Millions of acres of pristine Arctic wilderness long at the heart of a national debate over energy development and conservation are expected to be in the news again in 2020, with renewed plans to open land for drilling. The latest TipSheet explains the backstory and why the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge matters, plus story ideas and reporting resources.
"Federal officials will review whether enough is being done to protect grizzly bears in the contiguous U.S. states after environmentalists sued the government to try to restore the fearsome animals to more areas, according to a court settlement approved Monday."
"Around the world, humans are fracturing vast forests. Highways snake through the Amazon’s rain forests, and Indonesia plans an ambitious transportation grid in Borneo, through some of the largest untouched expanses of tropical forests. ... Conservation biologists have intensely debated the dangers that the fracturing of woodlands poses to animals."
"On 'good' bad days, the shells lay open at the bottom of the river, shimmering in the refracted sunlight. Their insides, pearl white and picked clean of flesh, flicker against the dark riverbed like a beacon, alerting the world above to a problem below."
"The rate of listing new endangered and threatened species has slowed under the Trump administration, a trend that highlights an administrative push to shrink the number of animals ultimately placed on the endangered species list."
"Trappers can keep using sodium cyanide bombs to kill coyotes and other livestock predators, the Trump administration said Thursday, rejecting calls for a ban despite repeated instances of the devices also poisoning other wildlife, pets and people."
"Since 1978, researchers have scooped up and measured tens of thousands of birds that died after crashing into buildings in Chicago during spring and fall migrations. Their work has documented what might be called the incredible shrinking bird."
"Invasive species — everything from rats to Burmese pythons — have spread to more than half of national parks, according to new research published this week, which also offers suggestions for stopping non-native animals while safeguarding native species into the future."
"The Trump administration announced a plan Thursday that could allow oil drilling on over three-quarters of the nation’s largest piece of unprotected wilderness, overhauling a 2013 plan that limited development on the Alaskan reserve."
"A bill that would reinstate a regulation banning certain pesticides from wildlife refuges was approved by the House Committee on Natural Resources on Nov. 20."
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