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The lesser prairie-chicken is in dire need of protection, but a decision on listing it under the Endangered Species Act is months overdue. Environmental reporter Mike Smith looks at the causes and potential consequences of the bureaucratic delay and muses on whether this unique bird will go the way of its even more imperiled relative, the Attwater’s prairie-chicken.
While a global gathering on biodiversity this winter will be news in itself, enterprising reporters can also find many biodiversity stories in their own backyards. The latest TipSheet offers insight into the domestic U.S. battle over endangered species, with a tale of a Tennessee dam, and a better understanding of the biodiversity-habitat connection. Plus, story ideas and reporting resources.
"SOCASTEE, S.C. — On the day she would finally move to higher ground, Terri Straka awoke in the neighborhood where she had lived for three decades, but a place steadily becoming less recognizable."
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday opened an investigation into Mississippi state agencies to determine if they violated civil rights in the majority Black city of Jackson in the course of funding of the city's water infrastructure."
"Florida has seen an increase in cases of flesh-eating bacteria this year driven largely by a surge in the county hit hardest by Hurricane Ian."
"A federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday ordered a nine-year-old lawsuit filed against oil and gas companies over damage to Louisiana's wetlands to be returned to state court for trial, potentially clearing the way for at least 41 similar suits -- alleging billions of dollars in damages -- to also move forward."
"Could the [Fort Meyers] region have been spared some of the damage with more aggressive planning and zoning? “Yes,” planners and resilience experts say. Sound land use planning builds stronger communities — physically, socially and politically. Yet Florida lawmakers effectively killed the state’s ability to check urban sprawl a decade ago with the passage of a reform measure called the 2011 Community Planning Act."
"The state Departments of Environmental Quality and Health may be violating federal civil rights laws and regulations by allowing Black people to suffer disproportionate impacts from air pollution in Louisiana's industrial corridor, including an increased risk of cancer, the federal Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday."
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| Photo: Courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga |
"Sewage pipelines overflowed into waterways. Toppled portable toilets spilled into floodwaters. Gasoline and motor oil leaked from partly submerged vehicles. Downed trees have started decomposing on waterlogged roads."
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