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Yet grazing fees remain puzzlingly low.

What does a statue dedicated to mothers reveal about women’s rights?

As she drove into Butte, Montana, six years ago to visit her son, environmental epidemiologist Suzanne McDermott couldn’t ignore the gouged-out mountain that loomed over the town. It’s the result of decades of open-pit mining that continues to this day in Butte.

When faced with new research on health risks in Butte, the agency turned to industry for guidance.

By 1955, the berkeley pit had become the largest open-pit copper mine in the world. as it expanded, it devoured meaderville and the surrounding neighborhoods. there was money down there to be dug out of the ground, and that's what butte had always been about from the beginning. in 1983, the pumps that held back the groundwater from thousands of miles of tunnels beneath the city were turned off. the pit filled with 30 billion gallons of water. and as mine tailings and mineral refuse contaminated the water, it became a giant, insanely toxic lake of sulfuric acid. a monument to greed and heedless...