wolf hunting regs allowing infrared imaging violate Montana law, judge rules

A Helena judge has ruled that hunting wolves using thermal imaging technology was not explicitly allowed by a 2021 law that expanded when and how the animals can be legally killed on private land.

missoulian.com

Time for elk hunters to comment on draft FWP management plan

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has released its 2023 Draft Elk Management Plan which has been years in the making.

billingsgazette.com

Elk calls have regional dialects

Whales, bats and birds sound different depending on where they live. So do elk, according to new research.

hcn.org

Jackson-bound gas pipeline will cleave 'core' sage grouse habitat in Sublette County, Wyoming

A Lower Valley Energy pipeline extension that will deliver natural gas to Jackson Hole will bisect land Wyoming has designated “core habitat” for sage grouse, an icon of the western sagebrush steppe.

jhnewsandguide.com

BLM director says agency has been directed to implement corner crossing

A federal judge’s May ruling that hunters in Wyoming who crossed from one corner of public land to another did not trespass on adjacent private lands sent a distinct message to the Bureau of Land Management’s national legal team. “Our solicitors think it’s pretty clear,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, director of the BLM and a Montana resident. “We’re taking that ruling quite seriously and making sure that our state directors are implementing it.”

billingsgazette.com

‘Devil’s’ postcard prompts request to pause corner-crossing

Hateful vitriol, including a postcard from “Satan,” has prompted the owner of Elk Mountain Ranch to ask a federal court to stall the judge’s own decision that corner crossing is not trespassing.

wyofile.com

Maps offer clues on managing forests for climate change

Working with the Forest Service, the Pew Charitable Trusts developed an interactive map showing where a more — or less — hands-on approach may help national forests as the world warms.

eenews.net

BLM foundation names first-ever CEO

The nonprofit group was created by Congress in 2017, but the Trump administration didn't appoint members or set it up.

eenews.net

Biden officials support bill curbing speculative leasing

Two senior Biden administration officials offered general support at a Senate hearing Wednesday for two bills that aim to curtail so-called speculative oil and gas leasing on federal lands and to permanently protect more than 420,000 acres in Colorado.

eenews.net

Sparks fly as GOP seeks to reverse Chaco Canyon oil ban

Republicans want to overturn a recent Interior Department decision that banned new leasing and mining around the New Mexico historical park.

eenews.net

Fast-tracked oil expansion plan in Utah said to threaten Colorado environment

A proposal to the BLM to expand the capacity of an oil transport facility on federal land west of Price, Utah, has caught the attention of Colorado officials and conservation groups opposed to increased oil train traffic along the Colorado River.

coloradonewsline.com

The gondola’s price tag just went up again. Here’s why UDOT still says it is moving forward with the controversial plan.

The Utah Department of Transportation has made it official — it wants to build an eight-mile-long gondola through Little Cottonwood Canyon.

sltrib.com

Here’s how people reacted to news of the Little Cottonwood gondola moving forward

Elected leaders and ski resort officials shared their thoughts on UDOT's decision to move forward with a gondola through Little Cottonwood Canyon.

sltrib.com

Utah wants to build the world’s longest gondola to solve traffic

It is rare for a state department of transportation to propose solving a traffic problem with anything other than a highway widening. It is even rarer for it to suggest a gondola.

vice.com

Amid Allen & Co.'s power players, life goes on in Sun Valley

As some of the richest and most influential people on the planet descend on Sun Valley, residents and visitors who end up intermingled among the billionaires and power players hold varying opinions about the annual conference hosted by private investment bank Allen & Co.

mtexpress.com

Judge OKs Yellowstone Club snowmaking operation

The Yellowstone Club can go forward with its plans to make snow using recycled water from Big Sky, the Gallatin County District Court ruled at the end of June.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Yellowstone gateway towns struggle to provide emergency medical services as tourism swells

Providing emergency medical services in Montana's gateway towns to Yellowstone National Park comes with unique problems when tourism swells the local population.

billingsgazette.com

Officials estimate 500,000 pounds of tar-like asphalt could have entered the Yellowstone in railway incident

Nearly two weeks after a bridge collapse and train derailment sent 10 rail cars plunging into the Yellowstone River, authorities are starting to quantify the volume of molten asphalt that entered the river.

montanafreepress.org

Trains move toxic chemicals through small towns daily. Most aren't prepared for disaster.

In the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio, disaster, other train towns wonder: Are we next?

grist.org

Shaky Ground: The link between the Permian Basin's fossil fuel industry and earthquakes

Earthquake reports from the U.S. Geological Society in the Permian Basin juxtaposed with oil production numbers from the Energy Information Administration show rapidly increasing extraction instep with growing seismicity.

daily-times.com

More than 150 insurance companies sue Xcel, citing negligence over start of Marshall fire

Insurance companies claimed Xcel Energy was aware of the high fire risk and could have shut off power, preventing the Marshall fire.

coloradosun.com

Xcel Energy seeks $45M rate increase — down from $312M — amid consumer outrage over rising bills

State's largest utility slashed request by 85%, but consumer advocates are troubled by adding lawyer fees, worker bonuses to electric bills.

coloradosun.com

Electricity bills could climb 22% for Rocky Mountain Power customers

Wyoming's largest utility says volatile coal and natural gas markets are driving electricity costs upward.

wyofile.com

In fierce battle against climate change, Idaho-led team is up for $160 million grant

The University of Idaho-led team, recognizing the need for communication across sectors, plans to bring forces together with its think tank, called FIERCE: Fueling an Innovative, Equitable and Resilient Climate-smart Economy. It links multiple organizations from the Columbia River Basin, which spans much of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, as well as a little bit of Montana.

idahostatesman.com

Lawmakers gave millions to support a private landowner’s unusual wildfire prevention method. Does it work?

“Roller felling” encourages aspen, but how long the results last and whether it’s any better than other forest treatments remain big unknowns.

sltrib.com

Nevada departs state climate alliance

The move came as Arizona joined the group in a sign of shifting state politics on energy policy.

eenews.net

Colorado sees major drop in water use as historic rains continued in June

Colorado’s reservoirs are full and runoff estimates keep rising after historic rains continued into June, prompting water use to drop.

coloradosun.com

Interior Department official with key role in Colorado River talks is stepping down

A senior Interior Department official who has played a key role in negotiations over the shrinking Colorado River will leave her job next month.

apnews.com

With Utah Lake dredging project sunk, Lake Restoration Solutions files for bankruptcy

The company’s multiple lawsuits mean it can’t cover its bills, but the CEO gave a sizeable payment to his anti-wolf nonprofit.

sltrib.com

Fireflies are thriving in Colorado wetlands. Scientists want to shed light on why.

Lightning bugs light up the sky in scattered pockets across the state, luring sightseers and sparking research that could guide reintroduction

coloradosun.com

Unions: Lee newspapers' cuts mean less journalism and insulting readers' intelligence

The unions of Lee Enterprises are pushing back against the corporate owners and their plans to slash print days while also failing to articulate a digital plan.

dailymontanan.com

The forgotten sovereigns of the Colorado River

As the West’s major river dries up, tribes have asserted rights to its water long ignored by state and federal authorities.

politico.com

A racist past and hotter future are testing Western water like never before

In Western states, the older a water claim, the more secure it is during a drought. Tribes have long been excluded from that system and now, they're pushing for change.

npr.org

How private interests benefit from tribal water settlements

When power players like mining and agriculture are involved, tribal nations, usually the senior-most water-rights holders, often must fight obstruction.

hcn.org

The Colorado River flooded Chemehuevi land. Decades later, the tribe still struggles to take its share of water.

The Chemehuevi’s reservation fronts about 30 miles of the Colorado River, yet 97% of the tribe’s water stays in the river, much of it used by Southern California cities. The tribe isn’t paid for it.

propublica.org

In Arizona water ruling, the Hopi Tribe sees limits on its future

Arizona's unique method for awarding water to tribes was supposed to open up economic possibilities beyond farming for the Hopi Tribe. Instead, the tribe says it has dashed their dreams of building a thriving homeland.

propublica.org

Colorado tribes fear the effects of U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Navajo Nation in water rights case

Colorado tribes are worried that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month against the Navajo Nation in a Colorado River water rights case may narrow the federal government’s broad, historic responsibility to provide them with aid.

coloradosun.com

In the Northern Rockies, grizzly bears are on the move

As grizzlies recover, they’re no longer content to roam within the boundaries we’ve contrived for them.

hcn.org

FWP confirms first sighting of Grizzly bear in the Pryors

Historically, grizzly bears occupied most of Montana, including the Pryor Mountains, but likely have not inhabited these mountains since the late 1800s.

billingsgazette.com

Idaho appeals decision that prompted new grizzly bear planning

The state of Idaho is appealing a case that prompted the Fish and Wildlife Service to start a big new study of reintroducing grizzly bears into the Bitterroot ecosystem that links the Gem State and Montana.

eenews.net

The clock is ticking as the feds grapple with delisting grizzly bears

Can states handle grizzly bear management, and the scrutiny that comes with it? Here's a look at the future of bears in the West.

outdoorlife.com

Wolverines are the ‘embodiment of wilderness’. Can they make a comeback?

These are hopeful signs for a creature that, despite a century of challenges, remains a symbol of wildness in the American West.

theguardian.com

When the woods get noisy, the animals get nervous

New study uses trail cameras and speakers to isolate what human sounds do to animals.

hcn.org

At long last, the American buffalo has come home

A conservation effort has returned bison to Blackfeet Nation tribal lands more than a century after the animal was nearly slaughtered to extinction.

nationalgeographic.com

Revisions to Wyoming’s sage grouse protection map take flight

Sizable new swaths of Wyoming’s greater sage grouse domain — including parts of the Powder River basin and Moneta area — could soon receive the highest level of state protection afforded to the embattled bird.

wyofile.com

The ‘Path of the Pronghorn’ migration sees far fewer animals this year

Very few Pronghorn are taking part in the longest annual migration in the lower 48 this year, largely because of an extremely harsh winter.

wyomingpublicmedia.org

Western states' budgets, industries rely on federal lands. So does wildlife.

Across the West, a vast swath of federal land has been staked out by oil and gas drillers, miners, cattle grazers, loggers, renewable energy developers and outdoor recreationists. Soon, the federal agency that oversees those lands will allow them to be leased for a new purpose: conservation.

stateline.org

FWP unveils new efforts to study trout declines in southwest Montana

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks held a press conference Thursday morning to address concerns and answer questions about their work to stop trout population declines in southwest Montana rivers.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Tracing mining’s threat to U.S. waters

Environmental concerns are raised anew about potential contamination from Canadian open-pit mines flowing through the waterways into Montana’s lakes, harming fish.

nytimes.com

A good prospect

Mining climate anxiety for profit.

thedriftmag.com

Amargosa Valley lithium proposal sparks lawsuit

The search for lithium has found its way to a treasured corner of the Nevada desert, resulting in a lawsuit by conservation groups who say further mining exploration could endanger a trove of species found nowhere else in the world.

nevadacurrent.com

12 questions about Lithium Americas' $2.3 billion Thacker Pass Project in Nevada

The Nevada mining and chemical-processing project has begun about 50 miles north of Winnemucca. General Motors will use the lithium in electric cars.

rgj.com

Colorado company seeking to mine Nebraska for rare earth minerals needed in EVs signs deal with carmaker

The company that wants to mine for critical minerals in southeast Nebraska has signed a deal with Stellantis, giving the automaker access to the rare earth elements used to produce high-powered magnets needed for its electric vehicles.

apnews.com

IEA warns of supply risks as critical mineral demand doubles

The market for lithium, cobalt and nickel is skyrocketing amid the clean energy transition, but the International Energy Agency says more work is needed to ensure a sustainable supply chain.

eenews.net

Biden could fast-track first critical minerals project by 2026

The White House hopes to approve a $1.7 billion Arizona manganese and zinc mine, offering domestic minerals for EV battery supply chains.

eenews.net

Utah geothermal project hits a milestone, pumping water through deep granite

Utah FORGE, the nation's most advanced geothermal energy experiment, is drilling through more than a mile of granite to reach hot rock that could one day provide continuous clean power.

sltrib.com

An entrepreneur is one big step closer to capturing methane leaking from Colorado coal mines

The project in White River National Forest is the first step toward capturing methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and converting it to fuel.

coloradosun.com

UW, carbon capture company begin statewide CO2 pipeline study

UW’s Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute and a carbon capture company aim to develop a statewide carbon capture and storage pipeline system in Wyoming.

trib.com

Carbon capture faces a major test in North Dakota

An expert weighs in about Project Tundra and the viability of retrofitting coal plants to capture carbon.

insideclimatenews.org

Grassland agrivoltaics show minimal difference in forage yield to traditional growth

A Colorado State University study found that despite a 38% reduction in light availability, a C3 semi-arid grassland only reduced aboveground productivity and photosynthesis by 6%, pointing to the feasibility of grassland agrivoltaics.

pv-magazine-usa.com

New Mexico court upholds decision keeping utility from transferring shares of coal-fired power plant

The New Mexico Supreme Court has affirmed a decision by utility regulators who rejected a proposal by the state’s largest electric provider to transfer shares in a coal-fired power plant to a Navajo energy company.

apnews.com

The Ute Tribe’s kids have been failed by the public school system more than any other students in Utah.

The Ute Tribe gave the state its name — and America promised to educate the tribe’s children when it took its land. But rather than providing an education that would empower them, the boarding schools’ focus on work and cultural erasure damaged their health and left them with “often irrelevant” skills. That legacy echoes today.

sltrib.com

Utah’s education system is failing Ute children. A former tribal education leader thinks that’s intentional.

The warning signs were clear and repeated. Former tribal education leader Forrest Cuch believes shortcomings are intentional because it “keeps the Indian down.”

sltrib.com

Experts know how to educate Native kids. Uinta Basin school districts aren’t doing it.

The school districts in the Uinta Basin haven't done much to incorporate Ute language and culture into the curriculum, which experts say would help them succeed.

sltrib.com

'We are in uncharted territory': Earth logs hottest week on record

The world just experienced its hottest week ever recorded, with seven straight days of blistering, historic levels of heat, according to preliminary data released by the World Meteorological Organization, or WMO. The unsettling milestone, set during the first week of July, also follows the hottest June on record.

grist.org

June extremes suggest parts of the climate system are reaching tipping points

Research shows heat domes, wildfires and vanishing polar ice are the symptoms; unabated greenhouse gas emissions are the cause.

insideclimatenews.org

Climate change ratchets up the stress on farmworkers on the front lines of a warming Earth

As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside.

apnews.com

Wildfire activity exacerbated, vulnerable people at risk as temperatures soar

With more than nine million hectares of forest burned so far this year in Canada, 2023 is the worst wildfire season on record.

theglobeandmail.com

Across the Southwest, residents in desert cities like Phoenix are experiencing extreme heat wave

Even Southwestern desert residents accustomed to scorching summers are feeling the grip of an extreme heat wave smacking Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Southern California this week with 100-degree-plus temps and excessive heat warnings.

apnews.com

How climate change drives hotter, more frequent heat waves

Everything you need to know about the science linking global warming to extreme heat.

grist.org

Conservatives go to red states, like Idaho, and liberals go to blue ones, like Colorado, as the country grows more polarized

Colorado and Idaho represent two poles of state-level political homogenization. Both are fast-growing Rocky Mountain states that have been transformed by an influx of like-minded residents. Life in the two states can be quite similar — conversations revolve around local ski areas, mountain bike trails, and how newcomers are making things too crowded. But, politically, they increasingly occupy two separate worlds.

apnews.com

Who’s moving to Utah? Who’s leaving? Breaking down the birthplace, race and educational data of our new neighbors

How is Utah's population changing as a result of people moving in and out of the state? Tribune data columnist Andy Larsen has the data.

sltrib.com

In Oregon timber country, a town buys the surrounding forests to confront climate-driven wildfires

A logger, forester and former mayor joined forces to help Butte Falls manage its forests to protect the town and build an economy supported by tourism rather than logging.

insideclimatenews.org

Idaho grapples with high turnover among the state’s seasonal firefighters

The economy, Idaho housing costs, state pay levels and competition with federal agencies are playing a role.

idahocapitalsun.com

Forest composition affects how wildfire plumes carry embers

Increased turbulence in the crosswinds flowing over a forest means greater unpredictability for where embers go. But that conclusion came from taking a look underwater.

missoulian.com

Can mushrooms prevent megafires?

