By Bryce Oates for The Daily Yonder. Broadcast version by Chance Dorland for North Carolina News Service, reporting for The Daily Yonder-Public News Service Collaboration. In Western North Carolina s Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest, a committed group of outdoor recreation enthusiasts, conservationists, hunting and fishing groups, forest product businesses and forest ecology advocates has been working closely with the U.S. .
A newly created map reveals more Americans are being exposed to health threats from proximity to oil-and-gas production facilities. The map s release Tuesday comes ahead of new industry safeguards expected from the Environmental Protection Agency. Map co-creator Alan Septoff with the group Earthworks said more than 144,000 New Mexicans live within a "threat radius" of an oil or gas facility - defined as being a half-mile. .
Connecticut is celebrating its first estuary reserve, which will help identify environmental threats to waterways and natural resources. Connecticut s first National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) designates more than 50,000 acres of Long Island Sound, adjacent marshes and upland areas for research on climate resiliency, water quality and fish and wildlife habitats. Patrick Comins, executive director of the Connecticut Audubon Society, has been a strong advocate for the reserve and said it can be a catalyst for critical conservation activity. .
A totem pole from Washington state promoting a free-flowing Snake River has nearly completed its 2,500-mile journey around the Northwest. The Spirit of the Waters Totem Pole Journey started in early May in Bellingham, near the Lummi Indian Reservation where it was carved. Since then, it s traveled through Oregon, Idaho and back to Seattle on Thursday. .
MISSION — The 3,000-pound killer whale totem was the focal point of a one-day exhibition at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute near Pendleton, but the message behind the totem was far larger: