Alex Milan Tracy for Underscore
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The dozens of independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations that make up the Rural News Network are developing the broadest news alliance reporting on rural America. These newsrooms are pursuing coverage that provides a more complete picture of what it means to live and work in these communities.
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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Reserves of critical minerals driving mining interest in SD
January 28, 2026
South Dakota’s untapped critical mineral reserves highlight both economic opportunity and environmental debate in the nation’s push for domestic sources.
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New Wyoming PAC forms to oust ‘anti-public lands’ lawmakers
January 13, 2026
Founders say federal land takeover legislation spurred formation of political action committee on behalf of hunters, anglers and other outdoor recreationists.
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Trump, Stauber announce plan to end mining ban near Boundary Waters
January 12, 2026
The Trump administration determined the Biden administration did not properly notify Congress when it implemented a 20-year mining ban in the Superior National Forest.
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A Proposed 1,500-Mile Trail Across Texas Will Take a Village – Or Dozens
December 15, 2025
Texas towns, landowners, ranchers, and recreation enthusiasts come together to build a new trail system.
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How a billionaire’s plan to export East Texas groundwater sparked a rural uprising
November 19, 2025
The citizens of six East Texas counties where Trump took around 80 percent of the vote last November are now turning to their state government to protect them from billionaires.
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Telluride owner warns of delay to ski season if Mountain Village leaders raise price of water for snowmaking
October 31, 2025
From 2020 to 2024 snowmaking accounted for 45% of the annual demand from the town’s wells.
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An East Texas landowner fenced off a community’s favorite fishing spot, igniting multiple legal battles
October 23, 2025
Phillip Surls, a local businessman who owns much of the property around the Cutoff, has argued he blocked access to the stream to protect his cattle and that the waterway is not public.
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Concerns flare in Haines that a road to Juneau would be a ‘road to resources’
October 08, 2025
Others at the open house raised the same concern, particularly given that state officials recently unveiled plans to remove longstanding logging restrictions in the Haines State Forest and open up the entire area to logging.
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State approves Big Sky Resort plan to turn wastewater into snow
October 07, 2025
The snowmaking operation on Spanish Peaks Mountain Club property will make Big Sky the first public ski area in Montana to turn wastewater into powder.
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Former clerk for small Colorado town accused of diverting $26k from water project to personal accounts
October 07, 2025
The town of Aguilar has since taken steps to implement stricter financial controls and set up a separate water account for the project designed to ensure long-term water access for the town of 450.
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Economic boom or environmental disaster? Rural Texas grapples with pros, cons of data centers
October 02, 2025
Local leaders see data centers, which help power the world’s shift to artificial intelligence, as a way to keep their towns open. Residents worry their way of life — and water — is at stake.
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When their spring failed, a Northfield family turned to a town spigot. Then it was shut off.
September 26, 2025
As of Thursday, almost 70% of the state, including Washington County, remains in a severe drought, and 24% of the state is in extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
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Data Center Energy Demand Is Putting Pressure on U.S. Water Supplies
September 03, 2025
From Arizona and Georgia to New Jersey and Minnesota, data centers have been the target of public pushback due to the water used directly in their operations to cool racks of data-crunching, heat-producing servers.
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Food and Environment Reporting Network
Food is power
September 02, 2025
It’s getting harder for family farms to turn a profit, and those who seek alternatives to the consolidated corporate market must navigate complicated policies and finances in order to sell directly to consumers.
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Trump pushes to resume coal leasing in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin
July 07, 2025
The Bureau of Land Management will amend Biden-era resource management plans to reopen coal leasing in Wyoming and Montana.
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