Biodiversity

"President Trump’s proposed budget in the next fiscal year calls for firm support of artificial intelligence and quantum research but makes large cuts to many other parts of the sprawling enterprise of scientific research funded by the federal government."

"Amid the vast forests carpeting the corrugated slopes of the Appalachians sit some of the country’s only remaining mountain bogs and a rare, threatened species of turtle living in them."

"Lawmakers are preparing for a tense markup in the House Natural Resources Committee on legislation to expand mining and drilling." "One committee is moving ahead swiftly to advance its piece of the Republicans’ sprawling budget package, while other panels with power over energy and environment policy get bogged down."

"A boom in avocado production in Mexico has led to illegal deforestation and an influx of drug cartels dominating the lucrative trade. But Indigenous communities have fought back against the gangs and turned to traditional practices to grow avocados and save their forests."

"House Republicans passed a measure Thursday that would repeal the government’s decision to place California’s longfin smelt, a finger-sized fish, on the endangered species list."

"Proponents of regenerative farming say the practice can mitigate harmful climate change, reduce water pollution, and make foods more nutritious as farmers focus on improving the health of soil, water, and ecosystems." "But all that momentum comes with a dirty dark side, according to a new report that highlights  what is becoming an increasingly contentious debate over the merits of regenerative agriculture."

"Bird populations across North America are falling most quickly in areas where they are most abundant, according to new research, prompting fears of ecological collapse in previously protected areas."

"A grassroots effort successfully pushed back on a development in Homewood that would have destroyed a critical salamander habitat. Still, amphibians face constant risks."

"As ecologists debate what to do about “invasive” swans in New York City, volunteers fight to keep them alive."

"The governor wants assurances that the federal government will pay its share before moving forward." "Pritzker was reacting to the administration’s freezes and cancellation of funding around the country. But the move concerns Great Lakes advocates and freshwater biologists."