"President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs on Canada in retaliation for wildfire smoke, but it was not clear that he has the legal authority to impose such a levy."
"Until recently, when members of the Konkow Valley Band of Maidu pulled up a map of their ancestral land in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, only about two dozen of their historic sites appeared." "Then the forests burned."
"Thousands of visitors were told to evacuate a remote Minnesota wilderness area accessible only by boat as wildfires send dangerously heavy smoke over the U.S. Midwest and Northeast this week."
"It’s already been a deadly year for firefighters, and authorities have been putting resources where they can more quickly pounce on wildfires before they get out of hand and increase the possibility of additional loss of life and property. Fire managers try to anticipate nature’s next move, placing thousands of firefighters, hundreds of engines, batteries of bulldozers, and fleets of helicopters and air tankers where they’ll make the biggest difference."
"The Trump administration has green-lighted plans for a road through 10 miles of wilderness lands in Alaska, despite pending litigation from environmentalists who say it would destroy sensitive wetlands and prime migratory bird habitat." "Residents of a remote coastal community have long sought the gravel road, which is opposed by environmentalists who say it will destroy important migratory bird habitat."
"Destroying an imperiled species’ nest or habitat is no longer illegal unless it’s intentional under the Trump administration’s rollback of the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act finalized Friday."
"At least 11 people died attempting to flee a wildfire in southern Spain, and 19 were missing, with firefighters on Friday still battling to bring one of the country's deadliest blazes on record under control."
"On a warm summer morning, two fire officials navigate an SUV along a narrow road that switchbacks high into the hills above the town of Fairfax, California, where thickets of trees conceal hundreds of homes. When the road dead-ends, they head back down through the same hairpin turns, pointing out where a wildfire would roar into the path of fleeing vehicles."
"Labor unions and nonprofits moved to halt the Agriculture Department’s reorganization plans Wednesday, arguing USDA officials acknowledged their proposals will lead to mass resignations."
"The deaths of three U.S. government firefighters in a Colorado wildfire are casting a spotlight on the Trump administration’s creation of a new federal fire service and its revival of a previously discredited policy to stomp out all wildfires quickly."
