Public

The Beat

By BILL DAWSON

Journalists and news organizations looking for collaborative ways to keep alive the tradition of in-depth, public-service reporting have a new model to consider.

In January, Northwestern University’s Medill School published “Global Warning,” an investigative series by 10 of its graduate students about the ways that climate change threatens national security.

"Nonpoint" sources of water pollution worry officials. When rain falls or snow melts, the runoff can pick up fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural fields, sediments from construction sites, engine oil from city parking lots, germ-laden dog poop from curbside, etc.

Information sessions and webinars on possible health and environmental effects of aerial-applied chemicals used to fight wildfires will be held in various locations around the country during the 45-day public comment period that ends June 27, 2011.

USDA evaluated numerous factors for 65,000 census tracts (clickable on the mapping tool), and found that about 10% of them, home to about 13.5 million people, are food deserts where many residents have no access to a large grocery store, due to distance, lack of a vehicle, and/or low income.

The most commonly used slurry mixtures can be toxic to fish, aquatic invertebrates, and algae, can harm rabbits, birds, and humans, and can reduce vegetative diversity and boost the growth of weeds. Slurries and foams are mostly water, but they also include ammonium fertilizer, detergent, and other ingredients.

Prepared by a large coalition of government agencies and NGOs, the report generally focuses on the condition of bird species in each of the broad habitat types, as well as the roles of various federal and state agencies and the relationships of species survival on public vs. private lands.

While it's not a done deal, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and WildEarth Guardians have agreed on a list of 251 species that warrant the most immediate attention. Not all environmental groups support the choices, though.