Thinning forests to prevent fires produces a lot of sticks and other debris, which also pose a fire risk. In Colorado and elsewhere, scientists are using fungi to turn those trimmings into soil.

thefern.org

Environmental groups sue EPA over lack of oversight of Colorado’s efforts to reduce smog

The Center for Biological Diversity and 350 Colorado petitioned the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear their complaint, bypassing the lower courts. The two groups say the EPA approved a state plan to reduce ozone pollution even though that plan will not meet federally mandated goals for clean air.

denverpost.com

Front Range inches closer to banning gas-powered mowers and blowers in fight against ozone pollution

State air pollution officials are likely to vote by the end of the year on a 2025 ban on the sale of push or hand-held, gasoline-powered lawn equipment in nine Front Range counties with ozone problems.

coloradosun.com

Troubled Colorado oil and gas operator dodges cleanup deadline, $2M in fines as judge halts state enforcement action

K.P. Kauffman was supposed to pay its fines and remediate 78 sites by Aug. 1 or stop operating in Colorado. A judge agreed to stay that order while the company sues to block it from taking effect.

coloradosun.com

Protest over Chaco Canyon drilling ban stirs deeper debates among Navajo leaders, citizens

Supporters of the Biden administration's ban say confusion and misinformation have clouded the issue, but local residents insist it's about local control.

azcentral.com

A field guide to everything

An exploration of the beauty and challenges of the sacred Bears Ears.

orionmagazine.org

Court victories give limited but uncertain protection to corner crossers

Despite winning two court fights against penalties for corner crossing, hunters are not yet assured they and others can step with immunity through private airspace to reach public property, legal experts say.

wyofile.com

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort projects will impact whitebark pine

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is looking for federal approval for about 35 projects, some of which will impact whitebark pine, the iconic western conifer recently protected under the Endangered Species

jhnewsandguide.com

Iconic Crystal Mill closes visitor trail after repeated bad behavior in the backcountry

Owners and local businesses in Marble, Colorado, blame Instagram for the influx of people who disregard leave no trace etiquette.

coloradosun.com

What do ranchers, oil producers and bike groups have in common? They all want a say in new federal land management rules

The Bureau of Land Management's draft rule elevating the role of conservation in its mission has sparked debate across the West.

cpr.org

How the Western drought has increased carbon emissions

Hydropower loss added 121 million metric tons of carbon emissions over 20 years — about the same as putting 1.3 million more cars on the road.

grist.org

Colorado is drought-free for the first time since 2019. Will it last?

Colorado is drought-free for the first time in four years — a rare reprieve for a state in the middle of a 23-year megadrought.

coloradosun.com

6 southern Colorado counties, facing drought and thirsty neighbors, move to block water exports

Colorado's San Luis Valley counties band together in bid to delay or block water sales to the Front Range and beyond.

coloradosun.com

How might we save the Colorado River?

From desalinating seawater to ripping out grass and changing crops, here are some of the boldest and most crucial ideas.

cpr.org

As summer heats up, impacts of drought begin to appear in northwest Montana

Perhaps the most stark reminder that much of northwest Montana is now in either “moderate” or “severe” drought is the empty boat docks along the shores of Flathead Lake.

montanafreepress.org

This Canadian lake should mark the start of the Anthropocene, scientists say

A humble lake in a Canadian suburb may soon become the symbolic starting point for a radical new chapter in Earth’s official history: the Anthropocene, or the age of humans.

washingtonpost.com

The Valley: In Grand Junction, oil train route would retrace Colorado railroad history

The 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway would connect Utah’s largest oil field to the national rail network, allowing drillers there to dramatically ramp up production and transport up to 300,000 barrels of oil per day to refineries in Texas and Louisiana. Five hundred tankers full of heated waxy crude oil could depart the Uinta Basin daily, and while they could take several possible paths to the Gulf Coast, all eastbound routes run directly through Ruby Canyon, central Colorado and the Denver metro area.

coloradonewsline.com

Boomtowns: Once connected by railroads, Colorado River Valley towns now feel threatened by them

Local officials in Western Colorado spar over proposed Uinta Basin oil trains in the heart of Rep. Lauren Boebert's district.

coloradonewsline.com

The Canyons: Oil and water could mix in Colorado River country known for its beauty, fragility

Accident risks for proposed oil trains from Utah could be highest in this rugged region of Colorado that has seen numerous derailments.

coloradonewsline.com

Headwaters: At the Colorado River's source, oil trains would pose risks to both sides of the Divide

Fears about the consequences of an accident of oil trains from the Uinta Basin Railway in Utah may be highest in Grand County, Colorado.

coloradonewsline.com

The City: In Denver, oil trains hit a fork in the road to Colorado's transportation future

The additional traffic from the proposed Uinta Basin Railway, backed by a public-private partnership and granted key approvals by President Joe Biden’s administration, could quadruple the amount of hazardous materials transported by rail through Denver, city officials estimate.

coloradonewsline.com

Western tribes' last-ditch effort to stall a large lithium mine in Nevada

The fate of what would be the largest lithium mine in the U.S. on federal land in Nevada is now in the hands of a federal appeals court. It's the latest development in a more than two year legal battle over a plan by the Canadian firm, Lithium Nevada, to build an open pit mine near Thacker Pass, along a remote stretch of sagebrush-studded land close to the Nevada-Oregon border.

npr.org

Court asked to vacate Nevada lithium mine approval after precedent-setting case

The future of what may potentially become the largest lithium mine in the United States now rests on whether a law enacted in 1872 was correctly implemented when the mine was approved by federal land managers in 2021.

nevadacurrent.com

Arizona's Oak Flat is sacred land to some Native Americans, but it's endangered by a plan for a mine

Oak Flat, a mountainous area east of Phoenix, is an Apache sacred site where Native Americans gather to pray and perform coming-of-age ceremonies and sweat rituals.

apnews.com

Historic Arizona mining town backs copper project on land that Native American groups say is sacred

Residents of a town in central Arizona are engaged in a tug of war with Native American groups over a huge copper mine that's been proposed on national forest land.

apnews.com

Rio Tinto invests nearly $1 billion in Kennecott as EVs fuel demand for copper

Utah’s Kennecott mine on the west side of Salt Lake County is getting a $918 million investment intended to extend the life of the mine as electrification fuels demand for more copper.

sltrib.com

Threatened by shortages, electric car makers race for supplies of lithium for batteries

Threatened by possible shortages of lithium for electric car batteries, automakers are racing to lock in supplies of the once-obscure “white gold” in a politically and environmentally fraught competition from China to Nevada to Chile.

apnews.com

Blackfeet bring bison home to Chief Mountain

Tribal members hailed the return of wild free-roaming buffalo to Indigenous land as an expression of sovereignty and the beginning of a cultural and ecological renaissance.

flatheadbeacon.com

Bison population swells after over century-long absence in Banff National Park

After a 140 year absence, Banff National Park is now home to more than 100 plains bison — a number that could double by 2030.

calgaryherald.com

American bison reintroduced to northern Mexico helping to fight climate change

The largest land mammal in America is rehabilitating a vast grassland in Coahuila, benefiting hundreds of species in a reserve that can theoretically store 6.3 million tons of carbon in its soil.

english.elpais.com

Opinion: An opportunity to plan a better future for bison

“As Yellowstone sets its eyes on the future, you can bet the state of Montana will try to drag us back into the past. Don’t fall for their misinformation,” writes Scott Christensen, executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Fishing community reeling over Montana’s response to historic trout declines

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte pointed to angling restrictions considered by FWP as a way to reduce stress experienced by trout. Some stakeholders say that's not enough to fix the declining trout problem.

mtstandard.com

Standing for flow

The Clark Fork River Coalition worked for a decade to secure instream flow rights in a key tributary to the beleaguered Clark Fork River.

mtstandard.com

One more cast? Wyoming lawmakers try to land guided fishing regulations

Complaints of overcrowding, out-of-state competition prompt proposals for permitting systems, but institutional misgivings have made netting legislation tricky.

wyofile.com

Montana proposes dropping wolf hunt quota significantly

Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks are proposing to reduce the hunting quota for wolves statewide from 450 to 289, according to the department and an interview with a spokesperson.

dailymontanan.com

Migrating antelope could infect Grand Teton bison

Wildlife managers aren’t sure whether pronghorn can carry mycoplasma bovis, the respiratory pathogen thought to have killed 1,000 or so antelope near Pinedale this winter. The question is: Do antelope die when they contract the pneumonia? Or can some live, carry the disease and pass it along to other animals?

jhnewsandguide.com

Thousands of nesting birds have vanished at Great Salt Lake’s Gunnison Island

Flocks of pelicans and gulls that once darkened the sky have gone missing.

sltrib.com

Environmentalists demand ban on ‘cyanide bombs’ on federal land

The M-44 devices are intended to kill predators on federal lands, but have injured unsuspecting hikers and killed endangered animals and pets.

courthousenews.com

Eshelman appeals corner-crossing loss to 10th Circuit

Elk Mountain Ranch owner challenges a federal judge’s decision that stepping through his airspace without touching private land is not trespassing.

wyofile.com

Ranch owner in corner-crossing case sues to unmask critic

Fredric Eshelman, the owner of the ranch in a widely watched corner-crossing trespass case, wants Google to unmask an anonymous critic who said Eshelman “abused police resources” during the Carbon County trespass conflict.

wyofile.com

As campers flood forests, officials aim to manage evolving needs

As campers continue to flood into national forests — often towing large trailers, side-by-sides or outdoor gear — districts across Wyoming are taking steps to increase capacity, regulate use, protect resources and generate revenue for upkeep.

wyofile.com

Grand Teton 'celebrates' e-bikes as feds reconsider policy

Years after an executive fiat changed Grand Teton National Park policy to allow e-bikes, the park is all for the controversial, zippy rides.

jhnewsandguide.com

Public Lands Rule rhetoric gets wacky

Conservatives aren’t so keen on conservation.

hcn.org

Biden admin considers CO2 storage in national forests

An upcoming proposal from the Forest Service would tweak an existing regulation, opening the door to geologic storage projects on public land.

eenews.net

Rainfall extremes increasingly threaten mountain regions and areas downstream from them

A global increase of extreme precipitation, well outside the range of natural variability, has been well-documented by scientists. It’s one of the hallmarks of human-caused global warming, and new research published this week in Nature shows that high elevation areas, including most of the mountains of Western North America, are particularly vulnerable to deluges that can trigger landslides, floods and severe erosion.

insideclimatenews.org

Interview: How access to water affects Indigenous communities in the Colorado River basin

“This is an excellent case study of how tribes have had to give up something to get something, as I've heard it said. On paper, they have senior water rights, but in order to get the wet water, they subordinated those senior paper rights.”

cpr.org

Utah tribe slams Biden admin over Colorado River ruling

In the wake of a Supreme Court ruling against the Navajo Nation over rights to the Colorado River, another prominent Native American tribe is accusing the White House of flouting its vow to improve relationships with tribal governments. Leadership of the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation called the Biden administration “hypocritical and no friend of Indian tribes.”

eenews.net

Months of wet weather erase drought across the Southwest

A snowy winter and rainy spring have provided a major boost to states in the grips of drought and helped ease pressure on water managers in the Colorado River basin.

kunc.org

On the Little Colorado River, a confluence of interests presents constant challenges

The Little Colorado River is home to Indigenous cultures and an endemic fish. A hydropower proposal and climate change threaten it.

azcentral.com

Idaho, Texas states ask judge to scrap Biden WOTUS rule

After persuading courts to freeze President Joe Biden’s signature water rule in more than half the country, Republican-led states are attempting to kill the regulation once and for all.

eenews.net

Asphalt from Montana Rail Link derailment reported in Yellowstone River

One of the railcars lodged in the Yellowstone River near Reed Point following a Montana Rail Link derailment appears to have leaked asphalt into the river, according to agency officials responding to a Saturday morning incident that resulted in 10 railcars plummeting into one of the state’s largest rivers.

montanafreepress.org

Parched ponderosas and other bits and pieces

The climate change-exacerbated megadrought/aridification gripping the Southwest is stressing the majestic giants of the Four Corners Country, according to a recent study by University of Arizona researchers.

landdesk.org

In a Montana courtroom, debate over whether states can make a difference on climate change, and if they have a responsibility to try

The first youth-led climate lawsuit to go to trial considered if a statute preventing the state’s environmental agency from denying permits for fossil fuel development contradicts its constitution’s guarantee of a “clean and healthful environment.”

insideclimatenews.org

Biden administration raises record $105 million in Nevada solar energy auction

The Biden administration said on Wednesday it raised $105 million from solar power developers at a lease auction covering 23,675 acres of Nevada desert this week, making it the highest-yielding federal onshore renewable energy auction to date.

reuters.com

New Mexico regulators fine oil producer $40 million for burning off vast amounts of natural gas

New Mexico oilfield and air quality regulators on Thursday announced unprecedented state fines against a Texas-based oil and natural gas producer on accusations that the company flouted local pollution reporting and control requirements by burning off vast amounts of natural gas in a prolific energy-production zone in the southeast of the state.

apnews.com

Court halts two Montana coal mining laws

A federal judge has blocked two new Montana laws intended to stop public challenges to coal mine permits.

billingsgazette.com

EPA hears human toll of coal ash pollution

The environmental injustice of coal ash was clear at the hearing, as residents testified from Native American communities in New Mexico and Nevada, Latino communities in Midwestern cities, and Black communities in Alabama and Tennessee, among others.

energynews.us

The West’s electric grid is stretched, and extreme events could knock the lights out

Climate change and a lag in replacing coal with reliable renewable energy sources continue to put the West's electrical grid at risk.

sltrib.com

Colorado has lofty goals to go all-electric. But does the state have enough electricians?

