The U.S. Forest Service is investigating a significant die-off of juniper trees across much of central and northern Arizona. Read more
Arizona and Rim Country’s changing climate — and creation of a new “Climate Masters” outreach program through the Uni… Read more
A free volunteer training webinar is set Thursday, May 6, to teach people how to identify and report significant weat… Read more
The count is in — the Payson Christmas Bird Count, that is. Since 1900, the National Audubon Society has conducted bi… Read more
As people that live in, or visit the Rim Country, we are fortunate to have many chances to enjoy Arizona’s diverse wi… Read more
The old saying that “a few bad apples will spoil the whole barrel” applies to local recycling. Gila County is ready t… Read more
Arizona’s bald eagles are back, and they will soon be preparing for the next generation of eagles at breeding sites s… Read more
The U.S. Forest Service has agreed to undertake a comprehensive monitoring plan to figure out whether Mexican spotted… Read more
The Mogollon Sporting Association may not get enough credit for its role helping Rim Country wildlife, youth and the … Read more
Yellow Bluestem Invasive grass is the subject of the next University of Arizona Cooperative Extension webinar 11 a.m.… Read more
The next two webinars by the Gila County Cooperative Extension Service, at 11 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, foc… Read more
October is the last month of operation at the Blattner Brush Pit until next season. Read more
CAMP VERDE — The Verde River stretches more than 170 miles from north-central Arizona and down through metro Phoenix,… Read more
PHOENIX – Fire specialists plan to burn 300 acres of vegetative piles Feb. 26-28 approximately 20 miles east of Payso… Read more
Fire specialists plan to burn 58 acres of vegetative piles Feb. 13-14 in the Washington Park area north of Payson. Read more
Readers may remember the article I wrote last August about Bernie, our winter-visiting bald eagle, who almost didn’t … Read more
PHOENIX -- The way Mitzi Epstein sees it, it's against the law to throw things out the window of your car and pollute… Read more
Still bedeviled by biomass, the Forest Service has made two key changes in the offered contracts to thin nearly a mil… Read more
Something strange happened 800 years ago down in the Verde Valley and the nearby mesa tops. Was it war — or something else? Read more
On Monday, fire officials put out several brush fires reported off State Route 260 east of Payson. Read more
Small craft boaters may still use the C.C. Cragin Reservoir until the first major snowfall, according to staff at the… Read more
Imagine hiking, biking or riding 800 miles in a single day. Sound impossible? Read more
Just because you’re 100 feet tall, 200 years old and weigh 10,000 pounds doesn’t mean you don’t need a friend — maybe… Read more
There’s a new interactive Fish & Boat AZ map online for anglers, boaters or paddlers at fishandboataz.azgfd.com. Read more
A bird often described as “so ugly, it’s beautiful,” traces its roots back as far as 10,000 years to the Pleistocene epoch. Read more
A litter of seven orphaned young coyotes huddled in the corner of a kennel at Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center … Read more
The Arizona Game and Fish Department euthanized a 3-year-old female bear at Camp Geronimo Wednesday. Read more
Rising temperatures and longer days mean spring is here and newborn wildlife are likely exploring the world around them. Read more
YUMA – The fastest land mammal in North America and a large-footed marsh bird in the Southwest have been listed as en… Read more
Fire specialists from the Tonto National Forest plan to burn 40 acres of vegetative debris piles on Thursday, March 7… Read more
Arizona’s largest utility announced last week that a new plan to add 850 megawatts of battery storage and at least 10… Read more
PHOENIX – When Gov. Doug Ducey released his multimillion dollar budget proposal last week, he included $56 million in… Read more
Mike Buckley stared at the gun on his desk. Read more
FLAGSTAFF – David Fox beams when a picture of a Gila trout flashes on a computer monitor at Sterling Springs Hatchery… Read more
The size of wildfires burning across Arizona and the west has increased dramatically in recent decades. Read more
LAKE PLEASANT – Bald eagles are nesting at Lake Pleasant north of Phoenix, and thanks to the Arizona Game & Fish … Read more
GREELEY, Colo. – After one of the hottest and driest years on record, the Colorado River and its tributaries across t… Read more
Two local water warriors received an award from the Arizona Onsite Water Recycling Association for their efforts to r… Read more
PHOENIX – In early December, after months (some would say years) of tough negotiations, the Central Arizona Project b… Read more
A Pacific storm has the National Weather Service calling for a winter storm warning for elevations above 6,500 feet. Read more
