'Harm' under Endangared Species Act now means direct harm, not indirect, such as habitat loss; many states object

Protection of northern spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest
under the Endangered Species Act led to the end of logging
in their habitat. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo by Tom Kogut)

"The Trump administration is removing protections from the key places where endangered species live, saying states can keep the areas safe, but experts say states aren’t equipped for the task," Alex Brown reports for Stateline.

On July 10, the administration finalized regulations redefinng the word "harm" in the Endangered Species Act, to make it cover only cases where endangered animals are directly harmed. That ruled out such actvities as "logging projects that would cut old-growth trees where owls build their nests, and agriculture operations that diverted water from streams where salmon return to spawn," Brown explains.

A 2019 study of animals added to the Endangered Species List from 1975 to 2017 "found that only 17 percent of them faced threats from direct killing, while 81 percent faced habitat loss," Brown reports. The change means “You can destroy the resources a species requires as long as you don’t do it when the species is at home,” Karrigan Börk, a law professor and director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California Davis Institute of the Environment, told Brown.

"In public comments after the rule was initially proposed, wildlife agency leaders from both liberal and conservative states said the change would be a blow to their conservation efforts," Brown reports. "Wildlife officials in Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, New Jersey, Vermont and Wyoming also expressed concern about the loss of habitat protections, as did the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, a nonprofit that represents state wildlife managers. Of the public comments reviewed by Stateline, only Alaska’s wildlife agency leader offered wholehearted support for the change. . . . Even if states were to pass laws and invest in programs to protect wildlife habitat, they would be unable to enforce those measures on federal land."

Federal officials said the change would let states "manage wildlife without burdensome federal regulations," Brown writes.  "But legal experts and wildlife veterans say that almost no states have endangered-species laws on the books that allow state officials to prevent habitat destruction in the name of saving wildlife. . . . Many wildlife experts also noted that state wildlife agencies are already underfunded as it is. Taking on the massive regulatory system that prevents developers and extractive industries from destroying critical habitat would require far more resources than those agencies have available. A coalition of environmental groups and tribal nations have filed lawsuits challenging the federal rollback."

Flora & Fauna: Newborn calf cuddles; coast martens recovery; smoke-resistant potatoes; Puppy Bowl XXII

This newborn calf was struggling in the deep freeze until she was brought indoors to curl up on couch.
(Photo by Macey Sorrell via WKYT-27)

Frigid temperatures left a newborn calf struggling for survival until her farming family in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, brought her indoors to warm. up. "The calf was born outdoors in single-digit temperatures. Macey Sorrell said her husband, Tanner, went outside to check on the pregnant mother and found the calf, suffering in the cold," reports Dylan Lovan of The Associated Press. Macey Sorrell told reporters, "When we brought her in, she had ice on her. The afterbirth was still on her. I had to wipe all that off. I took out the blow dryer and warmed her up, and got her all fluffed out."

During autumn, leaves change into vibrant shades of yellow, orange and red, then tumble to the ground, where they brown and return to nature. But not all leaves fall. "Even in the height of winter, a curious number of oak and beech trees refuse to let go of their brown, brittle foliage," write Kasha Patel, Emily Wright and Marvin Joseph of The Washington Post. Scientists are investigating why some plants don't seal off dead leaves, causing them to fall. "They found a surprising number of species hold onto their papery remains — but the explanations are anything but cut and dried."

Humboldt martens are known for their inquisitive 
expressions. (Photo by Ben Wymer via Popular Science)

Having once ranged all about the Pacific Northwest, coastal martens, also known as Humboldt martens, were believed to have been hunted into extinction by fur traders "until a U.S. Forest Service biologist discovered a small population in the coastal woods of northern California in 1996," reports Laura Baisas for Popular Science. Coastal martens, known for their cute, inquisitive furry faces, are "related to weasels, otters, mink, wolverines, and fetters are making a slow recovery in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. . . . They are currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and are at risk due to habitat loss, rodenticides, vehicles, and disease."

Current rules only allow mules to compete as jumpers.
(Photo by Amy Heartfield via The Chronicle of the Horse)

Horses aren't the only four-legged animals that can be trained for hunting competitions -- mules can too. But current U.S. Equestrian Federation rules only allow mules to show in equine jumping competitions. Sport horse breeder Kimmy Risser and Holly Fox, who are both mule enthusiasts, are pushing to have the rules changed, reports Sarah K. Susa for The Chronicle of the Horse. According to Risser and Fox, "There’s just no reason mules can’t compete against horses. Hunter classes have clear standards, and mules can be held to those same standards and judged equally alongside their horse competitors."

Wildfire smoke in the West can spread for miles from a fire site and harm crops in its path. "Similar to how it affects humans, smoke can block out sunlight and inhibit photosynthesis," reports Shelby Vittek for Offrange. Idaho researchers have been working with different potato varieties to identify the most smoke-tolerant. "The current study is focused on three French fry cultivars: Russet Burbank, which makes up almost half of all plantings in the state; Clearwater Russet, a new variety that’s popular for its heat resistance; and Alturas Russets, a late-maturing and high-yielding potato. Preliminary results already show that certain varieties might fare better than others." 