As incentives kick in, experts fear there aren’t enough electricians in Colorado to help meet the demand for EV chargers and heat pumps.

coloradosun.com

Report: Federal firefighter pay, benefits lag behind state counterparts

A new report shows that the salaries of federal firefighters are, on average, 32.5% less than that of their state-employed colleagues working equivalent positions.

boisestatepublicradio.org

Xcel Energy — blamed for helping spark the Marshall fire — is surveying 1,300 miles of power lines near Denver for fire risks

A helicopter crew is searching for possible problems with vegetation, inadequate clearance for lines and potentially overloaded poles.

coloradosun.com

After Yarnell, experts look to Indigenous practices to slow wildfire growth

A growing number of studies by archaeologists and fire historians point to Indigenous peoples' use of fire in clearing brush, enhancing the growth of important plants and keeping wildfires away from communities.

azcentral.com

Wyoming’s proposed sage grouse protections anger local ranchers

The Sage Grouse Implementation Team, a group appointed by the state to look at ways to protect sage grouse, believes core area designations, while inconvenient, are still better than the federal government designating the sage grouse as an endangered species. But it’s the ranchers who are feeling threatened.

gillettenewsrecord.com

Judge rules for grizzlies in logging project

A federal court blocked a large logging project near Libby, Montana, on Monday, ruling planners failed to analyze how it might hurt a struggling population of grizzly bears and Canada lynx. The decision halts the Ripley Project on the Kootenai National Forest, which anticipated 10 to 20 years of commercial timber work on just under 11,000 acres east of Libby.

missoulian.com

Feds: Washington state grizzly bears are gone

The grizzly bear’s long absence from the North Cascades ecosystem led the Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday to announce it’s no longer considering a proposal to boost the bear’s level of Endangered Species Act protections.

eenews.net

Groups split as Congress mulls Cottonwood ESA 'fix'

Over the past eight years Cottonwood has grown into perhaps the most controversial ESA court decision not just in the West, but also in Washington, D.C.

missoulian.com

Group proposes tribal confab to discuss co-management of Yellowstone bison

Buffalo Field Campaign’s executive director, a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, mailed a letter on June 16 to 31 tribes proposing a summit in November to discuss the idea.

billingsgazette.com

'Absolutely epic': Blackfeet release wild buffalo on tribal land

On Monday, the Blackfeet Nation transferred 20 wild buffalo (iinnii in the Blackfoot language) to tribal lands near Chief Mountain, an area steeped in Blackfeet cultural significance in the northwest corner of the reservation bordering Glacier National Park. The buffalo were brought to the Blackfeet from Alberta in 2016 after testing negative for diseases.

missoulian.com

Wild horses back in court amid swelling populations, planned roundups

Mustang advocates have mounted a legal fight aiming to reverse a Bureau of Land Management decision calling for zero horses in some portions of southwestern Wyoming.

wyofile.com

Declining trout population in southwest Montana prompts research and advocacy push

Marked declines in trout populations across several of Montana’s iconic fisheries have led a group of anglers, fishing guides and community members to launch a “Save Wild Trout” initiative in hopes of better understanding the cause of those declines.

montanafreepress.org

Group's lawsuit hopes to stop grayling project in Red Rock Lakes Wilderness

Alawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Missoula describes a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan to install a water-diversion pipeline in the Red Rock Lakes Wilderness in southwest Montana as a blatant violation of the Wilderness Act and a flawed attempt to protect Arctic grayling in a federal wildlife refuge.

mtstandard.com

Water flow in Alberta is 'exceptionally low' this year and could pose challenges for fish

Snowpacks disappeared, on average, about a month earlier than they would have in a normal year, according to Paul Christensen, a senior fisheries biologist with Alberta Environment and Protected Areas.

cbc.ca

Environmentalists, politicians clash over Republican hearing to defend Snake River dams

A decades-long fight about whether to breach the four Lower Snake River dams to save salmon brought four politicians to a hearing Monday near the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers.

spokesman.com

Braiding Indigenous rights and endangered species law

Recovery targets fall short of culturally meaningful abundance.

science.org

Supreme Court keeps the Navajo Nation waiting for water

The court case was the Nation’s bid to accelerate decades of fruitless negotiations and secure water for its reservation.

hcn.org

Supreme Court ruling in Navajo case disappoints, angers people

Monte Mills, a law professor at the University of Washington School of Law and another author on the amicus brief, said the decision may make it harder for tribes to argue that the United States has a trust obligation to assist tribes.

azcentral.com

Navajo Nation vows to continue its fight to secure help with water access

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a blow of sorts to the Navajo Nation over its access to clean, running water because the conservative majority said the “ask” from the nation went beyond treaty obligations enshrined in 1868. The nation’s president, Buu Nygren, called it a sad day but a motivator.

deseret.com

Does it matter that Neil Gorsuch is committed to Native American rights?

Justice Gorsuch’s Navajo Nation opinion is written not as a doleful tragedy but as a call to action. As he sees it, the contradiction between the government’s position in 1961 and the one it is taking now offers a legal opening for the Navajo to try, again, to intervene in the Colorado River litigation on their own behalf.

newyorker.com

Tracing the route — and risks — of Utah’s proposed Colorado-bound oil trains

A five-part series on the Uinta Basin Railway project, which would bring up to five 2-mile-long oil trains through Colorado daily.

coloradonewsline.com

The Valley: In Grand Junction, oil train route would retrace Colorado railroad history

Uinta Basin Railway could send 10 trains per day through remote Ruby Canyon, Palisade orchard country.

coloradonewsline.com

Boomtowns: Once connected by railroads, Colorado River Valley towns now feel threatened by them

The 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway, proposed by a partnership between industry and Utah county governments, would establish a direct rail connection between the basin and Garfield County for the first time in nearly a century.

coloradonewsline.com

Court to hear appeal over Biden-backed Nevada lithium mine opposed by tribes, environmentalists

A U.S. appeals court is considering challenges to a huge lithium mine in Nevada that pits environmentalists and Native Americans against President Joe Biden’s plans to combat climate change.

apnews.com

Solar sprawl is tearing up the Mojave Desert. Is there a better way?

America needs lots of clean power, fast. Should it go on public lands or on rooftops?

latimes.com

Utah Supreme Court allows current net metering policy to stand

Solar advocates, long critical of how Rocky Mountain Power makes its decisions on compensating rooftop solar customers who provide energy to the grid, have another reason to be unhappy after a court ruling issued this week.

deseret.com

Holy Cross Energy grapples with rooftop solar net-metering equity as renewable percentage increases

Colorado Solar and Storage Association, which represents 75% to 80% of the state’s solar companies, with about 9,000 employees among them, insists Holy Cross Energy’s proposed rate increase would violate the net-metering law governing electrical cooperatives that was adopted by Colorado in 2008.

realvail.com

Regulators tell BNSF to move more coal from Navajo-owned mine

Federal regulators have told BNSF Railway it must transport more than 4.2 million tons of coal this year from the Spring Creek Mine in southeast Montana after its owner, the Navajo Transitional Energy Company, alleged the railroad was giving better service to the mine’s competitors.

montanafreepress.org

Life in a northern B.C. boomtown

Settled in the 1950s to support an aluminum smelter, Kitimat is no stranger to industrial development. As the town adapts to life with LNG Canada and other projects, its community faces new challenges and new opportunities.

thenarwhal.ca

$77B needed to slash oil and gas methane emissions — report

Record industry net income could be used to finance methane reduction efforts, the International Energy Agency said, noting that the oil and gas industry’s profits soared to nearly $4 trillion in 2022.

eenews.net

America aims for nuclear-power renaissance

The Biden administration is pouring billions into the industry. The payoff isn’t certain

economist.com

U.S. push to lower wildfire risk across the West stumbles in places

Using chainsaws, heavy machinery and controlled burns, the Biden administration is trying to turn the tide on worsening wildfires in the U.S. West through a multi-billion dollar cleanup of forests choked with dead trees and undergrowth. Yet one year into what’s envisioned as a decade-long effort, federal land managers are scrambling to catch up after falling behind on several of their priority forests for thinning even as they exceeded goals elsewhere. And they’ve skipped over some highly at-risk communities to work in less threatened areas, according to data obtained by The Associated Press, public records and Congressional testimony.

apnews.com

Report: Wildfire policies that effectively protect communities get short shrift

A new report from Headwaters Economics and Columbia University’s Climate School paints a damning picture of wildfire policy priorities: Those interventions most effective at protecting communities and ecosystems – like building codes, home hardening and prescribed fire – often get the least support, while the least effective (and even sometimes counterproductive) – like wildfire suppression – receive billions in funding.

boisestatepublicradio.org

Closing the gap

The U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station wanted to understand how wildland firefighter compensation presents across agencies, and how it impacts quality of life and employee well-being. This report evaluates the structure of compensation packages and their impacts, and suggests where improvements can be made to retain key talent.

grassrootswildlandfirefighters.com

As Canada's wildfires intensify, recruiting firefighters is tougher

Canada is wrestling with its worst-ever start to wildfire season, but recruiting firefighters is becoming increasingly difficult due to tight labor markets and the tough nature of the job, provincial officials say.

reuters.com

Canada’s explosive wildfires have damaged a forest carbon offset project

Canada’s explosive wildfire season has already pumped millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Some of that carbon is coming from vegetation burned at a carbon offset project, highlighting the fragility of a tool the world is relying on to fight catastrophic climate change.

bloomberg.com

Spring Creek fire in Western Colorado explodes overnight, grows to 3,000 acres

The fire sparked over the weekend and quickly spread across private land in Garfield County before entering the White River National Forest, according to a map posted by the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit.

coloradosun.com

‘Please help us’: Unhoused Missoulians beg for assistance from city

"I have done everything I can do to prove that I am a good person and to end up being homeless has just about broken me."

missoulian.com

Kalispell struggles to address growing homeless population

City plans to deter people from sleeping on public benches, but homeless advocates say bigger issues need to be addressed.

montanafreepress.org

Hope for rural homeless

Colville’s Hope Street Project is building skills and homes for an overlooked homeless population.

rangemedia.co

How diverging police tactics shape homelessness policies in Colorado’s largest cities

A new study reviewed the outsized influence that police departments have on homelessness policymaking in America’s 100 largest cities.

coloradonewsline.com/

Utah eviction law means harsh consequences, and more people face that potential than in years

Landlords across the state filed more than 2,600 eviction cases in the first four months of 2023. That’s up 40% from the same time period in 2022 and higher than pre-pandemic levels going back to at least 2017.

sltrib.com

Ketchum program pays property owners to rent to local workers

Real estate prices in Ketchum skyrocketed during the pandemic. To address local workers being priced out, it’s trying to lure property owners with cash incentives if they start renting to local workers.

boisestatepublicradio.org

Modular housing community near Telluride that may become a Colorado model welcomes its first residents after months of delays

A new modular home community in Norwood creates a model for affordable housing in mountain communities with donated land, low-interest loans

coloradosun.com

Report: Towns need tax, policy tweaks to coexist with tourists

Part of the solution to stressors facing popular outdoors tourism destinations could be as simple as having tourists pay their fair share to communities they visit.

missoulian.com

SCOTUS wetlands rollback through a development lens

How the Sackett v. EPA ruling could impact one of Montana’s fastest-growing communities.

montanafreepress.org

Colorado’s ingenious idea for solving the housing crisis

And why local governments hate it.

theatlantic.com

EPA tries to discredit scientists studying metals exposure in Butte

From a study of EPA records and multiple interviews, The Montana Standard has found a disturbing pattern of agency involvement in repeated efforts over the past two decades to discredit and pressure scientists studying how metals exposure may have affected Butte’s health and mortality.

mtstandard.com

Helena judge orders Gianforte to produce communications with mining company

Two environmental groups are positioned to receive previously undisclosed communications between Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and Hecla, an Idaho-based company seeking to open two mines in northwestern Montana, nearly 18 months after requesting the documents.

montanafreepress.org

In the nation’s first youth-led climate trial, a case for hope

Five days of expert testimony argued that Montana can transition away from fossil fuels and reap economic benefits in the process. Now it’s up to the judge.

hcn.org

'I cried like 10 times': Bozeman plaintiffs reflect on youth climate trial

Since the trial closed on Tuesday, the four Bozeman plaintiffs have been reflecting on why they got involved in the case, the preparation required, and how the trial went.

bozemandailychronicle.com

The six big surprises in the Montana youth climate trial

The state’s headline expert witness’s testimony was canceled — and other twists from the landmark trial.

yaleclimateconnections.org

Bears Ears land exchange and lawsuit advance

Bears Ears National Monument — designated in 2016, eviscerated n 2017, restored in 2021 — continues to make news as Congress considers a proposed land exchange aimed at making the national monument whole and a lawsuit attacking the monument — and the Antiquities Act — wends its way through the courts.

landdesk.org

Opinion: The BLM Public Lands Rule is a common-sense solution

“The only thing wrong with a proposed rule that would have the U.S. Bureau of Land Management officially consider conservation as one of the ‘multiple uses’ intended for the huge swaths of public land it oversees is that it wasn’t written 47 years ago,” writes The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board.

sltrib.com

NPS names superintendent to lead Rocky Mountain National Park

After leading three smaller sites for the National Park Service in Georgia, Gary Ingram will take charge of Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the most popular national parks.

eenews.net

No sign of threat from the hazardous train that plunged into Yellowstone River, regulators say

Preliminary testing of water and air quality along a stretch of the Yellowstone River where train cars carrying hazardous materials fell into the waterway following a bridge collapse did not indicate any threat to the public, state and federal officials said Sunday.

apnews.com

Resort operator turns to Colorado Mountain College to train much-needed next generation of lift mechanics

Alterra, whose resorts include Steamboat, partnered with Colorado Mountain College to get lift mechanics swiftly trained in the cornerstone job of all ski resorts.

coloradosun.com

The miller moth is hard to love, but it deserves our respect

Every summer, the migration of the small insect plays a role in the food web. Don’t be annoyed when they show up in your bedroom.

hcn.org/

Humans have used enough groundwater to shift Earth’s tilt

Rampant removal of groundwater for drinking and irrigation has altered the distribution of water on Earth enough to shift the planet’s tilt, according to a sweeping new study. The finding underscores the dramatic impact that human activity can have on the planet.

washingtonpost.com

Rio Tinto invests nearly $1B in Utah copper project

Global mining company Rio Tinto will invest nearly $1 billion to expand its Kennecott copper mining operations and processing in Utah, just as a debate heats up over whether or not the mineral should be considered "critical" by the federal government.

eenews.net

An Idaho cobalt mine stopped production. But now, the military’s interested

The Australian owner of a cobalt mine in Central Idaho plans more extensive study of cobalt at a remote site in the Salmon River Mountains, and the potential for a cobalt refinery, after securing $15 million from the U.S. Department of Defense. The funding agreement does not compel the company to open its mine, though a company official said the funds may make it easier to restart production. After announcing the mine was near completion to fanfare last fall, Jervois abruptly suspended operations in March because the price of cobalt tumbled.

idahostatesman.com

Montana Supreme Court hears arguments in White Sulphur Springs copper mine permit case

Dueling attorneys argued to the Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday about whether a copper mine near White Sulphur Springs should have received a permit.

billingsgazette.com

NASA opposes lithium mining at tabletop flat Nevada desert site used to calibrate satellites

An ancient Nevada lakebed beckons as a vast source of the coveted metal needed to produce cleaner electric energy and fight global warming. But NASA says the same site — flat as a tabletop and undisturbed like none other in the Western Hemisphere — is indispensable for calibrating the razor-sharp measurements of hundreds of satellites orbiting overhead.

apnews.com

Environmental groups sue to block mining projects in the Patagonia Mountains

The U.S. Forest Service approved exploratory drilling at two sites near Patagonia. Environmentalists say the canyons are too sensitive for it. Between the two projects the companies are prospecting for ores including copper, silver, lead and zinc.

