Natural Resources

"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."

"Environmental groups on Wednesday urged a moratorium on deep-sea mining ahead of a meeting in Jamaica of a U.N. body that conservationists fear will soon authorize the world’s first license to harvest minerals from the ocean floor."

"The largest trees on the planet can’t easily ‘migrate’ — but in a warming world, some humans are helping them try to find new homes."

"The world is moving too slowly to meet pledges to end deforestation by 2030, with the destruction worsening in 2022, according to a report by a coalition of environmental organizations released on Monday."

"When Maine lawmakers tried to tighten regulations on large-scale access to water, the brand’s little-known parent company set out to rewrite the rules."

"Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and seven House Democrats asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review potential environmental damages caused by idled coal mines."

"Between 2016 and 2018, more than 2 million people in Somalia fled their homes, finding refuge elsewhere within their country." "A small increase in average monthly temperatures led to a 10-fold jump in the number of refugees."

"In the pre-dawn darkness of Sierra de la Culebra, Zamora, Spain, a sudden howl pierces the cold. More join in, until the baying chorus echoes all around. As the sky begins to lighten, their shapes emerge: first the alpha male, and then the rest of the wolf pack, appearing in the twilight where light and darkness merge.

"It sounds like fiction from “The Lord of the Rings.” An enemy begins attacking a tree. The tree fends it off and sends out a warning message. Nearby trees set up their own defenses. The forest is saved."