Arizona cities, environmental advocates and businesses are teaming up to combat extreme heat by launching a variety of tree-planting initiatives as the state's climate conditions are becoming more extreme, and fatalities from extreme heat have spiked in recent years. Read more»

The Biden administration will send $197 million from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law to help communities prepare for wildfires this summer, the first round of a new $1 billion Community Wildfire Defense Grant program authorized under the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. Read more»

For the third time in 10 years, the 9th Circuit took up the fight between the Center for Biological Diversity and the U.S. Forest Service for failing to regulate the disposal of lead bullets on public lands in northern Arizona. Read more»

A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday encouraged a community advocate group for Arizona’s Mogollon Rim to seek mediation with the U.S. Forest Service over expanded grazing allotment into a specific portion of the Tonto National Forest known as Bar X. Read more»

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will spend nearly $500 million on projects to reduce wildfire risk in 11 areas in Western states, including Arizona, with funding coming from the budget, climate and taxes law that passed last year. Read more»

At least 30 horses were found shot to death in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in October, highlighting the tensions in Arizona among scientists, hunters, government agencies and horse advocates. Read more»

Federal officials are closing access to a section of the Coronado National Forest where Arizona officials installed hundreds of cargo containers in a failed attempt to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Read more»

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said the state will halt placing shipping containers along the Arizona-Mexico border, and begin removing hundreds of the 8,000-lb. steel boxes from federal lands by Jan. 4, according to a court document filed late Wednesday. Read more»

Veterans and families of armed service members who died while on active duty can get free access to federal recreational areas, including national parks and forests, as of Veterans Day — a day when the public can also get free admission to national parks. Read more»

Arizona officials began installing cargo containers in the Coronado National Forest on Monday as part of an effort to build a 10-mile-long barrier, ignoring federal officials and igniting a legal challenge from environmentalists. Read more»

On Friday, Gov. Doug Ducey fired back at federal agencies demanding the removal of his shipping containers from the Arizona-Mexico border, filing a lawsuit that says land at the border shouldn’t be under federal jurisdiction and the state has a constitutional right to take action. Read more»

$200,000 in federal spending will support the removal of buffelgrass in Saguaro National Park, as the U.S. Interior Department is set to invest $10 million to stem wildfires throughout Arizona, Deputy Secretary Beaudreau said during a visit to Tucson on Monday. Read more»

A federal appeals court rejected Rosemont Copper's bid for a new hearing on its mining project southeast of Tucson, keeping a ruling in place which effectively halted the long-controversial mine in the Santa Rita Mountains. Read more»

A federal judge in Arizona has ruled that 18 horses seized by the U.S. Forest Service should not be re-introduced into the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests because they are considered unregulated livestock instead of protected wild horses. Read more»

Attorneys for the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros argued in federal court Friday that 18 horses seized by the U.S. Forest Service should be moved to a national forest, not sold to free market buyers or, potentially, slaughterers. Read more»