A federal push to return American Bison herds to tribal control raises hopes that the once-abundant species can regenerate landscapes and restore native traditions. Continue readingDo buffalo still roam the American West with Native tribes? And if so, where?
Category: Up close
The data-driven insurance business is in trouble as climate-change-driven disasters arrive with greater fury and frequency. Continue readingFor beleaguered homeowners and their insurers, the fire next time could be a flood
Experts believe the Chinese balloon downed over the Atlantic coast this month was snooping on U.S. missile defenses. Part of the landscape for a half-century, they are headed for a costly refresh in an era of rising global tensions.Continue readingSpy balloon controversy draws attention to western nuclear missile facilities
The “poster child” for dispossession The Lakota Sioux were given control of land including Mount Rushmore, above, in an 1868 treaty, but lost it after gold was discovered in the South Dakota’s Black Hills. In 1980 the Supreme Court recognized Congress took the land without payment and awarded the Tribe $100 million. Tribal leaders are…Continue readingNative American land return movement makes gains, faces obstacles
The emerging science of road ecology has been tallying the cost of collisions to animal populations and vehicle owners. Now western states are mitigating the danger, a process that new Federal money could accelerate.Continue readingWildlife crossings seek to reconnect the animal West
As drought tightens its grip on the West, states are taking different approaches to encouraging water conservation.Continue readingWater restrictions close in, sporadically, on the West’s most populous areas
Billions in potential federal dollars have led Gov. Gavin Newsom to pause the decommissioning of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant — source of one sixth of the state’s green energy.Continue readingWeighing the consequences of losing carbon-free energy in California
Above: State of Jefferson themed merchandise for sale in a Colusa County restaurant. Aaron Anderer via Flickr By Felicity Barringer For decades, as some rural Californians living in the woodlands of the state’s far north have felt isolated, exploited, and oppressed by distant state and federal governments, a secessionist movement has simmered. In the 1940s,…Continue readingThe pandemic reignited rural secessionist movements and upended one county government
The state has gone from being an also-ran in the population sweepstakes to the country’s fastest-growing.Continue readingIdaho is increasingly a bullseye for Californian migrants
In a new feature called “Up Close,” we survey a group of notable recent stories on California’s deep groundwater problems amid an ongoing drought.Continue readingCalifornia’s crisis is latest chapter of water flowing to power