Biodiversity

"A new museum and conservation center dedicated to Mexico's critically endangered axolotl salamander is highlighting the amphibian's remarkable story that has captured the attention of scientists and the public alike."

"The United States is facing a shortage of the native seeds it uses to restore natural habitats damaged by wildfire and other weather events made worse by climate change, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)."

"The Biden administration on Thursday said it will establish a 20-year moratorium on mining upstream from Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a vast preserve of lakes and woods that has been at the center of a fierce dispute over a proposed copper and nickel mine."

"Dolphins are cavorting in the Bronx River of all places for the first time in at least five years, delighting New Yorkers. They’re a hopeful sign that efforts to clean up the river, long plagued by pollution, are seeing some success, said city officials."

"On Pleasant Island, Alaska, wolves are feasting on sea otters. That’s surprisingly bad news for deer."

"The Biden administration is temporarily delaying stepped-up legal protections for two imperiled species following efforts by congressional Republicans to derail the actions."

"Under President Joko Widodo, Indonesia has gained international praise for its conservation policies. But now the government is clamping down on scientists who are questioning official claims that the country’s endangered orangutan and rhino populations are increasing."

"The U.S. government has denied two petitions to immediately protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales during the species’ calving season, raising concerns that this population of whales will continue to decline without intervention. There are currently about 340 of these whales left, making them one of the most threatened cetaceans in the world."

"Environmental scientists say Rice’s whale, discovered in 2021, faces extinction unless the federal government sets tougher restrictions on oil and gas activities in the gulf."

"The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it has banned logging and road-building on about nine million acres of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska, aiming to settle a two-decade battle over the fate of North America’s largest temperate rainforest."