                   The Puppy Bowl's fine flying canine promoters soar to an epic Styx song.  

Puppy Bowl XXII returns to screens on Sunday, Feb. 8, beginning at 2 p.m. EST. The furry competition between Team Ruff and Team Fluff is sure to feature penalty flags, squeaky toys, Hail Mary catches, adorable side-eyes, fumbles, speedy paws and touchdowns. This Animal Planet tradition is one of the country's biggest rallies for pet adoption. This year's teams boast a highfalutin lineup, including puppies like "Button," who has soft ears and a hard game. Or "Lobster Roll" from Westbrook, Maine. She's 30 pounds of muscle. . .not the seafood kind. . . It's football, only better.  

It's almost here! The annual Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up Feb. 13-16.

Illustration by Stephanie Fizer Coleman,
Peachtree Publishers

Feathers, beaks, chirps, songs and plenty of bird community fun return during the 2026 Great Backyard Bird Count Feb. 13 through 16.

Participation can take just 15 minutes: Open a window or step outside, and spend some time counting and trying to identify your feathered friends. Then, submit your counts using one of the tools on the GBBC website to tally all the birds you see or hear. Backyard birders help scientists better understand and protect birds all around the globe.

If you’re new to bird watching and have a smartphone, GBBC experts recommend using the Merlin Bird ID app to enter your first bird. It is free and considered easy to use. For more experienced bird lovers, using the free eBird Mobile app is a fast way to enter your bird lists in real time.

For more social bird counters, communities across the world will be hosting group count events. Click here to see if there’s a flock near you to join.

A free, one-hour webinar will be offered at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5, for anyone wanting to learn more about how to participate in the bird count. A second session of the beginner-friendly webinar will be offered at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

The webinar is a collaboration of the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada.

Registration is available online.

‘This lively, beginner-friendly webinar will inspire you to deepen your connection with birds while joining a worldwide count,” organizers said.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an opportunity for parents and children to do something outside that brings joy and helps nature. To get kiddos on the path to counting greatness, many local libraries have books about the count. Other bird-oriented books for younger readers include stories about watching, drawing and feeding birds.

A white-breasted nuthatch at a bird feeder. (Photo by 
Devon Stivers via the Hoptown Chronicle)

The count is sponsored by the ornithology lab at New York state’s Cornell University, the National Audubon Society and Birds Canada. The sponsors say counting birds has become more important, and note that scientists recently reported a decline of more than one in four breeding birds in the U.S. and Canada since 1970. To sign up, click here.

The 2025 GBBC yielded some incredible results. Together, birders from 217 countries or eBird subregions found 8,078 species of the world’s known species — 158 more than in 2024. To participate in this year’s momentous count, click here. 

This post was produced by The Rural Blog and the Hoptown Chronicle

Flora & Fauna: Chunk, the Fat Bear Week winner; learning bird songs; deterring wolves; nabbing feral pigs

Chunk's broken jaw didn't stop him from feasting on sockeye salmon and gaining hundreds of pounds this summer. 
(Photo by Christine Loberg, NPS)

During this year's Fat Bear Week, many Alaskan brown bears made the salmon run at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park the place where they packed on the pounds eating as much sockeye salmon as possible. But there was one bear that was more dedicated to getting his unfair share of salmon: Chunk. "A bear weighing in at over 1,200 pounds — with a broken (but healing) jaw — is the 2025 Fat Bear Week champion," reports Ava White of NPR. "It’s the first time number 32, or as he’s aptly nicknamed Chunk, has been dubbed the fattest bear in Katmai National Park and Preserve."

An unlikely union between two plants created the potato, affectionately known as the spud. "The origin of the potato has long puzzled scientists. Genetically, it is a close relative of the tomato. But in appearance, it resembles three potato-like species found in South America known as Etuberosum," reports Aylin Woodward of The Wall Street Journal. "The problem is, Etuberosum don’t have tubers — the parts of the potato plant that grow underground, and that we eat baked, mashed or fried. . . . An examination of these DNA sequences revealed that between eight million and nine million years ago, Etuberosum and an ancient tomato exchanged genes." And today's spud was born.

Watching and listening to birds is a delightful hobby that can be enhanced by learning to identify birds by their songs. "Learning bird songs is the difference between 'hearing' and 'listening,'" writes ornithologist Chris Lituma for The Conversation. "Listening requires full attention and limiting distractions. It means using your ears to pick up different patterns in the sounds that birds make. Every person has the capacity to listen and learn patterns in sound." Read all of Lituma's tips for learning bird songs and sounds here.

In this remote arctic town, it's too cold for trees, but strawberries grow by the dozens. "A high-tech greenhouse brings fresh produce to Gjoa Haven, an Inuit hamlet in Canada’s Arctic whose residents have little experience growing plants," reports Norimitsu Onishi of The New York Times. "The greenhouse, researchers hope, will eventually provide an alternative to perishable goods flown in at great cost from southern Canadian cities — and a healthier diet for the Inuit, the only people who have lived in Canada’s Arctic for centuries."

