Michael de Yoanna

How the Pamunkey Indian Tribe is protecting its land from rising seas Across the country, rising seas are threatening Indigenous lands. The Pamunkey are dealing with both sea level rise and stormwater flooding. Our Living Lands Producer Daniel Spaulding spoke with two r...

How the Pamunkey Indian Tribe is protecting its land from rising seas on the East Coast. From "Our Living Lands" and the Mountain West News Bureau - www.boisestatepublicradio.org/environment/...

Job Corps centers remain open, but the future is murky A second federal judge ruled the vocational program can keep going, for now.

Job Corps centers remain open, but their future is murky. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Hanna Merzbach - www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/education/20...

Mountain West health groups ask states to act on extreme heat The organizations delivered a letter to the National Governors Association, which meets this week in Colorado Springs, Colo.

With the anticipation of additional days of hot temperatures, more than 100 health organizations are calling on state leaders to take more action on extreme heat. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Rachel Cohen - www.kunc.org/regional-new...

Study: Prescribed burning substantially reduces wildfire severity, smoke emissions Prescribed burns are widely recognized as an effective wildfire mitigation tool. Now, using satellite imagery, land management records and fire emissions data, a team of researchers has put hard numbe...

Study: Prescribed burning substantially reduces wildfire severity, smoke emissions. From the Mountain West News Bureau's @murphywoodhouse.bsky.social - www.boisestatepublicradio.org/environment/...

Report: Mountain West states need policies to meet energy, water demands of data centers A new report shows the Mountain West needs to prepare for data centers, which are expected to demand massive amounts of energy and water. Experts say communities should adopt policies that prevent ene...

Report: Mountain West states need policies to meet energy, water demands of data centers. From Kaleb Roedel - www.kunr.org/local-storie...

The Trump administration is letting states have more control over national forests Montana is home to the first agreement of its kind in the nation.

How Montana is first in line in the Trump administration's plans to give states more control over national forests. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Hanna Merzbach - www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/natural-reso...

USDA proposes closing Forest Service offices while moving more workers to the Mountain West The plan, released last week by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, would eliminate the Forest Service’s nine regional offices over the next year, including offices in Montana, Colorado, New Mexico ...

What's next in the feds plans to eliminate the Forest Service’s nine regional offices, including those in Missoula, Mont., Lakewood, Colo., Albuquerque, N.M. and Ogden, Utah? From the Mountain West News Bureau's Rachel Cohen - www.kunc.org/regional-new...

With reforms in place, California’s Karuk Tribe works to reestablish cultural burning as 'common practice' For millennia, Indigenous peoples have intentionally set fires to care for the land. Colonization and fire exclusion largely put an end to those practices, though the tradition endured. Now, Californi...

How the Karuk Tribe is helping to reestablish cultural burning as "common practice," helping forest health. From the Mountain West News Bureau's @murphywoodhouse.bsky.social (w/ @boisestatepublicradio.org) - www.boisestatepublicradio.org/environment/...

Two Mountain West states fall short of funding to maintain bridges and roads, report finds A new report shows many states won’t have enough money to keep major roads and bridges in good repair over the next decade. Some states in the Mountain West are not immune to the problem, while others...

Colorado and New Mexico fall short of funding to maintain bridges and roads, report finds. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Kaleb Roedel - www.kunr.org/local-storie...

Bryan Kohberger, convicted of Idaho Four killings, will spend the rest of his life in prison Bryan Kohberger, the man who admitted to killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, has been sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. Along with the life ter...

Bryan Kohberger, convicted of Idaho Four killings, will spend the rest of his life in prison. www.boisestatepublicradio.org/law-justice/...

Communities are planting more trees to combat heat. But how do they work to cool the environment? There's more going on in trees than what most of us may know. Experts explain the science of trees.

Many southwestern communities are looking at importing specific kinds of trees in the battle against extreme heat. What they learn could be a model for other communities in our region. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Yvette Fernandez in Las Vegas - knpr.org/2025-07-18/c...

We’re at Preparedness Level (PL) 4 this fire season. But what does that mean? The National Preparedness Level – or PL – system is a 1 to 5 scale that indicates how busy a season is. When determining the PL, officials consider fuel and weather conditions, current fire activity a...

As wildfires rage, the feds raised the national preparedness level. If things get more intense, the military and other countries could be called upon. From the Mountain West News Bureau's @murphywoodhouse.bsky.social w/ @boisestatepublicradio.org - www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-gov...

The $1 billion in cuts to public broadcasting could hit small, rural newsrooms the hardest Public radio and television stations in rural areas may soon be contending with big cuts. President Trump is expected to sign a so-called “rescissions” measure from Congress that will take back $1.1 b...

The $1 billion in cuts to public broadcasting could hit small, rural newsrooms the hardest. From the Mountain West News Bureau - www.boisestatepublicradio.org/2025-07-21/1...

Silver Tsunami Brings New Challenges for End-of-Life Care NPR Affiliate Public radio from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Your source for news and music.

Silver tsunami brings new challenges for end-of-life care. From Mountain West News Bureau reporter Jenny Kinsey in New Mexico - www.kanw.org/new-mexico-n...

Communities are planting more trees to combat heat. But how do they work to cool the environment? There's more going on in trees than what most of us may know. Experts explain the science of trees.

Many southwestern communities in the Mountain West are looking at importing specific kinds of trees in the battle against extreme heat. What they learn could be a model for other communities in our region. From our reporter at KNPR in Las Vegas, Yvette Fernandez. knpr.org/2025-07-18/c...

