Publication Items

Mid-pandemic, freelancer Erika Bolstad struck out from Oregon for the boom-bust Bakken oil fields of North Dakota, with cash from a grant, two story assignments and years of book research. She shares her experience on the road, dealing with COVID risks, tricky timing and a stubborn bureaucracy, as well as a generous well-plugger and supportive editors. Read the new FEJ StoryLog.

Hundreds of hydropower dams in the United States will see their licenses expiring in the next decade, generating years-long federal relicensing processes. That prospect calls for close local and regional coverage of the complicated balance between renewable energy needs with negative environmental impacts. The latest TipSheet explains the licensing process and the dam backstory, along with a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

While the name of Stewart Udall, U.S. interior secretary through the tumultuous 1960s, may have faded from public memory, his influence on environmental policies is still felt today. Contributor Francesca Lyman shines the spotlight on a new documentary about Udall and his legacy, and talks with director John de Graaf about Udall’s insights and inspiration.

Forests are full of environmental stories, from timber sales and wildlife habitat to climate change and hunting. And for reporters in search of resources to report them, the U.S. Forest Service offers an immense array of datasets to match the hundreds of millions of acres of land under its domain. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox gets you started on using the vast Forest Service data collection.