GOP targets landmark Endangered Species Act for big changes

This Nov. 4, 2013, file photo shows a salmon making its way up the salmon ladder at Nimbus Hatchery in Rancho Cordova, Calif. In control of Congress and soon the White House, Republicans are readying plans to roll back the influence of the Endangered Species Act, one of the government's most powerful conservation tools, after decades of complaints that it hinders drilling, logging and other activities.

US Army wants biodegradable bullets which transform into plants

Firearms are an accepted part of modern warfare and military operations, but after the job is done, the environment suffers. Not only do spent shells and casings litter the landscape, but they can also prove to be a hazard to local wildlife -- not to mention the impact that chemical residues, such as bullet metals and rust, can have on future plant growth and sustainability.

Obama administration moves to protect some of the most remote areas of Alaska

President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration may be nearing, but that doesn't mean President Barack Obama's Interior Department is finished making decisions about the future of the United States' vast natural resources and open spaces. This week, the agency's Bureau of Land Management issued four plans to shape the management of some 6.5 million publicly owned acres of Alaska's eastern interior, a remote area stretching from Fairbanks to the Canada border that is filled with rivers, streams, forests, and very few major roads.

Western US sagebrush defense plan will endure, official says

A new wildfire-fighting plan to protect a wide swath of sagebrush country in the Western U.S. that supports cattle ranching and is home to an imperiled bird will likely continue after the Obama administration ends, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Tuesday. Jewell spoke after receiving her last update at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise where managers oversee the nation's firefighting resources.

New effort to help pallid sturgeon

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' newest effort in the long fight to save the pallid sturgeon is concentrated on 10 sites in the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Louis. The Corps is working to re-engineer and restore some of the sites to allow better habitat for the pallid sturgeon, which has been an endangered species since 1990.

Portland researcher studies urban coyotes

Coyotes are a fairly common sight in rural areas of the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, and landowners might instinctively reach for the rifle if they see one in the pasture or sniffing around the barn. Put a coyote in a city, however, and residents are more likely to react in a way that ranges from trying to feed them to panicking over their pets and children.

Here’s Where Obama Is Going To Set Up Shop After Leaving The White House

President Barack Obama rented office space in Washington, D.C. Monday to be used after he leaves the White House in January 2017. Barack Obama attends the National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse in Washington, DC on Thursday, December 1, 2016 Two sources told The Washington Post that Obama will lease space in the World Wildlife Fund headquarters, located at 1250 24th Street NW.

The Violent Costs of the Global Palm-Oil Boom

Just after nine o'clock on a Tuesday morning in June, an environmental activist named Bill Kayong was shot and killed while sitting in his pickup truck, waiting for a traffic light to change in the Malaysian city of Miri, on the island of Borneo. Kayong had been working with a group of villagers who were trying to reclaim land that the local government had transferred to a Malaysian palm-oil company.

Printed Letters: December 4, 2016

Remember Donald Trump proclaiming during his election campaign that he is going to "drain the swamp?" Remember that? Sure Donald, you are going to accomplish this by offering positions in your cabinet to individuals who are nothing more than Washington or Wall Street insiders. And then the Donald wants to hand over his business interests to his children.

CRP grasslands sign-up ends Dec. 16

Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Deputy Under Secretary Alexis Taylor announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture will accept more than 504,000 acres that were offered by producers during the recent ranking period for the Conservation Reserve Program Grasslands enrollment. Through the voluntary CRP Grasslands program, grasslands threatened by development or conversion to row crops are maintained as livestock grazing areas, while providing important conservation benefits.

Caribou

For more than 20 years, the Gwich'in people of Alaska and northern Canada have fought to protect the 1.2-million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife from oil drilling. A film released today by Patagonia, The Refuge , tells the story of two Gwich'in women who oppose the drilling.

Judge blocks Montana logging project in Canada lynx habitat

A federal judge blocked a logging project northeast of Yellowstone National Park until federal officials analyze the effects of the project on Canada lynx that live in the area. A wildlife advocacy group that sued to stop the Greater Red Lodge Habitat and Vegetation Management Project in the Custer National Forest hailed the decision as a victory for the threatened species.

Obama blocks new oil, gas drilling in Arctic Ocean

The Obama administration is blocking new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean, handing a victory to environmentalists who say industrial activity in the icy waters will harm whales, walruses and other wildlife and exacerbate global warming. A five-year offshore drilling plan announced on Friday blocks the planned sale of new oil and gas drilling rights in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska.