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A proposed pipeline project in southern Utah would transport water from Lake Powell to fast-growing communities in the state's southwest corner. The proposal hit political headwinds this year, as other Colorado River users objected to it.

2020 delivers setbacks for some long-planned Western water projects

Nov 17, 2020 Long-planned projects have run into roadblocks.
A Centers for Disease Control image of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Pima County, state preparing COVID-19 vaccine plans

Nov 13, 2020 The Pfizer announcement that a vaccine may soon be available has put public focus on distribution.
Guadalupe Canyon is a remote, rugged area in the Southwest where the Trump administration is currently racing to complete construction of a border wall.

In Arizona, building a wall — and destroying a canyon

Oct 30, 2020 In a mountain range too steep to cross, the Department of Homeland Security is spending millions of dollars on five miles of border wall.
An image composite of campaign signs for U.S. Senate candidates Democrat Mark Kelly and Republican incumbent Martha McSally.

Moderate voters gave Democrats an Arizona Senate seat in 2018. Will they do it again?

Oct 30, 2020 To some voters, Joe Biden and Mark Kelly are more reminiscent of John McCain than their Republican opponents.
Construction nears the end on the wall section across the San Pedro River in October 2020.

DHS marks milestone as wall construction severs wildlife corridors

Oct 29, 2020 New border wall construction is nearly done in some of the most environmentally sensitive areas in Arizona.
A meadow along Canyon Creek, Tonto National Forest.

As Western fires burn, focus narrows on forest management. But it’s easier said than done

Oct 23, 2020 Correcting the mistakes of the past is tougher than it sounds, as managers work to get ahead of coming wildfires and learn from previous ones.
Eighteen plots are laid out on the hillside on Brian Mealor’s property in Sheridan County, Wyo. Mealor is studying how differing amounts of herbicide sprayed at different times of year can be used to manage invasive species.

In grasslands plagued by invasives and drought, wildfires fuel calls for new solutions

Oct 22, 2020 Invasive plants and climate change are changing the relationship between vast rangelands, drought and wildfire.
Artist’s conception of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collecting a sample from the asteroid Bennu.

OSIRIS-REx touches an asteroid

Oct 21, 2020 The UA-led project is a first for NASA.
Between the High Park and Cameron Peak Fires, a broad reach of the Poudre River’s watershed has burned within the last decade.

For the West’s drinking water, wildfire concerns linger long after smoke clears

Oct 21, 2020 For municipal drinking water systems, fires are felt for years after they’re snuffed out.
Firefighters watch a controlled burn within the Grizzly Creek Fire in Colorado. The fire has burned more than 30,000 acres near Glenwood Canyon. Now, the charred hillsides pose a flood risk for nearby areas.

Homeowners who avoid wildfire damage can find themselves in new flood zone

Oct 20, 2020 Even long after the flames of a wildfire are gone, those who live nearby face a serious increase in the threat of flooding.
A firefighter watches the flames in Yellowstone National Park during the 1988 fires.

In Yellowstone, America's 'first water park,' decades-old blaze marked start of megafire era

Oct 19, 2020 The wildfires ushered in a chapter of massive, frequent blazes as well as a new understanding of the ecological process.
A line of DPS officers forms in front of an Indigenous Peoples' Day Protest north of the Lukeville Port of Entry on Oct. 12, 2020.

'Falling on deaf ears': Tohono O'odham Nation reacts to use of force at Indigenous protest

Oct 15, 2020 Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr. says tribal needs along the border are being ignored.
With residences in the foreground, the Bighorn Fire burns in the Santa Catalina Mountains on June 10, 2020.

Homes complicate Arizona wildfire response

Oct 10, 2020 Development in Arizona's wildlands is making fires more expensive, and in some cases, more difficult to prevent.
A sign instructs Pima County voters casting their ballots on primary election day, Aug. 4, 2020.

With early voting underway, officials urge Arizonans to get their ballots cast

Oct 9, 2020 Election officials offer guidance on how to vote, and how it works, in the state.
Singed trees on the road up Mount Lemmon in early October, months after the Bighorn Fire.

Bighorn Fire marks familiar cycle of renewal amid new chapter of bigger burns

Oct 8, 2020 Fire is a natural process, but it will take decades for some areas to recover or regrow habitat that burned this year.
Republican Martha McSally, left, and Democrat Mark Kelly.

Senate candidates face off in debate

Oct 6, 2020 Mark Kelly and Martha McSally debated the issues for 90 minutes.

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