azcentral.com

Bipartisan lawmakers want potash and phosphate to be 'critical' minerals

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are pushing to designate potash and phosphate — minerals used widely in fertilizer — as "critical."

eenews.net

In rush for key metals, Canada ushers miners to its fragile north

Canada is offering incentives to mining companies to dig in its northern regions for the critical minerals needed for EVs and solar panels. But based on past abuses, critics fear carbon-rich peatlands will be lost, wild rivers polluted, and enormous cleanup projects left behind.

e360.yale.edu

More than a decade in the making, TransWest transmission project breaks ground

The Bureau of Land Management issued the final approval for the project in April, ending a permitting process that begin in 2008 and has spanned the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations. The lengthy approval was due in part to the magnitude of project, which Transwest Express President and CEO Bill Miller described as the first major transmission infrastructure project in decades. “You just don’t see projects of this scope and scale done anywhere,” Miller said in an interview with the Star-Tribune.

trib.com

Tougher pollution rules could be very costly for Colstrip

Colstrip Power Plant appears to be the only coal-fired generator in the country without the common pollution controls needed to clear tougher Mercury Air Toxics Standards proposed by federal officials.

billingsgazette.com

See the thousands of valuable acres Utah stands to gain through the Bears Ears land exchange

The State Institutional Trust Lands Administration, or SITLA, will gain property in 20 different counties with the potential for oil and gas extraction, renewable energy projects, real estate development and landfills. Some also include valuable minerals, like potash, lithium and uranium.

sltrib.com

The feds move to speed up development of wind and solar on public land

A rule proposed by the BLM would cut leasing fees for those projects by 80 percent.

grist.org

California grid plan could offer shorter queues across the Southwest

The strengthening of connections with Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico will enable increased imports from large-scale solar projects under development in those states. Large wind resources planned in Wyoming, New Mexico and Idaho should also “all benefit from the improved transfer capacity and expansion of [connection] points on CAISO’s eastern border," Patrick Ferguson, a renewable energy lawyer at Orrick, told Reuters.

reuters.com

Solar manufacturer announces plans for Brighton location

The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade announced today that VSK Energy Inc. will expand into Brighton, bringing as many as 900 new jobs to the area.

thebrightonblade.com

Agrivoltaics finds new fans in U.S. Senate

Because solar panels provide partial shade and retain more moisture in the soil, they can keep livestock cooler; increase the yields of certain crops, depending on the region, such as lettuce, kale and tomatoes; and cut water usage. These advantages add up to more profit for farmers.

canarymedia.com

Carbon credit market seizes on a new opportunity: plugging oil and gas wells

A wave of new companies are crafting financial incentives to block emissions from wells that are near the end of their life spans—and orphaned wells with no clear owners. Yet doubts persist about project oversight and the ethos of the market.

insideclimatenews.org

Utah leaders start fight against EPA rule limiting pollution drifting to Colorado

Utah has filed a petition to review the Ozone Transfer Rule, an EPA proposal to limit how much Utah's power plants affect Colorado's air.

sltrib.com

Wildfire smoke drove Front Range ozone pollution during hazy 2021 summer, study finds

A new study from NOAA scientists finds wildfire smoke was a major contributor to ground-level ozone pollution along the Front Range in the summer of 2021.

cpr.org

Pacific states produce the West's smoke. More fire could help

A study suggests that strategic application of large prescribed burns in the areas most responsible for the West's wildfire smoke could significantly reduce seasonal wildfire smoke in both the Pacific Coast source states and the rest of the West.

missoulian.com

It’s summer. But in the Northwest, spring never showed

As spring gets weirder, warmer and less stable, water supplies, ecosystems and agriculture are getting out of whack.

hcn.org

Oregon county sues fossil fuel companies for nearly $52 billion over heat dome

Multnomah County is seeking nearly $52 billion in damages and future costs for climate adaptation in a lawsuit it filed Thursday against more than a dozen fossil fuel companies to hold them accountable for the unprecedented heat dome event in 2021.

opb.org

Supreme Court rules the U.S. is not required to ensure access to water for the Navajo Nation

Does the treaty between the Navajo Nation and the United States obligate the federal government to “assess” the water needs of the Navajo and “make a plan” for securing water to meet those needs? The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the answer is no.

theconversation.com

Supreme Court rules against Navajo Nation in Colorado River case

“The status quo is going to continue,” said Heather Tanana, a University of Utah law professor and citizen of the Navajo Nation. “Being disappointed by the federal government is nothing new in Indian Country.”

kunc.org

Clarence Thomas wants to demolish Indian law

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a solo concurring opinion where he explained that while he agreed with the majority’s reasoning in full, he was writing separately because he thinks that the court should “clarify” some of its most important Indian law and tribal sovereignty rulings—meaning that he thinks they should be overturned.

newrepublic.com

The Supreme Court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act. The long struggle to implement the law continues.

A recent ProPublica investigation showed how ICWA was being unevenly applied in some states, breaking up Native American families that should have received additional protections under the law. There’s still room for improvement, advocates say.

propublica.org

Montana tribal leaders: Native Americans must remain vigilant despite ICWA decision

“The federal government and states alike are constantly attacking people’s treaties, our rights to abolishing reservations, and our rights as Native people,” Fort Belknap Chairman Jeffrey Stiffarm said. “They’re gonna continue to attack anything, everything towards tribes.”

dailymontanan.com

A nuclear site is on tribes' ancestral lands. Their voices are being left out on key cleanup talks

Three Native American tribes have devoted decades to returning their ancestral land in Washington to the days before they became the most radioactively contaminated site in the nation’s nuclear weapons complex. But the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Nez Perce Tribe have been left out of negotiations on a major decision affecting the future cleanup of millions of gallons of radioactive waste stored in underground tanks on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

apnews.com

Preservation or ‘playing god?’

A coalition of conservation groups has likened a native trout restoration project to ‘playing god’ with the fisheries of Glacier National Park, but scientists say it’s one of the last best chances to preserve a species in peril.

flatheadbeacon.com

A one-of-a-kind tribal agreement will help endangered fish in the Colorado River Basin

The tribal nation’s lease agreement with New Mexico is a first for the state and will help endangered fish in the San Juan River.

coloradosun.com

Will Yellowstone’s grizzly bears remain forever isolated?

Biologists are optimistic that an itinerant bruin could trek south, bringing diversity to an area long severed from Montana and Canada’s contiguous population of grizzlies.

wyofile.com

Biden administration moves to restore endangered species protections dropped by Trump

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it would reinstate a decades-old regulation that mandates blanket protections for species newly classified as threatened.

apnews.com

Feds trigger lead ammo debate with refuge hunting proposals

While the Fish and Wildlife Service is opening more wildlife refuges to hunting, it won't permit an increase in the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle.

eenews.net

Young plaintiffs' attorney closes Montana climate change trial with call for action

An attorney for 16 young plaintiffs urged a judge Tuesday to strike down as unconstitutional a Montana law that prohibits state agencies from considering the environmental effects when it weighs permits allowing the release of greenhouse gases.

apnews.com

With landmark climate trial over, youth plaintiffs describe it as ‘just the beginning’

Counsel for both sides offered short closing remarks Tuesday on the bench trial’s final day, with the judge’s order expected within weeks.

flatheadbeacon.com

The Biden administration wants to make conservation equal to ranching and mining in the West. The GOP won’t have it.

The Republican-led House Committee on Natural Resources voted Wednesday to withdraw a BLM rule it links to “Biden’s preservationist agenda.”

coloradosun.com

Off roading can continue around Glen Canyon after federal judge delayed a decision

Off-roading enthusiasts will continue to have near-total free reign around the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area after a federal judge declined to make a decision Thursday in a case pushing to restrict the activity.

courthousenews.com

Lawsuit: Frank Church wilderness airstrips fly in face of law

Four groups have jointly sued the U.S. Forest Service over allegations the agency is illegally maintaining and allowing public aviators to use four unofficial landing strips deep within the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.

missoulian.com

A year after Yellowstone floods, fishing guides have to learn 'a whole new river'

A year ago the Yellowstone River had its biggest flood in centuries. What that means for its world famous trout fishery is just now becoming clear.

npr.org

'My dream burned up:' First-of-its-kind project aims to restore private forest decimated by wildfire

When a wildfire barreled across Don Harland’s Sheep Creek Ranch in the summer of 2021 he saw more than trees and buildings burn. He saw his life’s dream go up in smoke.

helenair.com

Gas stoves in Colorado produce toxic benzene levels worse than secondhand smoke, Stanford study finds

Stoves and ovens in Colorado running on natural gas produce toxic benzene at levels worse than secondhand tobacco smoke and comparable to notorious oil and gas production leaks, according to a new Stanford University study researchers call the first of its kind.

coloradosun.com

Oilfield wastewater used to grow hemp? New Mexico working toward alternatives to disposal

A hemp field amid the oil derricks and pump jacks near the Eddy-Lea county line could soon be watered using a previously unusable source of water brought to the surface with fossil fuels.

currentargus.com

27 years after arrest, Ted Kaczynski still holds Montana’s — and the nation’s —attention

Kaczynski, who terrorized the country with package bombs for 17 years and was arrested near Lincoln in 1996, died at the age of 81 on June 10.

montanafreepress.org

When the water recedes: The historic floods of 2022 in Yellowstone National Park and Park County, and what came next

A year later, the flood scars aren’t visible to the untrained eye. But for some who live and work along the river, the flooding reshaped the way they view their homes.

bozemandailychronicle.com

'Nature wins': How the 2022 floods changed the Yellowstone ecosystem

“The long term impact from the flood is really mostly on infrastructure, staff and visitors — less so on the park’s ecology and geology and wildlife."

bozemandailychronicle.com

Changing channels: Park County ranchers, landowners adapt to altered Yellowstone River

The floodwaters that breached Paradise Valley farms, ranchlands and fishing access sites last June also changed the river channels. As people continue repairs, the flooding has spurred conversations about where and how people should build along the river in the future.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Delayed science: How flooding affected research in Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is, among other things, a giant laboratory. Scientists from all over the world visit the park each year to study its geysers, its wildlife and its fish. The historic floods of 2022 paused all that work, creating delays and shortening the window for researchers to get their work done.

bozemandailychronicle.com

After last year's floods, Gardiner saw catastrophe and now looks to recovery

The economic hit to Gardiner came fast and didn’t end quickly.

missoulian.com

Researchers studied how communities reacted to the historic Yellowstone flood and what can be learned

“I've been on a lot of reconnaissance after extreme events, and I've never seen communities pull together and just leap into action like I saw in Wyoming and Montana. Great lessons to other communities around the country.”

wyomingpublicmedia.org

Some flood-displaced Montanans are still looking for stability a year later

One year after historic floods washed out roads in and around Yellowstone National Park, the park is mostly recovered and open for business as usual.

ypradio.org

The Supreme Court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act. Now what?

To unpack the Supreme Court’s Haaland v. Brackeen decision and look ahead to the next steps facing tribal nations and organizations, High Country News spoke with a group of ICWA policy and federal Indian law experts.

hcn.org

'Clear victory': Tribes in Montana celebrate ICWA ruling

Ta’jin Perez, deputy director of Western Native Voice, said he hopes the ruling will inspire others to learn more about the Indian Child Welfare Act and the historical context in which it was enacted.

missoulian.com

Indigenous Child Welfare Act ruling prompts Wyoming lawmakers to mull more protections

After SCOTUS rejected challenges to the 1978 law enacted to halt the separation of Indigenous children from their families, traditions and cultures, Wyoming task force considers next steps.

wyofile.com

What the ICWA ruling means for the economy

For one, many adoption agencies and lawyers see the law as taking potential adoptees “off the market” and cutting into their bottom line.

marketplace.org

Native American families are being broken up in spite of a law meant to keep children with their parents

After fighting to win back her parental rights, a young Native American mother prevailed. Then the state came for her second child.

propublica.org

Youth in historic Montana climate trial rest their case

Peter Erickson, a researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute, said Montana is the “linchpin of the fossil fuel economy” in the West.

eenews.net

Indigenous experiences headline third day of Held v. Montana trial

Enrolled members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Crow Tribe testified to the impact of climate change on their cultural heritage.

flatheadbeacon.com

Renewable energy and health impacts highlighted in climate trial

Plaintiffs in a first-of-its-kind youth climate lawsuit sought to illustrate both the feasibility of transitioning Montana to fossil fuel-free energy sources and the physical, emotional and societal dangers of a “business as usual” approach to climate policy in the fifth day of the Held v. Montana bench trial.

montanafreepress.org

Montana begins (and ends) defense in landmark climate change trial

Chris Dorrington, director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, testified that he hadn’t been familiar with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, before the trial.

courthousenews.com

State employees, economist testify for state as climate trial winds down

The state called just one expert witness on the penultimate day of the Held v. Montana trial; closing remarks were scheduled for Tuesday morning.

flatheadbeacon.com

Montana officials downplay first-of-its-kind climate trial

Montana officials sought to downplay a first-of-its-kind trial taking place over the state’s obligations to protect residents from climate change, saying Monday that a victory by the young plaintiffs would not change approvals for fossil fuel projects.

apnews.com

Feds announce start of public process to reshape key rules on Colorado River water use by 2027

A public process started last week to reshape the way Colorado River water is distributed, with federal officials promising to collect comments about updating and enacting rules in 2027 to continue providing hydropower, drinking water and irrigation to farms, cities and tribes in seven Western U.S. states and Mexico.

apnews.com

Interior: Drought threatens 'every Western community'

"The Colorado River Basin isn't alone in water management challenges," said Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton.

eenews.net

Tribes seek greater involvement in talks on Colorado River water crisis

Leaders of several tribes say they continue to be left out of key talks between state and federal officials, and they are demanding inclusion as the Biden administration begins the process of developing new rules for dealing with shortages after 2026, when the current rules are set to expire.

latimes.com

As the Colorado River declines, water scarcity and the hunt for new sources drive up rates

The price of water is rising across the Southwest as utilities look to cover the cost of the increasingly scarce resource, the infrastructure to treat and distribute it and the search for new supplies.

insideclimatenews.org

Great Salt Lake’s dust melted Utah’s ‘greatest snow on earth’ more than two weeks early in 2022

The Great Salt Lake’s dust storms aren’t just harming Utah’s air quality. They’re threatening the snowpack, water supply and forests in the Wasatch Mountains. A new study co-authored by three University of Utah scientists found the 2021-2022 winter was the dustiest on record in the Wasatch. And a whopping 23% of those dust loads came from the Great Salt Lake.

sltrib.com

Side-by-side photos show how much Blue Mesa Reservoir's water levels have risen thanks to this winter's snow

Heavy snow this past winter dramatically rose water levels in Colorado's Blue Mesa Reservoir. Just look at these photos from 2021 and 2023.

coloradosun.com

Don’t be fooled by rain and snow, the Colorado River is still in serious trouble, experts say

“It’s a whole new world out there,” Jennifer Gimbel, a senior water policy scholar at Colorado State University, said. “This is a great year but it’s not enough to get us out of this situation.”

denverpost.com

Nevada senator asking Congress to OK Vegas-area water pipeline through conservation area

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto announced Thursday she introduced legislation asking Congress to let the Southern Nevada Water Authority drill the underground pipeline through part of Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area.

apnews.com

Luxury surf community surfacing amid southern Utah sand and sagebrush

Can a private, luxurious surf community in the middle of a wind-swept desert be rad enough to be successful? Developer Jason Christensen insists it can — and he’s banking on it. He and his partners have poured millions of dollars into the resort thus far.

sltrib.com

The most effective fire-fighting strategies don’t include firefighters

Recent research calls for a fundamental rethinking of how we fight and live with fire.

rangemedia.co

Firefighters boost use of prescribed burns in bid to prevent massive wildfires

Officials in the U.S. West take advantage of wet conditions to set controlled fires in hopes of reducing the risk of destructive blazes.

wsj.com

Lessons from Colorado’s Marshall Fire

A conversation with County Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann on her community and what comes next for the Boulder-area suburbs.

hcn.org

Colorado ozone accelerated by smoke from out-of-state wildfires, study shows

Smoke from distant wildfires contributes a big chunk of Colorado's ozone problem, complicating efforts to cut the toxic gas, a study shows.

coloradosun.com

The Grizzly Creek fire burn scar is recovering in Glenwood Canyon. State officials hope that means fewer I-70 closures

Where charred soil once was, a healthy amount of trees and plants are now growing. But there’s still work to do.

cpr.org

When fire burns a path for flood

As fires now rage across Canada, their frequency and intensity bound to increase due to climate change, experts are urging planners to mind the connective tissue between fires and floods and back again.

thetyee.ca

Oregon wildfires case highlights the climate change risks to utilities

A jury found PacifiCorp liable for devastating wildfires in Oregon in 2020, highlighting the risks utilities face if they don't prepare for climate change.

latimes.com

PacifiCorp potentially wants its customers to pay $90M in wildfire liability

In a filing Thursday with the Oregon Public Utility Commission, PacifiCorp asked its regulators to allow it to defer any costs related to wildfire liability through June 2024. That would allow the company the option to add those costs to customer rates in the future.

opb.org

In B.C.’s bone-dry northeast, what happens when wildfires and fracking collide?

