Murphy Woodhouse
Idaho Reporter, Mountain West News BureauExpertise: Audio production, field reporting, photography, wildfire policy
Education: University of Montana + University of Arizona
Highlights
- I’m fluent in Spanish and love putting Spanish on the air
- I’m an all-conditions bike commuter and e-bike evangelist – EVERY day is a good day to ride
- I’ve seen two total solar eclipses, and intend to see many more before I die
Experience
I joined Boise State Public Radio and the Mountain West News Bureau (MWNB) in April 2023 after about a decade working as a print and radio reporter on both sides of the Arizona-Sonora border. Most recently I was based in the Sonoran capital Hermosillo working for the Phoenix NPR affiliate KJZZ. At the MWNB, I’ve tried to leverage my past experience as a wildland firefighter to provide listeners with informed coverage of a number of key issues in wildland fire. I’m especially interested in efforts to improve the famously challenging and dangerous working conditions on the fireline.
I’ve been a news photographer for a number of years now, but have more recently decided to really hone my skills. As a part of that, I try to have a camera on me whenever I’m out and about. I love sharing images that capture something essential about wherever I’m shooting, like young folks flinging themselves off the Greenbelt truss bridge last summer or car lights stretching along Highway 28 as meteors streak overhead in the lonely Lemhi Valley.
Email: Trail tips? Story tips? Know a secret the public ought to hear? Drop me a line!
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In 2025, roughly 4.5% of Utah homeowners policies — or nearly 1 in 20 — were not renewed by insurance providers. That’s the highest rate in the country, and 1.5% higher than the number two state California. -
The faster a fire burns, the more severe its ecological impacts. That’s one of the findings of a new paper in the journal Science Advances. Climate change only promises to further accelerate those fires, according to its lead author. -
Blame wildfires and hail — made more destructive by climate change — for the deteriorating insurance situation in the West. Add in hurricanes and other disasters elsewhere, and it’s a nationwide trend — one that a new report from the advocacy group the Insurance Fairness Project says is threatening home sales. -
From Spokane, Wash. to Pueblo County, Colo., fast-moving fires have again wreaked havoc in neighborhoods this summer. Now, a network of scientists, fire professionals and other experts have joined forces to seek research-based solutions to the problem. -
So-called process based restoration (PBR) has a number of ecological benefits. But it can make ecosystems more resilient to wildfires when they come, and better able to recover in their wake. -
There were early signs that this fire season could be a big one, especially the record-low snowpack last winter. In Teton County — near the Grand Targhee Resort — that spurred interest in a novel effort: raising money to help hire a local wildfire mitigation coordinator. -
In some parts of the West - like the grass and shrublands of the Idaho-Oregon-Nevada tristate area - closer to two-thirds of burned area is associated with heatwaves. -
The three countries have a years-long practice of sharing wildfire resources during each other's often intense seasons, which mostly don't overlap. -
Friends and family are sharing what they’ll miss about Chris Andersen and Miles Elliott. Their deaths have also further shaken the wildland fire community, which has lost a number of firefighters during the intense and ongoing season. -
New research suggests wildfires appear to be upending years of steady progress in reducing ozone pollution in the United States. It’s a trend reversal with significant health implications.
