U.S. Department of Agriculture

Workers who maintained trails, removed combustible debris from forests and secured funding for wildfire mitigation projects say the loss of these federal positions could impact public safety.

Massive federal layoffs are hitting communities across the West, including rural, recreation hotspots like McCall, Idaho. Here's how that town is responding.

Farm irrigation uses a lot of water across the West. In one Utah community, however, farmers already grow crops without any irrigation. It might seem like an answer to the state's water woes, but the reality is not so simple.

High housing costs are cutting into Utahns’ budgets for necessities like food. The Utah Food Bank has seen higher demand than in recent years as households in the state struggle with food insecurity.

From cherries to apricots to pears, Utah has thousands of fruit trees on public and private property. Individuals and community organizations are working to make sure all that food doesn’t go to waste.

Even though Utah is home to around 335,000 beef cattle, ranchers haven’t had many local avenues for getting that meat to market. Instead, it gets sent out of state, driving up costs.

USDA planting data shows a warming trend in Utah which means “we could potentially plant some new things in our gardens,” said Red Butte Garden horticulturist Crystal Kim.

Many farmers across the Mountain West grow alfalfa, which is dried into hay and fed to beef and dairy cattle. But it requires a lot more water than most crops.

The money is aimed at improving access to mental health and substance abuse care in more remote parts of the state.

Last year, Wyoming lost 500,000 acres of farm and ranch land, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In the Mountain West, more than seven million acres have disappeared in the past decade, mostly in Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that avian influenza was confirmed in a flock of 47,300 turkeys in Jerauld County of South Dakota on Oct. 4 and at a farm with 141,800 birds in Utah's Sanpete County last Friday.

Farmers and ranchers in the West are being pressured by rising production costs, increased workloads and extreme weather. No wonder they face higher levels of stress and mental health issues than other Americans.