U.S. Department of Interior

The question of whether the federal government should sell off some public lands has been debated in Congress in recent weeks. Leaders in Western towns will consider a more focused version of that controversial idea in the months ahead: They’ll look at how places with severe housing shortages – like many mountain towns in Colorado – might buy or lease nearby federal land and use it for housing.

The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding the grants to 33 tribal nations and one U.S. territory. Recipients plan to apply the funding to reduce air pollution, transition to clean energy use, and promote environmental justice.

Nationwide, nearly 17,000 homes on tribal lands didn’t have electricity in 2022, according to federal data. The Biden administration is making new investments to address the issue.

A group led by the Interior Department has released recommendations to reform mining practices on public lands.

Last month, the U.S. House proposed sweeping cuts to the upcoming budgets of the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency. Now, a Senate committee has restored most of what the agencies are asking for.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has announced an expansion of a National Park Service historical site dedicated to the massacre by U.S. troops of more than 200 Native Americans in what is now southeastern Colorado.

The goal of the Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee is to get input from tribal leaders on Department of the Interior issues impacting Indigenous communities before policy is made.

Colorado River water managers are facing a monumental task. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has asked seven western states to commit to an unprecedented amount of conservation and do it before a deadline later this summer. This comes amid shrinking water levels in the nation's largest reservoirs.

The Interior Department announced the distribution of $279 million to outdoor recreation and conservation projects across the U.S., with tens of millions of dollars going to states in the Mountain West.

Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau said the New Belen Wasteway, a Bureau of Reclamation project that routes agricultural runoff back to the Rio Grande, is an example of an investment in water infrastructure that has huge impacts on surrounding communities.