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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In the arid Mountain West, rivers are under growing pressure — from climate change, drought and rising demand for water. But new research from New Mexico suggests some river ecosystems may be more resilient than they appear. -
Interest in environmentally friendly Green Burials rising particularly among Millennials and Gen Z -
Kootenai County, Idaho paused data center development to pass regulations to protect water resources and require a public process. -
Stretches of calm weather in the mountains might seem harmless, but they can quietly increase avalanche danger over time. And traveling in groups doesn’t always make skiers and snowshoers safer. That’s one of the key takeaways from experts in the Sierra Nevada, where one of the deadliest avalanches in U.S. history recently struck near Lake Tahoe. -
The Trump administration is returning to 2012 emission rules, which it says have cut mercury pollution by 90%. Environmentalists say that’s not enough. -
heat-related illness as temperatures rise -
Hot days and polluted air may be doing more than making people uncomfortable — they could also affect mental health. A new study from the University of Utah finds that short bursts of extreme heat, combined with certain types of air pollution, are linked to an increased risk of suicide. -
Statehouses across the West are considering reforms to respond to the homeowners insurance crisis. While some are hitting headwinds, concern about the issue isn’t going away. -
Salt lakes in the American West are shrinking — from Utah’s Great Salt Lake to smaller lakes scattered across the Great Basin. In her new book “Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History,” writer Caroline Tracey explores why these unusual landscapes matter, and what their decline reveals about humans’ impact on the environment. -
Using a massive data set detailing some 70 million policies, researchers have found that “credit scores impact homeowners insurance premiums as much as disaster risk.”
