Bison once dominated the Great Plains but were nearly wiped out by hunters in the 1800s. Now scientists are learning that bison’s presence improves plant and wildlife diversity on the prairies.
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Articles on US West
Displaying 41 - 60 of 60 articles
The Interior Department is expanding oil and gas leasing on land in six western states that is vital habitat for the greater sage grouse. Lawsuits are certain to follow.
Some observers have blamed recent wildfires on poor forest management, while others point to climate change. In fact, a climate scientist explains, reducing fire risks means tackling both issues.
Huge fires roared through Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 1988, scorching one-third of the park. Since then the park has been a valuable lab for studying how forests recover from fires.
The Ogalalla Aquifer is a vast underground lake that irrigates farms across the US Great Plains. It took thousands of years to fill, but human use could drain it in roughly a century.
Many cities are removing their Confederate statues. But pioneer monuments represent a racist past, too. There are at least 200 of them, and their future is now being debated.
Climate change, development, past forest management policies and current firefighting practices are creating conditions for large, costly wildfires.
The Trump administration is reopening a plan negotiated under President Obama to protect Western sage grouse. This could signal to states not to bother working together to protect other endangered species.
With elevated wildfire risks forecast across much of the western US this summer, here’s how travelers can track local conditions, stay out of harm’s way and avoid accidentally starting fires.
Governments and private companies have been seeding clouds to create snow for decades, without proof that it actually works. A recent study peered into clouds in search of answers.
The Trump administration’s push for ‘energy dominance’ could spur a new wave of domestic uranium production. A scholar describes the damage done in past uranium booms and the visible scars that remain.
Much disaster reporting simply chronicles events, but good journalism digs deeper and examines causes. Stories about Colorado wildfires have raised questions about risk, especially on fire anniversaries.
The Colorado River supplies water to millions of people and irrigates thousands of miles of farmland. New research warns that climate change is likely to magnify droughts in the Colorado Basin.
From Chinese laborers to ‘bad hombres,’ the US settler mentality has perpetuated an immigration system that pushes out unwanted groups and bypasses the Constitution.
A scholar of American Indian studies shares the lesser-known, true story of two men who stood up and spoke out against the murder of American Indians, and how they are celebrated as heroes today.
Acquitted in the Malheur takeover trial, Ryan Bundy urges protests against efforts to conserve public lands. Who will protect federal employees?
Conservation methods for gravel-bed rivers – which are ecological hotspots in the western U.S. – need to improve in order to deal with the effects of climate change.
States, including Colorado, restrict the use of rain barrels. A water law scholar says a better way to conserve is reduce waste from big – and powerful – water users.
Behind the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon lie decades of controversy over federal control of public land in western states.
Like much federal land in the US West, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has a long history tied to Native Americans’ plight and conflicts between settlers and the federal government.
Top contributors
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Regents Professor Emeritus and Morris K. Udall Professor of Law & Public Policy Emeritus, University of Arizona
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Professor of Fire Ecology, University of Montana
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Associate Professor of Geography and Director, Earth Lab, University of Colorado Boulder
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Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Boise State University
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W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History, Pomona College
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Cecil D. Andrus Endowed Chair for Environment and Public Lands and University Distinguished Professor, Boise State University
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Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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Senior Research Scientist, Colorado Water Institute, Colorado State University
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Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Utah
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Archivist, Water Resources Archive, Colorado State University
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Professor of Engineering, University of California, Merced
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Professor of Paleoclimatology and Paleoecology, University of Wyoming
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Senior Research Associate and Director, Western Water Policy Program, University of Colorado Boulder
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Samual A. Graham Dean, and William B. Stapp Collegiate Professor of Environmental Education, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan
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Professor of Practice in Water Policy and Governance and Director, Water Resources Program, University of New Mexico
