Madison Staten
Madison Staten
Sustainability Reporter, Phoenix
Latest from Madison Staten

San Pedro River, squeezed by growing population, is subject of two lawsuits

PHOENIX – The Sierra Club announced it has joined the Center for Biological Diversity and a number of other conservation groups in two lawsuits to protect the San Pedro River, one of the last undammed rivers in the Southwest.


Cattle damage to Arizona’s Verde River spurs legal action

PHOENIX – The Center for Biological Diversity and its partners are seeking to sue the U.S. Forest Service over cattle damage in the Verde River watershed.


‘Borrowing from the future’: What an emerging megadrought means for the Southwest

PHOENIX – A new report finds the period from 2000 through 2018 was the driest 19-year span since the late 1500s, and humans are partly to blame.


With much of the planet on lockdown, Earth Day goes digital

PHOENIX – The 50th anniversary of Earth Day looks a little different because of COVID-19, but that isn’t stopping Arizona environmental groups from celebrating.


Why the air in metro Phoenix is fresher these days

PHOENIX – Metro Phoenix was below average for moderate ozone days for the month of March. ADEQ is studying the reasons for this – including COVID-19 and recent wet weather.


Wild horses and burros in Arizona find new homes through federal incentive program

MARANA — The Bureau of Land Management manages thousands of wild horses and burros across the West, but the population is too high and that has the agency trying something new — an incentive program.


Activists cite rising heat deaths, pollution, fires in asking Phoenix to declare climate emergency

PHOENIX – Arizona environmental groups gather in front of City Hall to ask Phoenix to declare a climate emergency.


Verde River watershed gets a grade of C+, but that ‘actually is very good’

CAMP VERDE — The first-ever Verde Watershed Report Card gave the river a C+. The report takes into account the quality of the habitat, the community and the water in and along the Verde River.


Why Palo Verde, the country’s largest nuclear plant, is cutting its wastewater use

PHOENIX – Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix is trying to reduce its use of wastewater in the nuclear cooling process by using even dirtier water.