Kirk Siegler

Firefighters are hoping for favorable conditions today to help them keep the Caldor Fire from getting loose in the city of South Lake Tahoe, California.

Some 30,000 people are now under orders to evacuate from the Lake Tahoe Region, as the out-of-control Caldor Fire is spreading rapidly in extremely windy and hot conditions.

In Nevada, tribal opposition to a proposed lithium mine is testing the White House's pledge to electrify America's transportation system and give more of a voice to indigenous people in federal lands.

Decimated by the deadly Camp Fire in 2018, Paradise, Calif., is now moving to acquire some high-risk properties and turn them into managed park land to buffer against future wildfires.

The first-ever shortage declaration on the Colorado River forces arid Western states to re-examine their relationship with resources many take for granted, drinking water and cheap hydroelectricity.

Federal water managers have announced the first shortage in the Colorado River system, which supplies water and hydropower to 40 million people and countless farms in western states.

In northern California, fast-moving wildfires are again forcing scores of evacuations and threatening whole towns and critical infrastructure.

The massive Dixie Fire ignited close to where the deadly Camp Fire started, and some residents of nearby Paradise are reliving the trauma all over again.

Tourists are visiting national parks and surrounding public lands in record numbers this summer, which is causing some overwhelmed national park gateway towns to rethink their promotion strategies.

Republicans are pressuring President Biden to withdraw his nominee to be the country's next public lands chief amid controversy over her alleged involvement in a tree spiking incident in the 1980s.

Growing crowds at America's national parks have prompted some of them to allow entry by reserved tickets only. Arches National Park in Utah may be next, and there's renewed controversy over that step.

Federal fire managers warn the U.S.'s firefighting resources are near full deployment, a declaration rarely made this early in the summer as Western states bake in record heat and drought.

Federal officials warn of a long, potentially dangerous summer of fire. Since January, more than a million acres have burned from more than 28,000 wildfires.

States with the lowest vaccination rates are clustered in the South and the Southwest. But there's one standout, New Mexico, where health officials now say some counties are close to 90% vaccinated.

Excessive heat warnings are in effect across the West, where temperatures will hit the triple digits — a signal that climate change and lengthening summers pose serious problems for the region.

President Biden's nominee to be the country's next public lands chief appeared before a U.S. Senate panel Tuesday where she was grilled over Biden's controversial freeze on new oil and gas leasing.

If confirmed, environmental leader Tracy Stone-Manning would be the first permanent director of the Bureau of Land Management in four years.

People in "the UFO capital of the world" are eagerly anticipating the release of a Defense Department report on its investigations into Unexplained Aerial Phenomena. As always, some see a cover-up.

People in "the UFO capitol of the world," Roswell, N.M., are eagerly anticipating the release of a Defense Department report on their investigations into UFOs.

The pandemic has made the housing market even tighter in the mountain West, where first-time buyers are trying to decide whether this is just the future or a bubble headed eventually for a bust.