Voters finally felt the threat to public lands had reached a critical point, observers say.

Much of the West sweltered through record-breaking heat this summer, as a strengthening El Niño, unusually warm oceans and ongoing human-caused climate change combined to push temperatures to historic levels.

Protesters have been gathering outside the Foundations for Nations church on the Wind River Reservation for weeks, ever since the church’s pastor made derogatory remarks about the Northern Arapaho tribe’s Sundance ceremony. She’s since apologized, but adds that she’s not leaving. The incident raises wider questions about tribal sovereignty and authority.

The state accepted 4,142 applications for the program’s first year doling out $7,000 checks.