Colorado River states failed to reach a deal this week as the Bureau of Reclamation's latest forecast shows Lake Powell reaching power pool this year and the lowest elevation on record by early next.

The Northern Corridor saga continues. The Trump admin gave the controversial highway in southern Utah the go ahead on Wednesday, just over a year after the Biden admin rejected it.

Utah state and county officials shared their "wish list" for national park management with Interior Department leadership in a closed-door meeting on Monday. Here's what we know about the meeting:

“[The Colorado River] matters to the economic integrity of the United States,” said Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University. “It matters to the well being of a significant amount of people.”

The clock is ticking on Colorado River negotiations. If the seven basin states don't reach an agreement by Tuesday, the feds may step in and make a plan for them. I dive into what's holding up the talks in my latest for @sltrib.com.

Brooke Larsen recently joined The Salt Lake Tribune and explains what she covers and why.

The first edition of The Southern Utah Tribune was delivered to 40,000 homes across southwest Utah for free last week. I'm excited to be part of it. For this first paper, I dove into the state of swimming pools in arid Washington County and potential new regulations: www.sltrib.com/news/environ...

The feds are once again considering the Northern Corridor, a highway through desert tortoise habitat in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area.

Zion National Park has been considering a timed entry system to better handle the boom in visitors. Some Utah officials don't want a reservation system, though. Washington County passed a resolution in opposition to the park's anticipated draft visitor use management plan.

Buckle up for an in-depth overview about who controls our food (& you wondered why it was so expensive) w/amazing of #infographic by @jbrookelarsen.bsky.social & Nick Underwood for @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org/issues/57-9/...

Read the full story, which is part of “Food and Power in the West,” a FERN special issue produced in partnership with High Country News, at thefern.org/2025/09/food... @highcountrynews.org @jbrookelarsen.bsky.social

The volunteer Pine Valley firefighters defended their community from the ferocious Forsyth Fire. Now they're processing the emotional toll and helping their community recover. “This was traumatic,” said Pine Valley Fire Chief Robert Hardy. “The whole department felt it.”

The Trump administration is making it easier and cheaper to lease public lands for oil and gas drilling. Here's how that may impact federal lands in Utah:

The Monroe Canyon Fire has exploded to over 55,000 acres, damaging power poles and destroying homes. This is Utah's largest wildfire so far this year.

A small town in southwest Utah has been dealing with dirty drinking water for over 15 years. Now, thanks to a new water pipeline, residents have clean water.

House Republicans are seeking to slash funding for the management of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, limiting the BLM’s ability to protect roughly 900,000 acres of land within the current 1.9 million-acre monument.

NEW: On March 15, President Donald Trump’s administration sent more than 230 Venezuelan immigrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Last week, the men were released as suddenly as they’d been taken away. These are their stories.

Last month, the BLM gave Peak Minerals the go ahead to start extracting potash from the Sevier Dry Lake. @leialarsen.bsky.social and I dug into what that could mean for Utah's dust pollution:

The Bureau of Land Management approved the expansion of an oil transloading facility in Carbon County Thursday evening after an expedited review under President Trump’s “national energy emergency” declaration.

The BLM approved the expansion of an oil transport facility in eastern Utah Thursday evening after a 16-day review. This will increase the amount of waxy crude oil producers can truck out of the Uinta Basin and transfer onto rails cars that travel for over 100 miles along the Colorado River.

The Trump administration plans to rescind the roadless rule and open up nearly 59 million acres of national forest land to logging and road building. I spoke with fire ecologists to learn what that may mean for wildfires in Utah and the West.

UPDATE: Forsyth Fire destroys 12 structures, including primary and secondary homes in Pine Valley.

Wildfires are growing across Southern Utah. Last night, the Forsyth Fire started north of St. George. The France Canyon Fire near Bryce Canyon has spread to more than 9,000 acres, and the Bridge Creek Fire on Navajo Mountain near Lake Powell is now over 1,000 acres. Critical fire weather persists.

A fire near Bryce Canyon National Park has doubled in size since yesterday. Hot, windy conditions are expected to pick up tomorrow.

I'm excited to share I started a new position this week as Southwestern Utah Reporter with @sltrib.com. Here's my first quick story on the reconstruction of the Emerald Pools Bridge in Zion National Park. Send me tips on all things Southwest Utah at [email protected].

They're called public records for a reason. Starting today, WIRED will *stop paywalling* articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, becoming the first publication to partner with @freedom.press to offer this for our new coverage.

“We don’t know what’s happened to these four dozen New Mexicans. They’ve effectively disappeared. They’re gone,” said Becca Sheff, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.

