Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY)

"Warming waters and a series of dams are making the grueling migration of the Chinook salmon even more deadly — and threatening dozens of other species."

"EUREKA COUNTY, Nev. — Ambling across a desert valley, 100 or so wild horses congregate in and around muddy pools of water in a flat, arid section of the Bureau of Land Management's Pancake Herd Management Area."

"Scientists have detected microplastic pollution in Lake Tahoe’s deep blue waters for the first time. Now they are trying to determine its source and potential harm to the lake’s flora and fauna."

"Oil drilling in Nevada is a risky bet—the geology is complicated and drillers say the odds are small that they will actually find oil in a state where there are only 120 producing wells. But since President Donald Trump took office pledging to expand oil and gas leasing on federal lands, Nevada has become the Wild West for oil speculation."

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday restored federal protections to grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park, abiding by a court ruling last year that removal of the bears’ threatened status violated the Endangered Species Act."

"Nearly two years after dramatically shrinking the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, the Trump administration finalized a management plan Friday that would allow trees to be plowed down using heavy chains, as well as utility lines and more ranching, in the smaller area that is still preserved."

"Development and climate change are top threats to wildlife habitat and biodiversity, and in the arid west, water supply is a consistent concern for all kinds of life. But ecologists see a simple, natural way for ecosystems to be more resilient: beavers."

"A mining company says it won’t carry out cleanup work ordered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of a Superfund project in southwest Colorado."