montana
-
Lake Mead hits historic low water level as Colorado River struggles | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
NEVADA Lake Mead hits new low BOULDER CITY — Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, has plummeted to its lowest water level since it was filled some 90 years ago, another sign of the crisis plaguing the Colorado River system. Water levels at the reservoir, which straddles the Arizona-Nevada border outside Las…
-
As Lake Powell shrinks, marinas are having to adapt to dwindling water levels | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
ARIZONA Reservoirs near record lows PAGE — The Colorado River’s Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir in the U.S., is shrinking. A record-dry winter and extreme heat — as well as decades of overuse, chronic drought and climate change — are threatening to pummel the lake to near historic lows. Low water levels have forced…
-
Top officials in Arizona’s Maricopa County agree on how to oversee elections | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
ARIZONA Officials agree on election oversight PHOENIX — Election officials in Arizona’s most populous county reached an agreement a week before the state’s July 21 primary on how to jointly oversee the vote, ending a prolonged legal battle. Republican Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap sued the predominantly GOP board of supervisors in June 2025, alleging…
-
Wyoming cuts wolf hunt in half to buoy region’s disease-depleted population | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
WYOMING Wolf hunt cut in half Wyoming wildlife managers plan to reduce how many wolves can be hunted by 50% following a canine distemper outbreak that has cut the state’s wolf numbers to the lowest level in two decades. A 22-wolf cap is the fewest number of wolves available to licensed Wyoming hunters since the…
-
Tribes sue to halt exploratory drilling in Black Hills near sacred ceremonial site | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
SOUTH DAKOTA Tribes sue to halt drilling SIOUX FALLS — Nine Native American tribes in South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska are suing the federal government in a bid to stop exploratory drilling for graphite near a sacred site in the Black Hills. A small group of opponents has been demonstrating at the drilling location…
-
Trump administration cancels rule that made conservation a ‘use’ of public lands | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
MONTANA Interior cancels conservation ‘use’ rule BILLINGS — The Interior Department is canceling a rule that put conservation on equal footing with development, as President Donald Trump’s administration eases restrictions on industries and seeks to boost drilling, logging, mining and grazing on taxpayer-owned land. The 2024 rule adopted under former President Joe Biden was meant…
-
White House withdraws hospitality executive as National Park Service nominee | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
MONTANA National parks nominee withdrawn BILLINGS — President Donald Trump is withdrawing his nomination of a hospitality company executive to lead the National Park Service, the White House announced on April 27. The withdrawal of nominee Scott Socha comes as the park service has been shaken by widespread firings as part of the Trump administration’s…
-
Trump plans to move Forest Service headquarters to Utah, shutter research sites | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
UTAH Forest Service bound for Salt Lake City SALT LAKE CITY — President Donald Trump’s administration will move the U.S. Forest Service headquarters out of the nation’s capital to Salt Lake City as part of an organizational overhaul that involves shuttering research facilities in 31 states and concentrating resources in the West, the agency announced…
-
Unsalaried legislature in New Mexico asks voters to reconsider volunteer status | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
NEW MEXICO Voters to decide on paying legislators SANTA FE — Members of the nation’s only unsalaried legislature are asking voters to reconsider their volunteer status that has endured for 114 years since statehood in New Mexico. The state Senate on Feb. 17 narrowly endorsed a constitutional amendment that would do away with the state’s…
-
New Mexico launches ‘truth commission’ investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s ranch | OUT WEST ROUNDUP
NEW MEXICO State investigates Epstein’s ranch SANTA FE — State legislators in New Mexico launched an investigation on Feb. 17 into past activity at a secluded desert ranch where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein once entertained guests and whether local authorities looked the other way. A bipartisan, four-member panel of state House is investigating…