Publication Items

Rethinking Forest Management in the Pyrocene [1]

Recent urban-interface infernos, fueled by climate change, leave no doubt that we have entered the age of runaway fire. Writer and ecologist Lauren Oakes writes that large-scale combustion is permanently reshaping ecosystems and societies as we learn to live with wildfire, not just fight it. Instead of perpetuating problematic approaches to forest management, experts call for confronting the root causes of this crisis and adopting science-informed responses.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Politics [5]
Environmental Studies [6]
Forests [7]
Government [8]
Health [9]
Infrastructure [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Natural Resources [13]
Policy [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [17]
International [18]
Canada [19]
Australia & Oceania [20]
Europe [21]
Visibility:
Public [22]
- Read more about Rethinking Forest Management in the Pyrocene [1]
Lead Pipe Data Map Offers Sharp New Tool [23]

Lead-contaminated drinking water has long been a widespread worry, but one big challenge has been locating the many lead service lines around the United States. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox points you to a mappable database to help address that problem, with current, detailed data filtered through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Learn more about this resource and how to best use it.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [24]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [25]
Environmental Politics [5]
Health [9]
Infrastructure [10]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Policy [14]
Pollution [26]
Water & Oceans [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [22]
- Read more about Lead Pipe Data Map Offers Sharp New Tool [23]
Tainted Water, Tainted Power — Inside a Hog-Farm Empire [28]

A powerful politician and his family’s groundwater-polluting agricultural business were the focus of an award-winning series that delved into the intersection of politics, power, privilege and regulatory capture. In the latest Inside Story Q&A, journalist Yanqi Xu discusses how the reporting uncovered deep and unexpected impacts on small town economies, water quality and the living conditions of the hog farms’ neighbors.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [30]
Chemicals [31]
Economy & Business [32]
Environmental Health [33]
Environmental Justice [34]
Environmental Politics [5]
Health [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
People & Population [35]
Pollution [26]
Waste [36]
Water & Oceans [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [37]
Visibility:
Public [22]
- Read more about Tainted Water, Tainted Power — Inside a Hog-Farm Empire [28]
Public Broadcasting Cuts Would Harm Free Press [38]

Trump administration efforts to defund public media, now before Congress, are a misguided effort to harm a source of journalism that is highly trusted by audiences, argues the latest WatchDog Opinion column. And while public broadcasting’s diverse funding sources may insulate it from politics to some degree, the attacks do threaten to chill press freedom, including environmental reporting, more broadly. The latest Dog explains.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [39]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Policy [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [22]
- Read more about Public Broadcasting Cuts Would Harm Free Press [38]
National Park Story No Walk in the Park, Post-Budget Cuts [40]

Steep cuts for the U.S. National Park System look likely from the Trump administration, affecting visitors, roiling local businesses and raising political hackles. For environmental journalists, budgets slashed for hundreds of park units could also turn a summer standby story into something closer to disaster coverage. TipSheet has more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources to cover the park nearest you.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [41]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [25]
Environmental Politics [5]
Forests [7]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [11]
Policy [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [22]
- Read more about National Park Story No Walk in the Park, Post-Budget Cuts [40]
Battle Over Gas Power Facility Generates Months-Long Investigation [42]

A private social media message piqued Arizona Republic reporter Joan Meiners’ interest in rural retirees’ efforts to block construction of a gas-fired peaker plant next to their homes. Her year-long, grant-funded investigation in 2024 uncovered questionable local government actions and utility executive motives, and concluded with action against the facility. Read Meiners’ account of how rural Arizonans became unlikely climate activists, in the latest FEJ Storylog.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [44]
Air [45]
Consumer [25]
Energy & Fuel [46]
Environmental Politics [5]
Government [8]
Health [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
People & Population [35]
Pollution [26]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [47]
Visibility:
Public [22]
- Read more about Battle Over Gas Power Facility Generates Months-Long Investigation [42]
Will DOGE Evaporate Crucial Water Data? [48]

Streamflow data gathered by thousands of U.S. Geological Survey gauges helps track the country’s floods and droughts. But it may be lost if the Trump administration follows up on a decision not to renew leases of USGS water science centers that read the gauges and disseminate the measurements. Reporter’s Toolbox on the value of this database and the risk of its loss.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [24]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [30]
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Politics [5]
Environmental Studies [6]
Government [8]
Natural Resources [13]
Policy [14]
Science [49]
Water & Oceans [27]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [50]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [47]
Visibility:
Public [22]
- Read more about Will DOGE Evaporate Crucial Water Data? [48]
From Fear to Fascination — A New Insect Narrative [51]

Media coverage of “bugs” is often sensationalistic and centered on fear and disgust. But conservation photographer and writer Danae Wolfe says journalists should be highlighting the importance, beauty and plight of insects and spiders. Reporting that offers alternative perspectives on these essential creatures can inspire curiosity and admiration, and encourage efforts to protect them. Wolfe on why to write about insects.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [44]
Agriculture [30]
Biodiversity [52]
Chemicals [31]
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [33]
Environmental Studies [6]
Food [53]
Forests [7]
Journalism & Media [11]
Pollution [26]
Science [49]
Wildlife [54]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [18]
Visibility:
Public [22]
- Read more about From Fear to Fascination — A New Insect Narrative [51]
Analysis: Trump Administration Attacks Science, As Environment Suffers [55]

It’s not just scientists who are being lost to the new administration’s extensive firings of federal workers. A Backgrounder Analysis argues it’s the science itself. It’s happening at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but also across agencies that conduct research to protect health and the environment, whether around toxic chemicals or on the battleground of climate change science. A frank look at the reality and what’s being lost for journalists and the communities they serve.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [56]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [31]
Climate Change [3]
Economy & Business [32]
Environmental Politics [5]
Environmental Studies [6]
Government [8]
Health [9]
Journalism & Media [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Policy [14]
Science [49]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [22]
- Read more about Analysis: Trump Administration Attacks Science, As Environment Suffers [55]
Why Now’s the Time To Tell a Good Fish Tale [57]

With fishing season underway across the United States, reporters have a line to an array of great, local environmental stories, whether about the recreation and tourism industries or overfishing and the health of regional ecosystems. The latest TipSheet has more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources to help you reel in an angle of your own.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [41]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [44]
Biodiversity [52]
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [33]
Fish & Fisheries [58]
Food [53]
Journalism & Media [11]
Natural Resources [13]
Water & Oceans [27]
Wildlife [54]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [22]
- Read more about Why Now’s the Time To Tell a Good Fish Tale [57]

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