California

"California’s shrinking Salton Sea is getting a closer look scientifically with the state, local air districts, and community groups examining air, water, and even dust from the parched shoreline where water was once plentiful."

"A long-running plan to build a community of 19,000 homes on vast Tejon Ranch north of Los Angeles has been halted by a judge who cited high wildfire risk."

"Purple sea urchins have exploded in recent years off California, covering the ocean floor in what divers describe as a "purple carpet." And they devour kelp: the once-lush forests of seaweed that hugged the coastline are disappearing."

"California’s hopes for a wet “March miracle” did not materialize and a dousing of April showers may as well be a mirage at this point. The state appears in the midst of another drought only a few years after a punishing 5-year dry spell dried up rural wells, killed endangered salmon, idled farm fields and helped fuel the most deadly and destructive wildfires in modern state history."

"Just before the Trump administration headed out the door, a federal agency this past December cleared the way for a private company to begin pumping groundwater from under the Mojave Trails National Monument in Southern California."

"LONE PINE, Calif. — Perched high in the craggy Inyo Mountains, between the dusty Owens Valley floor and Death Valley National Park, looms a rugged, nearly roadless chunk of desert terrain teeming with wildlife and scarred by mining operations."

"Community and environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging Kern County’s adoption of an ordinance that would allow tens of thousands of new oil wells over the next 15 years."

"'Cultural burning' helps the tribe pass on its stories and language, improves resources for its artisans and helps prevent destructive wildfires."

"After a decades-long effort to rescue the California condor from the brink of extinction, government officials say the critically endangered vultures are now at risk of being killed by spinning turbine blades."