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Dr. Sanjeev Arora (shown) launched Project ECHO in 2003 to share his expertise with health providers across New Mexico. The "tele-mentoring" approach he pioneered was such a success at improving healthcare statewide that it has since spread worldwide. Register for our 2020 Winter Meeting to learn more about Dr. Arora's innovative project and hear what Microsoft President Brad Smith has to say about our rapidly changing digital landscape. The Dec. 10 virtual event also includes Governors in roundtable discussions on COVID-19 and wildfire response. Register now

Did you know that three new Western Governors were recently elected? Greg Gianforte will replace Gov. Steve Bullock in Montana, Spencer Cox will take the reins in Utah from Gov. Gary Herbert, and Lemanu Palepoi Sialega Mauga will assume leadership from Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga in American Samoa. Want to learn more about the new Governors? Visit our website.

High-quality information is an essential weapon in the fight against the advance of invasive species in the West. Sign up now for a Dec. 16 webinar to learn how WGA's Invasive Species Data Mobilization Campaign will enable wider sharing of useful invasive species occurrence data. Register. Want to learn more about the battle against invasive species in the region? Watch our webinar: Toolkit for Invasive Annual Grass Management in the West. ALSO: Hear what Idaho Gov. Brad Little had to say about local, state and federal collaboration on wildfire mitigation at our recent Working Lands Roundtable webinar.

There is still time to register and attend Thursday''s Western Governors’ Association 2020 Winter Meeting.

The event, being presented virtually, will feature the Governors in roundtable discussions about their ongoing efforts to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in their states and response to this year’s extreme wildfire season. WGA Chair and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown will open the meeting with a keynote that includes an update on her central policy effort, the Electric Vehicles Roadmap Initiative. Special guests of the Governors will include:

Western Governors just shared policy related to wildfire, forest, and rangeland management for a legislative hearing of the Senate''s Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Learn about the outreach delivered for the hearing, which included discussion of The Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020. (Read, download letter). Also: find out why the Governors are seeking "substantive consultation" on the draft National Spatial Data Infrastructure Strategic Plan. (Read, download letter).

WGA''s Toolkit for Invasive Annual Grass Management is the result of a collaboration between WGA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The toolkit helps land managers address the spread of invasive annual grasses in the West through the use of three elements: a roadmap for invasive grass management in the West, case studies highlighting the application of these practices, and a new geospatial data layer to identify new cross-boundary collaborative projects. Learn more by watching the rollout webinar.

California has 23 major wildfires and more than 300 smaller blazes. In Colorado, the Pine Gulch Fire is now the second largest in state history and the Grizzly Creek Fire has closed Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon since Aug. 10. This week’s Best of the West has details on those wildfires, including when I-70 might reopen, and blazes in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Also learn which western cities are bucking the economic downturn and see a rare white orca whale. More

The latest episode of our podcast, Out West, takes listeners on a deep dive to highlight the findings and policy recommendations in the Special Report of the Reimagining the Rural West Initiative. (Listen) Also: Officials in Washington state just trapped the first male Asian giant hornet found in the United States. Learn more about the invasive species also known as Murder Hornets in our podcast. (Listen). Out West episodes are available on Podbean, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The Western Governors’ Association, in recognition of the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, will host its 2020 Winter Meeting as a virtual event on Dec. 10. WGA is developing a dynamic agenda with special guests who will address the region’s most compelling issues and engage in conversation with the Governors. More

Western Governors continued their outreach about wildfire, forest, and rangeland management this week by sharing policy for the House Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry hearing, The 2020 Wildfire Year: Response and Recovery Efforts. (More). The Governors previously shared that policy for a legislative hearing of the Senate''s Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. (More). Also: find out why the Governors are seeking "substantive consultation" on the draft National Spatial Data Infrastructure Strategic Plan (More) and the collaborative role they are seeking on the definition of ''habitat.'' (More)

The Western Governors’ Association 2020 Winter Meeting hosted by WGA Chair, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, featured the Governors discussing their ongoing work to manage the impact of COVID-19 and their response to this year’s widespread wildfire season, as well as conversations about broadband, technology, and healthcare. The meeting, held virtually on Thursday, also featured guests such as Microsoft President Brad Smith and Project Echo founder Dr. Sanjeev Arora, as well as remarks about pandemic response by Secretary Alex Azar of the Department of Health and Human Services. Read more

Western Governors also formally approved five policy resolutions, including:

