Conservation News ~ December 15 2018

• Los Cerritos Wetlands restoration wins Coastal Commission approval: https://www.dailybreeze.com/2018/12/13/controversial-long-beach-wetlands-deal-approved-more-oil-drilling-expected/
• White House to strip protections from up to two-thirds of California streams and wetlands: https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-clean-water-rollback-20181210-story.html
• Madagascar auctioning a large swath of virgin waters for oil exploration: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/madagascar-auctioning-a-large-swath-of-virgin-waters-for-oil-exploration/
• Argentina creates two new marine parks to protect penguins, sea lions: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/argentina-creates-two-new-marine-parks-to-protect-penguins-sea-lions/
• Palm oil giant Wilmar promises to take harder line with errant suppliers: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/palm-oil-giant-wilmar-promises-to-take-a-harder-line-with-errant-suppliers/
• Indonesian court throws out lawsuit against green expert’s testimony: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/indonesian-court-throws-out-lawsuit-against-green-experts-testimony/
• Video shows wolves fishing in Voyageurs National Park: https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/science-and-nature/4542765-video-shows-wolves-fishing-voyageurs-national-park
• 15-Year-Old Calls for Global Climate Strike: https://www.ecowatch.com/greta-thunberg-climate-strike-2623294546.html
• 150 new species discovered in Southeast Asia last year: https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/meet-the-150-new-species-discovered-in-southeast-asia-last-year-including-the-skywalker-gibbon-/
• Washington Governor Jay Inslee $1.1 billion to help save Puget Sound’s critically endangered orcas: https://weather.com/news/news/2018-12-14-governor-billion-dollar-plan-save-endangered-orcas
• Unprecedented new map unveils illegal mining destroying Amazon: https://www.ecowatch.com/unprecedented-new-map-reveals-illegal-mining-destroying-amazon-2623200925.html
• German government invest $780,000 to make vegan meat texture more ‘realistic’: https://www.livekindly.co/german-government-invests-780000-to-make-vegan-meat-texture-more-realistic/
• Devastated by war, African Gorongosa park wildlife is now thriving: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/12/african-wildlife-is-rebounding-gorongosa-national-park/
• A massive, never-before-seen cave has been found in Canada: https://www.sciencealert.com/gigantic-unexplored-cave-hidden-in-canada-may-never-have-been-seen-by-human-eyes
• Vast Bitterroot ecosystem grows in importance as Grizzly Bear recovery unfolds: https://missoulacurrent.com/outdoors/2018/12/grizzly-bitterrroot/
• Golden Eagles keep riding the current; numbers strong during annual survey: https://helenair.com/lifestyles/recreation/golden-eagles-keep-riding-the-current-numbers-strong-during-annual/article_788b55e2-fea1-5121-b7ba-75b6f710c6e2.html
• Judge throws out Idaho predator control expansion: https://www.capitalpress.com/ag_sectors/livestock/judge-throws-out-idaho-predator-control-expansion/article_5044e3d8-fcae-11e8-9a0b-0b8297bd7c9c.html
• Butterfly sanctuary to be bulldozed for border wall: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/13/butterfly-sanctuary-border-wall-mission-texas
• Nearly 150 climate activists arrested in mass demonstration for Green New Deal: https://sojo.net/interactive/nearly-150-climate-activists-arrested-mass-demonstration-green-new-deal
• US accused of obstructing talks at UN climate change summit: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/11/us-accused-of-obstructing-talks-at-un-climate-change-summit
• Rapidly disintegrating Arctic sea ice leaves scientists ‘shocked’: https://thinkprogress.org/scientists-shocked-that-warming-has-wiped-out-oldest-thickest-arctic-sea-ice-febe927ab619/
• Once thought extinct, bizarre horned frog reappears in Ecuador: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/12/lost-marsupial-frog-rediscovered-ecuador-choco-forest/
• The Senate just passed an $867 billion farm bill: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/12/11/congresss-billion-farm-bill-is-out-heres-whats-it/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e27d0be16377
• Brazilian regulators deny French oil giant total license to drill near Amazon Reef: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/brazilian-regulators-deny-french-oil-giant-total-license-to-drill-near-amazon-reef/
• Arctic reindeer numbers crash by half: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46516033
