Study: Lower-elevation pine forests in Sierra Nevada NPs likely to be transformed by climate change

Iconic forests that stretch across Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Yosemite national parks are beginning to fray at the edges as the warming climate is creating unsuitable growing conditions for them, according to a study led by Stanford University researchers.

While stands of ponderosa pine, sugar pine, and Douglas fir found in the lower elevations of those parks might be able to tolerate the change in the short run, they more than likely will eventually be replaced by other species suited to a warmer climate if current trends continue, the researchers predict.

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2023/03/study-some-sierra-nevada-forests-are-being-stranded-climate-change

Perfectly preserved 1894 shipwreck found in Thunder Bay NMS

When a 772-ton wooden schooner barge named Ironton collided with a wooden freighter loaded with 1,000 tons of grain and sank in Lake Huron on Sept. 26, 1894, its seven-man crew tried to escape on a lifeboat.

But no one untied the rope that secured the lifeboat to Ironton. Five crew members died.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/us/shipwreck-lake-huron.html

DR Congo | Investment company to bid on oil leases inside Virunga NP — and then conserve the sites

A New York investment firm is to launch a $400m (£334m) bid for oil concessions in the Congo basin rainforest and Virunga national park with plans to turn them into conservation projects, the Guardian can reveal.

EQX Biome, a biodiversity fintech company, has sent an expression of interest to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) government for 27 oil exploration blocks put up for auction last July, some of which are in critical ecosystems.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/01/us-firm-bid-turn-drc-oil-concessions-virunga-park-into-conservation-projects-aoe