People s wallets continue to feel the impact of high food prices, and local environmental groups say sustainable food systems and regenerative farming are solutions that deserve support in the next Farm Bill. Lawmakers are currently at work shaping the legislation to replace the current Farm Bill, enacted in 2018 and set to expire this fall. Hank Grady, a member of the Sierra Club Kentucky Chapter, explained relative to many other states, Kentucky is home to a large number of farmers working on more than 75,000 farms across the state, and said many producers are looking to transition away from the industrial farming model. .
Conservation and recreation groups are highlighting the role of Hispanic women in wildlife conservation, public-land protection and environmental justice in Nevada and across the West. As program manager for the group Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors, Modesta McGrath-Martinez said her group s work is built around empowering this community, in part through a Hispanic Conservation Leadership Council. As part of a recent panel discussion, she said since launching the program in 2021, they ve grown to 90 members, including in Nevada. .
Latino Conservation Week kicks off this weekend with dozens of events in California and almost 300 meetups across the nation. The program started ten years ago with just 16 events, meant to get the Hispanic community outdoors and motivated to protect the environment. Juan Rosas, conservation program associate with the Hispanic Access Foundation, said hard-working Californians need to enjoy the state s beautiful parks, mountains, desert and beaches. .
People who spend summers fishing and canoeing on the Middle Fork Vermilion River should be pleased to know its water quality should be improving in the coming years. The State of Illinois reached a cleanup agreement last month with a company accused of polluting the state s only national scenic river. The settlement requires Dynegy Midwest Generation to clean up toxic coal ash it dumped near the Middle Fork for nearly 60 years. .