There were glimmers of good news across the region, from restored habitats to growing wildlife populations.
Monuments
Beautiful Bears Ears is at risk, again
What are the consequences for the land if the incoming president shrinks the national monument?
What Project 2025 has to say about Native communities
The initiative focuses heavily on resource extraction of tribal lands but lacks detail on other key issues.
Will changes at San Gabriel Mountains National Monument serve LA’s communities of color?
As the monument reaches a decade of federal recognition, the Biden administration hopes to address funding and stewardship challenges alongside the expansion.
As national monuments multiply, Bears Ears forges forward
Tribal co-management takes shape on the ground.
What’s next for the Owyhee Canyonlands?
Supporters call it ’the largest conservation opportunity in the West.’
Nevada tribes push for a monument to commemorate historic massacres
The proposed designation of Bahsahwahbee National Monument would protect a religious site known for its juniper groves.
Is uranium poised for a renaissance?
As prices climb, mining proposals proliferate. But it might just be hype.
Is Biden waging a war on energy? Or on the climate?
A year-end review of the administration’s policy on fossil fuels and public lands.
2023 in Native environmental news
The beat’s biggest news that you might have missed.
The National Park Service’s efforts to protect Quitobaquito Springs almost destroyed it
‘Indigenous presence is vital to the stewardship of the land.’
The state of tribal co-management of public lands
As National Public Lands Day approaches, Indigenous leaders discuss working with agencies to manage dispossessed lands.
Public lands had a roller coaster month
Rounding up the Biden administration’s ups and downs on land policy.
See inside the Grand Canyon region’s new monument
A weeklong journey through the under-documented region, which now has new protections.
Tribal nations celebrate new monument near the Grand Canyon
How decades of Indigenous advocacy led to the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
Utah’s latest attack on the Antiquities Act
The bid to diminish national monuments threatens landscape preservation.
What new national monuments are likely under Biden?
New designations could help meet conservation goals set by the administration.
A new biography resurrects a Western conservation writer
Bernard DeVoto’s work has fallen into obscurity, but the land remembers his legacy.
Bears Ears is back — but don’t celebrate just yet
Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk unpacks the deeper implications — and limitations — of Biden’s monuments proclamation.