The wolves have learned to associate the drones
with people. (Illustration by A. Dixon, Offrange)

In most states, gray wolves are protected, which means livestock owners have had to find creative ways to keep wolves from preying on their cattle. While human presence and voices remain the most effective wolf deterrent, it's often not feasible, so some ranchers are experimenting with drones combined with human voices from speakers to deter wolves from grazing cattle, reports Rose Garrett for Offrange. Dustin Ranglack, predator project leader for the National Wildlife Research Center, told Garrett, "The wolves in this area have had exposure to the drone, and they will often already be moving away when we approach them. They’ve already come to associate the drone with people, and we’re not necessarily having to use the human voice."

When feral pigs invade the countryside, they go hog wild, eating farm crops, tearing up the ground, prolifically reproducing and spreading diseases. States have been under pressure to find ways to oust unwanted swine, but few have been as successful as Missouri. "Alan Leary, the feral hog coordinator with the Missouri Department of Conservation, says since 2016 the state’s population of feral hogs has dropped 80%," reports Chris Six of Farm Progress. The state formed a multi-agency partnership that "uses traps, drones, helicopters and more to find and eliminate the feral hogs."

Great Backyard Bird Count goes through Feb.17; more than 7,900 species were identified in 2024

    Siberian Stonechat in Israel, left, Pied Cormorants in Australia, center, Adelie Penguin in Antarctica, right
(Photos by Parmil Kumar, Andy Gee and Steve B, Macaulay Library)

The global Great Backyard Bird Count is almost here. Spotters can begin counting and reporting all the birds they see or hear beginning on Friday, Feb. 14. Last year, more than 210 countries or subregions spotted approximately 7,920 of the world’s known bird species.

This year the count will run from Feb. 14 through Monday, Feb. 17 as the GBBC celebrates its 28th year of magnificent bird sights and sounds. During last year's count, GBBC participants shared 164,740 media uploads, including photos, videos, chirps, songs and squawks. Delightful images from around the world made up more than 159,967 submissions.

In 2024, the global community donned their bird goggles and rekindled their love of ornithology. The U.S. tallied 212,673 checklists and identified 676 species. India flew into second place, with 65,111 eBird submissions. Canada was third with 31,151 eBird checklists and 14,049 Merlin sightings.

This year promises to be as fun-filled and educational as bird watchers flock together with their tallies, photos and shared "rare finds." Participation is simple:

• Count birds on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings using Merlin Bird ID or eBird on mobile or computer.
• Anyone can take part in the count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard or anywhere in the world.
• Count birds you see or hear for 15 minutes or as long as you want.
• If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to bird identification, try using the Merlin Bird ID app to tell us what birds you are seeing or hearing.
• If you have participated in the count before and want to record the number of birds, try the eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website (desktop/laptop).
• Visit the official website for more information and check out the latest educational and promotional resources.
• On the program website, participants can explore real-time maps that show what others are reporting during and after the count.

Flora and Fauna: Meishan pigs; goats for hire; new rules for an insecticide; clam gardens; how do you like them apples?

Meishan piglets in their pen at Blue Hill Acres in Tower
City, Pa. (Photo by S. Spreicher, Lancaster Farming)

This little piggy is for dinner. "With a squishy face and long ears, the Meishan pig certainly has a unique look. The pig's disposition and meat quality add to its specialty," Stephanie Spreicher of Lancaster Farming reports. "But you can't find too many Meishans around. . . . Meishans have more fat than typical pork breeds. While breeding for leaner pigs has been common in the pork industry, [Meishan owners] see a demand for fattier cuts."

To protect 78 threatened and endangered species, the Environmental Protection Agency modified its rules on using malathion, a common insecticide used to eradicate mosquitos, boll weevils and fruit flies, reports the Food and Environment Reporting Network. The skunk-smelling spray can damage habitats critical to at-risk species.

Did you know that more than half of the apples available for U.S. consumption are used in juices? Thirty-four percent are gobbled up in lunch boxes, pies, cobblers and crisps. The Department of Agriculture even tracts all the ways apples are sliced, diced and devoured.

Medicinal plants can offer healing, but the practice takes know-how. Mimi Prunella Hernandez has spent years garnering herbal knowledge and has created a book to help others put it to use, reports National Geographic. Andrographis "is rich in flavonoid compounds, which may help ease allergies and alleviate congestion. . .taken as a tonic, goldenrod can remarkably boost resistance to allergens by strengthening the integrity of leaky mucus membranes."

Goats aid in fire prevention by munching up noxious weeds.
(Photo by Dave Marston, Writers on the Range)

When it comes to fire prevention and eating, goats are here to help. "Unlike a horse or cow that leaves noxious weeds behind, goats eat the whole menu of pesky weeds, bushes and small trees. That means goats can be one of the answers to the growing problem of tinder-dry, highly flammable forests," reports Dave Marston for Writers on the Range. "In northwestern Montana, former journalist David Reese has a business called Montana Goat. His herd moves daily, and once the animals strip leaves off small trees and gobble up the cheatgrass and knapweed, he said, it's quick work to chainsaw small trees and dead branches."

