Great blue heron flying over the water – photo from Getty Images
Trump administration plan would end protection for most wild birds
The Trump administration plans to move forward with the rollback of one of the country’s first major federal environmental laws protecting wild birds. Scientists say that the move could cause a large increase in bird deaths—up to billions of deaths in the coming decades—and comes at a time when many bird species across North America are already in steep decline.
The 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act made it unlawful to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, or sell migratory birds without a waiver. Under the law, the government has treated accidental bird deaths caused by industry as potential criminal violation under the act. The Trump administration says the deaths of birds that fly into hazards such as oil pits, mining sites and telecommunications towers should not be subject to prosecution.
According to PBS, industry sources kill an estimated 450 million to 1.1 billion birds each year, out of an overall 7.2 billion birds that live in North America.
Italy’s newest hiking trail will connect all of the country’s national parks
Bucket list alert! When international travel resumes, we’ve got an idea of where you might want to travel—Italy. That’s because the country has just announced plans for a 4,350-mile hiking trail that will connect all of their 25 national parks, including those on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
There’s no official date yet on when the trail will be open to hikers, but the country plans to invest as much as 35 million euros between now and 2033 in ‘the maintenance and strengthening of trail networks in protected areas,’ the Italian Alpine Club said.
North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan submitted to Governor Cooper
The Climate Change Interagency Council and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has submitted the North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan to Governor Cooper. The plan is the state’s most comprehensive effort to date to address North Carolina’s vulnerability to climate change.
According to a press release, the plan is a framework to guide state action, engage policy-makers and stakeholders, facilitate collaboration across the state, focus the state’s attention on climate resilience actions and address underlying stressors such as the changing climate, aging infrastructure, socio-economic disparities, and competing development priorities. You can read the full plan here.
