KISU-FM (Pocatello, ID)

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is a museum and cultural event space in Albuquerque. The Sky City Buffalo Ram Dancers are a group from the Acoma Pueblo. Our Living Lands Producer Daniel Spaulding attended a recent performance at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Afterwards, he spoke to the dancers about the importance of land, animals, and culture.

Long-distance biking could soon become more accessible in the backcountry. The federal government is asking the public to identify trails that are over 80 miles long and in need of attention. The U.S. Department of the Interior will eventually choose at least 10 existing trails and 10 potential ones at some stage of development for more resources. They must be mostly for mountain or gravel biking, though they can have some road connectors.

Scott Allison could have taken the shortest route from Las Vegas to Reno. Instead, he drove nearly 50 extra miles through California. The detour wasn't for the scenery. It was for the chargers. Allison and his husband recently set out on a six-day road trip across Nevada in their electric SUV, traveling through Death Valley, Lake Tahoe and Reno before heading east toward some of the state's most remote highways. The goal wasn't simply to see the state.

This just in: money may not buy happiness. That’s a key takeaway from a new report measuring quality of life in all 50 states as the nation celebrates its birthday. The State of the States report shows that economics don’t necessarily determine well-being. That’s the case in Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, said Tulane University economics professor Douglas Harris, one author of the report.

Large fires are raging across the West as of Friday, including four in Utah, four in Colorado, two in Nevada, two in Idaho, two in New Mexico, one in Arizona, one in Wyoming and one in Montana, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. But people who plan to enjoy the outdoors can take precautions to reduce the risk of fires. Among the most common mistakes people make are leaving campfires unattended or failing to fully extinguish them.

Workers at several national parks in the Mountain West are voting to join labor unions amid a broader organizing wave among agency staff over the past year. Employees at Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Rocky Mountain Park are among the 317 workers who voted to unionize, according to a June announcement from the National Treasury Employees Union. Eleven workers voted against it.

This year’s already strong El Niño is strengthening, a trend with potentially significant implications for the intense – and now tragic – fire season. During El Niño, Pacific Ocean temperatures around the equator are above normal. The weather effects are felt around the world, and in the American West, they vary regionally. Clark University climatologist Abby Frazier said they often bring more moisture to the Southwest, which can reduce fire risk in the short term.

About 50 miles west of Albuquerque, a red-and-white checkered diner sits beside a small gas station along the historic Route 66. Around lunchtime, the dining room fills with travelers, truck drivers and local families waiting for one of New Mexico’s best-known burgers, the Laguna Burger. A half-pound burger stacked with melted cheese and roasted green chile, balanced by crisp lettuce, tomato, red onion, and pickles. This order is not complete without the crispy, fresh hand-cut fries.

The Solar Energy Industries Association found that utility-scale solar occupies less than one-tenth of 1% of the nation's prime farmland – areas considered most suitable for growing crops. It also found the West uses the smallest share of that land for utility-scale solar of any region in the country. "There's zero states where solar uses more than half a percent of prime farmland," said Sean Gallagher, the trade group’s senior vice president of policy.

The recent burnover deaths of three wildland firefighters brought the fireline’s immediate dangers into sharp focus. At the same time, federal land management agencies are taking further measures to address the work’s many long-term health risks. Firefighters will now be able to use N95 masks on the fireline – building on a more limited, voluntary rollout of masking that started last fall.