Last week, Our Living Lands highlighted the challenge of living without electricity. Now, hear from Navajo families who are getting power for the first time through a life-changing mutual aid program.

The federal government is allocating more funding to help rural and tribal communities better respond to wildfires. Several of those communities in Mountain West states have already seen an improvement in their firefighting abilities.

Early polling suggested heavy Native support for Republican President-elect Donald Trump. The Indigenous Journalists Association, one of several groups to criticize the methodology, called it “misleading and irresponsible.” In the newly released poll, 57% of respondents said they supported Democrat Kamala Harris compared to just 39% for Trump.

In Jackson, a state agency has found a way to stretch limited dollars by bringing in modular homes. This sped up the construction time by months and was a game changer for one family.

Researchers were looking at PM 2.5 pollution, made up of particles with diameters at least 30 times smaller than human hair. They found that for every additional microgram from wildfires per cubic meter of air on average over rolling 3-year periods, patients faced an 18% increase in the odds of a dementia diagnosis. The figure for non-wildfire PM 2.5 was just 1%.

A new report reveals Indigenous-owned businesses contribute more than $46 billion to the U.S. economy each year. A lot of that activity is happening in the Western U.S.

It includes critical habitat designations for the first time in the Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and New Mexico.

More than $120 million in federal grant money is being earmarked to support conservation programs across the country, including in our region. Almost half of the funding will support efforts involving Indigenous communities.

Nationwide, nearly 17,000 homes on tribal lands still need electricity hook-ups. A majority of them are spread across the Navajo Nation, where climate change is making it harder for families to keep cool. In recent years, however, a mutual aid program has been helping change lives.

The Department of Justice says Utah gave up the rights to the federal lands within its boundaries when it joined the union in 1896.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending $60 million to help tribal farmers in the Mountain West use less water amid drought – and still grow their crops.

Wyoming could be the second state to pass a law limiting utilities liability — if they agree to help mitigate fires.