Environment

Cattle ranchers got a break this week. Their grazing fees on public lands just dropped to the lowest amount allowed under federal law. The average savings per rancher will be just $32 a year, but the decision is still controversial.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a 54-year-old congressional act that helps federal, state and local governments to purchase land for preservation and public use. Questions were raised as it was allowed to expire this past October, but last week, it was permanently renewed and we look at how the LWCF helps conserve Idaho lands.

Twin Falls has a recycling problem. According to the Twin Falls Times-News, the City Council has decided not to raise a cap on the cost of recycling – which means some recycled materials will get sent to the dump.

The Gem State is seeing some staggering snowfall this season. Idaho Matters checks in with NRCS water supply specialist Ron Abramovich about what this snowpack means for the state's water supply.

Caribou used to be found in the wilds of old growth forests in the Idaho panhandle. The population would often cross state lines into Washington. Now, there are zero caribou roaming free in the lower 48.

January was unusually mild, but February has served as a reminder that the calendar still says it’s winter. The spate of cold and snow is providing a two-fold benefit.

A new study includes an interactive map that shows how your home will be affected by climate change in the next 50 years. No surprise —Idaho and the Mountain West will get hotter.

Governor Brad Little signed legislation Wednesday that provides a major step forward in ending a years-long dispute over water.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service measures mountain snowpack. Last week, we reported on below-normal levels in the Boise Basin. That was right before the agency's hydrologists went up to Mores Creek Summit near Idaho City to gather data, and right before snow storms came to the region.

Cordi and Joe Atkinson have been caring for birds of prey for nearly four decades. From hunting with falcons to rehabilitating injured eagles, the Atkinsons have become the faces of predatory bird preservation. The Atkinsons join Idaho Matters to discuss their work and the role the birds play in the Idaho ecosystem.

Researchers have been concerned about dwindling bee populations for decades, now scientists are worried about massive reductions in monarch butterfly populations. We find out why Idaho's official state insect is in trouble and how scientists are working to preserve the butterfly.

A public meeting on the CuMo Mine, a potential mining project near the Boise River headwaters, was supposed to happen in January. But because of the federal government shutdown, the Forest Service cancelled it.

Imagine a swarm of big, black birds flying overhead at dusk. No, it’s not a scene from a Hitchcock film. This is Nampa, Idaho — a small community that’s become the winter home for tens of thousands of crows. They are noisy and messy, and Nampa residents are pushing back.

Groups including the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club say the 65 grizzlies that died in 2018 didn’t need to. They sent a letter to state officials urging them to act. 

When you search "zoo poo" on the internet, one of the first things that comes up is a link to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. You quickly learn that the facility sells composted animal waste to people in the Pacific Northwest, and at least one person says it makes amazing garden fertilzer.

The Mountain Humane Animal Shelter was the first no-kill shelter in the state. They can add another superlative to their credentials: Their new facility will be run mostly with solar energy.