Mountain West News Bureau

E-Scooters Maybe Not So Green After All

By • Aug 7, 2019

Electric, dockless scooters are showing up across the region, especially in bigger cities like Denver and Salt Lake City. But a new study suggests they may not be as environmentally friendly as you think.

U.S. Climate Crisis Committee Comes To Colorado For Answers

By • Aug 6, 2019

For the first time ever, a congressional committee held a field hearing on the climate crisis. And it happened this week right here in the Mountain West — in Boulder, Colorado. 

The Unusual Weapon Yellowstone Is Using To Combat Invasive Species

By • Aug 5, 2019

Zebra and quagga mussels can devastate an ecosystem, and Yellowstone National Park is doing everything it can to keep them out. Most recently, that includes harnessing the power of a dog's snout.

New Podcast Looks At How Prisons Might Need To Treat Transgender Inmates

By & & Mountain West News Bureau • Jul 11, 2019
Boise State Public Radio / Mountain West News Bureau

Any day now, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on the case of Adree Edmo. She’s a transgender woman currently in prison in Idaho. She sued the state for sex reassignment surgery—and won.

The state appealed. And now the 9th Circuit’s decision on her case could have implications not only for her but for transgender inmates across the West and potentially the nation.

Nation's First Female-Majority Legislature Adjourns

By • Jun 5, 2019
The bipartisan group of female lawmakers in the Nevada Legislature.
Nevada's Legislative Councel Bureau

This week marks the 100th anniversary of Congress passing the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Now, a century later, the nation's first female-majority legislature has wrapped up their work in Carson City, Nevada.

Bent Out Of Shape: Could A Mysterious Animal Epidemic Become The Next Mad Cow?

By • May 21, 2019

Chronic wasting disease is crippling deer populations in the Mountain West, around the country and in bordering Canadian provinces. It's not a bacterium or a virus or even a fungus, but caused by something called a prion, a type of protein that all mammals have in their bodies.

‘Trigger Trash’ Leading to Contamination, Expensive Cleanup on Public Lands

By • May 20, 2019
Jens Lelie / Unsplash

Public lands are a haven for target shooting throughout our region. However, many are leaving bullet casings and litter behind, and that's a problem.

Litter from so-called "trigger trash" is leading to lead contamination of soil and costing taxpayers thousand of dollars in cleanup.

Kurt Miers is with the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada. He says this issue is common throughout the region, particularly in areas just outside of cities.

Forest Managers Working to Rescue Dwindling Western Pines

By Noah Glick • May 17, 2019
Sarah Flanary / U.S. Forest Service

For thousands of years, the Whitebark Pine has provided a valuable food source for birds and bears throughout the Mountain West. But dwindling numbers are forcing forest managers to act.

The tree spans from Alberta and British Columbia in Canada to the Mountain West states of Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and parts of Nevada. But, the number of these trees throughout the region is declining, as much as 90 percent in some areas.

KUNR Joins Mountain West News Bureau

By KUNR staff • May 14, 2019

KUNR Public Radio has joined the Mountain West News Bureau, a regional reporting collaboration of public radio news stations. KUNR, a service of the University of Nevada, Reno, joins five current member stations in serving the Rocky Mountain states of Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah—and now Nevada’s high desert and the Sierra.