Ohio high court rules country club must leave earthworks site being pushed for WH status

For more than a century, golfers at a course in central Ohio have navigated ancient Native American earthworks built to measure the movement of the sun and the moon through the heavens. Now it’s the country club’s days there that are numbered.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the state’s historical society, which owns the land, can use eminent domain to expel the club and create a public park in an attempt to gain recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/arts/design/octagon-earthworks-ohio-golf-course.html

Haaland asks GA governor to reject mine near Okefenokee NWR

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland is urging Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to deny state permits for a proposed titanium dioxide mine near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

“I strongly recommend that the State of Georgia not move ahead with approval for this proposed mine in order to ensure that the swamp and refuge are appropriately protected, consistent with all appropriate legal processes,” Haaland wrote in a Nov. 22 letter obtained by The Current.

https://thecurrentga.org/2022/12/08/interior-secretary-to-georgia-reject-mining-near-okefenokee/

Ahead of CBD meeting, scientists call for global protection, restoration of peatlands

A group of researchers from more than a dozen countries are calling for worldwide peatland protection and restoration.

In a signed statement released Dec. 1, more than 40 scientists say the global importance of peatlands must be addressed.

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/scientists-plead-for-protection-of-peatlands-the-worlds-carbon-capsules/