Fire can play a helpful role on the landscape in Idaho, and a council in the state is getting the word out on its benefits and how to use it safely. Heather Heward, senior instructor at the University of Idaho and founder and chair of the Idaho Prescribed Fire Council, said prescribed fire councils began in the Southeast. Idaho s council was years in the making, but last year it finalized its bylaws and voted in leadership. .
New York s game species are literally losing ground, as human development and climate change is restricting their native habitats. A new report from the National Wildlife Federation found game species across the country lost, on average, 6.5 million acres of habitat over the past two decades. It is a trend advocates contended will continue unless lawmakers take action. .
Shrinking wildlife habitat puts big-game animals at greater risk of colliding with cars and trucks, and has led to the Wildlife Corridors Action Plan to be discussed today in Albuquerque. The plan identifies wildlife-vehicle collision hot spots posing a particularly high risk to the traveling public, and outlines how to create safe crossings. Jesse Duebel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said big-game animals tend to use the same routes year after year. .
Kelp forests in Puget Sound play an integral role environmentally and culturally, but they re in steep decline. There are more than 20 species of kelp in the region that are a vital source of food and habitat for marine animals. They also are important to indigenous people of the region. .
EVERETT A first-of-its-kind sanctuary has been created offshore of Everett, where 2,300 acres of state tidelands have been put off-limits to development for 50 years.