Out West

An annual wildfire briefing earlier this week between staffers for Southwestern members of Congress and Forest Service officials was unusual for two reasons, according to a congressional aide in attendance:

The Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved funding to fight wildfires and bonuses for wildland firefighters during a meeting Friday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

The nations were trying to finalize updates to the 61-year-old Columbia River Treaty governing shared, cross-border water and hydropower management

‘Bye Felicia,’ one lawmaker posts on social media, saying ‘Sundance does not fit in Utah anymore.’ Boulder, Colorado, is a festival relocation finalist.

A string of storms in California and Nevada brought some moisture back to the West this winter, improving snowpack in the region, but not enough to erase deficits in the state.

The proposal to use outdated groundwater models was rejected as concerns about future Colorado River supplies mount.

State officials say an agricultural eastern county stopped working to comply with Washington’s immigration law after Donald Trump took office again.

How much does the federal government spend on programs such as Medicaid, food assistance and housing in Utah? Last fiscal year it was about $7 billion out of the state’s full $26 billion budget.

A multi-year effort by conservationists and others to ban what they say is the wanton slaughter of coyotes for cash and prizes has morphed into a movement to end the debate by licensing wildlife killing contests.

The bill would limit annual price hikes for residential tenants to no more than 7% a year. It next goes to the state Senate.