Juliana Birnbaum

Pipeline-blocking power to the people: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency moved to upend a Trump-era rule and give states and tribes more power to block oil pipelines and energy projects that could pollute local waterways.  This was music to my ears, having taken part in demonstrations against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline that became the epicenter of a decade-long environmental battle (the project was finally abandoned when Biden blocked the permit on his first day in office).

 Robert Denney

How drones can help fire-damaged forests: A Canadian company is trialing the use of drones to reforest fire-impacted land in British Columbia. The pilot project has dropped seeds in nearly 52 hectares of forest in areas where traditional tree planting is difficult. This land was also impacted by fires in 2017 that were so intense that no surviving trees were left to disperse seed naturally, meaning that manual seeding is necessary to quickly reforest the area. This is one example of a number of new companies experimenting with drone-assisted reforestation, including DroneSeed.

 Kavya Gopal

The case for community-led rewilding: This op-ed by Eleanor Salter is a powerful reminder that rewilding projects run the risk of becoming the next frontier of land grabs when led by billionaires, asset managers, and big business. Places like Langholm Moor and Isle of Ulva offer exciting democratic alternatives in the form of community ownership models that benefit not only the land and biodiversity but also the people who live there.

 Tim Treuer

Climate storytelling highlights of 2022: The annual anthology The Best American Science and Nature Writing announced its 2022 line-up and there were a number of excellent climate or climate-adjacent stories chosen. Sarah Kaplan (a friend) had an interesting piece on Kernza, a newly-bred perennial grain that could transform soils across the Midwest. There was James Temple and Lisa Song's piece on dubious carbon credits. Jane Hu had a positive piece about wind in Wyoming being buoyed by the pandemic. Also featured was Shira Rubin's story on floating homes in Amsterdam.

 Emily Jensen

Portland gets firewise: Here in Portland, homeowners living on the edges of Forest Park (one of the largest urban forests in the country) are organizing to reduce wildfire danger through what are called firewise communities. This national program helps people living near fire-prone areas reduce the risk of fires starting and spreading, and involves simple tasks  that can make a big difference — like cleaning gutters and removing debris from around houses. I read about this program through my Fire Ecology research, and am excited to see it happening in my own backyard.

 Courtney White

The link between high winds & climate change: We’ve endured nonstop high winds in the Southwest this spring, including all-time records set in April. It’s happening across the country. I wondered: is climate change to blame? The answer: it’s difficult to say. Wind is tricky to attribute since it involves local temperature, air pressure, topography, and even soil moisture. But rising temperatures may be the primary culprit. Wind speeds are picking up around the world, which the IPCC links to long-term climate change. That’s good news for wind farms, but bad for people. Hold onto your hats!

 Claire Inciong Krummenacher

Expanding the Endangered Species Act: This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated revisions to the Endangered Species Act that would allow endangered species to be introduced to habitats outside of their historical ranges (which in many cases have shifted, shrunk, or disappeared entirely due to climate change) in order to preserve the country's biodiversity.

 Amy Boyer

California fire, past and future: A recent study shows large scale wildfires in California are not only inevitable but necessary to restore natural fire regimes. Current fires are much more severe than they were before 1800, probably due to long intervals between fires, causing high fuel load, and to arid conditions, making vegetation more flammable. Highly severe fires create large areas that cannot recover without replanting. However, they cite a 2007 study that estimates that nearly 2 million acres burned annually in California before 1800, implying that current wildfire extent now approximates the prehistoric norm—as does a smoky late-summer/early-fall wildfire season.

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