Trials by fire

"I've learned from this process how important the fires are," a nearby resident said.

Canada brought in the military to help firefighting and recovery efforts in Alberta on Thursday after wildfires forced thousands to evacuate homes and prompted several oil and gas producers to shut operations in Canada's main crude-producing province.

An intense early season heat wave will strike the Pacific Northwest starting Friday, breaking records for several days from Oregon to Alberta. Both Seattle and Portland, Ore., may see their first 90-degree days of 2023.

The world has entered an unprecedented era of wildfire danger, John Vaillant argues in his upcoming book “Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World,” which chronicles the devastation of Fort McMurray and warns of a hotter, more volatile future.

A lawsuit could change how the Forest Service fights fires.

Among other things, Tim’s Act would raise starting wages to $20 an hour for new federal wildland firefighters, increase base pay, provide health care and mental health services as well as provide housing stipends for all firefighters on duty more than 50 miles from their primary residence.

Idaho leaders intend to sue federal officials if the Department of Interior does not remove grizzly bears in the Lower 48 states from the Endangered Species Act list, according to a notice of intent filed Wednesday.

Missoula-based environmental advocacy group has threatened to sue the state of Montana and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over grizzly bears that get caught in traps set for other animals across the state.

After half-century of expansion, bears reach limit of “suitable habitat,” federal scientists report.

The legislation is meant to codify Colorado’s current restoration plan, but the governor worries it could throw a legal wrench into the process.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission unanimously approved a wolf management plan that will slash the state’s wolf population by 62% — from 1,337 wolves to 500 — over the next several years.

In op-ed, wildlife advocate Doug Peacock says Idaho incident points to serious flaws with alleged commitment to bear recovery.

In an ambitious and time-constrained fundraising effort, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition announced Thursday it needs to raise more than $2.5 million by Oct. 1 to purchase a gold mine on Yellowstone National Park’s northern border.

Working at a national park is no picnic, according to a new survey of employees.

Native American tribes this week pressed a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the boundaries of two national monuments in Utah, asserting state officials misread a 1906 law to obtain “absurd and confusing results.”

Senate Republicans are trying to block a rule proposed by the Bureau of Land Management that would place conservation on equal footing with energy development, recreation and other uses of bureau lands.

An Idaho legislative committee that was created to be a check on federal power met Tuesday, taking testimony against a proposed federal rule on conservation and public land management — amid drought, wildfires and other drastic changes in the West.

Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke has teamed with Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) to introduce bipartisan legislation to aid communities adjacent to national parks deal with the impacts of skyrocketing visitation.

The plight of Bozeman Creek is an indicator of how the health of waterways in Greater Yellowstone and the West are facing a multitude of damaging threats.

Oxbow Bend, a tourist hot spot known for its breathtaking views of the Snake and Teton Range behind it and the habitat it provides for fish and other wildlife, is at risk of drying out this spring. The solution — using up all of Wyoming’s allocated storage — is only a stopgap.

A beleaguered Colorado waterway garners new attention.

Snake River Waterkeeper, a nonprofit advocacy organization, claims its water tests near Simplot’s Grand View Feedlot show dramatically higher bacteria content due to runoff from livestock waste.

As climate change diminishes flows in the Colorado River, regional leaders are negotiating its future and Indigenous people want that to include establishing their full access to the water.

Water is scarce in much of the Mountain West. That’s why, every spring, one tribe spends days cleaning ditches that are vital to irrigating their farmlands. But aging infrastructure and the effects of climate change are making it harder for farmers to get enough water – even after the cleanings.

A new interactive story map shows many of the nation’s dams are aging. That poses a threat to downstream communities, including dozens in the Mountain West.

The Low Flow Conveyance Channel suggests the answer is "no."

The federal government will pay Colorado $5 million more for ongoing cleanup of the Gold King Mine spill into the Animas and San Juan rivers.

NOAA hydrologists said deep snowpack across much of the West will bring short-term relief, but the equally deep “bathtub rings” at Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are a reminder of the long road to bringing supply and demand in balance.

For years, fossil fuel companies and utilities have touted carbon capture and storage, or CCS, as a way to cut climate pollution from the power sector. Now, federal regulators are asking them to walk the walk.

Montana’s Colstrip Power Plant is one of the nation’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide pollution, with about 10.9 million tons emitted in 2021.

White House clean energy adviser John Podesta this week touted a cobalt mine in Idaho as just one example of a new domestic critical mineral project getting permits and coming online to support a booming electric vehicle industry. There’s just one problem: The mine quietly stopped construction in late March, a victim not of government red tape but of the vagaries of a global marketplace.

How can we start resolving the conflicts that have plagued renewable energy development, rather than just talk about them? What are the specific steps that will allow us to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels?

In Colorado's North Fork Valley, Mark Waltermire grows hundreds of varieties of vegetables. Will he be able to add electricity to his community offering?

Idaho researchers will receive $24 million for a new research project on the impact of changes in climate, population and technology on energy and water use in Idaho.

Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) announced Wednesday a fresh legislative effort to speed up hydropower licensing, arguing that looming dam closures threaten power grid reliability and climate goals.

U.S. nuclear regulators licensed a multibillion-dollar complex to temporarily store tons of spent nuclear fuel in New Mexico from commercial power plants around the nation, a decision likely to be challenged in court.

Norwegian company developing silicon-based materials for higher-density batteries with faster and longer-lasting charges is considering Butte and three other locations to build a large manufacturing plant.

Decades of inadequate funding and rising temperatures are putting Indigenous detainees at risk.

Mika WestWolf, a Native woman, was hit and killed while walking on Hwy 93. Officials are investigating Sunny White, who ascribes to White nationalist ideology and whose children are named "Aryan" and "Nation."

Community development financial institutions fill gaps in the economy, but many worry that new federal rules could undermine their work.

Annual inflation peaked at over 10% last year in the Mountain West. It was running at an annual rate of 6% in March, a whole percentage point higher than the national average. The cost of housing accounts for a third of the CPI. So, it adds up that the index is running hottest in the region.

Gov. Spencer Cox urged residents Thursday to help prepare for a future of “more,” telling them to speak up about the urgent challenges posed in particular for housing and water supplies, transportation, open spaces and recreation access.

In Idaho and North Dakota, annual school enrollment has increased over the past five years, except for temporary drops early in the pandemic. But Idaho is bracing for a decline starting in 2025, when children from a historic 2007 baby boom in the state start turning 18.

Utah Inland Port Authority’s mission to develop a massive international import-export hub in Salt Lake City, piled high with shipping containers and idling semi trucks, appears to be on pause for now, if not outright abandoned. Instead, the focus has shifted to smaller truck-to-train intermodal sites in key areas of the state.

A proposed housing development on the Galloway Lands, just outside Fernie, B.C., has sparked concerns about wildlife, affordable housing and recreation.

The largest conservation easement in the Paradise Valley was recently created when Arthur Blank signed a deal with the Gallatin Valley Land Trust for his 8,800 acre Paradise Valley Ranch.

Pushing the boundaries of synthetic nutrition, researchers have turned CO2 from the air into a protein substitute for animal feed.

A coalition of Indigenous and environmental groups filed a lawsuit this week against the state of New Mexico, alleging the state has failed to protect the earth, air and water against pollution, as spelled out in the New Mexico constitution.

Communities can now sue in state courts for compensation for the costs of climate change—something oil companies have fought against for years.

Four students wanted to learn more about climate anxiety, how it’s affecting others at CU Boulder and to see whether they could offer any help. Their project started as an assignment in a Environment, Media, and Society class and ended up as a website and Instagram account to share their findings.