An Amtrak train derailment in rural north-central Montana on Sunday killed three people and sent several passengers to far-flung hospitals, further burdening ICUs full of COVID-19 patients.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that there was a 14% dip in hydropower in the U.S. this year. The vast majority of that decline is in the West. Less moisture and higher temps meant lower reservoir levels and decreased the ability to get energy from hydro dams. While utilities have long prepared for droughts, they’re becoming more frequent due to climate change.

A new report on wildfire risk uses demographic data to highlight counties around the West that may be especially vulnerable.

In Las Vegas, county commissioners passed a resolution calling misinformation a "public health crisis," while Idaho's public health department is cracking down on misinformation on Facebook.

The judges found EPA permits in Idaho factory farms didn’t require enough monitoring of waste, and could lead to manure in waterways.

The $350 million investment would reduce the number of expensive and deadly wildlife-vehicle collisions — an issue that's especially acute in more rural Western states.

Higher elevations like mountain tops usually have more moisture, and fires historically hadn’t burned there very often. But that’s changing rapidly. The Dixie and Caldor fires in California are the first two wildfires ever recorded crossing the Sierra Nevada crest and burning down the other side.

When hospital workers are overwhelmed by a public health crisis and unable to provide standard care, crisis standards of care dictate who gets what kind of treatment.

Last week, Idaho health officials activated crisis standards of care for North Idaho, and on Thursday expanded the declaration statewide. Other states and healthcare systems in the region, including the Billings Clinic, are considering similar emergency measures.

New research indicates newer homes and those constructed with central air conditioning may be better at keeping wildfire smoke out.