Birds and birding news
Science and nature blogging
Environment and biodiversity
- Today is UN World Wildlife Day, which celebrates the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). For more, see the linked website or follow the #WorldWildlifeDay hashtag on Twitter.
- The proposed federal budget would cut EPA staff from 15,000 to 12,000 and reduce or eliminate funding for environmental justice and energy efficiency programs.
- Rep. Ryan Zinke was confirmed this week as Secretary of the Interior, the department that oversees most public lands, including national parks and wildlife refuges, and is charged with enforcing the Endangered Species Act. His nomination caused a split among environmental groups, with many opposing but some supporting.
- One of Zinke's first acts in office was to revoke the Obama administration's rule (pdf) against the use of lead ammunition in national wildlife refuges. Lead poisoning from ingesting ammunition is a major cause of death for many species, including endangered California Condors.
- The Trump administration also wants to reverse the Obama administration's Waters of the U.S. rule, which had sought to clarify which waterways and wetlands are regulated under the Clean Water Act.
- Budget cuts to state parks pose a major conservation challenge, especially in Wisconsin where tax-funded support for parks was eliminated.
- If the proposed border wall is constructed along the entire border, it would have substantial effects on wildlife and natural landscapes (in addition to the human rights problems).
- Forest degradation (especially in the tropics) is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions but tends to be overlooked in policy-making.
- Drastic cooling in the North Atlantic could happen sooner than expected due to slowing of ocean currents.
- The warm temperatures in the eastern U.S. have pushed salamanders to start migrating to their breeding grounds earlier than usual; in many places, like the Delaware Water Gap and East Brunswick, roads are closed temporarily on migration nights.
- The Pinelands Preservation Alliance is starting a campaign to protect the waters of the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer, which are increasingly threatened by development projects (like the Pinelands pipeline).
- A bill in New Jersey's state senate would ban logging within the Highlands protected area.