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Alex Hager/KUNCAs the Colorado River shrinks, water managers in the basin are looking to the ocean. Desalination could add fresh water to a drying region. -
tossmeanote/Flickr Creative CommonsImprisonment rates are markedly higher in communities of color across the U.S., according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit group that advocates for criminal justice reform. And its work to spotlight what it calls “the geography of mass incarceration” has recently focused on parts of the Mountain West.
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A Nevada workforce training initiative focused on rural and Indigenous communities is among a handful of workforce programs in the Mountain West receiving millions of dollars in funding through the Biden administration’s Good Jobs Challenge. -
U.S. Senators talked last week about the costs of climate change, and potential costs of doing nothing. Some argued we need to focus efforts on local communities and governments. They’re often paying the price when floods take out roads, wildfires pollute waterways or towns run out of water.
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The Mountain West News Bureau’s investigation of tribal jails has won a third journalism award, gaining recognition in the 2022 National Native Media contest.
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COVID-19 cases in nursing homes are climbing, and a new report reveals a wide range of case and vaccination rates in the Mountain West.
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Much of the Mountain West is in the midst of a heat wave, but what does that mean for wildfires? The National Interagency Fire Center forecasters say it depends on what happens next. Extreme heat can dry out fuels, starting with grass and brush and then drying out trees. If that’s followed by more hot, windy weather and thunderstorms, that’s a recipe for more wildfires.
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Heading into midterm election season, a new poll focuses on what voters in Mountain West swing states think about the outdoors and public lands.
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U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new $1 billion grant program this week to help communities facing wildfire risks. Grants for wildfire protection planning or outreach can be up to $250,000. Affiliated infrastructure and resilience projects can get grants of up to $10 million.
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Ten new locations across the U.S. may be getting a long-distance road, gravel, or mountain biking trail thanks to proposed federal legislation. A bipartisan bill that would create the trails recently passed the House of Representatives and is headed to the Senate. It’s called the Biking on Long-Distance Trails, or BOLT, Act.
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In 2014, Stericycle was fined $2.3 million for emissions violations.
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A new study shows that many Americans living in wildfire-prone areas have homes that are not built with wildfire in mind.
