As the U.S. Forest Service prepares for the wildfire season, it must also confront COVID-19. Already the agency’s put a stop to prescribed burning. And it says it will continue fire suppression and other activities with guidance from the CDC.

Colorado became the 22nd state in the nation to abolish the death penalty when Gov. Jared Polis signed the legislature’s repeal into law on Monday. The death penalty is still on the books in every other state in the Mountain West except New Mexico.

Amid the COVID-19 epidemic, blood drives on campuses and corporate offices across the Mountain West have been cancelled. That’s led to a “severe blood shortage.” The good news is that citizens are responding. In Colorado, for example, Gov.

As the Mountain West braces for more coronavirus cases, one community service has become even more vital: Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels is among the services that can’t just stop when there’s a crisis. A lot of seniors depend on the home-delivered meals that the nonprofit provides.

Thousands of Mountain West residents who were slated to be kicked off food stamps will retain access to benefits next month. That’s after a federal judge blocked a Trump administration rule mandating work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or SNAP.

A new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition spotlights the severe lack of affordable housing in parts of the Mountain West. The shortage of rental units for low income people is particularly dire in Nevada, Utah and Colorado.

Originally published on August 29, 2019 7:22 am The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the state of Idaho must provide sex reassignment surgery to inmate Adree Edmo. The panel of three judges agreed with Federal District Judge B.

Originally published on August 2, 2019 7:55 am The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has reinstated Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears living near Yellowstone National Park. In the lower 48 there are six isolated regions of grizzly habitat, but the biggest population of bears live in Wyoming. That’s why the U.S.

Originally published on July 19, 2019 7:59 am Across the Mountain West, the majority of our land mass is publicly owned. A new mapping project by Headwaters Economics provides county-level data that can help you understand what that means. Headwaters researchers used data from the U.S.

Originally published on July 17, 2019 11:18 am The Bureau of Land Management is officially relocating its headquarters to the Mountain West. That’s according to an announcement by Colorado Senator Cory Gardner.

Originally published on July 12, 2019 4:32 pm A gray wolf was spotted in Northern Colorado this week and Wyoming Game and Fish just confirmed it’s a member of a Wyoming pack.

Originally published on July 5, 2019 8:49 am A new analysis shows that despite record visitation, the National Park Service is hiring fewer rangers and other staff. The analysis was conducted by USA Today and shows that the number of law enforcement rangers in parks has dropped by 20% since 2005.

Originally published on April 1, 2019 5:26 pm If you kill a wolf in Idaho, your effort might be worth $1,000.  A nonprofit in North Idaho covers costs for hunters and trappers who successfully harvest wolves. The group, called the Foundation for Wildlife Management pays up to $1,000 per wolf harvest.

Originally published on March 29, 2019 2:45 pm Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt faced fiery questions during his senate confirmation hearing Thursday.

Originally published on February 21, 2019 3:37 pm It’s a final four of sorts, but it has nothing to do with basketball. Idaho and Wyoming are now among only four states that do not fund preschool, according to a new report from the Education Commission of the States.

The Office of Government Ethics just released guidelines for federal employees during government shutdowns, about three weeks after the government reopened. During the five-week partial shutdown, thousands of federal employees took to GoFundMe or other online platforms to fundraise for groceries, day care costs or mortgage payments. According to the memo, that’s a no-no.