Dawn is champion after public voting of eight yellow-bellied marmots as they fattened up for long winter ahead

A marmot contest started by researchers who turned to OnlyFans to help save a decades-long research project has chosen its champion in its inaugural Fat Marmot Week.

Dawn was crowned the winner of Fat Marmot Week 2026 after securing back-to-back victories in both the mass-gain and popular-vote competitions, according to the organizers of the marmot project at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory.

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© Photograph: Brittany Peterson/AP

© Photograph: Brittany Peterson/AP

© Photograph: Brittany Peterson/AP

In states like Montana, range riders can play a key role in a wild landscape where livestock and predators navigate life together

For most people, the word “cowboy” still summons a figure from Western folklore – a rough rider with a weathered face and a steely gaze, a self-reliant loner who answers to nobody, is fearless in the face of danger, and protects his lands from predators – animal and human alike.

But over the past 15 years, a new range rider has emerged in the American West, one that is out on a wholly different mission: to live in a wild landscape where livestock and predators can co-exist.

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© Photograph: Courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife

© Photograph: Courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife

© Photograph: Courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife

In Trump administration’s plan, California, Arizona and Nevada face about a 20% cut to water supply over two years

Nevada filed a federal lawsuit on Monday challenging the Trump administration’s new plan for the imperiled Colorado River, launching what could become the first of many court battles over the waterway that supplies 40 million people, dozens of tribes and 5.5m acres of farm land across the American west.

The federal plan, issued Friday, cut roughly 20% from the water supplied to lower basin states – Nevada, Arizona and California – over the next two years, with a potential for harsher cutbacks in the future, based on conditions.

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© Photograph: George Frey/Getty Images

© Photograph: George Frey/Getty Images

© Photograph: George Frey/Getty Images

The 10-year blueprint mandates water cuts of up to 40% for California, Arizona and Nevada

It’s official: after years of tense negotiations and missed deadlines, there is finally a plan to govern the future of the imperiled Colorado River - or at least the makings of one.

With the previous framework set to expire in October, the US Bureau of Reclamation publicly released its proposal for a new plan on Friday.

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© Photograph: John Locher/AP

© Photograph: John Locher/AP

© Photograph: John Locher/AP

The top elections official in Shasta County offered a job to Ms. Peters, a Trump supporter who was convicted of tampering with voting machines in Colorado.

© David Zalubowski/Associated Press

The state has accused the government in a lawsuit of retaliating after the conviction of Tina Peters, a Trump supporter. An administration official convened a group to discuss “immediate actions.”

© Larry Robinson/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, via Associated Press