Mark Olalde, Author at High Country News https://www.hcn.org A nonprofit independent magazine of unblinking journalism that shines a light on all of the complexities of the West. Sun, 16 Feb 2025 17:26:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2-32x32.png Mark Olalde, Author at High Country News https://www.hcn.org 32 32 229054741 Trump’s funding cuts leave the nation vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire https://www.hcn.org/articles/trumps-funding-cuts-leave-the-nation-vulnerable-to-catastrophic-wildfire/ Mon, 17 Feb 2025 09:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=331811 A wildland firefighter observes a prescribed burn in Everglades National Park in 2023. Uncertainty over funding and other interruptions related to President Donald Trump’s executive orders have delayed work to reduce flammable vegetation and other preparations for wildfire season.

‘What do they want, more fires?’

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]]> 331811 Trump’s nominee for leading Interior attempted to rip up rules governing public lands https://www.hcn.org/articles/trumps-nominee-for-leading-interior-attempted-to-rip-up-rules-governing-public-lands/ Mon, 27 Jan 2025 09:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=331290 North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum speaks at the Republican National Convention in July 2024.

North Dakota sued the Interior Department at least five times under Gov. Doug Burgum. Now he’s set to run the agency.

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]]> 331290 How another Donald Trump term could dismantle federal agencies https://www.hcn.org/articles/how-another-donald-trump-term-could-dismantle-federal-agencies/ Wed, 23 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=329072

Trump moved the BLM’s headquarters from the capital to Colorado in 2020, causing disruption and an exodus of leadership. If elected, he plans to use the same tactic elsewhere.

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]]> 329072 Oil industry profits don’t pay for cleanup https://www.hcn.org/articles/oil-industry-profits-dont-pay-for-cleanup/ Mon, 26 Feb 2024 09:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/?p=322778 Pump jacks on a ridgeline in Wyoming.

A failure of regulation has allowed industry to avoid the true cost of cleaning up its unplugged wells.

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]]> 322778 States opposed tribes’ access to the Colorado River 70 years ago. History is repeating itself. https://www.hcn.org/articles/waiting-for-water-states-opposed-tribes-access-to-the-colorado-river-70-years-ago-history-is-repeating-itself/ Tue, 17 Oct 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/waiting-for-water-states-opposed-tribes-access-to-the-colorado-river-70-years-ago-history-is-repeating-itself/

Records shed new light on states’ vocal opposition in the 1950s to tribes claiming their share of the river.

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]]> 207647 Decades after the Colorado River flooded the Chemehuevi’s land, the tribe still doesn’t have its share https://www.hcn.org/issues/55-7/indigenous-affairs-decades-after-the-colorado-river-flooded-the-chemehuevis-land-the-tribe-still-struggles-to-get-its-share-of-the-river/ Wed, 05 Jul 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/indigenous-affairs-decades-after-the-colorado-river-flooded-the-chemehuevis-land-the-tribe-still-struggles-to-get-its-share-of-the-river/ Housing on the Chemehuevi Reservation. The tribe has about 1,250 members.

Nearly all of the tribe’s water remains in the river and ends up being used by Southern California cities.

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]]> 226171 Supreme Court keeps the Navajo Nation waiting for water https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-supreme-court-keeps-the-navajo-nation-waiting-for-water/ Mon, 26 Jun 2023 18:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/indigenous-affairs-supreme-court-keeps-the-navajo-nation-waiting-for-water/ The Colorado River near Lees Ferry, Arizona. The opposite bank of the river is the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation has succeeded in settling water rights in Utah and New Mexico, but the tribe has failed to reach a similar agreement for its land in Arizona.

The court case was the Nation’s bid to accelerate decades of fruitless negotiations and secure water for its reservation.

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]]> 196923 How Arizona squeezes tribes for water https://www.hcn.org/issues/55-7/indigenous-affairs-colorado-river-how-arizona-stands-between-tribes-and-their-water-squeezed/ Wed, 14 Jun 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/indigenous-affairs-colorado-river-how-arizona-stands-between-tribes-and-their-water-squeezed/ The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project pipeline east of Window Rock, Arizona.

A High Country News/ProPublica investigation shows that Arizona goes to unusual lengths in water negotiations to extract restrictive concessions from tribes.

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]]> 226163 California will need $21.5 billion to clean up its oil sites. Who’s going to pay for it? https://www.hcn.org/articles/energy-industry-california-will-need-215-billion-to-clean-up-its-oil-sites-whos-going-to-pay-for-it/ Tue, 23 May 2023 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/energy-industry-california-will-need-215-billion-to-clean-up-its-oil-sites-whos-going-to-pay-for-it/ Kern County oil fields along California state highway 33.

As industry transitions away from fossil fuels, its profits will fall behind remediation costs.

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]]> 194252 A community sacrificed to uranium mine pollution https://www.hcn.org/articles/pollution-a-community-sacrificed-to-uranium-mine-pollution/ Tue, 23 Aug 2022 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.hcn.org/2022/08/23/a-community-sacrificed-to-uranium-mine-pollution/

A mining company and government agencies repeatedly said they’d clean up waste in Homestake, New Mexico. Instead, they’re buying out homeowners.

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