📣 Starting now, @HighCountryNews will provide free digital access to all of our reporting to any federal employee, including those who have recently lost jobs due to government layoffs. 📣

For over a year, I've been investigating the Utah Inland Port Authority's expansion around the receding Great Salt Lake. While some local leaders see UIPA as an opportunity to boost economic growth, community members worry about pollution, wetland destruction, accountability and loss of rural life.

Where did billions in climate and infrastructure funding go? From clean energy projects to bridges, this interactive tool shows what projects lawmakers announced in your neighborhood. grist.org/accountabili... #Climate #Data #GreenSky #IRA #BIL

The Sick Times: “Now offline: Government resources about Long COVID as a disability” “It seems like Long COVID has been targeted” thesicktimes.org/2025/02/11/n...

We've created a tracker that covers all executive orders affecting LGBTQ folks along with federal and state legislation. We're at 334 anti-LGBTQ bills. docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Credit @alli.gay @erininthemorning.com @evanurquhart.bsky.social @miralazine.bsky.social @lizsaila.bsky.social

Union members are taking over the Utah statehouse to make their voices heard. Lawmakers are trying to take away the freedom for public service workers to have union representation and a voice on the job. This is collective power IN ACTION! ✊ Solidarity forever, for the union makes us strong. 🎵

Amid everything, a new study finds that microplastics are accumulating in human brains. “Every time we scratch the surface, it uncovers a whole host of, ‘Oh, is this worse than we thought?’” lead author Matthew Campen told me last fall. A short thread: 1/ www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Coming in hot from @highcountrynews.bsky.social new fellow @goesbykim.bsky.social a dispatch from the EPA's hq. Workers there understand what's at stake. www.hcn.org/articles/the...

Another terrific @highcountrynews.bsky.social article by @jbrookelarsen.bsky.social on what lies ahead for Utah's coal country. www.hcn.org/issues/what-...

In one of his last official acts before leaving the White House, President Joe Biden released Leonard Peltier from prison. The action is an extraordinary move that ends a decades-long push by Indigenous activists, international religious leaders and human rights organizations.

A proposed rule would raise wages for disabled workers, @byashpeterson.bsky.social reports. Advocates urge the public to comment by Jan. 17 on a DoL proposal that would put an end to allowing employers to pay disabled workers less than minimum wage. prismreports.org/2025/01/15/d...

If you think America’s finally going to deal with global warming because L.A. is burning, think again, Boiling Point columnist Sammy Roth writes.

Roughly 900 incarcerated firefighters have been deployed to fight the wildfires in Los Angeles. This is a great Q&A by @natmesanash.bsky.social with a formerly incarcerated firefighter. @highcountrynews.bsky.social

Hi! I'm on Bluesky now! And there's a lot going on this morning — to start, the Supreme Court just declined to hear Utah's case challenging public lands. State leaders say they "will continue to fight to keep public lands in public hands" www.sltrib.com/news/environ...

"As fires grow larger and more intense in the West, should storage tanks and other local water infrastructure be expanded to contend with them? Where? And at what cost?" This story is a powerful reminder that our cities were not built for climate change: www.latimes.com/environment/...

"I don’t turn away because I know it’s going to happen again. This is the climate crisis." @shaun505.bsky.social @highcountrynews.bsky.social

On Wednesday, after a 12-day unfair labor practice strike, unionized ski patrollers at Park City ratified a new agreement. My latest for @highcountrynews.bsky.social looks at how they won concessions and what it may mean for other ski patrols in the West. www.hcn.org/articles/how...

My latest for @highcountrynews.bsky.social looks at the risks wind energy workers face and strategies to boost job safety.

The Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone are still picking up the pieces after an attempted marijuana business fell apart. Story in partnership with the Guardian.

A coal mine reopened in Utah this fall, but it can't find enough workers. Turns out less people want to go underground. The industry has changed. Union mines have shuttered, and starting pay and benefits are less competitive. The longterm viability of a coal mining career is also dwindling.

Beautiful story about a former Utah coal town that became a mecca for artists, tourists and Christmas lovers, keeping the local economy afloat: www. hcn.org/articles/how-utahs-christmas-festival-has-buoyed-a-changing-coal-community/

From @jbrookelarsen.bsky.social @highcountrynews.bsky.social A reopened coal mine in Utah can’t find enough miners www.hcn.org/articles/uta...

Terrific article by @jbrookelarsen.bsky.social in @highcountrynews.bsky.social on Utah's coal workers. www.hcn.org/articles/uta...