In a sign of how dire drought conditions have become in the American West, the Bureau of Reclamation will keep water in Lake Powell and add more water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir upstream to stave off dropping water levels. Read more»

As the gap between fire and rainfall season becomes shorter, devastatingly large wildfires followed by intense precipitation events will grow in frequency as the effects of climate change become more widespread and entrenched. Read more»

A majority of Americans favor a transition to more carbon-neutral energy sources like solar and wind power, but approximately the same majority believes fossil fuels will remain a part of the energy portfolio for the foreseeable future. Read more»

The congressional committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol subpoenaed four large Silicon Valley social media companies Thursday, saying the companies had failed to furnish requested items vital to the investigation. Read more»

The Biden administration will restore environmental protections to three national monuments, including two in Utah and the only marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean, that were diminished dramatically by his predecessor Donald Trump. Read more»

Scientists painted a grim picture of the changing climate and hydrological conditions in the American West during a virtual forum - while the recent dry patterns are part of a larger more extended trend, it is also impossible to overstate how dry and hot it has been in the last two years. Read more»

Wildfires the world over have exacted a devastating toll, destroying lives with increased frequency as warming temperatures and questionable forest management practices have made fires larger, more intense and more frequent. Read more»

Wild horse advocates have created a stable of volunteers hoping to prove a concept of fertility control will work better to keep the population of wild horses in a healthy range than other practices currently used by the federal government. Read more»

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the federal government needs to do a better job of forest management after viewing damage from the million-acre August Complex fire - a rare admission in an era where climate change receives the brunt of the blame for the spate of wildfires. Read more»

Forecasts for high temperatures and precipitation bode ill for the American West, already in the throes of a prolonged drought and attempting to quell hundreds of large wildfires scattered across nine states. Read more»

Despite the inordinate number of fires burning across America’s heat-afflicted West, communities have managed to evade death and destruction so far, but experts warn conditions appear conducive to a severe fire season as the summer deepens into fall. Read more»

The scale of the drought is beginning to crystallize as new information shows certain states experienced their driest winter ever while the American West is plunged steeper into a historic drought that covers much of the region. Read more»

Blue skies will smile on the American West for the next several months, according to federal meteorologists — bad news for a region already mired in a multiyear drought. Currently, the entire state of Arizona is experiencing some form of drought. Read more»

A panel of three federal judges ruled Thursday that President Donald Trump’s memo excluding undocumented immigrants from the 2020 census count is unlawful, finding the U.S. Constitution mandates the enumeration of all people in the nation, not solely citizens. Read more»

A Christian pastor claims in a suit filed in federal court in California Monday that the federal government illegally targeted her for administering her faith to refugees and immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border. Read more» 1