The Donnie Creek wildfire, the largest ever recorded in the province’s history, is burning in one of the world’s biggest gas deposits, suspending fracking operations and raising questions about potential dangers to human health.

thenarwhal.ca

Tribal activists oppose Nevada mine key to Biden's clean energy agenda as 'green colonialism'

A huge lithium mine under construction in northern Nevada is at the center of a dispute over President Joe Biden’s clean energy agenda. The administration says the mine will produce battery material needed to meet Biden’s goal for half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030. But Native American tribes and environmentalists say the mine at Thacker Pass will harm wildlife habitats, degrade groundwater and pollute the air in a remote area dotted with sagebrush. The mine also could destroy a sacred site where U.S. troops massacred dozens of Paiute tribal members after the Civil War. One activist calls the mine “green colonialism″ that will irreparably harm Indigenous people.

apnews.com

Build begins on Wyoming-to-California power line amid growing wind power concern

On Tuesday, state and federal officials will break ground on TransWest Express, a transmission line that will move electricity from the $5 billion, 3,000-megawatt, 600-turbine Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farm in southern Wyoming to southern California, a place legally mandated to switch to clean energy. The wind farm will be the country’s biggest yet.

apnews.com

Building renewable energy projects a better way with community buy-in

Utah, one of the best places in the United States to capture energy from solar fields, has multiple projects in the works that will diversify the grid. One company is making a difference with its approach to community engagement.

deseret.com

Uranium hype heats up (even as the industry falters)

The uranium mining hype continues to heat up, with a conflagration of news of drilling results and acquisitions. Meanwhile, the domestic uranium industry appears to be sinking deeper into its long coma.

landdesk.org

Plutonium by degrees

New Mexico’s local colleges are training students to work in a plutonium pit factory. What does this mean for their future — and the world’s?

searchlightnm.org

Defense Department signs deal to boost cobalt supply chains

The U.S. Department of Defense has entered into a $15 million agreement with the U.S. unit of Australian miner Jervois Global Ltd to conduct feasibility studies on expanding cobalt extraction in Idaho, to decrease reliance on overseas mineral sources.

reuters.com

Colorado is going wolf shopping. First stop: Washington

Colorado has a detailed plan to reintroduce wolves to the Western Slope by the end of the year, but until this week, it wasn’t clear where the state would get the animals. It now appears Colorado wildlife managers will ask for wolves from Washington and a few other Rocky Mountain states.

cpr.org

New study of grizzly bear body fat could carry ESA weight

At the urging of several Western states, the Fish and Wildlife Service is reassessing whether the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear population still requires Endangered Species Act protections. In an interview Friday, U.S. Geological Survey scientist Frank van Manen said the new study showing the bear's resilience and diet adaptability could inform the decision.

eenews.net

Montana study links seasonal spike in lead poisoning of eagles to big-game hunting season

A recently released study on the threat of lead exposure in bald eagles found that 89% of free-flying bald eagles have elevated levels of lead in their system in the months following Montana’s big-game hunting season.

ravallirepublic.com

Wyoming elk wars: Inflated herds spur committee duel, radical proposals

Two elk-related bills are poised to emerge from the Agriculture Committee, where lawmakers took on an unassigned topic because of dissatisfaction with another committee’s response.

wyofile.com

Wyoming seeks to kill 50% more lions in hard-hit deer range

Unplanned quota hike is a direct response to mule deer winterkill in the Wyoming Range. A lion hunter blasts the proposal.

wyofile.com

Privately funded group to pursue remedies for trout decline in southwest Montana

Outfitters, guides and others in southwest Montana concerned about declining populations of brown and rainbow trout have formed a new, privately-funded organization to identify potential causes and remedies.

mtstandard.com

Two more tribes make historic co-management agreements with Oregon

Four tribes in Oregon can now issue their own hunting and fishing licenses for their citizens, based on harvest limits informed by tribal values. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shelved its planned agreement with a fifth tribe.

underscore.news

Facing staunch opposition, BLM extends Public Lands Rule deadline

Wyoming officials, other interests oppose rule they decry as bureaucratic meddling; conservationists call it solid strategy for tackling contemporary issues.

wyofile.com

Republicans from Western states attack public lands plan in heated U.S. House hearing

The governors of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and South Dakota signed a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Wednesday asking her to withdraw the proposal.

coloradonewsline.com

House committee sets vote to block contentious BLM rule

The bill would not only require the BLM director to withdraw the draft rule, but prohibit the bureau from developing "any substantially similar rule" in the future.

eenews.net

New BLM rules would allow cultural, ecological protections

The Bureau of Land Management is developing a proposal to carve out parcels of public land from its 245-million-acre portfolio that carry cultural and ecological value, making them ineligible for development.

azcentral.com

National parks are crowded – and so are many national forests, wildlife refuges, battlefields and seashores

Crowding is increasingly affecting all kinds of public lands. Adjoining communities need to find ways to manage it, or risk harm to the attractions that make them a destination.

theconversation.com

Facebook page tracks Yellowstone tourists' bad behavior

The misconduct has prompted some workers to refer to Yellowstone visitors as "tourons," a mashup of "tourist" and "moron."

billingsgazette.com

As outdoor recreation surges, a new survey reveals a 'stewardship gap'

“While we've seen this incredible surge of getting more people outside, we now need to figure out how to really instill this ethos of responsible recreation in everyone.”

wyomingpublicmedia.org

Families of missing Indigenous people feel failed by justice system

Feeling let down by law enforcement and tangled in a web of complex legal jurisdictions, family members often conduct their own investigations into their loved one's disappearance or death.

missoulian.com

At MSU, a new approach to rebuilding Native food sovereignty

Jill Falcon Ramaker, a professor in the native studies department and member of the Anishinaabe Ojibwe Nation, has spent two years creating an accredited graduate certificate in Indigenous Food Systems, which is set to start next spring.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Montana population trends: New neighbors from Arizona

In 2021, there were 30,060 new residents in Montana that had resided in a different state the previous year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. About 4,278 of those people came from Arizona, followed by 3,740 from Washington.

missoulian.com

Rising rents: Missoula couple's $700 shock illustrates larger issue

Strong demand and tight supply means landlords are incentivized to get the maximum possible rent.

missoulian.com

Boise City Council unanimously adopts zoning code revamp, with changes: 'a home... is fundamental'

Proponents say the new approach will allow for more diverse housing types built within Boise city limits, which lends itself to more affordable options in the decades to come and more walkable, mixed-use communities instead of endlessly sprawling suburbs.

boisedev.com

Colorado ski resorts enjoyed a record season with mountain towns harvesting highest-ever tax revenue

Colorado's ski resorts reported a record 14.8 million ski visits in 2022-23, with mountain towns reporting highest-ever tax revenue.

coloradosun.com

A Colorado program helps train the next generation of outdoor innovators

The ICELab in Gunnison joins with Moosejaw Business Accelerator program to foster next generation of outdoor recreation entrepreneurs.

coloradosun.com

Camping in Color, other initiatives aim to diversify outdoor recreation, but is it working?

New Wasatch Mountain Institute program strives to remove barriers for Black families wanting to explore the outdoors.

sltrib.com

Colorado already violating ozone standards into ‘serious’ category for 2023, watchdogs say

Colorado’s Front Range has already recorded violations of federal ozone caps for 2023 that put the state into the “serious”pollution infraction category, and regulators should voluntarily call for EPA sanctions in order to speed up health-protecting fixes, environmental watchdogs said.

coloradosun.com

Plan to dredge Utah Lake islands appears dead as developer dissolves business

A plan to dredge Utah’s largest freshwater lake and build islands with the spoils appears officially scrapped.

sltrib.com

Supreme Court water ruling could transform NEPA, ESA

Removing the need for many projects to obtain permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which governs dredge-and-fill discharges, would also erase important triggers for National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act reviews, said Robert Glicksman, a law professor at George Washington University. “The programs are intertwined in ways that aren’t immediately obvious,” he said.

eenews.net

Hidden beneath the surface

Digging deep into a humble lake in Canada, scientists found a spot on Earth like no other — and a record that could redefine our history of the planet.

washingtonpost.com

How Arizona stands between tribes and their water

As it negotiates water rights with tribes, Arizona goes to unique lengths to extract concessions that limit tribes’ opportunities for growth and economic development, according to a ProPublica and High Country News investigation.

propublica.org

Colorado River officials weigh how to cut water, include tribes ahead of looming negotiations

Tribal, state and federal officials converged on Boulder to discuss key concerns and make wish lists to address the river basin’s uncertain water future.

coloradosun.com

As the West’s dam removal movement presses on, could the Lower Snake be next?

The controversy over removing the four Lower Snake River dams in the Columbia basin has simmered for decades as salmon runs struggle. Yet Indigenous leaders and other proponents are watching closely as the nation’s biggest dam removal project gets underway in Northern California.

seattletimes.com

Battle for Oak Flat: How Apache opposition to a copper mine became a religious liberty test

Apache tribe members say Arizona land slated to be destroyed for a copper mine is sacred. Their legal battle is now a major religious liberty test.

latimes.com

‘An ethical failing:’ Nevada tribes continue to seek repatriation of ancestral remains

Today, hundreds of ancestral remains and funerary objects have still not been returned to the Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin under decades-old federal and state laws. Repatriation to tribes can be a frustratingly delayed process.

thenevadaindependent.com

Bill could grant San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe its own reservation

The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe may finally get its own reservation after nearly two centuries of fighting for its homelands.

ksl.com

Interior Secretary cancels plans at Chaco Canyon after opponents of drilling ban block roads

Opponents of a plan to halt oil and gas drilling near Chaco Canyon blocked roads leading to the site on Sunday and forced a disappointed Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to cancel a planned event and address the situation in Albuquerque.

azcentral.com

'If you’re not white, you don’t get justice': Dozens in Arlee, Montana, urge action

Tuesday marked the first of four walks centered on Mika Westwolf, a 22-year-old woman who was hit and killed while walking along Highway 93.

missoulian.com

Small Town Summit uplifts rural, Indigenous voices

The Missoula event allowed for more than 250 participants to create conversations about breaking borders, strategizing and addressing issues their communities face.

montanafreepress.org

‘This is our homeland’: Idaho tribes gather in Boise to commemorate ancestral lands

In an area that was once an ancestral burial ground, about 150 members of five regional American Indian tribes gathered at a park in East Boise on Friday to commemorate their ties to the Boise Valley, and to pay tribute to their culture and history.

idahostatesman.com

American Buffalo: Ken Burns' new film includes Native voices

"The hunting of bison to near extinction is one of the most heart-wrenching and tragic stories in all of America," said Germain White, a CSKT information and education specialist who speaks in the film.

missoulian.com

Montana youth take climate change case to court

On first day of Montana climate trial, youth plaintiffs testify to hardships of growing up in a warming world as scientists describe scope of crisis

flatheadbeacon.com

Climate expert: 'The harm will get worse'

Scientific testimony figures prominently into second day of youth-led constitutional climate trial Held v. Montana.

flatheadbeacon.com

‘Inspirational’ landscape of Glacier National Park emerges as thread in climate trial

Testimony from renowned Earth scientist, glaciologist figures prominently into second day of youth-led constitutional climate trial Held v. Montana.

flatheadbeacon.com

Floods, fires and drought offered as evidence of Montana’s changing climate

“Montana’s promotion of fossil fuel production is making the problem worse, because every ton of CO2 makes a difference,” climate scientist Cathy Whitlock testified Tuesday, the second day of Held v. Montana taking place in Lewis and Clark County District Court.

missoulian.com

Young athlete in Montana climate change trial testifies he uses inhaler due to forest fire smoke

A high school athlete who along with 15 other young people took Montana to court over climate change testified Tuesday that increased smoke from forest fires makes it difficult for him to compete and that a doctor prescribed an inhaler to help his breathing problems.

apnews.com

How science will take the stand

“The decision in this case ultimately will be part of a larger set of decisions that can help shape the course of climate, governance and the future,” says Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law in New York City.

nature.com

Living with [surviving?] climate change

RANGE talks to Brian G. Henning, the director of Gonzaga Center for Climate, Society, and the Environment, about the role climate change plays in driving extreme weather.

rangemedia.co

The future of water

A new book from water expert Peter Gleick urges a rethinking of how we use, manage and value one of our most important resources.

therevelator.org

Canadian fires signal new frontier in climate change

Scientists and residents see changes in the ecosystem of forests that make the regions ripe for conflagration.

wsj.com

Why Canada’s wildfires are extreme and getting worse, in 4 charts

Statistics on the fires — which help place their scope in historical context — continue to show how extreme they are. And they’re part of a trend toward larger, fiercer fires and more-damaging fire seasons.

washingtonpost.com

Ponderosa forests struggle in the face of Southwest megadrought

As temperatures increase and prolonged drought continues, a new study of ponderosa forests in the Four Corners region underscores the importance of summer monsoons.

news.arizona.edu

Future forests of America

Across the American West, forests are failing to regenerate after high-intensity wildfires, but that doesn't have to mean they're gone for good.

sierraclub.org

PacifiCorp could be on the hook for billions after jury verdict in devastating Oregon wildfires

A jury in Oregon has found the electric utility PacifiCorp responsible for causing devastating fires during Labor Day weekend in 2020, ordering the company to pay tens of millions of dollars to 17 homeowners who sued and finding it liable for broader damages that could push the total award well into the billions.

apnews.com

No criminal charges for Xcel Energy in Marshall fire, but civil liability another matter

Attorney in class action lawsuit against Xcel Energy says investigation results confirm law firms’ findings.

denverpost.com

Summer vacation is moving indoors

Extreme heat is changing summer for kids as we know it.

theatlantic.com

TransWest Express poised to expand reach of Wyoming renewables

The 732-mile high-voltage line will connect Wyoming wind to the Southwest and potentially boost other low-carbon power ambitions along the way.

wyofile.com

As nuclear power gains steam, uranium mining and its impacts may grow in the Mountain West

“The world is looking at nuclear in a new light,” says Wayne Heili, the CEO of a uranium mining company that’s ramping up production in Wyoming.

wyomingpublicmedia.org

Nevada mines test boundaries of 150-year-old mining law

Nevada is emerging as a major battleground to determine the fate of a century-and-a-half-old mining law as demand for critical minerals in the U.S soars.

nevadacurrent.com

PNM transfers reservoir to Reclamation for Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project

The Public Service Company of New Mexico handed over the virtual keys to the reservoir that once provided water from the San Juan River for San Juan Generating Station operations to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for use in the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project.

nmpoliticalreport.com

A scathing audit blasts Utah Office of Energy Development as adrift at a crucial moment

The Utah Office of Energy Development lacks defined goals and internal governance and should be doing more to implement state energy policy, according to a blistering audit released today from the Utah Legislative Auditor General.

sltrib.com

Summit County Commissioners eye program to require installation of renewable energy to offset emissions from outdoor amenities like hot tubs

Similar programs requiring fossil-fuel consuming outdoor amenities to be offset have been adopted elsewhere in Colorado.

summitdaily.com

Will faster federal reviews speed up the clean energy shift? Two legal scholars explain what NEPA does and doesn't do

Legal scholars J.B. Ruhl and James Salzman explain recent changes to the National Environmental Policy Act and what they mean for protecting the environment and expanding clean energy production.

theconversation.com

Natural gas production in the Permian region established a new record in 2022

Gross natural gas withdrawals in the Permian region set an annual record high in 2022 at 21.0 billion cubic feet per day, 14% above the 2021 average. Annual gross natural gas production in the Permian region, which extends across western Texas and eastern New Mexico, has been rising steadily for over a decade and continued to grow in the first four months of 2023.

eia.gov

CPW slashed hunting licenses to save wildlife. What about Colorado towns that rely on hunters?