The American clam garden is about to make a comeback! The what? Clam garden. The Swinomish Tribe in western Washington state is "reviving the ancient practice," reports John Ryan of KUOW in Seattle. "It's believed that a clam garden — a traditional, Indigenous way of boosting shellfish production — hasn't been built in the United States for close to 200 years. . . . Clam gardens grow four times more butter clams and twice as many littleneck clams as unterraced beaches do, according to a study of dozens of ancient clam gardens around Quadra Island, British Columbia. Young littleneck clams planted in the centuries-old terraces grew nearly twice as fast, making more local protein available to shellfish harvesters."

Ken Burns says his 'American Buffalo,' premiering Monday on PBS, is mainly a tragedy but one that offers hope

Ken Burns (Los Angeles Times photo by Mark Sommerfield) and his subject (photo by Craig Mellieu via L.A. Times)

“The American Buffalo,” a two-part, four-hour documentary by Ken Burns, premieres Monday on PBS. Burns says the story is “mostly a tragedy . . . about disconnecting a whole group of people from an animal that they felt in kinship with over thousands of years. And it’s the story of another group of people who see themselves as superior, as the dominant species with permission to do anything they want to do” and almost exerminate a species that numbered in the tens of millions.

But it is also a story that offers hope. After what Burns calls “the largest killing of wildlife in the history of the world,” some who took part in the killing helped preseve the species, Michael Ordoña reports for the Los Angeles Times. He says the documentary “contains inspiring accounts of oneness with nature, chilling stories of sadism and bloodshed in a mad rush for profit (and worse motives) — and a message of hope rooted in the potential for transformation within human beings.”

Burns told Ordoña that for 30 years he wanted "to do a biography of an animal, to complement or contrast with all the other specific biographies or big-topic stuff that we’ve done. We’d intersected with that story in 'The West' in the mid-’90s, again in the late ’90s with 'Lewis and Clark,' and then in the aughts with 'The National Parks.' I’m glad that we waited, because it gave us time. Scholarship improved. It also gave us the possibility to develop a narrative that wasn’t just going to pay lip service to other points of view in some paternalistic or even patronizing way, like allowing other points of view, but seeding the film with them. . . . It allowed us to tell a much more complicated, a much more nuanced story and one that is not really complete. I think by the time we finished it, we realized our two parts were the first two acts of a three-act play. The third act is, 'What are we going to do now?' Yes, the buffalo is saved. So our early ideas that this was a parable of de-extinction are true, but it’s so much more than that. Will they just be standing fenced in, in corrals or feedlots or whatever, sustainable, not going to go extinct, but can they roam wild and free the way they used to?"

Flora and fauna: Ladybugs; mushrooms and fires; wolves and ranchers; tomatoes; animal senses; Vermont loons

Painting by Ed Steed, The New Yorker

Aphid eaters and adorable, ladybugs, or Coccinellidae, are like little summertime friends. A "swarm of ladybugs is collectively called a loveliness," Françoise Mouly writes for The New Yorker. Mouly interviewed artist Ed Steed, who decked out the magazine's June ladybug cover, about "the joy of painting, an affection for the little things, and the luck of the ladybugs." Mouly asked him if each ladybug had its own personality. He told her: "That's the good thing about painting by hand. No matter how hard you try to make things look the same, each comes out unique. So each one ends up having its own character. Just like in real life, no two of anything can be the same."

Mushrooms could be an answer to megafire prevention. "Slash piles are an increasingly common sight in the American West, as land managers work to thin out unnaturally dense sections of forests. . . [The piles] have inadvertently increased the risk of devastating megafires," reports Stephen Robert Miller of The Washington Post. Hauling the slash piles out of the woods has been one solution. Letting mushrooms do the job is another. "Like a flame, saprophytic fungi break organic material into carbon compounds. Mycelium, the often unseen, root-like structure of the fungi, secretes digestive enzymes that release nutrients from the substrate it consumes. . . Whereas a flame destroys nearly all organic nitrogen, mycelium can fortify nitrogen where it's needed in the forest floor."

Gray wolves in California, where they are a recovering
endangered species. (Shutterstock photo)

In areas where ranchers and gray wolves must coexist, some states compensate ranchers for predator damages, reports Shea Swensen of Ambrook Research. "To aid the ranchers who deal with the impacts of wolf presence, states like New Mexico, Oregon, and California started programs that pay them back for the financial burdens of losing their animals. The programs offer reimbursement for direct livestock loss due to wolves or non-lethal on-ranch tools — like fences, guard dogs, or even extra staff."

Pink Pounder hybrid tomatoes
(Garden Plants online photo)

With names like Beefsteak, Big Beef, Bucking Bronco or Pink Pounder Hybrid, summer tomatoes are fun, but more importantly, they are delectable. Try out these meaty varieties. Rejoice in learning how to make all the best tomato recipes. Find out about the infamous Southern tomato sandwich. Enjoy!

Sometimes it can be hard for humans to grapple with the tremendous gifts other animals have. They don't go to school, YouTube it or read how-to manuals. "Pit vipers have infrared vision, bees can view ultraviolet light, and electric eels use their zaps to 'see' through the murky waters of the Amazon," reports Jason Bittel of Popular Science. He adds five animals that can sense things humans can't. They are just born that way.

