"POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE, Calif. — The once-bustling oyster farm and sales shack at the end of the dirt road had the look of sudden abandonment."
Professional photojournalists may again be facing unconstitutional requirements for permits to work in public parks — this time at the county level in a well-heeled District of Columbia suburb. But Virginia's Fairfax County Park Authority is encountering pushback as they conduct an annual review of their fee policies at various park units.
"President Obama will ask Congress to increase environmental protections for millions of acres of pristine animal habitat in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, in a move that has already led to fierce opposition from the state’s Republican lawmakers."
"LOS ANGELES -- Two climbers completed a historic 19-day ascent to the summit of Yosemite National Park's El Capitan in California on Wednesday after scaling the rock formation's 3,000-foot (900-metre) sheer granite face without climbing tools, representatives said."
Nobody has ever explained why Congress refuses to release the tax-funded explainers produced by the Congressional Research Service. They are a gold standard for journalists needing quick background. Here are some recent CRS reports relevant to environmental journalists, helpfully released by the Federation of American Scientists.
You may have read in recent WatchDogs about controversial federal laws and rules that could restrict photojournalism in federal parks, forests, and rangelands. Now comes the "Ansel Adams bill" that would make it legal to do an activity that is Constitutionally protected. Only someone has to introduce the bill. Photo: Ansel Adams, by J. Malcolm Greany.
"Their beards have grown full. Their hair, greased with sweat and brushed only with mountain air, stands on end. Their fingers, raw and ragged from grasping at sharp crevasses in the stone, are bandaged and bleeding."
"In 2010, China set in motion a wave of worry around the globe when it dramatically lowered quotas on its exports of rare earth elements, which are crucial to the making of everything from cellphones to missile systems to electric-car batteries. China held 95 percent of the world's supply."
"Streams of oil slid into the bayous of southeastern Louisiana after the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010, damaging the marsh grasses, the wildlife and the livelihood of the 17,000-member Houma tribe."
"A new state report details troubling mining legacies in 10 Pennsylvania counties, including Elk, raising questions about the true cost of coal for those communities as new, more modern forms of energy development begin to take root."
