"For decades, the federal government has prioritized oil and gas drilling, hardrock mining and livestock grazing on public lands across the country. That could soon change under a far-reaching Interior Department rule that puts conservation, recreation and renewable energy development on equal footing with resource extraction."
"In a small Texas city, officials say land previously treated with a prescribed burn stopped the Windy Deuce Fire from entering neighborhoods. But the practice of intentionally burning excess vegetation has faced opposition from some private landowners."
"With fires growing in size and duration, federal officials in charge of juggling resources and dispatching crews are pivoting to a new business model they describe as the biggest shift in wildfire management in decades."
"When it was time to outline their vision for managing America’s federal lands under a future Republican presidency, pro-Donald Trump conservatives turned to a man who has spent his career advocating for those very lands to be pawned off to states and private interests."
"Many Yanomami, the Amazon’s largest Indigenous tribe in relative isolation, have been contaminated with mercury coming from widespread illegal gold mining, according to a report released on Thursday by Brazil’s top public health institute."
"The Biden administration Wednesday finalized a 20-year ban on new oil and gas drilling and mining activity on 221,898 acres of federal lands within western Colorado’s pristine Thompson Divide." "The 20-year ban on new drilling will protect a pristine region that local advocates say is renowned for its wildlife and recreation."
"Human-caused climate change is having varied and unpredictable effects on maple harvests in Wisconsin, Iowa, and elsewhere, experts say."
"In March, Enviva, the world’s largest woody biomass producer for industrial energy, declared bankruptcy. That cataclysmic collapse triggered a rush of political and economic maneuvering in the U.S. (a key wood pellet producing nation), and in Europe (a primary industrial biomass energy user in converted coal plants)."
While the name of Stewart Udall, U.S. interior secretary through the tumultuous 1960s, may have faded from public memory, his influence on environmental policies is still felt today. Contributor Francesca Lyman shines the spotlight on a new documentary about Udall and his legacy, and talks with director John de Graaf about Udall’s insights and inspiration.
"The blazes come after a record dry winter in the region. “Year to date, we've had close to 300 wildfires statewide,” a Wisconsin official said. “The normal year-to-date 10-year average is about 40 fires.”"
