Rachel Cohen

Jan 16, 2025 | boisestatepublicradio.org | Rachel Cohen

The wildfires in Los Angeles are drawing comparisons to Colorado’s most destructive wildfire. The Marshall Fire, which burned in Boulder County in December of 2021, was also a wintertime blaze, fueled by dry conditions and extreme winds, that tore through an urban area. This past week, the fires in Los Angeles were all anyone could talk about in Reina Pomeroy’s Louisville community. Pomeroy’s home was among the more than 1,000 that burned in the Marshall Fire.

Jan 16, 2025 | boisestatepublicradio.org | Rachel Cohen

At an annual meeting of the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association, Kieran Donahue, the sheriff of rural Canyon County, Idaho, blends into a Boise conference room full of suits and cowboy hats. He said he’s heard of the plans of President-elect Donald Trump and “border czar” Tom Homan to carry out the largest deportation campaign in American history -- a campaign that will likely rely on local law enforcement officers like him.

Jan 7, 2025 | boisestatepublicradio.org | Rachel Cohen

Although extreme heat is the in the U.S. there are no mandatory rules to protect workers specifically from heat stress. The Department of Labor would like to fix this and is currently in the process of developing first-of-its-kind regulations, but their future remains uncertain. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed the heat rules this summer when some parts of the West saw triple digit temperatures that went on for days.

Dec 10, 2024 | boisestatepublicradio.org | Rachel Cohen

U.S. Supreme Court justices heard arguments in a case Tuesday over a proposed train line that would bring crude oil in Utah to the national rail network.The suit could have much broader implications by shaking up how government agencies evaluate the environmental effects of proposed projects. At question is whether the Surface Transportation Board is required to consider indirect environmental impacts of the Uinta Basin Railway, a proposed 88-mile rail expansion, in its review of the project.

Dec 5, 2024 | kisu.org | Rachel Cohen

The Canada lynx, a snow-dependent wildcat, could soon see new protections in the western U.S. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last week a finalized recovery plan for the species and is proposing new critical habitat designations. While lynx are primarily found in Canada and Alaska, small populations are also found in patches of the Mountain West, Midwest and Northeast.