The Mountain West News Bureau has six managing partner stations – Boise State Public Radio, KANW in New Mexico, KUNC in Colorado, KUNR Public Radio in Nevada, Nevada Public Radio, and Wyoming Public Media. Colorado Public Radio in Denver and KJZZ in Phoenix are associate partners and nearly a dozen other stations are affiliate members.
The bureau also produces “Our Living Lands,” a weekly radio segment exploring how climate change affects Indigenous communities, in partnership with Koahnic Broadcast Corp. and Native Public Media.
The Mountain West News Bureau was formed in 2018 and joined NPR’s network of regional newsrooms in 2025. It receives funding from Eric and Wendy Schmidt and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Managing Editor: Michael de Yoanna
KUNR Mountain West News Bureau Reporter: Kaleb Roedel
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People living near oil refineries can often see or smell signs of industrial pollution. Now, a new interactive map aims to help them better understand the potential health impacts associated with those facilities. -
After a wildfire, rivers and streams can take years to recover. Native plants and wildlife are often crowded out by invasive species in the aftermath. But in Nevada’s Virgin River watershed, a collaboration between federal agencies and conservation groups is pointing to early signs of recovery. -
The microreactor from Antares, a private nuclear technology company, had a successful nuclear fission reaction for the first time at Idaho National Lab. National officials dubbed it ‘historic.' -
Coal mines in New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming could go to revived coal plants and be exported through a new port in California. -
Wildfire smoke is associated with a growing list of health impacts. New research now ties it to reproductive harm in bulls – a finding with implications for humans. -
Quiet war in wilderness areas pit conservationists against the feds -
Longer wildfire seasons can blanket communities in smoke. Summer heat records continue to rise. Drought remains a persistent concern for water supplies, agriculture and ecosystems. -
More than 80 places in the Mountain West have been certified by the nonprofit DarkSky. The designation requires steps to reduce light pollution. But it also allows communities to market themselves as stargazing destinations. -
The City of Denver along with other Colorado and Idaho counties have passed moratoriums on data center development. Cheyenne, Wyoming, opted to speed ahead. -
Researchers looked at more than 750,000 wildfires in the West between 1992 and 2020. In the second half of that period, the number of reported wildfires were down by 31%, but acreage burned was up 40%.