A parenting loon gives the chicks a ride. Male and
female loons co-parent. (Shutterstock photo)

Vermont's oldest loon, known as "Neward Pond Male," died at age 31. For the past 45 years, The Loon Conservation Project "has helped bring the common loon back to lakes across the state and made huge strides in research, education and advocacy, reports Hannah Cho of the Valley News of West Lebanon, N.H., and White River Junction, Vt. "When Newark Pond Male was banded, the loon was still on Vermont's endangered species list (it wouldn't come off until 2005), but the population had already begun to rise."

Rural regions will gain influence on Oregon's wildlife panel

These water-panel regions will be the basis for appointments.

In Oregon, a state with a strong rural-urban divide, rural areas will get a larger voice in wildlife policy now that members of the state Fish and Wildlife Commission will be appointed from watershed areas, not one each from congressional districts and the regions east and west of the Cascade Mountains, the state's main politcal divide.

Northwest Oregon, the state's main urbanized area, will still have control of the commission but won't be so dominant, reports Mateusz Perkowski of Capital Press: "Members will be chosen from among five river basins," but two basins "that include the populous Willamette Valley will each get two representatives, while the remaining three basins will each get one representative."

Oregon's six congressional districts

The much-amended bill passed the House unanimously and the Senate 23-2. "Tribes, farmers, ranchers and hunters claimed urban representatives disproportionately steer fish and wildlife policies, which should instead take into account expertise from across the state’s varied geography," Perkowski reports. The river basins will be those defined by the law for the state Water Resources Commission.

Lauren Poor, the Oregon Farm Bureau’s vice president of government and legal affairs, told Perkowski, “Consideration of how wildlife policies affect rural communities is something we feel has been lacking under the current commission structure.” If so, that won't change right away, since current commission members will be allowed to serve out their terms. But "giving southern and eastern Oregon greater influence on decisions, such as the looming update of the state’s wolf management plan . . . is a step in the right direction, she said."

Administration moves to restore some blanket protections for threatened plants and wildlife; arguments ensue

Two northern spotted owls peer at a photojournalist. (Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest/Flickr photo, CC by NC ND 2.0, via Audubon)

The Biden administration has moved to reinstate some plant and animal protections the Trump administration had nixed or weakened in 2019, report Matthew Brown and John Flesher of The Associated Press. "The Fish and Wildlife Service said it would reinstate a decades-old regulation that mandates blanket protections for species newly classified as threatened." The protections were removed "as part of a suite of changes to the application of the species law that were encouraged by industry, even as extinctions accelerate globally due to habitat loss and other pressures."

Along with the restored protections, "Officials also would no longer consider economic impacts when deciding if animals and plants need protection. And the rules make it easier to designate areas as critical for a species' survival, even if it is no longer found in those locations," Brown and Flesher write. "That could help with the recovery of imperiled fish and freshwater mussels in the Southeast, where the aquatic animals in many cases are absent from portions of their historical range, said Fish and Wildlife Service Assistant Director Gary Frazer. . . . He said [the] proposal would restore 'baseline' protections so species don't get pushed further toward extinction."

The move will meet pushback from Republican lawmakers "who say President Joe Biden's Democratic administration has hampered oil, gas and coal development, and favors conservation over development," AP reports. "Industry groups have long viewed the 1973 Endangered Species Act as an impediment. Under Trump, they successfully lobbied to weaken the law's regulations as part of a broad dismantling of environmental safeguards. Trump officials rolled back endangered species rules and protections for the northern spotted owl, gray wolves and other species."

AP reports, "Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams said in a statement that the changes reaffirm our commitment to conserving America's wildlife and ensuring the Endangered Species Act works for both species and people.'" Some Western states may disagree. "Jonathan Wood with the Property and Environment Research Center, a free-market policy group based in Bozeman, Montana, said the Biden proposal could hurt state and private landowner efforts to recover species by imposing more punitive regulations that undermine voluntary conservation incentives."

While the Biden administration's changes will reverse some of what the Trump era dropped, some "environmentalists complained that some Trump-era changes would remain intact. . . . One requires agencies to protect living spaces for imperiled species only when development would harm an entire habitat and not just part of it. That could remove obligations to fix damage from logging trees that are needed by spotted owls unless all of their 9-million-acre habitat zones were affected, said Stephanie Kurose at the Center for Biological Diversity. . . . Biden's proposal also retains a Trump change allowing agencies to approve projects without guarantees habitat harms will be reduced." McCrystie Adams, with Defenders of Wildlife, told AP: "This makes it easier to authorize piecemeal destruction of critical habitat."

Mountain Valley Pipeline gets key green-light decision, pleasing Sen. Joe Manchin, but more court action is in store

Pipes for the Mountain Valley Pipeline on Brush Mountain near
Blacksburg, Va. (Photo by Melissa Golden, The New York Times)

The Biden administration has again "granted a crucial permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a project championed by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia," reports Lisa Friedman of The New York Times. The Forest Service's decision would allow the pipeline "to run through 3.5 miles of Jefferson National Forest, which straddles West Virginia and Virginia." The pipeline is "intended to carry gas about 300 miles from the Marcellus shale fields in West Virginia across nearly 1,000 streams and wetlands before ending in Virginia. It also delivers a significant victory to Manchin, a Democrat who strongly supports fossil fuels and who faces a potentially difficult re-election campaign next year. . . . Some are interpreting the approval as the administration's attempt to placate Manchin, who in recent weeks has railed against what he calls the Biden administration's 'radical climate agenda.'"

