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The Pinyon Plain Mine shaft in Coconino County, on Wednesday, Aug. 30. In 2016, the mine shaft punctured a perched aquifer that contained natural levels of uranium, requiring the mining company Energy Fuels to pump water to the surface to an impoundment for treatment.

Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon Region: Tribal Sovereignty vs. Nuclear Energy in the Climate Crisis

Uranium mining and nuclear energy may be affecting Arizona's tribal nations, posing threats to the region's water resources and the environmental and cultural heritage connected to them.

Sonoran Desert Toad Awareness Training: Keeping dogs safe from the psychedelic amphibians

Keeping our canines safe from the harmful danger of the Sonoran Desert Toad
Highly treated wastewater and stormwater flows through the Santa Cruz River off of the Guy Tobin Trailhead in Rio Rico, Ariz., on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024.

Efforts to protect Santa Cruz River gain ground with federal conservation plan

Community leaders and federal officials join forces to safeguard one of America’s most endangered plans
Secretary of the U.S. Department Interior Deb Haaland. She represented New Mexico in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019-2021.

US Interior Secretary announces restoration of the once-endangered Apache trout species in Arizona

The Apache trout is found only in the streams of eastern Arizona's White Mountains.
The Phoenix Zoo’s Atascosa Complex Wildlife Study captures video of a new ocelot in Southern Arizona in June 2024.

Atascosa Mountains ocelot sighting, first in 50 years

Trail cameras caught footage of an endangered ocelot five miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, in a region where ocelots haven’t been seen in 50 years.
A sonoran pronghorn in a field in Southern Arizona.

Committee urges U.S. and Mexico to protect UNESCO World Heritage site from border wall damage

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee is calling on the U.S. and Mexico to work together to assess and mitigate impacts of the border wall on wildlife of the Sonoran desert, especially the endangered Sonoran pronghorn.
A smoky sky glows ominously over eastern Arizona during the Wallow Fire.

Member of an Arizona tribe is accused of starting a wildfire that destroyed 21 homes on reservation

The wildfire forced the evacuation of more than 400 people.
A male elegant trogon displays some of the colors that have made it very attractive for birders.

Tucson Audubon Society Gets Closer to choosing a New Name

Organization wants a future without the controversial "Audubon" associations
A photo of Joe Pera from the poster for season 2 of his Adult Swim television show, "Joe Pera Talks with You."

"A medium guy in general, across the board." Joe Pera talks with Tucson.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Checking in with the Tucson Audubon Society; and a Tucson knitter who is making socks the REAL old-fashioned way.
From left to right: Lydia Millet, Molly McCloy, and Gabrielle Pietrangelo.

Sharing lived experience with keen observation.

On this Arizona Spotlight, hear three women who are telling vibrant stories across different mediums.
1975 Zoo Staff, Barry Ames, Joanna Gradillas, Marc Bruns, Angela Stewart, Alex Flores, Mike Flint, Ms. Boyle, Ann Dery, Sandra Hein, Gale Ferrick, Al Gallego, Shanda Martin, Kathy Kuehn, Garland Godbehere.

"Taking the camel to the drive-in?" Historian David Leighton's history of the Reid Park Zoo

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Visit the Word of Mouth Print Space; celebrate imagination at the Library's Megamania!! Festival; and meet the founder of the Naco Wellness Initiative.
Sandy Bahr, director of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club (left) and Carletta Tilousi, Havasupai tribal member and leader (right) hand off over 17,000 petition signatures to Governor Katie Hobbs, urging her to shut down the Pinyon Plain uranium mine outside of the Grand Canyon on Thursday, June 27, in Phoenix, Ariz. This follows a letter sent to the governor earlier this year, which requested her action to limit the mine's activities to closure and maintenance activities.

Activists submit 17,000 signatures urging closure of uranium mine near Grand Canyon

Groups like the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity along with Tribal members say the mine risks drinking water.
The vaquita is a critically endangered porpoise that lives in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez. It is considered the smallest and most endangered cetacean in the world.

Even fewer critically endangered vaquitas sighted in Mexico this year

Researchers say only six to eight of the porpoises were sighted.
A male Elegant Trogon, as featured in Richard Cachor Taylor's 2022 book "Birds of Arizona".

Celebrating one of the Sonoran Desert's most popular visitors.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: The secrets of the Vegan Night Market; how the Noyce Teaching Scholarship is helping to find and retain good STEM teachers in Arizona; and Julie Sasse says goodbye to the Tucson Museum of Art.
The movi eposter for Roger Corman's "The Tomb of Ligeia".

Remembering Movie Legend Roger Corman.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Macro photographer Jillian Cowles peers into the private life of spiders; and Chris Dashiell visits "The Tomb of Ligeia".
Effluent gushes out of the outfall, into the Santa Cruz River. The outfall of water is constantly flowing, but there is a diurnal fluctuation due to cyclical human water use.

Reviving the Santa Cruz: efforts to restore Arizona’s endangered river

Local groups push for Urban National Wildlife Refuge designation.

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