"The Chesapeake Bay’s recovery took a step back in 2018, but the estuary retained its “C” grade on an annual report card from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science."
Toxic chemicals and disease-causing microorganisms can be found in some fresh-caught fish. And that means local stories for environmental journalists, who can pick up on problems through federal and state fish advisories. The latest TipSheet explains the health impacts and how they’re regulated, plus questions to ask and story ideas, including an environmental justice angle.
"The federal Bureau of Land Management on Wednesday renewed mineral rights leases for a proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, a project that environmentalists fear would spoil the pristine Boundary Waters Canoe Area."
"A more than five-year moratorium on leasing land in California for oil and gas development will be coming to an end with a May 9 Interior Department plan to open up about 725,000 acres across the state’s Central Coast and the Bay Area for drilling."
"Steelhead trout numbers are growing on the Carmel River, a potential model for other dam removal projects nationwide".
"Australia’s ban on super-sized industrial fishing boats is far too narrow and places local fisheries under threat, environmentalists have said."
"A salmon-farming company with net pens in Rich Passage has agreed to pay $332,000 in fines after one of its floating pens collapsed in 2017, releasing a quarter-million nonnative Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound near Cypress Island, about 10 miles southwest of Bellingham."
As a battle brews over which U.S. waters are protected, environmental journalists can use an invaluable national database to pinpoint vulnerable wetlands. This week’s TipSheet has more on the National Wetlands Inventory, the backstory on wetlands protection, why it matters, and reporting resources and story ideas.
Advertisement 
