"The red-cockaded woodpecker, an iconic bird in southeastern forests, has recovered enough of its population to be downlisted from an endangered species to a threatened one, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday."

"New York, New Jersey and Delaware were accused in federal lawsuits Thursday of improperly allowing Atlantic sturgeon to be killed by commercial fishing operations even as the prehistoric fish is on the brink of disappearing."

"For the first time under President Joe Biden, a federal permit for a new lithium mine has been approved for a Nevada project essential to his clean energy agenda, despite conservationists’ vows to sue over the plan, which they say will drive an endangered wildflower to extinction."

"The handful of rangers who protect one of Earth’s most remote and biologically diverse reefs have only each other for company for months at a time. They worry about running out of gas for boat patrols, their drinking water can get dangerously low and rising seas are nipping away at the tiny island that hosts their station."

"Countries are expected to reach a deal at this month's U.N. COP16 nature summit on how the world uses and pays for genetic information extracted from nature, according to negotiators."

"Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ranks as one of the wildest places on Earth. In the winter, it’s a haven for some of the last polar bears that traverse land and sea. In the summer, millions of birds descend to build their nests and gather fuel for their journey south."

"two different U.N. committees found that Finland violated the rights of the Sámi by granting mineral exploration permits in Finnish Sápmi — the homelands of the Sámi peoples that cross Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia."

"Steven Haller remembers the look of fear on people’s faces when toxic algae in Lake Erie made it into his community’s water supply 10 years ago, shutting it down for two days."

"When Hurricane Douglas came barreling toward Oahu in 2020, David Sischo quickly packed up and drove to higher ground. But he wasn’t evacuating his family. He was evacuating snails."

"One of the rarest species of whale in the world has increased slightly in population, encouraging conservationists to call on the federal government and the shipping and fishing industries to do more to bring the giant animals back from the brink of extinction."