Endangered and threatened species are routinely in the news. Now you can easily find out if one of these animal or plant species lives in counties of interest to your audience, and cover it in the context of current news developments or some other at-risk-species angle.

• The US Fish and Wildlife Service announced its new locator tool on Feb. 26, 2010: Environmental Conservation Online System [2] (ECOS).

Enter the name of a county in the search box, and if there are multiple counties by that name, simply select the one in the proper state from the list that pops up.

The results page includes links to information about any listed species, including developments related to its endangered or threatened status, and information about the species itself. You'll need to follow up with appropriate scientists or government officials to verify information related to the exact location you're covering.