• Alaska moose poacher fined $100,000, sentenced to jail: https://www.apnews.com/6e1c6c84795b47fc9979fe11ee871ada
• White House auctions off 150,000 acres of public lands for fracking near Utah National Parks: https://www.ecowatch.com/fracking-utah-national-parks-2623200218.html
• An indigenous Guatemalan community rejects, then accepts, a protected area: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/guatemala-an-indigenous-community-rejects-then-accepts-a-protected-area/
• New Cascales Municipal Conservation Area in Amazon: https://www.andesamazonfund.org/blog/
• London mayor unveils plan to tackle ‘climate emergency’: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/11/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-city-climate-emergency
• California Condor chick successfully fledges for first time in Santa Barbara since 1982: https://ktla.com/2018/12/11/california-condor-chick-successfully-fledges-for-first-time-in-santa-barbara-county-since-1982/
• Researchers suggest broiler chicken is the hallmark of the Anthropocene: https://phys.org/news/2018-12-broiler-chicken-hallmark-anthropocene.html
• Thousands of unstudied plants may be at risk of extinction: https://www.wired.com/story/thousands-of-unstudied-plants-may-be-at-risk-of-extinction/
• ExxonMobil launches environmental awareness: https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/09/12/2018/ExxonMobil-launches-environmental-awareness-campaign
• Giraffes were just added to list of animals facing extinction: https://www.unilad.co.uk/animals/giraffes-were-just-added-to-list-of-animals-facing-extinction/
• Taiwanese captain sentenced 20 years for shark finning in Tanzania: http://www.seashepherd.org.nz/news-and-commentary/news/taiwanese-captain-sentenced-20-years-for-shark-finning-in-tanzania.html
• Ancient whale named for UW paleontologist Elizabeth Nesbitt: https://www.washington.edu/news/2018/12/10/ancient-whale-named-for-uw-paleontologist-elizabeth-nesbitt/
• Ground-feeding birds in Southeast Asia may be going extinct outside protected areas: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/ground-feeding-birds-in-southeast-asia-may-be-going-extinct-outside-protected-areas/
• Humpback whale freed after being trapped at fish farm near Tofino: https://www.pqbnews.com/news/trapped-humpback-whale-freed-from-salmon-farm-near-tofino/
• Developers of Village at Wolf Creek take another hit in attempt to reinstate land swap: https://durangoherald.com/articles/254370
• Increasing seal population will not harm largest fish stocks in the Baltic: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181210072530.htm
• Banned toxins passed from mother to young in European dolphins: https://phys.org/news/2018-12-toxins-mother-young-european-dolphins.html
• Graphic video reveals brutality of pangolin poaching in northeast India: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/12/graphic-video-reveals-brutality-of-pangolin-poaching-in-northeast-india/
• Kenya coins replace leaders with animals: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46523670
• CNN gave a platform to climate deniers, then debunked their lies: https://grist.org/article/cnn-gave-a-platform-to-climate-deniers-then-debunked-their-lies/
• Illegal dog beach at the Santa Ana River mouth endangers rare birds: https://www.ocregister.com/2018/12/11/illegal-dog-beach-at-the-santa-ana-river-mouth-endangers-rare-birds-experts-say/
• Gambia is selling Tuna for 136 Euro per ton to the EU: https://greenworldwarriors.com/2018/12/11/how-gambia-is-selling-its-tuna-for-136-euro-per-ton-to-the-eu/
• The Arctic Ocean has lost 95 percent of its oldest ice: https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/12/11/arctic-is-even-worse-shape-than-you-realize/
• World’s largest sea turtle emerges from the sea and it is incredible: https://www.apost.com/en/blog/worlds-largest-sea-turtle-emerges-from-the-sea-and-it-is-incredible/11311/?rd=n
• NOAA confirms 42 dead dolphins in Lee and Collier counties: https://www.nbc-2.com/story/39567473/noaa-confirms-42-dead-dolphins-in-lee-and-collier-counties
• Youth activists busted up promotion of coal at UN climate talks: https://grist.org/article/team-trump-promoted-coal-at-the-u-n-climate-talks-youth-activists-busted-it-up/
• UN conference sets agenda for biodiversity research: https://www.scidev.net/global/biodiversity/news/un-conference-sets-agenda-for-biodiversity-research.html
