Natural Resources

"Oregon tribes are reintroducing a species that creates important habitat for First Foods. But the Beaver State's laws don't work in the animal's favor."

"A novel lawsuit is taking advantage of a local ‘rights of nature’ measure passed in November in effort to protect wetlands".

"California Sen. Alex Padilla on Monday proposed a vast expansion of government protection for public lands and rivers that he said would fight climate change and safeguard natural treasures for generations to come."

"As demand for electric vehicles heats up, there's concern about a shortage of the key minerals needed to make them. The Biden administration has called for boosting domestic production of such minerals, including lithium for the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. And that has many hoping for big business in a desolate spot of California's Imperial Valley."

"California water officials have moved to stop Nestlé from siphoning millions of gallons of water out of California’s San Bernardino forest, which it bottles and sells as Arrowhead brand water, as drought conditions worsen across the state."

"The Interior Department on Tuesday moved to make it easier for tribal nations to place lands into trust, reversing several Trump-era actions that it says undermined tribal sovereignty."

"Proposals currently being considered in Washington differ from the New Deal program because of a focus on employing women and people of color and tackling projects in underserved communities."

"Endangered populations of humpback whales received extra protection Tuesday when the Biden administration issued a final rule designating critical habitat for the huge marine mammals across more than 116,098 square nautical miles of the Pacific Ocean, including most of the California coast."

"The White House on Thursday nominated Tracy Stone-Manning as the Bureau of Land Management director, potentially putting an environmentalist in charge of America’s largest land-owning agency."