"More than 30,000 small dams currently block river tributaries from Maine to Maryland. New initiatives to remove them are aimed at restoring natural flows, improving habitat for aquatic life, and reopening thousands of river miles to migratory fish, from shad to American eels."
"The number of monarch butterflies spending the winter in the western United States has dropped to its second-lowest mark in nearly three decades as pesticides, diminishing habitat and climate change take their toll on the beloved pollinator."
"The Interior secretary signed orders to increase energy production, review Biden public lands efforts and slash regulations."
"President Donald Trump has named Neil Jacobs, an atmospheric scientist who was found to have violated scientific integrity policies during the “Sharpiegate” scandal of the first Trump administration, to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."
"The exponential rise in microplastic pollution over the past 50 years may be reflected in increasing contamination in human brains, according to a new study."
"The Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho have long fought for water sovereignty on the Wind River Indian Reservation, but their effort is being challenged by federal legislation and a changing water landscape."
The newly installed Interior Department head, who will manage most federally owned U.S. lands and billions of acres of the continental shelf, hails from a top fossil fuel-producing state and has close oil industry ties, reports the new EJ TransitionWatch. What former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum had to say at his Senate confirmation about U.S. “energy dominance.” Plus, one surprising source of support.
"A mountain in New Zealand considered an ancestor by Indigenous people was recognized as a legal person on Thursday after a new law granted it all the rights and responsibilities of a human being."
"A federal appeals court on Thursday restored a U.S. agency rule restricting lobster and Jonah crab fishing off the Massachusetts coast to protect endangered whales, rejecting a claim that the agency did not deserve deference under a recent landmark Supreme Court case."
"The Senate confirmed former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Interior Secretary Thursday in a 79-18 vote, with the majority of Senate Democrats joining every Republican in the chamber."
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