• Interior Dept. officials downplayed federal wildlife experts’ concerns of border wall: https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/12/11/interior-officials-downplayed-federal-wildlife-experts-concerns-about-trumps-border-wall-documents-show/
• Life in deep Earth totals 15-23 billion tons of carbon of micro-organisms: https://deepcarbon.net/life-deep-earth-totals-15-23-billion-tonnes-carbon
• 196 countries agree to scale up investments in nature, people towards 2020 and beyond: https://www.thegef.org/news/196-governments-agree-scale-investments-nature-and-people-towards-2020-and-beyond
• Billionaires are the leading cause of climate change: https://www.gq.com/story/billionaires-climate-change
• A NASA prob just found evidence of water on a distant asteroid: https://futurism.com/osiris-rex-spacecraft-found-evidence-liquid-water-in-bennu-asteroids-past
• 100% of sea turtles in global study found with plastics in their bellies: https://www.ecowatch.com/sea-turtles-plastics-oceans-study-2622572557.html
• Surging development dangers in Indonesian New Guinea: http://alert-conservation.org/issues-research-highlights/2018/12/4/surging-development-dangers-in-indonesian-new-guinea
• Vegan Lewis Hamilton blasts meat industry for ‘animal torture’ to 9 million followers: https://www.plantbasednews.org/post/vegan-lewis-hamilton-meat-industry-animal-torture-9-million-followers
• Tackle climate or face financial crash, say world’s biggest investors: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/10/tackle-climate-or-face-financial-crash-say-worlds-biggest-investors
• A botanist criticized Tejon Ranch. So he got kicked out – along with 10,000 of his friends: https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-tejon-blacklist-20181210-story.html
• Norway become first country to ban all palm oil based biofuel to protect rainforest: https://www.livekindly.co/norway-ban-palm-oil-biofuel/
• The Supreme Court dismisses an environmental challenge to border wall: https://grist.org/article/the-supreme-court-dismisses-an-environmental-challenge-to-border-wall/
• A ‘sun in a box’ could be the key to delivering renewable energy on demand: https://www.iflscience.com/technology/sun-in-a-box-could-help-renewables-deliver-energy-on-demand/
• The White House eases emissions standards for new coal plants: https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/12/06/epa-announces-plan-ease-carbon-emissions-rule-new-coal-plants/
• The White House plans major rollback of Sage Grouse protections to spur oil exploration: https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/12/06/epa-announces-plan-ease-carbon-emissions-rule-new-coal-plants/?utm_term=.2746bd823f85
• Polar bears to turn to whale meat as their hunting grounds melt: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06989-8
• World’s oldest known bird to become a mother for the 37th time: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/07/worlds-oldest-bird-lays-egg-wisdom-albatross
• Scientists prepare for ‘the most detailed whale poo expedition ever’: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/26/scientists-prepare-for-the-most-detailed-whale-poo-expedition-ever
• Global warming today mirrors conditions leading to Earth’s largest extinction event: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/global-warming-today-mirrors-conditions-during-earths-largest-extinction-event-uw-study/
• US and Russia ally with Saudi Arabia to water down climate pledge: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/09/us-russia-ally-saudi-arabia-water-down-climate-pledges-un
• COP24 fails to adopt key climate report: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46496967
• EJF finds illegal shark finning, dolphin killing in Taiwan’s tuna export industry: https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2018/12/05/ejf-finds-illegal-shark-finning-dolphin-killing-in-taiwans-tuna-export-industry/
• White House swaps academics for business executives on National Park Services: https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/12/06/trump-administration-swaps-academics-businessmen-national-park-service-advisory-panel/
• World Bank to invest $200 billion to combat climate change: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/03/world-bank-invest-climate-change
• Grey Wolf protections on track to survive the current Congress: http://www.timberwolfinformation.org/gray-wolf-protections-on-track-to-survive-the-current-congress/
• Alberta planning eight new parks for land protection: https://theprovince.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/alberta-planning-eight-new-parks-for-land-protection-and-recreation/wcm/0e506b07-2668-44d2-acf5-405143f1176c