Coal-producing Emery County is one of the only regions in Utah to have seen a drop in population in the last decade. And those that remain have lost good paying jobs as the state transitions away from coal. A new research facility wants to bring back revenue and jobs by experimenting with a number of new technologies. From KZMU in Moab, Justin Higginbottom looks at one of those projects: a type of nuclear reactor some think could be the future of power.

An increasing number of people are moving to small towns in rural America to, in part, take advantage of cheaper housing. But some local residents and long-term renters are being forced out.

There are new calls for stronger building codes in Colorado after devastating suburban wildfires. The towns weren't considered at high risk for fire, but the warming climate is changing that calculus.

As the Biden Administration aims to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and combat climate change, many of the battles between conservationists and business interests are being waged over federal land across the vast Mountain West. Will Walkey of KHOL Jackson reports from Wyoming, where millions of acres, and thousands of livelihoods, are at stake.

An Indigenous woman arrested for protesting former President Trump's border wall in Arizona is in federal court, asking a judge to reconsider whether she can use a religious freedom law as a defense.

There are lots of grants and proposals promising to help rural America. But the definition of "rural" isn't always clear, and where a town falls in the pecking order can decide its access to funds.

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks with U.S. Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell about this month's fatal fires in New York and Philadelphia, and about safety issues in apartment buildings nationwide.

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with Helen Wheeler, a wildlife ecologist from Anglia Ruskin University in the U.K., on the impacts beavers are having as they move into the Arctic tundra.

A rare Stellar's sea eagle is visiting the Maine Coast and drawing birders from all over the country

Talent, Ore., is trying to prevent an exodus of residents after recent wildfires. The city is providing temporary trailers and other services to keep families from abandoning the small town.