Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY)

"WILLARD, Utah -- A Chevron fuel spill near a northern Utah bird refuge is much worse than originally thought as up to 27,000 gallons might have leaked, authorities said."

"An underground plume of toxic hydrocarbons from an oil spill north of the Colorado River near Parachute has been spreading for 10 days, threatening to contaminate spring runoff."

"With government snow plows idled by federal budget cuts known as the 'sequester,' small Wyoming towns on the fringe of Yellowstone are organizing a private fund-raising drive for this year's spring road-clearing operation inside the national park."

"BILLINGS, Mont. -- Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the owners of Montana's massive Colstrip coal-fired power plant, seeking to force the installation of more pollution controls at the decades-old facility."

In Fort Collins, Colorado, where the oil and gas industry is fighting a municipal ban on fracking, Coloradoan reporter Bobby Magill discovered that the state oil and gas association had forged some two-thirds of the "business" signatures on a petition to the city council.

"War has erupted between clean-air activists and state leaders, with the battleground being the data driving decisions about Utah’s air quality."

"You're going to need a bigger fishbowl.

"Intensive research shows vigorous regrowth in beetle-killed tracts."