The administration has been repositioning some environmental policies, which disappoint environmentalists and scientists, but the president is working to straddle several camps. Friedman reports, "Biden needs Manchin, as well as moderate Republicans, to achieve his goals. They are considered key to passing legislation that the White House says is critical for speeding the construction of new wind, solar and other renewable energy projects. . . . Biden has taken steps to bolster fossil fuels and placate centrists while also trying to deflect Republican criticism that his climate policies are harming American energy security. His administration approved the enormous Willow oil project in Alaska and increased exports of liquefied natural gas from Alaska. Both projects were supported by Manchin and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who is also an important swing vote for  Biden."

While the permitting decision is important, "The Mountain Valley Pipeline is not a done deal" because of court action, Friedman notes. A lawsuit is challenging the Fish and Wildlife Service's decision in favor of the pipeline," and more suits are expected. Also, "The Bureau of Land Management, which is responsible for approving pipelines that cross state lines, must decide whether to issue required permits."

Lawsuits warn of environmental damage. "Last year the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled that the government's environmental reviews had 'inadequately' considered the impacts of erosion, among other issues. . . . The national forest is home to five protected species, including the endangered candy darter, a colorful freshwater fish, as well as old-growth forest. . . . Jessica Sims, Virginia Field Coordinator for Appalachian Voices, an environmental group that opposes the pipeline, said the Biden administration decision "'grossly underestimates the lasting environmental harms from the project.'"

Flora/fauna nips: 4 apps to know them all; bunny rescues; Schmidt Sting Pain Index has marvelous descriptions

Image from Justin Schmidt's 2016 book The Sting of the Wild

Ever considered ranking the pain of insect stings? Entomologist Justin Schmidt did. He poetically described and ranked stinging powers from 'spicy' to 'shockingly electric' on his Schmidt Sting Pain Index, reports Lauren Young of Atlas Obscura. After being stung by a "fierce black polybia wasp," he had this to say. "A ritual gone wrong, satanic. The gas lamp in the old church explodes in your face when you light it." The index is featured in Schmidt's 2016 book The Sting of the Wild.

Arbor Day may have passed, but loving trees is timeless. Here's a delightfully deciduous list of tree reads. "Trees are fascinating: The oldest living organism on Earth is a tree, and forest biomes cover one-third of the Earth's surface. Trees provide fruit, spices, nuts, timber, shade, habitats, and oxygen, as well as absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere."--Trees: An Illustrated Celebration by Kelsey Oseid.

Male Eastern Box Turtle (Box Turtle Conservation photo)

Box turtles need our help. "Various factors, most of them human-related such as exports for the pet trade and loss of habitat are causing the population of box turtles to dwindle. . . . If you do take a box turtle as a pet, do plenty of research in advance to know exactly what its needs are. The Box Turtle Conservation website is a great place to start. Another great resource to follow is Reptile.Guide.

Every flower, every plant, every tree: These four apps can help you identify them all, reports Michael J. Coren of The Washington Post. "Thanks to artificial intelligence trained on millions of observations, anyone with a smartphone can snap a picture or record a sound to identify tens of thousands of species, from field bluebells to native bumblebees. . . . I'm now on a first-name basis with most of my wild neighbors. It has reconnected me to a natural world I love, yet never studied deeply enough to know all its characters and settings. . . . The easiest to use is Seek."

Some rabbits have been rescued from tree branches.
(Photo by Eric Hopson, San Luis National Wildlife Refuge )

California's record-setting snowpack melt is great for ducks and fish. "Still for other animals, the rising waters are perilous. Just ask the bunnies," reports Lauren Sommer of NPR. "In the Central Valley, evacuations are underway for endangered riparian brush rabbits. The small brown cottontails, only about a foot long, are finding themselves stranded on small areas of dry land as nearby rivers overtop their banks. . . . A team from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has captured and moved more than 360 rabbits to higher ground to protect a species that's coming back from the brink of extinction."

Radioactive dogs? "What we can learn from Chernobyl's strays . . . They've lived and bred inside the Exclusion Zone for generations—and scientists believe their DNA may transform our knowledge about the effects of radiation," reports Sharon Guynup of National Geographic. Elaine Ostrander, who runs the Dog Genome Project at the National Human Genome Research Institute, told her, "These Chernobyl dogs are valuable to science because they've lived and evolved in isolation for 15 generations since the disaster. They die young, by three or four years old; 10 to 12 is normal for 75-pound dogs. . . . Ultimately, we want to know what happened to the genomic DNA that allowed [the dogs] to live and breed and survive in a radioactive environment."

