News & Commentary

Our Public Lands Are on the Chopping Block Again

August 21, 2026 ExplainerUnited States, Utah, AlaskaTim Vanderpool

Another assault on America’s natural heritage puts cultures, wildlife, tourism, and our climate at risk.

Why Are the Feds Leasing Public Lands to Big Oil for So Cheap?

August 3, 2026 ExplainerNevada, United StatesShelia Hu

In the sunny Southwest, oil and gas companies can get an acre for as low as $10, while solar companies can barely get a scrap.

The Fight to Protect New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon Continues

November 18, 2025 DispatchNew MexicoKeith Mulvihill, Jenny Shalant

The Trump administration’s proposal to allow new oil and gas leasing and drilling in the area comes after years of nearby exploitation that’s had devastating health and cultural impacts on Indigenous communities.

A Mammoth Biomass Project Withers in California 

September 3, 2025 NRDC in ActionCaliforniaShelia Hu

Here’s how NRDC and partners worked to keep a stretch of forests out of industry hands.

The Uinta Basin Railway Would Be a Bigger Carbon Bomb Than Willow

August 6, 2025 DispatchUtah, Colorado, United StatesNicole Greenfield

The project could sabotage U.S. climate goals, send oil-filled trains along the Colorado River, and pollute the air from Utah to the Gulf Coast.

What Will It Take to Tackle Water Scarcity on the Navajo Nation?

September 26, 2024 DispatchArizona, New Mexico, UtahBill Donahue

With contaminated wells, climate-fueled drought, and limited access to safe water sources, a study seeks solutions—and perspective—from the reservation’s residents. 

When You Poison Our Lands, You Poison Us

October 25, 2023 PerspectivesArizona, South DakotaHannah Throssell

The granddaughter of a Navajo uranium miner stands with the Standing Rock Sioux against DAPL.

Looking for Climate Connections (and Berries) Through Traditional Indigenous Knowledge

October 5, 2023 PerspectivesMontanaDominique Nault

When trying to protect lands from the onslaught of climate change, start by asking the people who know those places and their wild inhabitants the best. 

Water Is Life—from Standing Rock to Oaxaca’s Mixtecan Highlands

September 18, 2023 PerspectivesMexico, West, South DakotaElybeth Sofia Alcantar

A geographer sees a familiar pattern of government-backed energy projects devastating Indigenous communities and violating tribal sovereignty.  

California’s Climate Whiplash

April 17, 2023 ExplainerCaliforniaNicole Greenfield

The state broke snowfall records after three of its driest years ever. Now floods wreak havoc. These swings are the new normal—and they’re very hard to manage.

The Lower Klamath River Will Soon Flow Freely Again

March 21, 2023 DispatchCalifornia, WestNicole Greenfield

Sparking hope for the West’s rivers and beyond, a decades-long battle leads to the world’s biggest dam removal project.

Colorado River Basin Tribes Address a Historic Drought—and Their Water Rights—Head-On

November 14, 2022 DispatchColorado, Arizona, New MexicoTim Vanderpool

Their growing inclusion in the region’s water management will likely prove priceless.

Missing for a Century, the California Condor Flies Over Yurok Ancestral Lands Again

November 9, 2022 DispatchCalifornia, WestBecca Cudmore

The Yurok Tribe is helping to restore a sacred and endangered scavenger that is vital to Indigenous cultures and Pacific Coast ecosystems alike.

Saving Salmon—from One Generation of Fisherwomen to the Next

March 1, 2022 DispatchOregon, Washington, WestNicole Greenfield

Keyen Singer, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, carries on a maternal legacy of conserving salmon and preserving culture. Their efforts could soon pay off.

The Unlikely Takedown of Keystone XL

June 29, 2021 NRDC in ActionNebraska, South Dakota, Canada, MontanaCourtney Lindwall

The notorious tar sands pipeline was a lightning rod in the fight against climate change and the seemingly unstoppable oil industry. NRDC advocates were part of a broad coalition that helped stop Keystone XL—for good.

The Celilo Wy'am Are Still Here

March 10, 2021 DispatchOregonNicole Greenfield

Matriarch Lana Jack continues a decades-long fight for federal recognition of her band—and the right to continue living on the lands of her ancestors.

"We Are the Same as the Salmon": A Story of Suffering and Perseverance

December 17, 2020 DispatchWyoming, Idaho, Oregon, WashingtonNicole Greenfield

Thirty years ago, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes led the effort to save Snake River sockeye salmon from extinction. Today, they’re still fighting for the fish’s survival—along with their own.

In Oklahoma, “Yet Another Broken Promise” to Native Americans

October 21, 2020 PerspectivesOklahomaJeff Turrentine

How Governor Stitt teamed up with the head of the EPA to keep tribes from regulating fracking and industrial pollution on their own lands.

Mussels Help Keep Watch on Pollution in Puget Sound

August 20, 2020 DispatchWashingtonStarre Vartan

The humble bivalves, which concentrate everything from heavy metals to cancer drugs in their tissues, provide an ideal way for scientists to monitor nearshore water health.

These Tiny, Treetop-Living, Ewok-Looking Creatures May Be Getting Socially Distanced to Extinction

June 8, 2020 DispatchOregonJason Bittel

Red tree voles spend their whole lives in Oregon’s treetops, but deforestation has cut them off from the rest of their kind.