Thousands fewer hunting tags in Colorado means thousands fewer hunters spending money in towns like Craig, Meeker and Rangely.

coloradosun.com

‘A 30,000 foot conversation’: Groups push for Paradise Valley wildlife crossings

The view from a tiny plane Friday morning showed the grandeur of Paradise Valley, making clear a patchwork of human attempts to tame a wild space.

bozemandailychronicle.com

When the water recedes: The historic floods of 2022 in Yellowstone National Park and Park County, and what came next

A year later, the flood scars aren’t visible to the untrained eye. But for some who live and work along the river, the flooding reshaped the way they view their homes.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Corner crossers’ ordeal: surprise, fear, faith

After a judge determined they did not trespass while stepping through the airspace above the corner of a private ranch, Missouri hunters describe their ordeals.

wyofile.com

Montana FWP's declaration that corner crossing is 'unlawful' scrutinized

When asked for an interpretation of the two cases Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks cites in determining that corner crossing is unlawful in Montana, University of Montana law professor Michelle Bryan said, “While the cases the state cites do address air rights and trespass in other contexts, I think the law is more complicated than those two cases, neither of which deal with the unique situation of corner crossing to access public lands.”

billingsgazette.com

Outdoor recreation, ‘bleisure’ and how they impact tourism in Utah

Recent county reports and a dashboard from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute show tourism jobs and visitor spending had largely recovered to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, though some counties lagged behind.

sltrib.com

A Great Salt Lake national park? It’s unlikely, but don’t despair.

Utah lawmakers are notoriously resistant to ceding any land to federal control, but supporters say it could help with conservation efforts.

sltrib.com

Climate-smart cowboys hope regenerative cattle ranching can heal the land and sequester carbon

Grazing livestock to mimic how wildlife forages can prevent the erosion of topsoil, protect water quality and keep carbon out of the atmosphere, but it requires big changes in how the beef industry operates.

insideclimatenews.org

James Watt, Ted Kaczynski and power over lands

Two very different men are gone, but their legacies are undoubtedly intertwined.

leahsottile.substack.com

Hunter mistakenly kills grizzly bear north of Priest Lake

An endangered-male grizzly bear was killed last week by a Washington hunter in North Idaho who told wildlife officials that he mistakenly identified the bruin as a black bear before he fired the fatal shot.

spokesman.com

FWP: Hunter kills grizzly bear in self-defense encounter in Madison Range

A hunter killed a grizzly bear in self-defense last week in the Madison Range southeast of Ennis, according to a news release from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

dailymontanan.com

Montana to dramatically increase mountain lion hunting quotas

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission on Thursday voted to dramatically increase hunting quotas for mountain lions across the state, aiming to reduce their populations by up to 40% in the next six years in the hopes of boosting the numbers of sheep, mule deer and moose.

missoulian.com

Opinion: Mountains don't need hardware

The Protect America’s Rock Climbing Act sends a loud message: Recreation interests are more important than preserving the small bit of wilderness we have left.

writersontherange.org

Charles Wilkinson, CU professor who advocated for key land and water rights for Native American tribes, has died

Those who knew him described him as an unstoppable force in the legal world but mainly someone who brought everyone into the conversation.

coloradosun.com

Cormac McCarthy was the great novelist of the American West

His fiction faces a bloody past and never looks away.

economist.com

High housing costs could be reason why Boise lost (yes, lost) population last year

U.S. Census Bureau estimates show Boise lost nearly 1,400 residents, while the other top 19 most populated Idaho cities gained residents.

idahocapitalsun.com

Watergate: Did someone monkey wrench Jackson Lake Dam?

Reclamation officials investigating suspicious spike in dam flow May 25.

jhnewsandguide.com

Crypto mines arise in Campbell County and neighbors have questions

Last week, construction began on a 5,200 square-foot cryptocurrency mine, one of at least two crypto mines currently being built in Campbell County, Wyoming.

gillettenewsrecord.com

Suncor pollutes into nearby neighborhoods more often than similar facilities, EPA vows tougher enforcement

The Colorado regional office of the EPA vowed tougher enforcement action against Suncor in Commerce City, issuing a report showing the refinery releases air pollutants into nearby neighborhoods more often than many similar facilities around the U.S.

coloradosun.com

Fast snowpack melt may increase southwest Montana's drought, fire risk

Officials are looking ahead to wildfire and drought risk this summer as southwest Montana’s above-average snowpack melts faster than area hydrologists had hoped.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Home insurance providers backing out of Summit County, Utah, due to wildfire risk

Home insurance is becoming increasingly expensive and harder to find in the Wasatch Back.

kpcw.org

Pueblo Chieftain workers blast owner for shutting down Colorado printing press

Newspaper Guild says it "believes Gannett’s decision will further degrade the newspaper’s reputation in the community.”

coloradomedia.substack.com

Eugene Register-Guard languishes under Gannett, nation’s largest newspaper chain

Parent company Gannett's massive debt has exacted a toll on local newspapers.

oregonlive.com

At Thacker Pass, extraction and resistance come to a head

Police and private security for a Canadian mining company arrested an Indigenous protester and demolished a protest blockade on Wednesday that was erected by descendants of a survivor of the 1865 massacre at the site, according to land and water defenders who were there.

underscore.news

Meet the climate activist demanding action against Colorado’s only oil refinery

“I want people to know that it’s possible to fight these big, multimillion-dollar entities,” says Alessandra Chavira.

vogue.com

States fight to save coal plants as EPA cracks down

Some jurisdictions have passed laws to make it harder for state regulators to approve plans to retire coal plants or to conduct climate analyses.

eenews.net

Youth climate activists are finally getting their day in court

This will be the first time a youth-led climate lawsuit actually goes to trial.

teenvogue.com

Montana kids' climate case set to make history

The nation's first climate trial will open Monday. It promises to have implications far beyond Montana's borders.

eenews.net

Battle for a better future

Bigfork teenager Kian Tanner was raised beside the Flathead Valley’s scenic mountains and rivers. Now, he’s fighting to save them.

flatheadbeacon.com

Montana gas power plant can resume construction, judge rules

NorthWestern Energy will resume construction of a natural gas power plant along Montana’s Yellowstone River following a two-month delay, a company spokesperson said Friday, after a state judge revived a pollution permit for the project despite lingering concerns over its climate-changing emissions.

apnews.com

Navajo officials say a mining and drilling ban at Chaco Canyon will hurt local residents

Deb Haaland's action "undermines our sovereignty and self-determination," Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said.

azcentral.com

Mining critical to renewable energy tied to hundreds of alleged human rights abuses

A report released Wednesday faults the U.S. and other nations for providing incentives for the mining of rare metals like lithium and cobalt without enacting adequate labor and environmental safeguards.

insideclimatenews.org

In Colorado, fossil fuel-free energy comes with controversies

Residents of Montezuma County, Colorado, mostly support the development of solar farms. But concerns about farmland loss, wildlife, and more persist.

dailyyonder.com

Las Vegas won't save the water it needs by just removing lawns

Drought-plagued Nevada pledged to do away with 3,900 acres of grass in the Las Vegas area within six years, but a ProPublica analysis found that the state grossly overestimated how much of that grass would likely be removed.

projects.propublica.org

Say goodbye to lawns in drying West

Booming metro areas test the limits of water supply and growth.

circleofblue.org

Can Phoenix grow without groundwater? Only if the price is right.

Arizona has paused new housing construction around the city, citing a water shortage.

grist.org

Arizona’s water troubles show how climate change is reshaping the West

The decision by Arizona to limit residential construction in some parts of the fast-growing Phoenix suburbs is another major warning about how climate change is disrupting lifestyles and economies in the West.

washingtonpost.com

Why could Montana Republicans reshape land use but Colorado Democrats couldn’t?

While the states’ bills are distinct and the political dynamics in both places are vastly different, some Democrats in Colorado have begun to wonder: How could conservative Montana accomplish what increasingly blue Colorado could not?

coloradosun.com

BLM 'conservation rule' divides Wyoming public land users

The rule is a recognition of mounting pressures from the effects of climate change, supporters say, while others say it's a threat to Wyoming's way of life.

wyofile.com

Proposed rule for public lands expected to have outsized impact in New Mexico. Here's how to weigh in.

A coalition of conservation and outdoor recreation enthusiasts is urging New Mexicans to support the proposal. Opponents, in turn, question whether the rule will be used to curtail drilling, grazing and similar activities.

abqjournal.com

How heritage breeds could rescue ranching

A team of scientists and ranchers are studying Criollo cattle with a mission to think of solutions for agricultural producers threatened by climate change.

sltrib.com

Decorated climate scientist says Montana should expect climate-driven water and wildfire woes

Steve Running, a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, discussed the global causes and local implications of climate change at an event in Billings.

montanafreepress.org

Colorado's updated climate projections

How will Colorado's climate change in the next 30 or so years? Hotter, yes. Definitely. Precipitation? That's a fuzzier picture.

bigpivots.com

Feds speed up abandoned oil well cleanup

The U.S. Department of Interior rolled out its long-awaited Orphaned Wells Program Office for capping orphaned oil and gas wells on federal lands Thursday, a move that included the $63.8 million to cap wells in 16 states including Montana.

billingsgazette.com

Former Secretary of the Interior James 'Jim' Watt dies at 85

Wyoming born, bred and educated, Watt made a national name for himself as a staunch pro-development, anti-environmentalist heading up Reagan’s Department of the Interior.

wyofile.com

Wildlife tracking collar powers itself as animals roam

Replacing worn-out batteries in animal tracking devices can be a time-consuming, expensive duty for wildlife scientists. It’s stressful for the animals, too. Now, inspired by the technology behind a self-charging smartwatch, researchers have invented a tracker powered by the animals’ own movement. The approach could help researchers monitor animals across their entire life spans, making things easier for both the scientists and the creatures they follow.

science.org

Study finds land mammals moved farther during pandemic lockdowns

The researchers say their results show that animals have the ability to change their behavior in a relatively short period, from just several weeks to a few months.

courthousenews.com

Grizzlies, environmentalists win toothless victory in court of appeals

Judges’ reversal of a grazing allotment decision that allows up to 72 grizzly deaths over a decade won’t impact contested range activity, plaintiffs and defendants say.

wyofile.com

Could a federal 'Grizzly Protection Act' make delisting more palatable for both sides?

Is federal legislation to protect grizzlies — similar to legislation that protects bald eagles — warranted? Chris Servheen, who spent 35 years as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s grizzly bear recovery coordinator, thinks so.

jhnewsandguide.com

What’s in store for the devastated Wyoming Range Deer Herd?

The deadly winter that decimated the state’s largest mule deer herd also brought some silver linings: Soaked soil and richer habitat pressured by fewer animals can lead to fat, healthy and fecund survivors.

wyofile.com

Bison management group discusses deadly winter for Yellowstone bison, plans for next season

“It was the hardest winter in over a decade,” said Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly.

dailymontanan.com

Wild horses have clear impact on environment, but does the good outweigh the bad?

Conservationists say the presence of horses in national forests contributes to the decline of numerous endangered species, but others point to environmental benefits like reducing wildfire risk.

courthousenews.com

FWP wades into roiling waters about trout population declines in southwest Montana

Potential contributors to the disturbing declines include climate change, increased nutrients, warming water temperatures, irrigation withdrawals, fungus, parasites, a dramatic increase in angling days on the river, and trout stressed by catch-and-release fishing, algal blooms and more.

missoulian.com

'No magic wand' for ailing rivers

Declining trout populations in southwest Montana rivers was the focus of a Wednesday night gathering in Butte and state meeting in Helena on Thursday.

mtstandard.com

Burnout: Stresses of wildland firefighting recognized as treatment options grow

Fighting bigger blazes — sometimes in areas where homes or whole neighborhoods are destroyed — firefighters, their families and support crews have seen their stress levels increase exponentially.

billingsgazette.com

How real is smoke brain?

Researchers are only just starting to ask how wildfire smoke affects cognition.

theatlantic.com

Ahead of new Colorado River talks, governments and tribes weigh in on the future

After a Colorado River conservation agreement between California, Arizona and Nevada, states and tribes are turning their attention to a new round of pre-2026 negotiations.

kunc.org

Wyoming's Snake River can't quench Idaho's thirst

No matter how much snow or rain falls each year, demand exceeds supply.

jhnewsandguide.com

Great Salt Lake boaters return as water rises more than five feet

The water at Great Salt Lake State Park and Marina is up five and a half feet since the lake hit a record-low elevation in November. It swelled more than a foot in just the last month, thanks to a record-breaking snowpack and subsequent runoff. And the salty lake sailing aficionados couldn’t be happier.

sltrib.com

Colorado cities may have to eliminate growth caps under new state law

Gov. Jared Polis signed a ban on certain growth laws Wednesday.

cpr.org

Vail Resorts declines voluntary recognition of Crested Butte lift mechanics union, forcing a formal election

Crested Butte Mountain Resort ski patrollers were among the first to form a union in the 1970s. Now the ski area’s lift crew is seeking to unionize as part of a resort labor renaissance.

coloradosun.com

Tenants group calls on Bozeman to ban many short-term rentals

Bozeman Tenants United says a ban is needed to increase city’s housing supply.

montanafreepress.org

Colorado charges ahead with e-bike rebates for low- and moderate-income residents

It's official: Colorado will launch one of the country's largest statewide e-bike rebate programs in August.

cpr.org

Storing power in a spinning wheel? Utah startup sells flywheels as a battery alternative.

