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Thirty-foot-high border wall was installed along the border near Sasabe, Arizona, and Mexico in the summer of 2020.

Joe Biden inherits Trump's border wall — and its lawsuits

Candidate Biden said he would stop construction but never said he would tear down the new border wall.
A proposed pipeline project in southern Utah would transport water from Lake Powell to fast-growing communities in the state's southwest corner. The proposal hit political headwinds this year, as other Colorado River users objected to it.

2020 delivers setbacks for some long-planned Western water projects

Long-planned projects have run into roadblocks.
The Santa Cruz River flows downstream of the outflow from the Agua Dulce wastewater treatment plant.

State shares framework for new surface water quality protections

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is working on regulations to fill the gap left by changes to the Clean Water Act.
Hikers on Mount Lemmon practicing social distancing.

More Santa Catalina trails and campsites reopen

The Coronado National Forest continues to evaluate safety conditions at trials and campgrounds in the wake of the Bighorn Fire.
Guadalupe Canyon is a remote, rugged area in the Southwest where the Trump administration is currently racing to complete construction of a border wall.

In Arizona, building a wall — and destroying a canyon

In a mountain range too steep to cross, the Department of Homeland Security is spending millions of dollars on five miles of border wall.
Construction nears the end on the wall section across the San Pedro River in October 2020.

DHS marks milestone as wall construction severs wildlife corridors

New border wall construction is nearly done in some of the most environmentally sensitive areas in Arizona.
Olive Ridley sea turtle hatchlings make their way back to the Sea of Cortez from the shores of El Desemboque in Sonora, Mexico.

Indigenous community in Sonora releases record number of sea turtles

A coordinator said while the pandemic has been hard on the community, less fishing and tourism has been a boon to turtle nesting season.
Fishing boats float on the Sea of Cortez outside the little town of San Felipe, Baja California, in October 2018.

Mexico fishermen scoff at governor's suggestion to switch to taxi driving

The suggestion comes as fishermen in the Sea of Cortez struggle with increasing restrictions meant to protect a highly endangered porpoise.
Between the High Park and Cameron Peak Fires, a broad reach of the Poudre River’s watershed has burned within the last decade.

For the West’s drinking water, wildfire concerns linger long after smoke clears

For municipal drinking water systems, fires are felt for years after they’re snuffed out.
Firefighters watch a controlled burn within the Grizzly Creek Fire in Colorado. The fire has burned more than 30,000 acres near Glenwood Canyon. Now, the charred hillsides pose a flood risk for nearby areas.

Homeowners who avoid wildfire damage can find themselves in new flood zone

Even long after the flames of a wildfire are gone, those who live nearby face a serious increase in the threat of flooding.
Visitors to Saguaro National Park discovered several vandalized saguaro cactuses around October 3, 2020. Nine of the iconic succulents were chopped down and are believed to be dead. Three others were damaged but may recover.

Saguaros destroyed at national park

The vandalism happened around Oct. 3, rangers say.
A firefighter watches the flames in Yellowstone National Park during the 1988 fires.

In Yellowstone, America's 'first water park,' decades-old blaze marked start of megafire era

The wildfires ushered in a chapter of massive, frequent blazes as well as a new understanding of the ecological process.
A line of DPS officers forms in front of an Indigenous Peoples' Day Protest north of the Lukeville Port of Entry on Oct. 12, 2020.

'Falling on deaf ears': Tohono O'odham Nation reacts to use of force at Indigenous protest

Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr. says tribal needs along the border are being ignored.
Fire officials say they were able to contain the spread of COVID-19 in crews through commonsense measures as well as some precautions specific to their work, even though it made their jobs more challenging at times.

Fire officials claim success in fighting COVID-19 while fighting fires

Officials reported only a handful of positive test results on their crews, and they believe many of those came from exposure off the job.
Arizona Department of Safety officers surround and handcuff an Indigenous demonstrator during an O'odham-led blockade at a Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 85 on October 12, 2020.

Indigenous Peoples' Day border demonstration ends with tear gas, arrests

11 demonstrators taken into DPS custody during a Border Patrol checkpoint blockade in Pima County.
With residences in the foreground, the Bighorn Fire burns in the Santa Catalina Mountains on June 10, 2020.

Homes complicate Arizona wildfire response

Development in Arizona's wildlands is making fires more expensive, and in some cases, more difficult to prevent.

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