Forests

NASA Portal Can Lead Reporters to Universe of Data

For environmental journalists looking for data riches to help tell their stories — whether about urban heat islands, sea-surface temperatures or air pollution — NASA has the satellites whose sensors capture insights galore. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers an introduction to the U.S. space agency’s incredibly extensive data portal, and how to get started amid the wealth of information (caveat: before it’s gone).

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"Unhealthy Smoke From Canadian Wildfires Blankets The Upper Midwest"

"Much of the Upper Midwest on Saturday was dealing with swaths of unhealthy air because of drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires, covering the northern region of the U.S. at a time when people want to be enjoying lakes, trails and the great outdoors."

Source: AP, 07/14/2025

"How America’s Prairie Was Nearly Destroyed — And Why It Should Be Restored"

"America’s treeless, isolated expanse put early European settlers to the test. Drought, loneliness, and debt drove many to failure, forcing the homesteaders to retreat East. But those who stayed unwittingly launched one of history’s largest terraforming projects, rewiring the land, the climate, and the future of the continent."

Source: Grist/WBEZ, 07/08/2025

Solutions — and Death — in the Rainforest

A project begun to explore ways to protect the Amazon seemed to end with the murder of the journalist who conceived it, along with his guide and research partner. But others picked up the mantle and completed a volume exploring ways to save this precious and rapidly disappearing ecosystem. BookShelf reviewer Elyse Hauser on how this unusual book tries to meet that promise.

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"A Logging Protest In The Treetops Ends In Terror, Activists Say"

"Protesters lived in a tree for 40 days on the Olympic Peninsula to protest logging of older forests." "On the 40th night of the protest, a black Jeep drove up a logging road and stopped near the base of a towering grand fir."

Source: Washington Post, 06/30/2025

"A Public Lands Sell-Off Is Struck From the G.O.P. Policy Bill"

"Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, said late Saturday that he had dropped his contentious plan to sell millions of acres of public lands from the sweeping domestic policy package that the Senate will soon begin debating."

Source: NYTimes, 06/30/2025

"How Shrinking The EPA Could Make Wildfire Smoke Even More Dangerous"

"Monitoring air quality is key to forecasting and assessing wildfire smoke. Right now, that’s a coordinated effort between federal, state, tribal, and local entities. Federally approved and privately operated monitors feed data into tools like the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow tool, and help forecast air quality and issue public health guidance. But air quality scientists worry that EPA budget and job cuts will make it difficult to get air quality information to people, endangering public health."

Source: Grist/IPR, 06/26/2025

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