How old must "a cultivar" be to be considered an heirloom? "Some experts say it is those that existed before 1951, when the first hybrid vegetable cultivars were developed. Others define it as any cultivar dating to 1940 or before. . . . Heirlooms are plant cultivars (cultivated varieties) that have been grown for decades, even centuries, and their seeds saved and passed down through families or communities," reports Therese Ciesinski of Lancaster Farming. "Heirlooms have a lot more going for them than simply adaptation. They are time-tested, with intense flavors that surpass anything at the supermarket. They are often more nutritious. You can save the seeds and grow the variety in the future . . . And growing heirlooms help preserve biodiversity and history."

Flora/fauna: The grizzly bear may return to the Cascades; revelations in 'chicken-speak,' how to repel mosquitoes . . .

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service map via National Geographic shows
current grizzly range in dark brown, historic range in light brown.

Grizzly bears may return to the Pacific Northwest. "Across 6.3 million acres of forest home to the nation’s most imperiled grizzly-bear population, there has not been a confirmed sighting of Ursus arctos horribilis since 1996," reports Craig Welch of National Geographic. "So the Biden administration is working on a last-ditch effort to bring grizzlies back. Much as federal agencies reintroduced wolves to Yellowstone National Park, scientists hope in coming years to pluck grizzlies from healthy populations in Canada or Montana and transplant them to the Pacific Northwest. . . . The government has a plan to bring these animals back to an ecosystem that needs them." The bears are top predators, but 90 percent of their diet is plants.

Image courtesy of Agate Surrey

"Chill Phyllis" was a backyard chicken who moaned and muttered a lot -- in chicken-speak, of course. . . . People said Chill Phyllis was simply exhausted from laying eggs, but they really weren't sure. . . . Now there's a book that might share some clues about such fowl. "Clucking, trilling, grumbling: The language of chickens was just one of the revelations that struck Tove Danovich as she raised three chicks in her Portland yard," Rebekah Denn writes for The Seattle Times. Danovich's book, Under The Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them began as a "quest for eggs," but the project hatched into research and a resource with "with notes on hatchery ethics, therapy chickens, and rescued battery hens."

Why do mosquitoes buzz in people's ears? Because they're obnoxious (unless you're a bird; then they're dinner). Here are some nature-friendly tips on plants such as rosemary and lavender that can keep the buzzing, biting and disease-carrying party crashers at bay.

Wool can be a magical material for warmth, dryness and the general coziness, but in some places it needs a little more recognition. "There isn’t a great market for much of the wool produced in the Upper Midwest. The price per pound of raw (greasy) wool is unlikely to cover the cost of raising and shearing the animal. . . . Some farms just compost or burn their clip," reports Donna Kallner of The Daily Yonder. "The Fibershed movement is working to change that. The non-profit organization’s mission is to transform regional fiber systems through climate-beneficial agriculture, rebuilding regional manufacturing, and reconnecting end-users with the source of their fiber."

"Massive," "font of life" and "wild ox" are all names for the bison. "The American bison stands at the crossroads of the animal, plant, and human worlds. It is part of an integrated ecosystem that includes people as much as it does bobcats, finches, and sunflowers," reports Nathan Beacom for Plough magazine. "In the Great Plains, scientists and small farmers bring back a mythic beast and a lost ecosystem. . . . Finding the right way to relate to this, our national mammal, might show the way to a healthy relationship with the natural world of the American West."

Photo by Matthew Modoono,
Northeastern University

Parrots are fun, social pets but also intelligent and need social interactions. These parrots participated in video chats with fellow feathered friends. For many, it turns out "Polly does want to video chat. . . . a lot," reports Emily Athens of The New York Times. "They mirrored each other's behavior grooming together . . . and singing together. . . . Some of the birds quickly made favorite friends."

Not all cats hate water. This story recalls "The forgotten history of cats in the navy. . . . Sailors embraced their feline colleagues, giving them tiny uniforms and their very own hammocks," reports Scot Christenson of National Geographic. "But cats are natural outlaws—so it couldn’t last forever."

Sturgeon outlived dinosaurs and the Chicxulub asteroid; now they must contend with mankind, will they survive?

Atlantic sturgeon were once plentiful, but now may face extinction.
(Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark)

Atlantic sturgeon have been swimming in North American waters for the past 10 to 15 million years. Sixty-six million years ago, when the Chicxulub asteroid hit, eliminating about 70 percent of species on Earth, Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus survived, reports Andrew S. Lewis of The New York Times. "Last year, however, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature called sturgeon "the animal group most at risk of extinction in the world," adding, "Humanity has reduced this ancient and enduring fish to such a fragile state speaks to the force of the latest impact event to remake the Earth — our own presence."

The North Atlantic sturgeon's demise began on the lower Delaware River estuary in the mid-1800s: "During the spring spawn, an estimated 360,000 adults thronged the reach that marked the brackish threshold between bay and river," Lewis writes. "Theirs was the roe prized by the Russian czars, whose brokers at one point paid more than $1,400 in today’s dollars for a single female Atlantic sturgeon. During the fishery’s peak, in 1888, 16,500 Atlantic sturgeon — they can live 60 years and grow to 14 feet and 800 pounds — were 'harvested,' or killed. Most were female, and the millions of eggs that each could produce during a spawn never made it into the water within which they were meant to hatch."

