The state’s North Slope communities need rocks, and they’re hard to come by.
Growth & Sustainability
Posted inArticles
New research highlights how to handle our wildfire future
‘Building houses in fire-prone places keeps us trapped on the wildfire treadmill.’
Posted inArticles
A dizzying look back from Phoenix’s future
A sci-fi scenario from 2008 offers insight into present day news.
Posted inArticles
Bringing fast, reliable broadband to rural Alaska could cost $1.8 billion
During a visit to Bethel, Alaska, first lady Jill Biden highlighted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to improve internet access in Alaska Native communities.
Posted inArticles
Western resort towns risk being ‘loved to death’
A new report details the downsides of tourism and population booms – and what communities can do about it.
Posted inArticles
As Utah’s ski tourism grows, locals’ needs are neglected
The world’s longest gondola is proposed as a traffic solution in Little Cottonwood Canyon, but residents oppose this project.
Posted inArticles
Can net-zero homes really be affordable?
A Colorado nonprofit is constructing its second affordable housing complex with an eye toward mass production.
Posted inMarch 1, 2023: Moving Parts
Trains in the West then, now — and someday?
Mapping the state of the rails across the region.
Posted inMarch 1, 2023: Moving Parts
For Black families, it isn’t simple creating roots in Phoenix
Many have moved to the nation’s fastest growing city seeking community as well as a better life. Few are finding it.
Posted inArticles
What happens when an affluent Arizona suburb’s main water supply is cut off?
As the Colorado River crisis worsens, an unregulated housing development faces a reckoning.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
Can dam removal save the Snake River?
See the river as the climate changes, development continues and consequences grow with inaction.
Posted inArticles
The mountain lion that changed LA
A eulogy to P-22 with hope that his legacy will ensure more wildlife crossings.
Posted inArticles
Should we worry about 8 billion people?
Breaking down population’s role in the environmental impact equation.
Posted inArticles
How growing Western rec towns might hold onto their futures
Researchers look to give small tourism communities the tools for a GNARly approach.
Posted inArticles
Arizona faces a reckoning over water
The state’s powerful will to grow is challenged by extreme heat, deep drought and serious water-related stress.
Posted inArticles
Utah has a water dilemma
Record-breaking drought along the Wasatch Front forces tough decisions about water supply.
Posted inArticles
7 statistics that illuminate the housing crisis
Headwaters Economics shines a light on record-breaking costs in the West.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
Where do public lands factor into the homelessness crisis?
As the housing crisis in the West deepens, more unhoused people are making a home outside.
Posted inOctober 1, 2021: In The Graces of Grasses
Idaho denies proposed land exchange
The state found that the timber tracts offered in a proposed trade are worth much less than the land around Payette Lake.
Posted inArticles
Colorado River water shortages highlight the urgency of reducing water waste
Conservation, water reuse and better irrigation technology all make more sense than proposed water pipelines.