"An energy company with oil and gas leases across much of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation’s western edge has suspended plans to drill a well near a culturally sacred ridge, halting the operation after tribal members voiced concern that it would spiritually denude the site."

"CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- The state of Wyoming, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and two American Indian tribes announced Thursday they have agreed to additional testing of groundwater that the federal agency says may have become contaminated by gas development that includes hydraulic fracturing."

"GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—Chevron Corp. is giving up its experimental oil shale lease in northwest Colorado, saying it wants to free up its resources for other priorities."

"The Bureau of Land Management announced Friday that it has selected a location for the nation's first wild horse ecosanctuary - a privately owned ranch in southeastern Wyoming 30 miles west of Laramie."

"High levels of winter ozone air pollution have been recorded in a Utah oil and gas field — after the phenomenon was seen in Wyoming — raising concerns that such pollution could become more widespread."

"DENVER — A road into the piney woods can be fraught with consequences. That was the premise, more than a decade ago, behind a Clinton administration rule that restricted road building on millions of acres of national forests in the West. The so-called roadless rule, fought over in court from the start, was validated last year by a federal appeals panel, setting off a wave of euphoria among supporters and consternation among critics. But there is a big wrinkle here in Colorado, which was one of only two states — Idaho was the other — that at the urging of the Bush administration developed their own rules about roads in the wild."

"Federal authorities are planning to scale back a Bush-era push to open 2 million acres of public lands in the Rocky Mountain region for commercial oil-shale development — with support from Colorado agricultural, municipal and recreation industry leaders."

"Even with California's volatile weather, where exceptions are the rule, the season has been the driest in 30 years. Without snow, hotels offer rock climbing and archery to frustrated skiers."