APACHE COUNTY — The Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) is made up of many different and diverse groups that ca… Read more
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court made it harder Tuesday for the government to designate critical habitat for endangered… Read more
Question: When is a lake not a lake? Read more
The maelstrom of allegations and criminal investigations triggered by two former archaeologists at Arizona State Park… Read more
Cassie Lyman bent down to gently move plant leaves overshadowing the ground. “See, here’s a filaree sprout,” she said… Read more
After a slew of climate-friendly ballot initiatives went down in flames on Election Day in Arizona, Colorado and Wash… Read more
PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has written an opinion piece outlining some requirements he has for Arizona’s inter… Read more
LECHEE CHAPTER HOUSE, Navajo Nation – Just south of Page, three smokestacks pierce the horizon like a pitchfork. They… Read more
Rim Country plunged into winter earlier this week with temperatures flirting with freezing. Read more
LECHEE CHAPTER HOUSE, Navajo Nation – Just south of Page, three smokestacks pierce the horizon like a pitchfork. They belong to the West’s lar… Read more
Rim Country plunged into winter earlier this week with temperatures flirting with freezing. Read more
WHITE MOUNTAINS — A recently completed economic study for Navajo and Apache counties underlines the region’s dependence on coal for economic activity, high-paying jobs and tax income. But it also looked at how the counties can move to a more diverse economic base in the future. Read more
PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has confirmed a disease event affecting some mule deer in the Yavapai Hills community a… Read more
PHOENIX – A Canadian energy company will add to its helium operation with more than 3,000 acres of newly leased federal land near Petrified Fo… Read more
The danger birds pose to airplanes is no joke. Read more
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado River, which supplies water to croplands and 40 million people in the Southwest, is projected to hit a hist… Read more
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Local rancher Cassie Lyman has amassed an impressive resumé in her quest to tell everyone about the agricultural life. Read more
The orphaned calf presented a challenge for the Lyman family. Read more
You can find lots of horror stories about fracking, whether it’s well water catching fire, radiation in stream beds or dangerous air pollution. Read more
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The Tonto National Forest will continue conducting prescribed fire treatments in areas around Payson starting on Tuesday, Read more
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Forest Road 751 from Rock Crossing campground to C.C. Cragin (aka Blue Ridge) Reservoir will be closed to vehicles Sept. 10 to protect the pub… Read more
Can’t leave the house without getting bitten? Legs swollen from scratching? Welcome to the crowd. Because yes, the mosquitoes are worse this year. Read more
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The weeds seem to know this monsoon has brought more rain, but can they be trusted? Read more
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Beaver Valley residents live on the banks of the East Verde River, but still struggle under Stage 4 water restrictions despite the onset of a … Read more
The murky swamp of fracking regulations by a welter of government agencies poses a challenge for those seeking to determine whether projects p… Read more
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WASHINGTON – Deenise Becenti remembers watching this summer as a Navajo woman who had been waiting more than 20 years to get electricity in he… Read more
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WHITE MOUNTAINS — Since the 1998 start of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program, disagreements about the best ways to ensure the wolves’ survival have sparked lawsuits from environmental groups. Read more
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At the end of July, Twitter user Alicia Santana posted a photo of a man sitting in a plastic folding chair in his yard. He’s looking away from… Read more
DENVER – Between growing populations and a changing climate, water sources in the West are only expected to get more crunched. Communities in … Read more
As opponents of fracking on federal land get organized — Arizona has already quietly granted leases on land it owns in the Holbrook basin. Read more
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NAVAJO COUNTY — Alarmed that the Bureau of Land Management will grant leases to companies who intend on fracking helium in Navajo County by Aug. 2, the group No Fracking Az has set up a meeting in Show Low on Saturday, July 28 to protest — seeking to beat the looming deadline. Read more
