Environment

How Can The Colorado River Continue To Support 36 Million People In 7 States?

1:35pm April 13, 2017

by Terry Gross

New Yorker staff writer David Owen says that convoluted legal agreements and a patchwork of infrastructure determine how water from the Colorado is allocated. His new book is Where The Water Goes.

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EPA Employees Organize Against Proposed Budget Cuts

5:19am April 13, 2017

by Susan Phillips

The Environmental Protection Agency is a big target as President Trump aims to cut back the federal budget and workforce. Now some agency employees are organizing to defend the agency's work.

Harbor Town Raises Money After Government Help Falls Short

5:19am April 13, 2017

by Aaron Selbig

The harbor in Leland, Mich., is so packed with sand and silt that boats can't get in or out. So the town turned to a crowd-funding website to raise money to buy its own dredging equipment.

At Saint Michael's Association for Special Education in St. Michaels, Ariz., the tap water sometimes runs yellow, brown and black.

On The Navajo Nation, Special Ed Students Await Water That Doesn't Stink

7:39pm April 12, 2017

by Laurel Morales

Fundraising is underway for a new filtration system at an Arizona school for Navajo children with disabilities. Now, the water runs black and smells like rotten eggs, but is technically safe to drink.

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What remains of the home of O.T. Jackson, the founder of Dearfield, Colo., sits on the town site in rural Weld County.

A Forgotten Piece Of African-American History On The Great Plains

10:00am April 12, 2017

by Luke Runyon

Nearly a century ago, Dearfield, Colo., was a thriving African-American farm community, admired by many of its white neighbors. There were even early signs of integration. Then came the Dust Bowl.

When it comes to biopesticides, one of the most widely used fungi is Beauveria bassiana. Above, a kudzu bug killed by Beauveria bassiana, seen growing out of the cadaver.

Fungal Pesticides Offer A Growing Alternative To Traditional Chemicals

7:00am April 12, 2017

by Crystal Ponti

The rise of organic produce has sparked a new interest in using biopesticides like fungi to kill insects, instead of traditional synthetic ones. But they are still just a tiny segment of the market.

Cash-Strapped State Environmental Agencies Brace For Budget Cuts

8:38pm April 11, 2017

by Marie Cusick

Proposed budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency could leave state environmental agencies doing more with less money. But many say they are already strapped.

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Honeybees are seen inside a colony at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., in 2007. Maryland lawmakers approved a bill this week permitting beekeepers to shoot black bears that threaten their hives.

Maryland Lawmakers Vote To Allow Beekeepers To Shoot Black Bears That Threaten Hives

7:10pm April 11, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

Bears have a taste for honey but are really after the bee "brood": eggs, larvae, and pupae — a source of protein and fat. Bee experts note that after a bear attack, a colony is unlikely to survive.

The new report from leading U.S. scientists shines a spotlight on how the research enterprise as a whole creates incentives that can be detrimental to good research.

Top Scientists Revamp Standards To Foster Integrity In Research

4:21pm April 11, 2017

by Richard Harris

The National Academy of Sciences has toughened up its guidelines to call cutting corners, dubious statistics and not fully sharing research methods "detrimental" to science.

An M-44 — also known as a "cyanide bomb" for the way it sprays sodium cyanide — sits nested between two rocks. Mark Mansfield, father of a boy accidentally sprayed March 16 in Idaho, calls these devices used to protect livestock from predators "neithe

After Outcry, USDA Stops Using 'Cyanide Bombs' In Idaho — For Now

2:08pm April 11, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

An M-44 spit sodium cyanide on a boy and his dog in Idaho last month, killing the dog and drawing petitions for removal of the devices. The USDA's Wildlife Services agency has acceded to that request.