Biodiversity

"Brought to the United States as an ornamental porch decoration, the kudzu vine has reshaped itself into ladder fuel for wildfires."

"The U.S.'s ocean regulator plans to make industry-friendly changes to a longstanding rule designed to protect vanishing whales, prompting criticism from environmental groups who cite the recent death of an endangered whale."

"Billions of American chestnut trees once covered the eastern United States. ... But by the 1950s, this venerable tree went functionally extinct, culled by a deadly airborne fungal blight and lethal root rot. A new study out Thursday in the journal Science provides hope for its revitalization, finding that the genetic testing of individual trees can reveal which are most likely to resist disease and grow tall, thus shortening how long it takes to plant the next, more robust, generation."

"President Donald Trump has nominated a hotel and food management executive to be director of the National Park Service."

"Josh Courville has harvested crawfish his whole life, but these days, he’s finding a less welcome catch in some of the fields he manages in southern Louisiana. Snails. Big ones."

"House Republicans slash conservation protections for beloved wilderness while targeting green groups for investigation."

"The chemical giant Corteva will stop producing Enlist Duo, a herbicide considered to be among the most dangerous still used in the US by environmentalists because it contains a mix of Agent Orange and glyphosate, which have both been linked to cancer and widespread ecological damage."

"Daniel Poleschook Jr. looked out of his window at Washington state’s Loon Lake and saw something unusual: A deer was stranded in the middle of it."

"A giant freeway crossing for wildlife is due to open outside Los Angeles this year. Here’s the story of one young cat hemmed in near the city."