WGA Policy Resolution 2021-01, Strengthening the State-Federal Relationship: In the absence of a Constitutional delegation of authority to the federal government, state authority should be presumed sovereign. Read, download the resolution

WGA Policy Resolution 2021–02, Utilizing State Data in Federal Decision Making: Western Governors recognize the crucial role that state data can serve to inform the decision-making processes of federal agencies. Read, download the resolution

WGA Policy Resolution 2021-03, National Forest and Rangeland Management: A renewal and expansion of Governors’ positions on sound policies that maintain and promote environmental, economic, and social balance and sustainability for rural communities. Read, download the resolution

WGA Policy Resolution 2021-04, Species Conservation and the Endangered Species Act: An update of the Governors’ positions that expresses support for increased voluntary and proactive management efforts and use of best available science. Read, download the resolution

WGA Policy Resolution 2021–05, Wild Horse and Burro Management: This notes the increasing demand on federal agencies to manage wild horse and burro populations and offers support for thoughtful, science-based herd management decisions. Read, download the resolution

Western Governors have won a significant victory in their years-long fight to preserve state authority to manage, allocate and protect their water resources. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Dec. 4 announced the rescission of its policy guidance, also known as the "Surplus Water Rule," requiring municipal and industrial water users to acquire a water storage contract with the Corps before being granted access to Corps reservoirs. Learn more about the ruling and the Governors'' long-running policy work on our website.

High-quality information is an essential weapon in the fight against the advance of invasive species in the West. Sign up now for next Thursday''s (Dec. 16) webinar to learn how WGA''s Invasive Species Data Mobilization Campaign will enable wider sharing of useful invasive species occurrence data. Register. Want to learn more about the battle against invasive species in the region? Watch our webinar: Toolkit for Invasive Annual Grass Management in the West.

Western Governors strongly support broadband deployment to rural communities across the region. The latest example of that effort came in the recent announcement by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly that nearly $50 million in federal coronavirus relief grants would be used to enable more than 70,000 households across Kansas to finally gain access to high speed internet. Read more about that in this week''s Best of the West roundup, as well as the latest on drought conditions in Colorado, the challenges facing resort communities come winter, and more news from the West. Read.

Western Governors have been active in recent weeks, sharing their policy positions in outreach to federal agencies on a variety of topics. Here''s a review of some of that outreach.

The Western Governors’ Association, in recognition of the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, will host its 2020 Winter Meeting as a virtual event on Dec. 10. WGA is developing a dynamic agenda with special guests who will address the region’s most compelling issues and engage in conversation with the Governors. More

Idaho Gov. Brad Little kicked off this week''s Working Lands Roundtable webinar by stressing local, state and federal collaboration on issues such as wildfire mitgation. “Where do we see the next real susceptible point for a catastrophic wildfire? And what do we do about that?" he asked. Watch the Governor''s keynote and also a panel discussion on cross boundary management featuring representatives of the Western Landowners Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, and Colorado Counties, Inc. Watch now

Western Governors expressed support this week for forest restoration and wildfire resilience projects included in the Senate''s Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020. Provisions in the Act that reflect the Governors’ priorities include the U.S. Forest Service conducting collaborative wildfire risk reduction projects in western states and establishing a Prescribed Fire Center in the West. Learn more, read the letter

The Western Governors’ Association, in recognition of the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, will host its 2020 Winter Meeting as a virtual event on Dec. 10. WGA is developing a dynamic agenda with special guests who will address the region’s most compelling issues and engage in conversation with the Governors. More

Firefighting in the Era of COVID, the latest episode of WGA’s Out West podcast, illustrates how wildfire suppression operations have changed in light of the threat of COVID-19. WGA Senior Policy Advisor Bill Whitacre – himself a former wildland firefighter – and Aaron Thompson, State Fire Management Officer for the Bureau of Land Management in Montana and the Dakotas, discuss challenges facing fire managers during this wildfire season and explore new procedures to keep fire crews safe. To listen, visit our website or Podbean, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The Western Governors’ Association, in recognition of the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, will host its 2020 Winter Meeting as a virtual event on Dec. 10. WGA is developing a dynamic agenda with special guests who will address the region’s most compelling issues and engage in conversation with the Governors. More

In recognition of the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Western Governors have postponed their 2020 summer meeting in Medora. The WGA Annual Meeting was scheduled June 28-July 2, but instead Governors plan to gather in Medora in August to discuss the Reimagining the Rural West Initiative and how western states are moving into a new normal in a world of COVID.

The lineup keeps growing for next Thursday''s (Dec. 10) Western Governors’ Association 2020 Winter Meeting. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar (pictured) has joined the virtual event to offer remarks about state-federal collaboration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as vaccine distribution. As WGA''s Jim Ogsbury notes in his latest Executive Director''s Notebook, Azar joins other special guests such as Microsoft President Brad Smith, who will talk with the Governors about how technology has helped government, education and the private sector innovate during the pandemic. The Governors will also engage with Dr. Sanjeev Arora, founder of Project ECHO, about the worldwide impact of the "tele-mentoring" model for health care that he launched in New Mexico and its role in increasing access to underserved communities. Additionally, the Governors will have roundtable discussions about ongoing work to address the effects of COVID-19 in their states and response to this year’s extreme wildfire season. WGA Chair and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown will open the meeting with a keynote that includes an update on her central policy effort, the Electric Vehicles Roadmap Initiative. Register now to secure your place.

Reintroducing Natural Fire in Western Landscapes, the latest episode of WGA’s Out West podcast, highlights the benefits of utilizing prescribed fire, managed fire, and cultural burning. Listen in as WGA Senior Policy Advisor Bill Whitacre leads a conversation with a trio of experts about how fire can be used to restore western lands. You''ll also learn about barriers to its expanded use. Listen on our website or download the episode on Podbean, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

High-quality information is an essential weapon in the fight against the advance of invasive species in the West. Sign up now for a Dec. 16 webinar to learn how WGA''s Invasive Species Data Mobilization Campaign will enable wider sharing of useful invasive species occurrence data. Register. Want to learn more about the battle against invasive species in the region? Watch our webinar: Toolkit for Invasive Annual Grass Management in the West.

The West is experiencing its first widespread drought in several years. Best of the West has details about the worsening conditions in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and South Dakota -- as well as a wildfire that has closed Interstate 70. Also this week in our regional news roundup: Find out how the pandemic is creating food security concerns in Alaska and read about the opening of a federal office in Montana that will investigate cold cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people. More.

The Reimagining the Rural West Initiative Special Report highlights the work of Western Governors to re-energize rural communities across the region. (Download) WGA''s 2020 Annual Report chronicles the past year’s policy work of the Western Governors on topics such as realigning the state-federal relationship, water management, and the launch of the Western Invasive Species Council. (Download)

WGA is hosting the webinar, COVID-19 Impacts to Gateway Communities, from 10-11 a.m. MDT today (Friday, June 12). Panelists will examine the impacts of COVID-19 to gateway community health and economies and also explore how it effects National Park operations and management. Local, federal and state government leaders will share their experiences. Register

Register now for the webinar, Restarting Resource-Dependent Economies, which WGA will host from 10-11 a.m. on Friday, June 19. State, local, industry and conservation leaders will discuss the pandemic''s impact on timber-dependent communities in the West and what steps are needed to restart their economies. Register

WGA will host the webinar, COVID-19 and Invasive Species Programs, from 1-3 p.m. MDT this coming Wednesday (June 3). Panelists will focus on the pandemic’s impact on invasive species programs, from hiring to employee safety, and highlight how the COVID-19 “invasion curve” resembles the spread of other invasive species. There also will be a Q&A session with experts in both aquatic and terrestrial invasive species management. Register

Western Governors urge the Environmental Protection Agency, in outreach to Administrator Andrew Wheeler, to recognize states as sovereignties and engage in substantive consultation with states when developing guidance documents that affects them. (Read the letter) The Governors also encouraged the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to collaborate with states in comments on the Finding of No Significant Impact and Environmental Assessment for geographic expansion to include Nevada and Wyoming in Federal Participation in Watercraft Inspection to Protect the Columbia River Basin. (Read the letter)

This week''s Best of the West roundup explores the “great urban exodus” that has seen urbanites leaving cities behind in favor of rural western communities. You''ll also learn about the financial challenges faced by rural hospitals because of COVID-19, and how city officials in San Diego are using the pandemic as an opportunity to create the “city of the future.” Also: Read the latest COVID-19 in the West, our weekly state-by-state report of the policy work done by Western Governors in response to the pandemic.

WGA just released the Toolkit for Invasive Annual Grass Management. Learn more about the collaboration between Western Governors and U.S. Department of Agriculture by watching the webinar rollout and downloading the toolkit designed to assist land managers in addressing the spread of invasive annual grasses in the West.