Torus, a Utah-based startup, is selling a mechanical alternative to lithium batteries. It's a large flywheel that can spin for days and generate electricity.

sltrib.com

Montana, climate-change pioneer

The state’s politics pit liberals trying to preserve the state constitution against conservatives trying to rewrite it

economist.com

Oregon's Wallowa County votes for ‘Greater Idaho’ talks, Crook County schedules vote

Wallowa County voted for the "Greater Idaho" movement, joining 12 Oregon counties in a long-shot effort to redraw the state’s boundary.

idahocapitalsun.com

Opinion: I was a wilderness therapy success story. Then my PTSD surfaced.

“As a teen, I credited the therapy with reversing the downward spiral I was on. But in college, the nightmares began.”

undark.org

My life with bikes

Plus a little rant and a plea.

landdesk.org

Montana youth prepare for trial in bellwether climate case against state

Landmark lawsuit alleges Montana’s government knowingly contributes to climate change by approving policies and projects that promote a fossil-fuel based energy economy, violating the young plaintiffs’ constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment.”

mtclimatecase.flatheadbeacon.com

'To a clean and healthful environment'

When Montana’s constitution was ratified by voters in 1972 it enshrined a citizen’s right to a clean and healthful environment into the future. The youth-led climate change lawsuit Held v. Montana is predicated on this right and its interpretation through Montana’s courts.

mtclimatecase.flatheadbeacon.com

Who is ‘Held’ of Held v. State of Montana?

Early exposure to scientific rigor and climate change’s impact on ranches led Rikki Held to confer her name to the nation’s first constitutional climate change lawsuit to reach trial.

mtclimatecase.flatheadbeacon.com

For the Busse brothers, climate change is a reality — and a violation of constitutional rights

Two Kalispell brothers cite changes to skiing and hunting seasons as reasons for joining the coalition of Montana youth in Held v. Montana suing several state agencies over failure to secure their “right to a clean and healthful environment.”

mtclimatecase.flatheadbeacon.com

Running toward a future in the face of climate change

Mica Kantor, 14, says he has felt the impacts of the changing climate on the roads, tracks and trails he runs on, prompting his inclusion as a plaintiff in Held v. Montana.

mtclimatecase.flatheadbeacon.com

Montana lawmakers double down on fossil fuels in 2023 legislative session

How the recent legislative session passed a slew of laws that highlight lawmakers' energy priorities, and took direct aim at the pivotal case, Held v. Montana.

montanafreepress.org

Montana attorney general asks state Supreme Court to dismiss climate Case

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen on Monday filed an emergency petition asking the state Supreme Court to vacate the trial date of a youth-led constitutional climate change lawsuit slated to begin next week.

flatheadbeacon.com

Coalition sues Montana in federal court for coal mining laws passed by legislature

A coalition of Montana groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that newly passed laws that lawmakers say will speed up permitting of surface coal mines would have made the Copper Kings of Montana proud by gutting protections for the citizens and clean water.

dailymontanan.com

Citing new Montana law, DEQ avoids carbon pollution review

Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality will move forward with a court-ordered environmental review of the controversial gas-fired power plant in Laurel, now that a new state law banning regulation of carbon dioxide is on the books.

billingsgazette.com

The battle for clean energy in coal country

Montana has a long history of making money by extracting and exporting its natural resources, namely coal. State politicians and Montana’s largest electricity utility company seem set on keeping it that way.

revealnews.org

Oregon youths’ climate lawsuit against U.S. government can proceed to trial, judge rules

A federal judge ruled on Thursday that a lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate activists can proceed to trial years after they first filed the lawsuit in an attempt to hold the nation’s leadership accountable for its role in climate change.

apnews.com

Amount of warming triggering carbon dioxide in air hits new peak, growing at near-record fast rate

Carbon dioxide levels in the air are now the highest they’ve been in more than 4 million years because of the burning of oil coal and gas. The last time the air had similar amounts was during a less hospitable hothouse Earth before human civilization took root, scientists said.

apnews.com

Summers are getting hotter in the West

Over the last half century, summers have gotten progressively hotter in the U.S., especially in the West, according to new analysis. Reno, Nev., has seen average summer temperatures soar by more than 11 degrees, the biggest increase in the country. Boise, Idaho's 5.8-degree spike ranks No. 2, followed by Las Vegas (5.8 degrees) and Salt Lake City (5.5 degrees).

boisestatepublicradio.org

Climate crisis is on track to push one-third of humanity out of its most livable environment

As conditions that best support life shift toward the poles, more than 600 million people are already living outside of a crucial “climate niche,” facing more extreme heat, rising food scarcity and higher death rates.

propublica.org

Is Harriet Hageman an ally of Indian Country?

The rookie congresswoman says she wants to advance tribal autonomy.

hcn.org

Federal court allows international mining giant to oppose tribes in Oak Flat lawsuit

The U.S. District Court in Arizona granted mining giant Resolution Copper permission on Monday to join the U.S. government as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by grassroots group Apache Stronghold.

azcentral.com

Chaco Canyon moratorium sparks calls for wider oil ban

“Protection of Chaco Canyon is a great first step, but protections for the Greater Chaco Region, where there are living communities of Diné relatives, wildlife, and plant life, including countless sacred sites throughout the region are just as critical,” said Robyn Jackson, executive director of Diné CARE, an Indigenous environmental group in the Southwest. “The Biden administration must phase out fossil fuels.”

eenews.net

Four tribal chairs: We need a Columbia Basin Initiative for salmon, tribes and energy

“For our people to survive, we need salmon. Without salmon, there can be no Salmon People. We have a sacred relationship with – and obligation to – the salmon populations that call Nch’í Wána (Columbia River) home.”

spokesman.com

In Alaska, tribal governments push for larger conservation role

To preserve their food supply, Native Alaskans are teaming up with federal officials and state scientists.

undark.org

The remains of five Native American children will be returned to living relatives

The remains of five Native American children who died at a notorious Indian boarding school more than a century ago will be returned to their living relatives.

wyomingpublicmedia.org

'We can't just let them go': Arizona tribes rely on law to reclaim remains, other items

Thirty years after a federal law mandated the return of Native human remains and funerary items, Arizona still has one-third of them in storage.

azcentral.com

Big Medicine’s long journey home

For more than six decades, the rare white bison’s remains have been on display at the Montana Historical Society in Helena.

montanafreepress.org

FWP statement on corner crossing in Montana raises public land access advocates' hackles

“Corner crossing remains unlawful in Montana, and Montanans should continue to obtain permission from the adjoining landowners before crossing corners from one piece of public land to another,” FWP Deputy Director Dustin Temple said.

billingsgazette.com

Colorado corner-crossing property legislation poised for comeback following Wyoming ruling

Colorado Rep. Brandi Bradley wonders if she should revive corner-crossing legislation after Wyoming judge dismisses civil trespass complaint against hunters.

coloradosun.com

Ranch owner in corner-crossing case drops Waypoint 6 trespass claim

Hunters also agree not to seek attorneys’ fees after judge rules they did not trespass when corner crossing.

wyofile.com

Lawmaker claims state authority in private-to-fed land sale

A freshman state lawmaker says the federal government must obtain the consent of the Wyoming Legislature to acquire more property — even private property from a willing seller — in the state. Legal experts say the argument smacks of debunked legal posturing in a long-simmering fight against federal land ownership and management in the West.

wyofile.com

What the new Supreme Court wetland ruling means for hunters

Damaging a couple of wetlands won’t have a drastic effect, but the cumulative sum of losses adds up to something significant—and quickly, too.

themeateater.com

Colorado’s wetlands are endangered by climate change and invasive species. New federal money will help protect them

As the BLM invests $160 million nationwide in what it calls "restoration landscapes," Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner speaks with BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning about two wetlands in Colorado that will benefit.

cpr.org

Controversial grayling project to proceed in wildlife refuge

deeply controversial proposal to increase dissolved oxygen for Arctic grayling in a shallow lake within the Red Rocks National Wildlife Refuge is moving forward.

mtstandard.com

Editorial: BLM rule puts conservation on equal footing with oil and gas on public lands

The time has come to put conservation on equal footing with the private enterprises that have benefitted enormously from using and sometimes abusing our lands.

denverpost.com

The Grand Canyon, a cathedral to time, is losing its river

The Colorado River, which carved the Grand Canyon over millions of years, is now in crisis from climate change and overuse.

nytimes.com

Hay – yes, hay – is sucking the Colorado River dry

Desert farming, wasteful irrigation and the profoundly thirsty crop is bringing the critical river to the brink.

hcn.org

As the Supreme Court debates a Navajo water rights case, climate change adds new questions

Climate change tightens existing water supplies and can worsen conditions in communities where hauling water is a necessity.

azcentral.com

Arizona will halt new home approvals in parts of metro Phoenix as water supplies tighten

Arizona's water agency will stop approving new development that relies solely on groundwater after a new model shows a projected shortfall.

azcentral.com

Colorado Supreme Court ends long river access dispute by ruling fisherman has no standing in right-to-wade argument

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled an angler has no standing to sue for river access by arguing the state's rivers were navigable at statehood.

coloradosun.com

The Supreme Court just made it easier to destroy wetlands and streams

The decision strips federal protections from the ephemeral streams that are crucial for life in the arid West.

hcn.org

Does oil and gas production consume too much water?

With water use growing, arid Western states are asking for new regulations.

capitalandmain.com

Project Bison, a large carbon removal proposal, faces delays

Project Bison, a closely watched Wyoming proposal intended to suck massive quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, is running behind schedule.

eenews.net

How much cobalt can be mined in the U.S.? Study examines domestic mining site in Idaho

The Iron Creek site in east-central Idaho could produce at least 6,000 metric tons of cobalt, but possibly much more.

phys.org

Geothermal: Hot or not?

This old, abundant, relatively clean energy source has barely been tapped.

hcn.org

New solar project in southwestern Montana will double solar production in state

Boise-based Clēnera said the company’s 600-acre solar array, located along U.S. Interstate 15 near Dillon, is in its final phase before launching within weeks.

billingsgazette.com

Should this rural Utah county be managing a nuclear research lab?

Emery County's San Rafael Research Center, where the county hopes to invent its post-coal future, is caught in a political fight.

sltrib.com

Essay: The atomic hereafter

Reporter Alicia Inez Guzmán describes her personal and family history with the Los Alamos National Laboratory as the U.S. moves to modernize its stockpile of nuclear weapons, which presages enormous, inevitable changes for New Mexico.

searchlightnm.org

Colorado adopts a new climate-minded statewide building code

The new construction standards are meant to ensure homes and buildings are built for efficiency, electric cars and solar panels.

cpr.org

What makes these Four Corners towns tick?

A study of the economies and cultures of Durango, Cortez and Farmington, three Western towns with roots in resource extraction and processing that have taken different career paths.

bigpivots.com

In oil-rich New Mexico, officials restrict new drilling

Two separate decisions limit fossil fuel extraction on public lands, protecting schools and Indigenous sites.

grist.org

Abandoned oil and gas wells emit carcinogens and other harmful pollutants, groundbreaking study shows

The release of cancer-causing benzene and other toxic gases from sites in Pennsylvania raises concerns about millions of other abandoned wells across the U.S.

insideclimatenews.org

Wyoming sues over feds' tardiness on grizzly delisting decision

A Gov. Mark Gordon-led petition targeting the U.S. Department of Interior is intended to compel action on the state’s earlier petition. Ultimately, the goal is for Wyoming to gain control over — and hunt — its grizzly bears.

wyofile.com

In a changing ecosystem, Yellowstone grizzly bears are resilient

Grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem have been able to gain the body fat they need for hibernation even as population densities have increased and as climate change and human impacts have changed the availability of some foods, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey and its partners.

usgs.gov

Gianforte announces leadership change at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Deputy Director Dustin Temple will assume Hank Worsech’s position.

montanafreepress.org

Fishing outfitters' urgent appeal to Gianforte receives no reply

Fishing guides and outfitters alarmed about declining trout populations in the Big Hole River receive no reply from Gov. Gianforte after urgent appeal.

missoulian.com

This group is reintroducing wolves to Colorado — on stage … and with puppets

The reintroduction and management of gray wolves has sparked many conversations across Colorado. Now it has also inspired a new opera.

cpr.org

Wyoming spends record $4.2 million to kill coyotes, other predators

Ammunition, gas, aviation fuel price hikes drive costs higher as hard winter boosts interest in coyote culls.

wyofile.com

Approval for Idaho phosphate mine reversed after judge rules U.S. didn't assess prairie bird impact

A federal judge has yanked approval for a phosphate mining project in southeastern Idaho, saying federal land managers in the Trump administration didn’t in part properly consider the mine’s impact on sage grouse, a bird species that has seen an 80% decline in population since 1965.

apnews.com

What makes a horse wild? Advocates push back against ‘feral’ classification of historic equids

Roughly 500 horses inhabit an area along the Black River in eastern Arizona. Some say the herd descends from Spanish colonial horses. Others say the herd is more recent and doesn’t belong on the land it now grazes.

courthousenews.com

How do you count the elusive lynx?

Wildlife cameras may be key to understanding the threatened species’ response to climate change.

hcn.org

Disappearing bugs: Insect declines documented by Missoula team

A local team is getting hard data on insect population declines in the Missoula area.

missoulian.com

Eagle County will pay homeowners if they rent to local workers instead of vacationers

Eagle County, Colo., property owners are incentivized to rent their houses to local workers instead of renting them out as short-term vacation homes. If an Eagle County homeowner chooses to rent to a local worker, they will get a stipend ranging from $2,000 to $12,000, depending on how long the lease is.

cpr.org

The lie of a cleaner oilsands

Pollution protections are stripped while Canada boasts progress. This is the history of promises made and betrayed.

thetyee.ca

Montana banned TikTok. Now these Montanans are fighting back.

How a highly politicized social media ban in Big Sky Country sparked a nationwide debate over freedom of speech.

washingtonpost.com

Former gun company executive explains roots of America’s gun violence epidemic

Ryan Busse once worked for a major gun-maker. He now warns about the danger of growing radicalization in the industry.

propublica.org

Journalists at Gannett newspapers walk out over deep cuts and low pay

Journalists at 24 Gannett newspapers decimated by financial cuts are protesting the failure of contract negotiations to resolve what they say is low pay and increasingly stressful working conditions.

npr.org

Western lands fight erupts over Bureau of Land Management’s conservation proposal

One thing opponents and proponents of a recently proposed U.S. Bureau of Land Management rule agree on: It would be a major shift in how the agency manages nearly 250 million acres of federal lands.

coloradonewsline.com

BLM rule proposes to put conservation on ‘equal footing’ with other uses

A conservation organization called the proposal a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to improve the condition of public land. An oil-and-gas group argued that the agency is overstepping its authority.

montanafreepress.org

Colorado public lands rule hearing draws ranchers wary of changes

While energy developers and mining companies could purchase these conservation leases and use them as compensatory mitigation to offset impacts from projects at other sites, environmental groups and other nongovernmental organizations could also buy them, raising the ire of critics who warn large swaths of public lands could be off-limits to oil and gas drilling and mining.

eenews.net

Hunting and fishing groups are glad, Utah Republican leaders are mad about Biden’s public lands use plan

The Biden administration's proposed Public Lands Rule elevates conservation as a legitimate use on federal lands, but Republicans say it's an unauthorized land grab.

sltrib.com

Opinion: Are conservation leases the key to resolving competing demands on public lands?

