In hopes of deterring Russian attacks, UNESCO approves more protections for 20 cultural properties

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved a request from Ukraine to add 20 landmarks to the international list of cultural heritage sites under enhanced protection, Deputy Culture Minister Anastasiia Bondar said on Sept. 7.

The list includes the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, an important monastery famous for its complex cave systems, Lviv's historic center, Taras Shevchenko's grave, and the Derzhprom building in Kharkiv, which was the first skyscraper built in the Soviet Union.

https://kyivindependent.com/unesco-adds-20-ukrainian-cultural-heritage-sites-to-enhanced-protection-list/

Biden cancels ANWR drilling leases; puts almost half of Petroleum reserve off-limits too

In its most aggressive move yet to protect millions of acres of pristine Alaskan wilderness from oil and gas exploration, the Biden administration announced it would prohibit drilling in 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve and cancel all the existing leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The new regulations would ensure “maximum protections” for nearly half of the petroleum reserve, but it would not stop the enormous Willow oil drilling project in the same vicinity that President Biden approved this year.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/climate/biden-drilling-alaska-wildlife-refuge.html

Court tosses last-minute Trump rule allowing more old-growth logging in Pacific NW national forests

A Trump-era rule that allows for the logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest violates federal law, a judge found Thursday.

For decades, the Forest Service had banned the logging of trees larger than 21 inches in diameter in the forests of eastern Oregon and southeast Washington state. But in 2021, in the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency, the agency amended its policy to allow for the logging of old-growth woodlands in six national forests. The Forest Service determined that, by removing trees, logging would make forests “more resistant and resilient to disturbances like wildfire.”

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/trump-rule-old-growth-logging-oregon-washington