Fracking has dramatically increased the nation’s supply of oil and natural gas, but it has also fed a fierce environmental debate all across the nation. Read more
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WHITE MOUNTAINS — How are fish in White Mountain lakes and streams affected by the Arizona drought? This is a question that our readers have been asking recently. Read more
The biological clock never ceases ticking, and all living things die. But that clock can be frozen, and decay ceased indefinitely. The implications to fish conservation are large. Read more
As summer camping season reaches full swing, tourists and Arizonans are lamenting over closures to areas of our national forests. Restrictions to hugely popular recreation areas such as Fossil Creek or C.C. Cragin Reservoir have been imposed because of the high risk of wildfires. Read more
WASHINGTON – A group of Western lawmakers unveiled a package of bills Thursday to “modernize” the Endangered Species Act by allowing more loca… Read more
Payson, Arizona, July 12, 2018—For Immediate Release Tonto National Forest officials are requesting public comment on the Draft Report of the … Read more
The Navajo County Board of Supervisors has put off discussion of possible fracking in the Holbrook Basin. Read more
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PHOENIX – Water managers in Arizona again are trying to strike a deal that would help prepare the state for future cuts to its water supply if… Read more
WASHINGTON – Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has “no intention to revisit uranium mining” in and around the Grand Canyon, his spokeswoman said, … Read more
GREELEY, Colo. – Reservoirs along the Colorado River are projected to be less than half full by summer’s end, potentially marking a historic l… Read more
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration may have pulled off the unlikely trick this month of uniting liberals and conservatives, energy industry… Read more
PHOENIX – Valley cities rely mostly on dams and reservoirs for their water needs, but the snowpack feeding those reservoirs was near record lo… Read more
WASHINGTON — A coalition of national environmental groups, including American Bird Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, today filed litigation, National Audubon Society v. Department of the Interior, in the Southern District of New York challenging the current Administration’s move to eliminate longstanding protections for waterfowl, raptors, and songbirds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). Read more
A Trump administration plan calls for auctioning off about 4,200 acres of public land for oil and gas development in northern Arizona, but env… Read more
An impressive 37,854 pounds of electronic and household hazardous waste was dropped off in four hours at the first free recycling event of its… Read more
PINETOP – Forest fires, climate change and the wrath of non-native fish are threatening the survival of the Apache trout, a species found only… Read more
Birds have always been a source of wonder, mystery, spiritual intrigue, and scientific study. Bird watching, or birding as most of us call it,… Read more
PHOENIX – If you think it’s hot now, just wait: Some climate researchers predict Arizona will be unlivable by 2050. Read more
TEMPE – The desert is the last place most people search for water, but a team of scientists has tested a device in Arizona that extracts water… Read more
CAVE CREEK – Great horned owls, one of the most common raptors in the United States, are being threatened by rat poison in their prey. Read more
Arizona Republican U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake on Monday urged Senate colleagues for their support of S.140, his legislation to clarify the White Mountain Apache Tribe water rights settlement. Read more
A charismatic, winged pollinator responsible for helping produce tequila is making a comeback despite tough odds thanks to a U.S. Fish and Wil… Read more
My wife, Jane, and I own the Devil’s Spring Ranch in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin — one of the most active areas for natural gas production in … Read more
PHOENIX – States in the Upper Colorado River Basin are telling downstream neighbor Arizona to get its act together. Read more
In March, Susan Combs became temporary assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, in charge of overseeing both the U.S. Fish and Wil… Read more
SPRINGERVILLE – Town officials notified residents Wednesday that its drinking water contains levels of a naturally occurring and known cancer-causing contaminant that exceeds state quality standards. Read more
Since his confirmation in March 2017, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s push to trim the department he oversees while opening more public lands … Read more
