"Two men were indicted by a federal grand jury in Montana on Friday on allegations they illegally killed 3,600 birds, including bald and golden eagles on the Flathead Indian Reservation, then illegally sold the eagles on the black market."
"The National Park Service will get another chance to buy a 640-acre parcel of state-owned land inside the border of Grand Teton National Park after the Wyoming State Board of Land Commissioners voted Thursday to delay a proposed auction."
The global warming gas methane was much in the news at the start of the just-ended COP28 climate meeting, with a final Biden administration rule to trim releases by the fossil fuel industry. But when it comes to good journalism on the problem, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox spotlights the work of a team of journalism students who used sophisticated satellite data to tell the story of underreported methane flaring at drilling sites.
"The Biden administration faces a backlash in Wyoming as it puts more emphasis on conservation, recreation and renewable energy on public lands."
"Colorado officially launches a controversial experiment next month: State officials will release up to 10 gray wolves as mandated by a 2020 state law that unleashed proverbial howls of protest from opponents."
"The country’s first expected commercial small modular reactor was scrapped by NuScale Power on Wednesday, delivering a major setback to the advanced nuclear industry."
Reporting on interconnected ecosystems lends itself to better environmental stories, and so tracing how water moves across landscapes, communities, industries and regulatory schemes can help the public connect the dots. That’s how Annie Ropeik, who helps run the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, sees the watershed beat. She shares expert views and offers insights for environment journalists to use in their reporting.
"One morning in late June, after a crisp mountain air had settled into Kootenai River valley, Megan Leach heard her chickens clucking nervously. She ventured outside to see the cause for the commotion and noticed that one of her heavy coops, on wheels but sturdy, had been moved. As dusk began to fall later that day, Leach rounded up her chickens to place them in the protection of her barn, feeling that something was watching them. It turned out to be a grizzly bear."
"Nestled in the San Juan Mountains, Pagosa Springs is located right at the source. Water flows through an elaborate network of streams, rivers, lakes, treatment plants, and pipelines. It can be accessed through the simple turn of a tap. But living at the headwaters of a major Western river system does not equal water security for all."
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