“If designed effectively, it could empower conservationists to channel their interests through voluntary market mechanisms rather than the legal fights and zero-sum political battles that are common on public lands today,” writes Shawn Regan of the Property and Environment Research Center.

perc.org

Opinion: Proposed BLM rule conservation timestamp in history

“By elevating conservation, naysayers of the rule see restrictions or uses taken away. But that won’t happen. Quite the opposite. Without conservation, we don’t see any real future for public lands,” writes the Durango Herald editorial board.

durangoherald.com

The tipping point of national parks

’Tis the season for crowded trails and hissy fits at the park gates. What’s the solution?

deseret.com

How to open a national park for the summer season

Anticipating a swell of visitors as peak season begins, workers at Bryce Canyon National Park are clearing trails, training rangers and conserving wildlife.

nytimes.com

Guardians of Nínaiistáko

Along the eastern border of Glacier National Park, the Aamsskáápipikani — or southern Blackfeet — have implemented the first U.S. co-management conservation program between a tribe and the National Park Service.

flatheadbeacon.com

Judge rules in favor of corner-crossing hunters

A federal judge ruled Friday that four Missouri hunters did not trespass when they corner crossed and passed through the airspace above Fred Eshelman’s Elk Mountain Ranch.

wyofile.com

Judge decries improper lobbying in corner-crossing case

A federal judge received improper proposals — which he neither reviewed nor considered — regarding how he should decide on the high-profile corner-crossing trespass case, according to a ruling he filed Friday.

wyofile.com

Utah’s latest attack on the Antiquities Act

The bid to diminish national monuments threatens landscape preservation.

hcn.org

Biden administration pauses copper mining project on Oak Flat, a sacred Apache site

The Biden administration has put a hold on a proposed copper mine that would be built on a sacred site for the San Carlos Apache in Arizona.

grist.org

Proposed protections for Grand Canyon spark fight over uranium mining

On Saturday, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited land near the Grand Canyon that tribal leaders and environmentalists want to permanently protect as a national monument. The visit immediately reignited a decades-old debate over the costs and benefits of uranium mining in this iconic landscape.

washingtonpost.com

Oil and gas land sale nets $79M. New Mexico environmental groups fear climate impacts

A contentious auction of public land to the oil and gas industry brought in about $78.8 million to the federal government this week, amid outcry from New Mexico environmental groups calling for a halt on using the lands for fossil fuel drilling.

currentargus.com

Mining company to explore Bitterroot rare-earth deposit

Nevada company that hopes to mine what it describes as the nation's richest deposit of rare-earth elements at the south end of the Bitterroot Mountains plans to conduct further exploration this year on its claims.

missoulian.com

Investment firm proposed buying this state land near McCall. Now it has a recreation lease

Valley County has partnered with McCall-based conservation group United Payette to lease two popular parcels of state-owned land in an effort to ensure recreation is protected. The parcels are part of several Idaho Department of Lands-managed tracts that a Boise-based developer proposed privatizing in recent years.

idahostatesman.com

Is Montana’s pandemic tourism boom over?

After three years of congested trailheads, crowded restaurants and packed hotels, Montana tourism officials say this summer might be a little calmer as the state’s pandemic-fueled travel boom starts to level out into something closer to normal.

montanafreepress.org

Opinion: No wonder Alberta is on fire. We made this planet into a volcano

We can’t call these supercharged seasonal infernos our “new normal.” There’s nothing natural about how we changed the Earth’s climate.

theglobeandmail.com

When the fire came for Fort McMurray

In 2016, a wildfire jumped the Athabasca River and headed straight for Fort McMurray, an Alberta oil town 600 miles south of the Arctic Circle. In this excerpt from ‘Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World,’ John Vaillant chronicles the moment the blaze enters town, forcing nearly 90,000 people to flee in what remains the largest, most rapid single-day evacuation in the history of modern fire.

outsideonline.com

When fire goes feral

A conversation with John Vaillant, author of “Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World.”

hcn.org

Fighting fire with fire

How a B.C. Indigenous community is reintroducing traditional fire knowledge and practices to manage land vulnerable to wildfires.

theglobeandmail.com

‘It looked like an animal, just arms of fire going forward’

Micha Kingston reflects on post-wildfire parenting. “How will I prepare her for this world?”

thetyee.ca

How does a small town rebuild after a devastating wildfire?

A wildfire burned through the small town of Denton, Mont., in December of 2021. It burned more than 10,000 acres and destroyed 25 homes. So how is the town of Denton rebuilding, and what does wildfire resilient construction look like?

mtpr.org

Insurer cites ‘growing catastrophe exposure’ as it stops new sales in California

State Farm says it's no longer accepting homeowner insurance applications in California due to "historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation" and "rapidly growing catastrophe exposure" to extreme weather events like wildfires.

axios.com

New registry could shed light on link between wildland firefighting and cancer

It’s something many current and former wildland firefighters ask themselves: what does all this smoke, dust and ash I’ve been breathing for months on end mean for my health? A new national registry for all firefighters could eventually shed a great deal more light on that largely unanswered question.

boisestatepublicradio.org

Judge says fire retardant drops are polluting streams but allows use to continue

The U.S. government can keep using chemical retardant dropped from aircraft to fight wildfires, despite finding that the practice pollutes streams in Western states in violation of federal law, a judge ruled Friday.

apnews.com

Drones, native seed stock, hard work revitalizing scorched Montana forest

A Montana forest devastated by fire two years ago is focus of innovative reforestation project.

greatfallstribune.com

Ken Burns’ latest chronicles the slaughter and revival of ‘The American Buffalo’

“The American Buffalo” is a two-part, four-hour series that will premiere on PBS in October, although Burns will be in Missoula for a free preview June 8.

montanafreepress.org

Yellowstone wolf population rebounds in wake of heavy Montana hunter take in 2021-22

By the end of last hunting season, Yellowstone National Park had 80 wolves before pups were born. This December, thanks in part to a reduced wolf hunting quota in Montana, the park population grew to 108 wolves in 10 packs with seven breeding pairs. Pups made up more than a third of the total Yellowstone wolf population.

billingsgazette.com

Coyotes gamble on humans to avoid wolves. It's a bad bet.

Coyotes and bobcats appear to shift toward human landscapes when wolves and cougars live nearby, with deadly consequences.

anthropocenemagazine.org

10th Circuit revives fight over grazing permit amid questions about grizzly deaths

The 10th Circuit on Thursday remanded a lawsuit challenging grazing permits issued in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest with instructions for the feds to consider limiting lethal takes of female grizzly bears. The court did not vacate the permits issued in 2019.

courthousenews.com

Opinion: More confusion about Yellowstone National Park's grizzly bear population

One of the challenges of managing the grizzly bear population in Montana, according to bear biologist David Mattson, is understanding the numbers and cutting through the political spin.

dailymontanan.com

Pronghorn hunting tags slashed by 75% after about half of the Sublette herd died-off

After a historically harsh winter in southeast and south central Wyoming, the death toll to some wildlife is only now being fully revealed. Consequently, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is further cutting pronghorn hunting tags by 75 percent in these areas.

wyomingpublicmedia.org

Montana delegation responds to 'cottonwood decision' regarding endangered species

Montana’s congressional delegation is reviving bills to undo the consequences of a 2015 Endangered Species Act lawsuit that’s angered the state’s logging industry.

billingsgazette.com

CSKT’s push to protect Flathead Lake and its native trout

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes innovate to sustain the lake's native fishery.

montanafreepress.org

State wildlife agencies focus on 'hook and bullet' work. Some see a new path.

State wildlife management relies heavily on hunting and fishing revenue, and much of its work is focused on species like trout and deer. But with many species in danger of extinction, some advocates say wildlife agencies need to expand their attention beyond “hook and bullet” activities. Doing so could require drastic changes to the funding models, governance structures and underlying value systems of those departments.

stateline.org

Bullfrogs are invading Sheridan, Wyo., threatening native species

Game and Fish, which banned the invasive species from entering Wyoming, also welcomes bullfrog hunting. One biologist suggests they taste just like chicken.

wyofile.com

Supreme Court limits EPA’s power to address water pollution

Experts said the decision would sharply undercut the agency’s authority to protect millions of acres of wetlands under the Clean Water Act, leaving them subject to pollution without penalty.

nytimes.com

The Supreme Court just shriveled federal protection for wetlands, leaving many of these valuable ecosystems at risk

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Sackett v. EPA that federal protection of wetlands encompasses only those wetlands that directly adjoin rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. This is an extremely narrow interpretation of the Clean Water Act that could expose many wetlands across the U.S. to filling and development.

theconversation.com

Microplastic shards plague every Colorado river. Here’s where — and how — they get there.

A new study shows microplastic pollution in all Colorado waterways tested, and environmental groups call for better recycling efforts.

coloradosun.com

New study shows Durango's water supplies declining dramatically as climate change, drought hit home

Climate change has come home to Durango, with a new study indicating that the once water-rich mining and railroad mecca is much drier than it once was, so dry in fact that the city can no longer depend solely on direct flow from the Florida and Animas rivers for a reliable supply of water.

watereducationcolorado.org

Colorado River crisis taps hard questions

A new podcast, Thirst Gap, explores what it means to live with less water.

wyofile.com

Colorado River states bought time with a 3-year water conservation deal – now they need to think bigger

Southwest states have bought time with an agreement between California, Arizona and Nevada to cut Colorado River water use by about 14%. Now comes the hard part.

theconversation.com

Will Colorado River cuts create a new Dust Bowl?

Plus: A little ditty on the water-energy-water nexus

landdesk.org

Preserving the cowboy way of life

How the Los Charros Foundation is combating the diminishing ranching lifestyle in the shadow of Arizona’s decades-long drought.

insideclimatenews.org

Water vs. growth: Colorado communities, developers struggle to juggle both

Across the Denver area, local governments, water utilities, homebuilders and developers are employing a number of strategies to meet the demands for housing, respond to growth and strive to ensure the long-term supply of the resource essential to a future in this semi-arid region: water.

denverpost.com

A wet year promises a boost to both Colorado River Basin reservoirs and ecosystems

The network of pipes and massive bathtubs that is the Colorado River Basin’s reservoir storage system is going to see some recovery this year thanks to higher-than-average snowpack. That’s a promising sign for aquatic habitats in need of a health boost.

coloradosun.com

Earth is 'really quite sick now' and in danger zone in nearly all ecological ways, study says

Earth has pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits and into “the danger zone,” not just for an overheating planet that’s losing its natural areas, but for well-being of people living on it, according to a new study.

apnews.com

A giant pile of logs is trapping millions of tons of carbon in Canada

A pileup of ancient logs nearly as big as Manhattan is trapping millions of tons of carbon in northern Canada — and much of that stored material could be released into the atmosphere due to climate change, according to a recent study.

washingtonpost.com

Judge allows Montana youth climate change lawsuit to proceed to trial

A Lewis and Clark County District Court judge this week denied the state’s request for summary judgment in the Montana youth climate change lawsuit, meaning the case is effectively guaranteed to proceed to the trial scheduled to start June 12 in Helena.

dailymontanan.com

Take the medicine to the white man

A “Native American Church” without Native Americans.

harpers.org

Opinion: What should our national petroglyph be?

It’s time to elevate the telling of these remarkable symbols for future generations, writes Joel Berger, the Barbara Cox Anthony University Chair in Wildlife Conservation at Colorado State University.

sltrib.com

The long return: The Assiniboine and Sioux fight to reclaim sacred items and remains

Across the country, museums, universities and other institutions have been slow to repatriate items and human remains to Fort Peck.

billingsgazette.com

Wood for Life turns downed trees into firewood for Indigenous communities, teaches job skills

In an attempt to repurpose materials that would most likely otherwise be burned, Wood for Life turns downed trees on national forest land into firewood for nearby Indigenous communities.

azcentral.com

From decline to boom, a Wyoming community struggles to transition

Some Kemmerer and Diamondville residents worry the communities are unprepared to take advantage of major energy construction projects.

wyofile.com

Massive rare earth discoveries could mean a new mining rush in the Mountain West

Down a bumpy dirt road next to a small meandering creek in southeast Wyoming lies the site of a potentially massive rare earth mineral mine. These elements are used in many emerging technologies, including cell phones and solar panels, and they’re a growing part of the future of extractive industry in the Mountain West. But mining them here and in other places around the region are sure to have big impacts on nearby communities and the environment.

wyomingpublicmedia.org

In Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, an Australian-owned coal mine is quietly forging ahead

Grande Cache locals were surprised to hear Mine 14 — exempt from Alberta's pause on coal mining in the Rockies — is poised to start digging.

thenarwhal.ca

Colorado’s mountain towns are being loved to death. A new roadmap can help them escape the ‘amenity trap.’

A new report by Headwaters Economics highlights progressive growth strategies across the country to help amenity-rich communities navigate growth challenges.

coloradosun.com

Spokane wants to regulate AirBnBs (again). No one can prove their local impact.

New policies for short-term rentals try to strike a balance and actually have teeth.

rangemedia.co

Ketchum program pays property owners to rent to local workers

Real estate prices in Ketchum skyrocketed during the pandemic. To address local workers being priced out, it’s trying to lure property owners with cash incentives if they start renting to local workers.

boisestatepublicradio.org

How the affordable housing crisis drives homelessness

Marketplace’s David Brancaccio sat down with Gregg Colburn, an assistant professor at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments and co-author, along with Clayton Page Aldern, of the book “Homelessness Is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns.”

marketplace.org

Crested Butte Mountain Resort lift mechanics unanimously vote to form union

The lift maintenance crew at the Vail Resorts-owned ski area in Mount Crested Butte is the second in the nation to unionize and part of a growing labor movement in the resort industry.

coloradosun.com

‘A season to celebrate’ as U.S., Rocky Mountain ski areas experience record visitation

Record snowfall draws highest-ever visits to Rocky Mountain ski areas and an all-time high of 67.4 million skier visits to U.S. ski resorts.

coloradosun.com

Utah ski areas saw record snowfall in 2022-23. Here’s what it looks like in Toyota Tacomas

It's no secret that Utah's ski areas saw a record amount of snow this season. But what does 900 inches look like? Here's a look each resort's total measured in uniquely Utah units.

sltrib.com

These animals shouldn’t be alive, much less sprinting

Snow flies have adapted to keep running in subzero temperatures, but their time is running out.

theatlantic.com

Breakthrough Colorado River deal reached, outlining big water cuts for three years

Representatives of the seven states that depend on the Colorado River reached consensus Monday after months of negotiations, with California, Arizona and Nevada together committing to reduce water use by 3 million acre-feet between now and the end of 2026 — an average of 1 million acre-feet per year, cutting usage by about 14% across the Southwest.

latimes.com

At last, states reach a Colorado River deal: Pay farmers not to farm

The Biden administration has temporarily resolved a dire water crisis—with help from a wet winter.

grist.org