Tribal college and university presidents discuss how they’re navigating the fluctuating budget changes to higher education and its impacts on tribal communities. buff.ly/8xQraXV

Under the federal government shutdown, public lands agencies say they’ll keep parks open and continue oil and gas permitting — even as they furlough tens of thousands of employees. Advocates warn the approach will do lasting ecological damage. buff.ly/pRNqypO

Researchers find that the best bear-safety road signs are authoritative, engaging and persuasive. buff.ly/xgARJu6

📄 Newly released records show Pima County signed a confidentiality deal with Amazon Web Services on Project Blue — keeping its role secret for up to 5 years or until the project was complete

The memo asks the UA and the other colleges to commit to a series of policies to get preferential access to federal funds

I spoke with three tribal college and university presidents & learned more about they have planned, prepared and hoped to continue educating their communities amidst a year of budget cuts and a government shutdown. My latest for @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/articles/how...

From me: ‘How will the federal shutdown affect Arizona tribes? Leaders scramble to find answers’

October issue has dropped 🔥 From Phoenix’s shrinking groundwater to whale songs under Arctic ice, the West is reckoning with change. New issue ➡️ buff.ly/WDJzIny

Peatlands — fens and bogs — are key climate regulators. Their peat retains plant carbon that would otherwise decompose and be released as carbon dioxide.

Very few tribes in Alaska have authority over land, so they haven’t had a way to open reservation-style casinos like tribes in the Lower 48. Many, like Tlingit and Haida, have sought to assert authority over Native allotments owned by individual tribal members.

From me: ‘Benally pleads guilty to charges in huge pot-growing operations on Navajo Nation’

It's Special Election Day in Southern Arizona. We'll have updates today and results here tonight: azluminaria.org/2025/09/23/a...

Bureaucracy and budget constraints couldn’t stop CalPoly Humboldt’s Native American Studies Department from founding an Indigenous foods research lab.

The California State University system now has its first Indigenous food sovereignty lab. www.hcn.org/issues/57-9/...

RIP GOAT Be like Robert. Support badass journalism.

From me: www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Residents of Santa Teresa and Sunland Park, New Mexico, struggle to access clean water — but their county wants to bring a $165 billion data center campus to town. buff.ly/CjZMbVU

Pima Community College warns millions in federal funding could be cut, threatening programs for student-parents, low-income and adult learners already hit by years of lost state support

How post-9/11 policy and immigration enforcement reshaped meatpacking - and the West. This @highcountrynews.org & @thefern.org investigation digs into how meatpacking's increasing reliance on refugee labor created an escalating crisis for the industry - and the small towns where plants are based.

Arizona’s oldest museum, home to 13,000 years of history, plans fee hikes of up to 265% after being denied other funding from the board of regents and the state

The Chinese immigrants who built the Transcontinental Railroad quietly endured racism and violence, fostering a complicated legacy for Chinese-Americans. buff.ly/tD8FyMR

The landmark roadless rule is on the chopping block, endangering 59 million acres of Forest Service lands that still retain some of their wild character. Experts say it's as bad of an idea as it sounds for wildlife. Now that you know, go forth and comment! You have until Sept. 19. to do so.

From me: ‘Tribal leaders huddle with feds in push for landmark Arizona water deal’

Madrid was once a booming coal town. At radio camp, its youngest inhabitants had big questions about its past — and present.

Centering farmworkers is the impetus behind this vibrant and dignified body of artwork. @thefern.org

Hiring practices at major meatpackers reshaped the demographics of middle America — and, in turn, gave rise to the nativism that produced the Trump era. @thefern.org

Firefighters were caught in a pyro-vortex last month on the Deer Creek Fire.

A political spat between the U.S. and Canada revealed the complex, precarious, and neglected reality of Alaska’s food supply chain. @thefern.org

For the first time in Arizona, a tribal government could adopt a law to banish violent offenders. Gila River Indian Community is seeking input from its members.

A legal victory for the San Carlos Apache Tribe in their ongoing fight to protect Oak Flat! A proposed copper mine would turn the sacred site into a giant crater. In an emergency order, a Federal judge blocked the land transfer to the mining company. azmirror.com/2025/08/21/c...

Around the West, community land trusts are helping people recover from a disaster — and prepare for the next one. buff.ly/k9CdpYn

FACT BRIEF: Is there a secure process to track Arizona’s mail-in ballots? Yes. Every mail-in ballot in Arizona carries a unique barcode tied to a voter, which prevents duplication and allows secure tracking. Read more, via @tallulahanne.bsky.social azcir.org/news/2025/08...

The Department of State quietly cut sections detailing abuses of Indigenous people from its annual report on international human rights practices. Use of the word “Indigenous” is down 84% from the previous average. ictnews.org/news/indigen...

The Miccosukee tribe is helping block the construction of Alligator Alcatraz. A federal judge has ordered the Trump admin to pause construction in a lawsuit the tribe, whose land the detention center is located on, is part of. www.npr.org/2025/08/14/n...

As wildfire crews battled the Dragon Bravo Fire on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim in July 2025, the air turned toxic, shares The Conversation. buff.ly/T2k5JXY

The 911 system is bursting at the seams. Community paramedics ease that strain.

How to access food before, during, and after a disaster. grist.org/extreme-weat... #HurricaneErin #Erin #Hurricane #Weather #Storm #EastCoast #Wildfires #Floods

“The passage of RECA was a meaningful step forward, but we still need a long-term extension that reflects the lived experiences of Navajo families impacted by decades of uranium mining.” story via @diinsilversmith.bsky.social

An excerpt from River Selby’s book Hotshot: A Life on Fire, about their time working as a hotshot wildland firefighter.

Indigenous radio stations use the airwaves to share and preserve culture.

This small falcon faces an existential crisis. Can nest boxes help?

By painting their final meals before their executions, an artist humanized people sentenced to capital punishment. buff.ly/egdNGIA

Researchers are monitoring saguaro flowers in the Sonoran Desert to understand the environmental cues influencing when and how they sprout, patterns that are fluctuating in the face of climate change. buff.ly/d4Bl13S

From me: Activists say dangers for unhoused Native people grow under Trump policies

The Navajo Nation Council voted 11-1 to remove Heather Clah as attorney general, just weeks after she was confirmed for the post.

BREAKING: Tucson City Council unanimously rejects Project Blue

The Forest Service doesn’t have all the people it needs for a busy fire season after layoffs, deferred resignations and early retirements led to an exodus of almost 5,000 employees this spring. buff.ly/kYOyPp2

In the wake of DOGE cuts, an all-female ‘Forest Corps’ is filling federal agency gaps for Wyoming trail projects.

The growth of Indigenous language through radio is at risk, along with the rest of public media, but cultural reclamation at large will persevere.