Natural Resources

"Screechy, gangly bird gorges on invasive apple snails, helping wetlands and crawfish farms".

"Koch Industries is making a multi-billion-dollar play to purchase a massive fertilizer production facility in the state; some farmers and lawmakers are raising concerns about monopolization and high prices in an effort to halt the sale."

"The ocean has now broken temperature records every day for more than a year. And so far, 2024 has continued 2023’s trend of beating previous records by wide margins. In fact, the whole planet has been hot for months, according to many different data sets."

"President Biden plans to expand the perimeters of two national monuments in California, protecting mountains and meadows in a remote area between Napa and Mendocino as well as a rugged stretch east of Los Angeles, two people familiar with the administration’s plans said Thursday."

"The state’s uniquely lax regulation permits chicken waste to collect outdoors – but there’s no easy way to complain about it".

"Using satellite imagery and data on dozens of factors — including air and noise pollution, park space, open water and tree canopy — NatureQuant has distilled the elements of health-supporting nature into a single variable called NatureScore. Aggregated to the level of Census tracts — roughly the size of a neighborhood — the data provide a high-resolution image of where nature is abundant and where it is lacking across the United States."

"Federal fishery managers voted Wednesday to cancel all commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast of California for the second year in a row, and only the fourth time in state history, because of dwindling stocks."

"The House on Tuesday approved a package aimed at boosting the nation’s access to outdoor recreation. The bipartisan EXPLORE Act contains provisions that seek to open up more opportunities for spending time in national parks, forests and other public lands."

"The Biden administration straddled the line on a controversial Canadian oil pipeline in a court filing Wednesday, saying a lower court’s order to drain portions running through tribal land may violate a 1977 treaty but agreeing with a Native American tribe that the operator is trespassing on tribal land."

"Albania’s Vjosë River is known as Europe’s last wild river, and its pristine delta is a haven for migratory birds. As plans for luxury developments there — spearheaded by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — move ahead, conservationists are sounding the alarm."