"President Joe Biden plans to create two new national monuments in California in the coming days, according to two people briefed on the announcement, aiming to cement his environmental legacy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office."

"Wyoming will sell a 1-square-mile (2.6-square-kilometer) parcel of pristine land bordering Grand Teton National Park to the U.S. government for $100 million after Gov. Mark Gordon signed off on a deal Friday that ends the state’s longstanding threats to unload it to a developer."

"The Montana supreme court upheld a landmark trial court decision last August in favor of 16 young people who said their health and futures were being jeopardized by climate change, which the state aggravates through its permitting of energy projects."

"A legal fight over an 88-mile proposed railway in Utah has set the stage for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide how federal agencies evaluate the environmental impacts of projects requiring their approval, a decision with the potential to drastically shift how projects are permitted across the nation."

"Six key watersheds along the Colorado River have become increasingly vulnerable to drought and could be nearing a point of no return, a new study has found."

"The US air force has backpedaled on a claim that the supreme court’s recent reversal of the Chevron doctrine shields it against regulators’ orders to clean drinking water the military polluted in Tucson, Arizona."

"The Department of the Interior announced that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has published proposed updates to strengthen conservation and management of greater sage-grouse habitat on public lands, informed by the best available science, collaborative work with states, and input from local, Tribal and federal partners."

"Colorado wildlife experts are at odds over whether a ballot measure to ban the hunting of certain wildcats would help or hurt the formidable felines that have long been intrinsic to Rocky Mountain ecosystems."

"America’s golden eagles face a rising threat from a black market for their feathers used in Native American powwows and other ceremonies, according to wildlife officials, researchers and tribal members."