Biodiversity

"Tyler Hassen, a former Texas oil executive from Elon Musk’s government efficiency team who was given sweeping powers to overhaul the Department of the Interior, is leaving the agency, he confirmed on Friday."

"A group of US lawmakers failed on Tuesday to beat back a provision in a congressional appropriations bill that would help protect pesticide makers from being sued and could hinder state efforts to warn about risks of pesticide products."

"The Interior Department is expanding its targets for layoffs to include more than 1,400 “competitive areas” — an increase of hundreds of categories since its first notice this spring — including new units within the Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and Office of the Secretary, according to an internal document."

"Endangered aquatic species remain vulnerable nearly a year after the storm moved through Appalachia and the lower Midwest."

"The restoration of gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park has helped revive an aspen tree population unique to the region, a new study has found."

"Will the administration’s ongoing push to open federal lands for housing development face the same public backlash that Sen. Mike Lee triggered?" 

"Forests play a major role pulling planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. As the world heats up, some forests are becoming emitters in their own right." 

"Some dolphins in Australia have a special technique to flush fish from the seafloor. They hunt with a sponge on their beak, like a clown nose."

"If you were a miner in California during the Gold Rush, you might have dined on a California red-legged frog."

"Decades of work that has steered grizzly bears away from extinction in the Greater Yellowstone region could be lost if House Republicans succeed in weakening the powerful law that protects them. Progress by the iconic bruins under the Endangered Species Act is not yet enough to keep them safe, in the eyes of environmental advocates."