Feb 6 (Reuters) - A leading conservation research group found that 40% of animals and 34% of plants in the United States are at risk of extinction, while 41% of ecosystems are facing collapse.
Everything from crayfish and cacti to freshwater mussels and iconic American species such as the Venus flytrap are in danger of disappearing, a report released on Monday found.
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/huge-chunk-plants-animals-us-risk-extinction-report-2023-02-06
Much of a large swath of land, more than 67,000 acres that was donated to Big Bend National Park back in 1987, is eligible for official wilderness designation, according to a forthcoming National Park Service assessment.
In an announcement to be published Monday in the Federal Register, the agency concludes that 63,505 of the 67,135 acres donated by Houston Harte "are found to be eligible for inclusion in the wilderness preservation system because they have wilderness criteria described in the Wilderness Act of 1964."
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2023/02/big-bend-wilderness-assessment-identifies-63505-acres-eligible-wilderness
ALBUQUERQUE – A federal appeals court has sided with environmentalists, ruling that the U.S. government failed to consider the cumulative effects of greenhouse gas emissions that would result from the approval of nearly 200 drilling permits in an area surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
Home to numerous sites significant to Native American tribes, the region has been a focal point of conflict over energy development that has spanned multiple presidential administrations. Now, environmentalists and some tribal leaders have accused the Biden administration of “rubber-stamping” more drilling.
https://www.krwg.org/regional/2023-02-04/court-us-needs-to-consider-effects-of-drilling-near-chaco
