One element of the BLM’s proposed Public Lands Rule would allow for so-called conservation leasing, which would enable public and private entities to carry out restoration work or compensatory mitigation to offset the impacts of projects. The Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, says that such leases could speed the development of clean energy on public lands, an important prospect given the Biden administration’s ambitious goal of permitting 25 gigawatts of such projects by 2025.

A new analysis from Climate Central shows that summer temperatures have risen steadily across the United States over the last half century, a trend that’s even sharper in the American West. The report chalks up much of the blame to climate change, but a researcher says that in urban areas the built environment can also play a huge role in temperature jumps.

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.

It’s something many current and former wildland firefighters ask themselves: what does all this smoke, dust and ash I’ve been breathing for months on end mean for my health? A new national registry for all firefighters could eventually shed a great deal more light on that largely unanswered question.

A new report from Climate Central - based on 50 years of weather data across the country - finds that the number of hot, dry and windy fire weather days have increased, particularly in the American West.

Indigenous art is often only viewed as a historical work of the past, but that art and the Indigenous people who make it are still present today. One Cochiti Pueblo artist showcases that concept in his latest exhibit at the History Colorado Museum in Denver.

Late last week, Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva and New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich introduced the Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act. It would make a number of changes to the Mining Law of 1872, including the collection of royalties from hardrock mining.

Native law experts convened by the UCLA Native Nations Law and Policy Center examine the controversies over Thacker Pass and Oak Flat, sites important to the Paiute and Apache, respectively, that would be destroyed by proposed mines.

Currently such firefighters are facing an Oct. 1 end to temporary pay raises that were a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The National Fire Registry, which seeks to better understand the link between firefighting and serious diseases like cancer, recently launched its online enrollment system. Wildland firefighters, who have proven more challenging research subjects than structure firefighters, are being encouraged to enroll.