& the West
Published since 2016, ‘& the West’ offers reporting, research, interviews, and analysis on the environmental future of California and western North America. It is produced by the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University. More about us »
On the island’s less touristy and more arid West side, farmers try to clean up the messy footprint of colonial agriculture.
What we’re reading elsewhere.
The four corners region faces back-to-back floods; ranchers are trying a new form of fencing; a look inside a town recovering from wildfire damage; a possible data-center power solution; good news for America’s rarest fish; and more environmental news from around the West.
Southwest Colorado gets hit by its second historic flood in a matter of weeks. On Nov. 1, after about 15 hours of hard rain, creeks around Durango overflowed, forcing evacuations. The San Juan River at Pagosa Springs was forecast to crest higher than in 1911, which would make it the largest flood on record there. THE LAND DESK
The West has lost more than a third of its glacier cover since the 1950s. A new inventory by Portland State University and the USGS has found that nearly a quarter of the glaciers across the seven Western states are now gone. In addition, the Sierra Nevada alone has lost 77 percent of its historic glacial volume, which will have impacts on high alpine streams. OREGON CAPITAL CHRONICLE
What it takes to unfence the West. Ranchers, mostly in the mountain West, are swapping barbed wire for invisible fences through GPS collars and a phone app. They can now draw virtual boundaries for their cattle, delivering mild shocks when a cow wanders outside a boundary. Wildfires and lower costs have driven much of this interest. HIGH COUNTRY NEWS
“America’s rarest fish” is rebounding. The Devils Hole pupfish lives only in Death Valley National Park’s Devils Hole. In a recent population count, biologists found 137 pupfish, which was up from 77 individuals in the spring. This latest count is an encouraging sign that conservation efforts are working. LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Retired jet engines are being turned into generators for data centers. In Arizona’s desert “boneyards,” where thousands of retired aircraft are parked, companies are salvaging jet engines. Why? They can be rebuilt to burn natural gas and generate electricity, which could help supplement electricity demand for data centers. Environmentalists, however, say that this is extremely inefficient. NEW YORK TIMES
Federal DOGE cuts are hitting tribal climate projects especially hard. New research has found that DOGE cut $468 million in funding for Indian Country, and around half of it was for environmental and natural-resource work. In Kotzebue, Alaska, the cancellation of a $20 million Environmental Protection Agency grant has stalled a wind project that would have brought clean energy to the remote community. GRIST
Oil exploration in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is on hold until at least mid-January. The refuge is believed to contain massive amounts of oil and gas deposits, but had been protected until a recent bill pushed by the Trump administration. The future of the region remains uncertain, as the state awaits a ruling. ALASKA BEACON
A court rules against California’s first carbon capture project. The project would store carbon dioxide deep underground in a depleted Kern County oil field. However, a judge found its environmental review never analyzed the industries expected to supply carbon to the project. As California counts on carbon capture to meet its goals, the company behind the project will push to keep this option open. CALMATTERS
Disappearing snowpack in the West. Is the end of western mountain snowpacks in sight? San Francisco Chronicle Washington Post
Disappearing water in the West. Does groundwater have a future in California, or is its depletion inevitable? Stanford Earth Matters
Disappearing water, Part II. Water agencies serving 27 million Californians are on their own next year, getting nothing from state water projects. Los Angeles Times
Disappearing water, Part III. Small farmers in the Central Valley wonder: where is Kings County water going? SJV Water
Oregon’s proposed Jordan Cove liquified natural gas project abandoned. It was designed to include a liquified natural gas terminal and a 229-mile natural gas pipeline and send liquified natural gas to Asian markets. Oregon Public Broadcasting
Interior Secretary Haaland works to eliminate racist place names, like those using the word “squaw.” How names like “Chinaman Gulch” affected one Asian American. Grist KSUT
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Associate editor
Geoff McGhee specializes in interactive data visualization and multimedia storytelling. He is a veteran of the multimedia and infographics staffs at The New York Times, Le Monde and ABCNews.com. MORE »
Editorial Assistant
Xavier graduated from Stanford in 2023 with a degree in economics and is currently a master’s student in Stanford’s journalism program. He has written about the high phone call costs faced by U.S. inmates, temporary Mexican workers’ interactions with the labor market and the efficacy of government healthcare assistance programs. A lifelong lover of charts and maps, he enjoys combining data journalism with narrative-style reporting.
‘& the West’ is published by the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University, which is dedicated to research, teaching, and journalism about the past, present, and future of the North American West.
Faculty Director
Associate Director
