"The silvery water of the Royal River glistens as sunlight strikes its surface on an overcast afternoon. The modest waterway flows an easy 39 miles from southern Maine’s Sabbathday Lake to the Atlantic coast at Casco Bay, attracting kayakers, paddleboarders, and great blue heron."

"Researchers in Europe found everyday plastics, especially farmers’ baler twine, being used by the birds as a building material and entangling their young. It is a problem that affects other species too, say experts in the US, UK and Argentina" 

"Officials are shoring up water systems infiltrated by the golden mussel. Dogs and human inspectors are checking boats at some lakes, but a patchwork of oversight leaves many lakes unprotected. “There’s just too many boats and too many people out there,” one warden said." 

"Wetlands provide freshwater, food, storm protection and climate regulation. Yet over the last 50 years, humans have destroyed one-fifth of them." "A landmark report for the global agreement on wetlands paints a dire picture of the state of the world’s water bodies that underpin all life on Earth."

"House Republican appropriators would cut NOAA by nearly $400 million for fiscal 2026, but they’re rejecting deeper reductions proposed by the White House."

"U.S. President Donald Trump's administration will delay by two years a final rule designating protections for the endangered Rice's whale in the oil and gas drilling region of the Gulf of Mexico, according to an agreement with environmental groups filed in a federal court."

"A fast-moving wildfire destroyed a historic lodge and dozens of other structures on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, forcing officials to close access to that area for the season, the park said Sunday."

"Trump officials have directed staff at national parks to review all items in gift shops for anti-American content, according to an internal directive reviewed by The Washington Post. The move is part of the administration’s wider campaign to scrub federal institutions of “corrosive ideology” recognizing historical racism and sexism."

"Much of the Upper Midwest on Saturday was dealing with swaths of unhealthy air because of drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires, covering the northern region of the U.S. at a time when people want to be enjoying lakes, trails and the great outdoors."

"New research suggests Sonoran Desert toads went into steep decline after stories of their mind-bending chemical properties began circulating among drug users."