"An underground plume of toxic hydrocarbons from an oil spill north of the Colorado River near Parachute has been spreading for 10 days, threatening to contaminate spring runoff."

"With government snow plows idled by federal budget cuts known as the 'sequester,' small Wyoming towns on the fringe of Yellowstone are organizing a private fund-raising drive for this year's spring road-clearing operation inside the national park."

"BILLINGS, Mont. -- Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the owners of Montana's massive Colstrip coal-fired power plant, seeking to force the installation of more pollution controls at the decades-old facility."

In Fort Collins, Colorado, where the oil and gas industry is fighting a municipal ban on fracking, Coloradoan reporter Bobby Magill discovered that the state oil and gas association had forged some two-thirds of the "business" signatures on a petition to the city council.

"War has erupted between clean-air activists and state leaders, with the battleground being the data driving decisions about Utah’s air quality."

"You're going to need a bigger fishbowl.

"Intensive research shows vigorous regrowth in beetle-killed tracts."

"Two new bills introduced in the Montana legislature would usher in a zero-tolerance policy for wild bison, potentially opening the way for a return to the shoot-on-sight practices of years past."

"Dawn Morrow is not allowed to go outside. The brown soupy mix hanging over the Grand Valley spells disaster for her lungs, which already are compromised by a rare lung disease with a long name, lymphangioleiomyomatosis."

"SALT LAKE CITY -- A group of Utah doctors is declaring a health emergency over the Salt Lake City area's lingering air pollution problem."

"Phil Anschutz -- who has made money out of everything from a well explosion to a failing railroad -- is looking to wager $9 billion on the fierce winds of Wyoming."

After years of disagreement, planners from California and Nevada seem to have finally agreed on a plan that will allow development while protecting Lake Tahoe's crystalline waters.

"BILLINGS, Mont. -- Opponents of a railroad that would open Montana's coal fields to new mining have asked federal officials to halt their review of the proposal, alleging it would be much larger than disclosed with impacts stretching to the West Coast."

"Utahns have choice words for the ugly, unhealthy clouds that periodically shroud its valleys in winter -- like the one we can expect to endure through Thursday."

"SEATTLE — As regulators in the region weigh the potential impacts of trains full of coal moving along the Columbia River and the shores of Puget Sound, trainloads of oil are quietly on the move."