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A new research project in the Mountain West aims to improve forecasts of snowfall, and estimates of how climate change will affect the region’s snowpacks and water supplies.
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The Bureau of Land Management recently held a series of public meetings about its new proposed sage grouse management plan. As the bird’s population continues to dwindle across the West, the agency is trying to add protections, all in an attempt to prevent the bird from being listed as an Endangered Species.
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Prescribed fires and mechanical thinning efforts are increasingly common land management tools intended to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. However, research into their long-term effectiveness is somewhat limited. A recent study looked at the effects of such interventions over more than 20 years on a dry, low-elevation research forest in Montana and found that the combination of thinning and burning was the most likely to reduce fire risk.
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Weather is one of the most important and dynamic factors at play in wildfires, and it is the job of incident meteorologists to provide up-to-date forecasts so that the crews and managers can stay safe and accomplish their management goals.
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The Western Governors' Association has been looking for ways for its member states to reduce their carbon footprint. One thing they're exploring is how government buildings are built and whether carbon can be stored in concrete.
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The federal government says this is the nation’s warmest winter on record. And a new study shows human-caused climate change was the driver in many cities, including parts of the Mountain West region.
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Oil and gas drillers are releasing more climate-warming methane than the government estimates, a new study shows.
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In Silverton, the tangled debate over how — and whether — to protect wetlands in town goes on and onThe Silverton board of trustees has been grappling with how to handle its wetlands amid a desperate need for housing since 2022. After pausing construction while they figure it out, they’re at it again.
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New research shows cattle grazing can coexist with one of the most iconic and threatened birds in the West.
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More than 100 years ago, a professor in the Mountain West invented a tool and technique to measure the amount of water in a snowpack — a discovery that still lives on to this day.
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The seven states that use water from the Colorado River have proposed competing plans for how it should be managed after 2026. Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming have one plan in mind. California, Arizona and Nevada have a different idea. The states primarily disagree about the how to account for climate change and how to release water from Lake Powell.
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Water negotiators from states around the Southwest said they are planning to submit separate proposals to the Bureau of Reclamation about managing the Colorado River after 2026.