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This yard in Mesa was converted to desert landscaping under the city’s Grass-to-Xeriscape incentive program. September 2022.

As the drought grinds on, Maricopa County homeowners take advantage of xeriscape incentives

Megadrought and low runoff conditions accelerated by climate change have resulted in record low water levels in Lakes Powell and Mead
Cattle on Date Creek Ranch are grass-fed and sustainably raised on irrigated pastures.

How one Wickenburg cattle ranch puts sustainability at its core

Regenerative agriculture means leaving the land better than it was found.
A Mount Graham Red Squirrel.

Population increase for endangered red squirrels in Arizona

State Game and Fish Department officials said that the annual survey estimates that there currently are 156 of the rare squirrels, up from 109 last year.
Crews with the Arizona Dept. of Forestry load a tree for the Capitol building.

AZ Capitol Christmas tree keeps forest healthy

The state used a tree that was part of a thinning project.
Shipping containers are put in place along the U.S.-Mexico border in Cochise County.

Forest Service warns about dangers of shipping container wall

The state is placing the barriers in the Coronado National Forest.
John Farley, director of fire test operations at the Naval Research Laboratory, tests the effectiveness of aqueous film-forming foam by spraying it on a gasoline fire. The test took place at the laboratory in Chesapeake Beach, Md. Oct. 25, 2019.

UArizona Health Sciences receives grant to study PFAS mitigation in firefighters' blood

Arizona Board of Regents grant will further an Australian study that could minimize forever chemicals' impact on health.
A pond at Reid Park.

Tucson Parks and Recreation looks for feedback on Reid Park remodel

The Reid Park Master Plan Concept reveals a design centered on biodiversity expansion.
A Mexican gray wolf at the Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility in New Mexico in 2011.

Updated recovery plan for Mexican wolves aims to reduce human-caused deaths

The plan aims to further protect the endangered wolves through increased law enforcement, education and outreach to communities near where the wolves live.
Protests against the Resolution Copper mine near Oak Flat have been going for years, as shown in this 2015 file photo from a rally at the Capitol.

Tribe continues fight against proposed Arizona copper mine

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the state Department of Environmental Quality illegally issued a Clean Water Act permit for the proposed Resolution Copper Mine.
Two Sandhill cranes fly above their wintering grounds in Cochise County. Experts from the Arizona Game and Fish Department estimated more than 27,000 individuals were in the area in January 2020.

Sandhill cranes return to wintering grounds in southeastern Arizona

People can watch from home on AZ Game and Fish live stream.
The revived "heritage" stretch of the Santa Cruz River now flows north of Starr Pass/22nd Street all the way to Congress Street.

Insects find a new home on Santa Cruz River

It has been two years since a new species has moved to the area.
Water levels are at record lows and still dropping in the nation's largest reservoirs. The federal government began the process of restricting water releases from Glen Canyon Dam, which holds back a shrinking Lake Powell.

Feds want the ability to cut back on Colorado River reservoir releases over the next two years

On Friday, the Interior Department began the process of revising existing guidelines for water management in the Colorado River basin.
Jessie Dwyer, biodiversity manager at McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, demonstrates how a transmitter and GPS tracker are affixed to the wild tortoises in the study. Photo taken Sept. 30, 2022, in Scottsdale.

Slow, steady and high tech: Study using GPS to track Sonoran desert tortoises

Sonoran desert tortoises can hold water for up to a year, Rubke said. That matters given that Arizona is in a megadrought.
Strong Arm, a well-known saguaro cactus in the Tortolita Preserve near Marana, was estimated to be 150 to 200 years old and 40 feet tall when it toppled during an August storm. But the actual cause of death was Erwinia cacticida, a bacteria that causes saguaros to rot and ooze a thick, black liquid.

Iconic Strong Arm was one of many saguaros killed by climate change, deadly bacteria

For close to two centuries, Strong Arm stood sentinel over the Tortolita Preserve near Marana.

Desert Plants: Agave

Scientists have identified more than 250 types of agaves in North America, some of them grow right here in Arizona

Campus Arboretum

Take a walk around the University of Arizona's Campus Arboretum, and step back in time.

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