Plant Life Expanding to Higher Elevations in Himalayas
High-altitude areas of Mount Everest and across the Hindu Kush Himalayan regions are experiencing a surprising increase in vegetation and plant life, according to new research.
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California Skeleton ID’d as ‘Ghost of Manzanar’
A skeleton found by hikers this fall near California’s second-highest peak was identified Friday as a Japanese American artist who had left the Manzanar internment camp to paint in the mountains in the waning days of World War II.
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Hawaii Telescope Protesters to Stay as Blocked Road Reopens
Protesters opposed to building a giant telescope on Hawaii’s tallest peak agreed Thursday to move a tent of elders that has blocked the mountain’s access road.
Read moreFrat Hazing Death
Parents of the late Tyler Hilliard sued the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity — Pi Epsilon Chapter at UC Riverside in superior court, claiming their son died after weeks of hazing and an “initiation hike” on Mount Rubidoux.
Read moreRight-Wing Ranchers
The Western Watersheds Project sued the U.S. Forest Service in federal court, claiming it’s allowing Utah’s Monroe Mountain area to be devastated by scofflaw ranchers who “have made overtly clear they have guns to back up their threats, and they call for the arrest of USFS employees who attempt to exercise basic management and oversight on federal grazing allotments as required by law.”
Read more2 Climbers Die in Accident on Switzerland’s Matterhorn
Swiss police say two climbers have died in an accident on the upper reaches of the famed Matterhorn mountain.
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Hawaii Protesters Press on to Stop Telescope, Face Arrest
Thousands of protesters joined a swelling effort Wednesday to stop construction of a telescope they have long tried to keep off a mountain considered sacred to some Native Hawaiians, blocking a road to Hawaii’s highest peak and prompting the arrest of a group of elderly demonstrators.
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Hawaii Activists Protesting Over Start of Work on Telescope
Hundreds of demonstrators are gathered at the base of Hawaii’s tallest mountain to protest the construction of a giant telescope on land that some Native Hawaiians consider sacred.
Read moreColorado Climber Dies After Scaling Mount Everest
A Colorado climber died Monday shortly after getting to the top of Mount Everest and achieving his dream of scaling the highest peaks on each of the seven continents, his brother said Monday.
Read moreWilderness
Wilderness Watch claims in a federal complaint that the U.S. Forest Service authorized “the unprecedented use of chainsaws” in the Weminuche and South San Juan Wilderness Areas in the Rocky Mountains.
Read moreSherpa Climber Scales Mount Everest for Record 23rd Time
Sherpa climber Kami Rita scaled Mount Everest on Wednesday for a 23rd time, breaking his own record for the most successful ascents of the world’s highest peak.
Read moreUS Scientists to Climb Everest, Collect Data on Climate
A team of American scientists flew to the Mount Everest region Wednesday to study how pollution has impacted the Himalayan mountains and glaciers that are melting due to global warming.
Read moreSearch Resumes for 2 European Climbers Missing in Pakistan
Pakistan’s military dispatched two helicopters Thursday despite closure of its airspace amid tensions with neighboring India to find a pair of climbers from Italy and Britain who went missing on a Himalayan peak, a mountaineering official said.
Read moreThird of Himalayan Glaciers Can No Longer Be Saved: Study
One-third of Himalayan glaciers will melt by the end of the century due to climate change, threatening water sources for 1.9 billion people, even if current efforts to reduce climate change succeed, an assessment warns.
Read moreFederal Lawsuit Seeks $14.8M in Deadly Tennessee Wildfires
Two survivors of deadly Tennessee wildfires that began in Great Smoky Mountains National Park have sued the federal government, claiming they lost loved ones and a home because of the negligence of park workers.
Read moreVolcanic Blast Reshaped Summit of Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung
The eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung that shot ash 3 miles high also blew away much of the mountain’s summit.
Read moreSanta Rita Mountains
Four environmental groups sued the U.S. Forest Service in Federal Court, seeking review of its approval of a copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, near the Mexican border.
Read moreLocals Urge Trump to Keep Sand to Snow Monument Off Chopping Block
Southern California is known for its diverse landscape, including the tallest mountain peaks in the state down to the desert, which has been teeming with life since experiencing a super bloom after an unusually wet winter. But when the area connecting the two different landscapes was left unprotected from development – particularly by the energy sector – despite having support from varied groups including environmentalists and off-road enthusiasts, it took an executive order by former President Barack Obama to do what locals say Congress failed to: create the Sand to Snow National Monument.
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Drought Over With a Vengeance, Now … Floods?
Citing risk of spring flooding after a historically wet winter, California officials said the Sierra Nevada snowpack is 190 percent of its long-term average for May 1.
Read moreSierra Snowpack on Track for the Record Books
Buoyed by a barrage of January snow that buried ski resorts across the Golden State, regulators announced Thursday that the state’s snowpack is as healthy as it’s been since 2005.
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