"As government agencies slash staff managing federal lands, rural populations dependent on outdoor tourism face mounting economic and environmental risks that are trickling down from the cuts."
"The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has fired all of the workers in its program that seeks to help low-income Americans pay their energy bills. Everyone who had been working on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) was let go on Tuesday, according to now-former employee Andrew Germain."
"President Trump’s zest for rapidly shrinking the government is triggering anxiety about conservation priorities that have been embedded for more than five decades in the country’s national parks and wildlife refuges. Amid the staffing whiplash — chaotic firings and reinstatement of rangers, scientists, and other civil servants — America’s most vulnerable plant and animal species face new peril in their struggle to survive."
"Every year, from December to April, the Harmattan sweeps across Africa. This cool, dry and dust-laden wind gets its name from haramata, a word in the Ghanaian language Fanti. ... The Harmattan's effects go beyond reduced visibility and dryness. It has an impact on human health, agriculture and ecosystems."
"At 90% of the state historical average, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is nothing like record-smashing 2023. But it ‘s the third year in the row with near-average or above-average snowpack."
"The billions of dollars approved by Congress to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells have been frozen as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping cuts to government spending, creating concerns that the cleanup will be halted just as it’s getting started."
"While repairs to storm-battered sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway are underway, it will "take years" to repair some of the damage, according to the National Park Service."
"Homeowners in Los Angeles have started the long process of rebuilding after the destructive wildfires in January. Some are constructing homes that are much less likely to burn when the next wildfire hits." "Still, thousands of other homeowners in the urban center of Altadena are about to rebuild without wildfire-resistant materials, because they live outside a state-designated wildfire zone."
"The world needs massive amounts of critical minerals to power the transition to clean energy. But as countries and industries explore new mining opportunities, a major question looms: Can all of this extraction be done without the same environmental and human costs associated with fossil fuels?"
"On Wednesday, lawmakers on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held the first hearing on President Trump’s nomination to lead the US Fish and Wildlife Service. If confirmed, Brian Nesvik, a former game warden turned Wyoming Game and Fish director, would lead the federal agency whose primary charge is to protect the plants and animals most in need of conservation."
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