Mountain West News Bureau

The Bureau of Land Management oversees more than 12 million acres within Arizona alone. And much like the rest of the West, it's filled with public lands making up federally protected national monuments that hold unique value for tribes.

A new report from climate central shows that extremely warm winter days are on the rise.

The BIA, which is responsible for overseeing trust responsibilities with 575 federally recognized tribes, focused on reducing its own workforce through mass layoffs and hiring freezes within the Interior Department – much like agencies elsewhere.

The team, led by a Boise State University civil engineering researcher, looked at half a million wildfire starts, and hundreds of attributes about them. Beyond the obvious weather variables like wind speed, temperature and humidity, they also considered human factors like density of development.

A new report finds 2025 brought widespread drought, massive wildfires and destructive windstorms across several Mountain West states — and underscores how closely connected those disasters have become.

Wildfires are a top concern across the region. But certain parts also fall within "hail alley" — the part of the country that sees the most hailstorms. It's driving up insurance costs in unexpected places.

That exhibit at the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site on the Navajo Nation — still under review — hasn't been taken down yet, but his name is literally inseparable from this land in northeastern Arizona and its rich history.

The 11 senators and representatives - all Democrats - said that the consolidation of four Department of Interior agencies’ wildfire programs is being done “without adequate analysis, transparency, or planning to prevent disruption during what is expected to be a significant fire season or to safeguard long-term wildfire preparedness.”

Declining snowpack is creating new challenges for irrigation, livestock, and traditional food systems in tribal communities

A coalition of public lands advocates and historians has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of censoring American history and science at national parks, including several in the Mountain West.