Many National Weather Service offices in the Mountain West's flash flood zones are short-staffed In recent weeks, destructive and deadly flash floods have hit several parts of the country, including the Mountain West. A New York Times analysis found the National Weather Service has vacant senior ...

Many National Weather Service offices in the Mountain West's flash flood zones are short-staffed. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Kaleb Roedel - www.kunr.org/local-storie...

Opposition to public land sale proposal flooded politicians' inboxes The bill would have required the Bureau of Land Management to sell up to 1.2 million acres within five miles of population centers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, ...

Before it died, opposition to public land sale proposal flooded politicians' inboxes. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Rachel Cohen - www.kunc.org/regional-new...

Landowner escalates corner crossing case to the U.S. Supreme Court The Wyoming property owner is arguing it's trespassing to step over private land to access public land.

The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to weigh in on the ongoing battle over corner crossing in several states. That’s the act of stepping over private land to access parcels of public land. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Hanna Merzbach - www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/natural-reso...

The Big Beautiful Bill codified a 25% increase in logging on federal lands But a lot of industry representatives aren’t happy with portions of the law.

The Big Beautiful Bill codified a 25% increase in logging on federal lands. From the Mountain Wedst News Bureau's Hanna Merzbach - www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/natural-reso...

Homeowners insurance is taking a big bite out of household incomes in the Mountain West. And a new analysis shows it could be getting worse. Nationwide, the percentage of household income spent on homeowners insurance premiums nearly doubled between the early 2000s and 2022 – jumping from 1.2% to 2.1%. That’s according to recent analysis b...

Homeowners insurance is taking a big bite out of household incomes in our region. A new analysis shows it could be getting worse. From the Mountain West News Bureau's @murphywoodhouse.bsky.social - www.boisestatepublicradio.org/environment/...

‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ could drive up household energy costs in the Mountain West, experts predict President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” phases out tax credits for clean energy projects, slowing the addition of new power to the grid. Experts predict it could drive up energy costs, ...

‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ could drive up household energy costs in the Mountain West, experts predict. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Kaleb Roedel - www.kunr.org/local-storie...

Should we suppress wildfires ‘as swiftly as possible?’ With 2025 season well underway, scholars weigh in The Forest Service's new chief recently published a letter that called for wildfires to be suppressed "as swiftly as possible." That may sound prudent to many, but it raised eyebrows among some who st...

Should we suppress wildfires ‘as swiftly as possible?’ With 2025 season well underway, scholars weigh in. From the Mountain West News Bureau's @murphywoodhouse.bsky.social w/ @boisestatepublicradio.org - www.boisestatepublicradio.org/environment/...

Nederland announces 'bold' agreement to buy Eldora ski resort Town leaders say the purchase will boost local economic development and will allow it to better support mountain ski employees.

Nederland, Colo., population 1,500, has signed a letter of intent to purchase Eldora Mountain Resort from its current owner, Utah-based POWDR. Story from the Mountain West News Bureau's Rachel Cohen - www.kunc.org/2025-07-07/n...

Radiation Exposure Compensation Act is renewed The program expired last year as a cost cutting measure. It was renewed through 2028.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which provides compensation for people harmed by exposure to nuclear testing and mining, has been revived and expanded to cover additional states in the Mountain West region. From Yvette Fernandez: knpr.org/2025-07-09/r...

The Mountain West is seeing the steepest fertility rate declines in the country This could be because of rising home prices and, in some places, the decline of the mining industry.

The Mountain West is seeing the steepest fertility rate declines in the country. Housing prices are partly to blame. Story from Hanna Merzbach - www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/health/2025-...

States to provide a safe place for LGBTQ+ youth to call during crisis This comes amid Trump administration cuts to special services on the 988 hotline.

States are in our region are stepping up to provide a call line for LGBTQ+ youth in crisis. That’s because they’ll no longer have specific services through the national 988 Suicide and Crisis hotline. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Hanna Merzbach - www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/health/2025-...

Fighting wildland fires can push workers to their mental limits; a new therapy service was designed to help With 16-hour days for weeks straight, long separation from friends and family, and regular exposure to serious immediate and long-term risks, wildland fire pushes people to both their physical and men...

A recently launched Wildland Fire Therapy Service is now available to help federal workers who face the mental strains of battling wildfires. From the Mountain West News Bureau's @murphywoodhouse.bsky.social (w/ @boisestatepublicradio.org) - www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-gov...

Young Nez Perce firefighters step up as wildland crews shrink Farrell Hayes represents something that veteran firefighters say is harder to come by these days: a young person who wants to get involved in firefighting.

Young Nez Perce firefighters step up as wildland crews shrink on tribal land - www.boisestatepublicradio.org/politics-gov...

Bryan Kohberger pleads guilty to murders of four University of Idaho students Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, agreeing to spend the rest of his life in prison in order to avoid a trial that could have landed him on ...

Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, agreeing to spend the rest of his life in prison to avoid a trial that could have landed him on death row. www.boisestatepublicradio.org/news/2025-07...

State borders may determine whether children born in the U.S. to immigrants are citizens Birthright citizenship laws could be different in each Mountain West state after the U.S. Supreme Court reduced judicial powers.

State borders may determine whether children born in the U.S. to some immigrants are citizens. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Hanna Merzbach - www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/politics-gov...