Political animals

“Wolfish” explores the question of what, exactly, we perceive as threats.

U.S. officials will work to restore more large bison herds to Native American lands under a Friday order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland that calls for the government to tap into Indigenous knowledge in its efforts to conserve the burly animals that are an icon of the American West.

The resolution is the latest volley fired in what has been a long-running battle against bison in Montana.

The rescue of the American bison from the brink of extinction is a conservation success story, but the DNA of today’s herds is very different from those that once roamed the Great Plains, writes University of Montana philosophy professor Christopher Preston.

Idaho Fish and Game has killed about 300 deer in Slate Creek area to curb the spread of chronic wasting disease. “It’s tough on us, tough on landowners, tough on the deer. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Senior biologist with National Elk Refuge says chronic wasting disease hasn't shown up there yet. But any sense of solace is probably short lived.

In the Northern Rockies, adventurous grizzlies climb mountains to feast on as many as 40,000 moths a day, a mysterious ecological marvel.

With virtually no discussion, the Utah Legislature on Wednesday passed a bill that would radically alter the rules around cougar hunting.

As prospective visitors complain of being "locked out," park officials acknowledge the first-come, first-served system isn’t perfect; but they say it has helped manage high traffic volumes and protect natural resources.

A hunters’ group wants Wyoming residents to debate corner-crossing laws and other trespass issues, saying it won’t wait on a foot-dragging Legislature to have a robust statewide conversation.

A lawsuit all but invited by the country’s chief justice threatens one the most consequential authorities granted to presidents by Congress.

Public lands only exist because tribes have been removed and excluded from their traditional homelands. National parks, forests,
and shorelines are painful reminders for Indigenous people that this history of separation is ongoing.

Mount Blue Sky has attracted unanimous support from Colorado’s geographic naming advisory board and from the tribes that sent representatives to the meeting.

With the nation's second lithium mine starting construction this week, Nevada is moving toward creating a full-fledged lithium industry.

At its peak, at least 4,000 households were stuck in an application review bottleneck.

North Dakota, Wyoming and South Dakota have the fewest EV registrations in the nation.

A bill to overhaul New Mexico’s 88-year-old Oil and Gas Act passed out of its first committee hearing this week on a straight party vote, while a bill that would have promoted hydrogen production from natural gas disappeared from the Legislature’s calendar.

Satellites in December detected a methane plume nearly 5 miles long, originating from a natural gas processing plant just north of Douglas.

GOP lawmakers’ effort to forestall the demise of Utah’s largest power plant cleared the Legislature on the final day of the session in an amended form that requires a close study into how the coal-fired Intermountain Power Project may continue operation beyond its scheduled retirement in July 2025.

Signal Peak, an underground coal mine north of Billings, has been ordered to stop mining federal coal at least until a study can be done to determine the environmental impacts of burning the fuel.

Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse are urging U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to block the controversial Uinta Basin Railway Project from progressing.

Call it a tale of America’s two energy transitions. In one, utilities are rapidly closing coal plants, with consumption of the fossil fuel falling to levels not seen since the Eisenhower administration. In the other, American oil and gas drillers are on track to set new pumping records, driven by high demand at home and abroad.

In 2023, these three technologies account for 82% of the new, utility-scale generating capacity that developers plan to bring online in the U.S.

Not everyone feels comfortable enjoying the outdoor culture the state has to offer. For the second year in a row, Ski Utah is working to change that.

Colorado Avalanche Information Center forecasters need intricate knowledge of snowy layers that sit below the surface as they warn public of hazards and risks.

“It’s always been one of my biggest nightmares ... and I can tell you, it's much scarier living through that than you can ever imagine.”

The author drew on a decade of personal experience and another winter of reporting to craft her book on the history and future of skiing.

Author Heather Hansman talks with Auden Schendler about the bumps ahead for an industry facing climate and economic challenges.

A new study suggests that reducing forest fire severity in the next few decades could make all the difference for future generations of trees in the West.

Over 50 fire ecologists across the Western U.S. took an unprecedented look at how forests in thousands of locations are recovering from fire in a changing climate. The results were alarming.

Overgrazing by deer poses a threat to a giant quaking aspen tree colony in Utah — one of the largest organisms in the world.

Aquatic biologists began spraying to kill the invasive species at Highline Lake State Park on Wednesday. Park managers are worried decontamination procedures will kill boat traffic.

A Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employee shares his best tips for catching and cooking invasive bullfrogs.

The Cotter Uranium Mill Superfund site near Cañon City has an estimated 5.8 million tons of radioactive waste buried within 2 miles of homes.

Demand to live in mountain communities is through the roof, and that’s putting a strain on local workers.

Tourist towns worry that the Legislature will harm their efforts to ease the affordable housing crisis.

Mount Lincoln and Mount Democrat, two 14ers in the Mosquito Range, will be closed to the public after lawmakers rejected increased protections for landowners.

The trouble with normal — especially when dealing with temperature — is it (almost) always gets worse.

Johnson reported on Montana politics and government for Montana’s largest newspapers and wire services for 45 years.