Regional News
Vital news from around the Mountain West and Southwest. Explore coverage from the Mountain West News Bureau, Western Water Bureau, NPR, and Rocky Mountain Community Radio.
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The plan prioritizes a program that transfers live bison to tribal nations, as well as hunts that take place outside the park.
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The Forest Corps, a new collaboration between AmeriCorps and the U.S. Forest Service, just inaugurated its first cohort of nearly 90 members. They’ll be sent out into priority landscapes across the West to do fuels reduction, prescribed burn and tree reseeding projects, all intended to support the USFS’ broader Wildfire Crisis and Reforestation strategies.
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The step-by-step roadmap for a second Trump administration could have detrimental effects on public lands, according to conservationists. But mining advocates say it’s necessary to reverse Biden-era policies.
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Tribal communities across the country are being allocated $45 billion for “climate resiliency.” This includes big projects such as improving community electric grids and creating solar, wind and battery storage.
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Negotiations over the water supply for 40 million people are hinged on how you interpret the words "will not cause," written into the century-old Colorado River Compact.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently denied federal protections for two native fish in the Mountain West with shrinking populations.
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There have been over 40 homicides in national parks over the last decade. And experts say accidents happen all the time, especially in the water.
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It was over 100 degrees last week when 160 workers in Colorado were culling 1.8 million chickens with avian flu at a commercial egg-laying facility.
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In the wake of the devastating Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire in 2022, the U.S. Forest Service paused prescribed fires, which started the infernos, to review the agency’s program. A newly released Government Accountability Office report looks into how well the agency has implemented changes since then.
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The Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo is an event that challenges the hyper-masculinity associated with rodeos and Western ranching culture.
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Fires are increasingly gaining steam overnight in the West, especially in mountainous regions. A recent study says drought conditions are the largest driver.
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The U.S. Bicycle Route System already had designated roads in Utah, Nevada and Arizona. Now it’s in Wyoming too.
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These state-regulated plans are typically more expensive and offer less coverage compared to private insurance. Colorado’s is the first new Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan created in the U.S. in decades.
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A “be on the lookout” alert issued around 2 AM on July 4 said Samson Fussner had taken a woman hostage at gunpoint and threatened suicide by cop. The 28-year-old died later that day following an armed altercation that drew more than 20 law enforcement rangers to protect visitors and staff in Canyon Village in Yellowstone National Park.
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As communities in the Mountain West grow, so does the need for Spanish language interpreters. It's especially true in booming resort towns where Latinos power economies—and also need to access services.
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Colorado remains a hot spot. But some are going to unexpected places like conservative Wyoming, where abortion access has expanded in recent years.