Lewis reports: "Because individuals from different rivers do not commonly interbreed, their homing instinct has produced populations whose genetics are unique to the waterways of their birth. In 2012, the species became protected under the Endangered Species Act. At the time, researchers estimated that the Delaware population consisted of 300 or fewer spawning adults per year."

In the Delaware estuary, "strikes by vessel hulls and propellers are a threat to Atlantic sturgeon across their range but responsible for half of all adult deaths . . . dredging is known to be especially harmful for Atlantic sturgeon," Lewis reports. A study by Dewayne Fox, a fisheries biologist at Delaware State University used Delaware’s data on vessel strikes to "calculate how many additional fatalities were going unnoticed," and his estimates were unsettling.
  
"In a population with so few adults, it signaled an alarmingly high rate of deaths," Lewis writes, adding that the study results were held for review by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center: In June 2021, a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist who was writing the biological opinion on proposed port projects "said he was considering using Fox’s study as part of the best available information on vessel strikes. . . . . but when the BiOps were released, Fox learned that NMFS had instead relied on a decade-old study from the James River in Virginia."

Meanwhile, dredging began for a "wind port" to serve turbines planned off the coast, "and would continue to do so for several months," Lewis writes. "While there were no reports of sturgeon killed during the work, the new port would mean more ship traffic for years to come."

Quick hits: Chestnuts, horses, igloos, poinsettias, karaoke, cancer vaccines, vertical farms, fantastic beasts, kids' books

How to build an igloo in 10 steps.
(Art by Gil Martinez, New England Today)

This is our last Rural Blog quick hits of the year: from cheer to overcome the holiday slog to discussions by karaoke enthusiasts. Here's to remembering the good and heading into 2023 with hopeful hearts.

When it snows, build an igloo. Rural New Englanders know how.

The American chestnut tree is not quite extinct, and the struggle to bring it back to its former glory is ongoing. To celebrate the chestnuts part in rural history, roast some that Nat King Cole or Mel Torme would be proud of. This Masterclass can help.

Everybody's favorite animal ought to be a horse! Here's how to convert the world.

A cure to cancer? How about a vaccine to prevent cancer? For some cancers, yes. Here's how they work.

In many produce sections, there's often not much to pick from. One company aims to remedy that by building indoor vertical farms, each capable of producing seven tons of greens daily. 

J.K. Rowling isn't the only one with "fantastic beasts." The New Yorker has some lovable, imperiled fantastical beasts drawn by a great illustrator. 

Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, poinsettias herald the festive spirit of Christmas. Read the history of how this shaggy-leaved plant became cherished holiday decor.

Glenn Highway tree (Photo by Bill Roth, Anchorage Daily News, via Washington Post)

In south-central Alaska, which has about five and a half hours of daylight right now, commuters to and from Anchorage may never see daylight -- but they see the Glenn Highway Christmas tree.

The holidays can be lonely, cold or filled with family that stress you out. Holiday movies and songs can help, or at least distract, The Daily Yonder has it covered.

Planning a karaoke night? Here's the ultimate guide to finding your go-to karaoke songs with the help of reader suggestions, a panel of karaoke enthusiasts and Pandora music analysts.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff are back!  For gift ideas or delightful 2023 reading, The New York Times Best Children's Books of 2022 is here.

New listing as endangered species might help save the northern long-eared bat, victim of a fungus that wakes it up

A northern long-eared bat (Photo from the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources via The Associated Press)

Efforts to save the northern long-eared bat from extinction have received a boost of hope: "The Biden administration declared the northern long-eared bat endangered on Tuesday in a last-ditch effort to save a species driven to the brink of extinction by white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease," reports John Flesher of The Associated Press.

Martha Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told Flesher, “White-nose syndrome is decimating cave-dwelling bat species like the northern long-eared bat at unprecedented rates."

Since its discovery in a New York cave in 2006, the fungus has spread rapidly in the U.S. "The northern long-eared bat is among the hardest hit, with estimated declines of 97% or higher in affected populations," AP reports. "The bat is found in 37 eastern and north-central states . . . and much of Canada. The disease has infected 12 types of bats and killed millions."

Why should we care? "Bats are believed to give U.S. agriculture an annual boost of $3 billion by gobbling pests and pollinating some plants," AP notes. "Recovery efforts will focus on wooded areas where the bats roost in summer — usually alone or in small groups, nestling beneath bark or in tree cavities and crevices. Emerging at dusk, they feed on moths, beetles and other insects."

Research for a vaccine is ongoing, "The service has distributed more than $46 million for the campaign, which involves around 150 agencies, private organizations and Native American tribes," AP reports. Ryan Shannon, senior attorney with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, told Flesher, “We have to find a cure for white-nose syndrome that is killing our bats and we have to protect the forests where they live. This endangered listing will help on both counts."

The fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, appears as a white fuzz that grows on muzzles and wings of hibernating bats. While hibernating, the fungus drains the bat's precious energy stores, disrupting their hibernation cycle. They wake up, have little or no insects to eat, and often starve.