Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY)

"Federal regulators knew potentially contaminated bark and wood chips were being sold from a Superfund site in the asbestos-tainted town of Libby, Mont., for three years before they stopped the practice, according to a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency to U.S. Sen. Max Baucus."

"The Fish and Wildlife Service has been flooded with public comments over a proposed management plan for the second-largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states, including an 8,000-acre net decrease in potential wilderness area and significant changes in how livestock are managed."

"For a decade, the people of Libby have longed for the day when they will be rid of the asbestos that turned their town into the deadliest Superfund site in America. Now they are being forced to live through the agony all over again."

"[Colorado] State health officials are letting Cotter Corp. dump 90,000 gallons of radioactive sludge and solvents from its uranium mill into an impoundment pond the agency knows to be leaking."

From his deck, Bob Arrington can hear the rustle of aspens and the chirp of birds. He can see the golf course; Battlement Mesa, still spring green, to the south; and Roan Plateau, pink and tan, to the north. Soon he may also be able to see a drilling rig — right near the sixth hole."

"The Ruby Mountains, a major Great Basin range, appears to harbor only half as many small animals as were found there in the 1920s, according to a new study by Utah Museum of Natural History researchers."

Abandoned mines in Colorado and across the West are contaminating many streams with toxic discharges.

"The state of Idaho has authorized sheriff's deputies in a tiny mountain town to kill wolves blamed for preying on pets and elk, a spokesman for the state fish and game department said on Tuesday."