In big sagebrush country, re-establishing the ecosystem’s namesake shrub may jump-start the recovery process more successfully after oil and gas development than sowing grass-dominated reclamation seed mixes typically used to quickly re-vegetate bare soil on well pads, report two Colorado scientists in the January 2015 issue of Ecological Applications.
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”KEYSTONE: CONGRESS MOVES ON PIPELINE BILLS, STATE COURT UPHOLDS PROJECT”] On Jan. 9, the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act, which would approve construction of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. The bill passed by a vote of 266-153, over 20 votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”APPROPRIATIONS: CONGRESS PASSES FY 2015 ‘CROMNIBUS’ FUNDING PACKAGE”] On Dec. 11, the US House of Representatives passed an omnibus bill to continue funding for most federal agencies through the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2015. The Senate then passed a two-day continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown. In a rare evening session…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”APPROPRIATIONS: HOUSE FLOATS FY 2015 SPENDING BILL”] This week, House leadership announced its plan to continue spending for most government agencies throughout the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 and avert a government shutdown. The House’s 2015 omnibus appropriations bill would fund most government agencies through Sept. 30, 2015. The sole exception would be…
In the December issue of ESA Frontiers, new diseases travel on the wings of birds In a rapidly changing north and elephants and ecstasy: tracking animal state of being.
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”FOREIGN AFFAIRS: US, CHINA REACH AGREEMENT ON CARBON EMISSION REDUCTIONS”] On Nov. 12, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an agreement that aims to set the US and China on a path to dramatically reducing their carbon emissions. The United States will cut its emissions 26–28 percent below 2005 emission levels by…
On Dec. 4, 2014 the Ecological Society of America co-organized a congressional briefing: “Climate Engineering: Future Guiding Principles and Ethics.” The briefing was presented by the Ecological Society of America and American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America , Soil Science Society of America. Over fifty Hill staff attended the briefing held in the Cannon House Office Building….
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”SENATE: ELECTIONS, RETIREMENTS SHAKE UP KEY SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEES”] On Nov. 4, Republicans decisively gained control of the US Senate for the first time in eight years. The party managed to hold onto all their incumbents while picking up seats in Arkansas (Tom Cotton), Colorado (Cory Gardner), Iowa (Joni Ernst), North Carolina (Thom Tillis),…
Preview for the November issue of the Ecological Society of America’s journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”WHITE HOUSE: NEW CLIMATE STRATEGY PROMOTES NATURAL RESOURCE RESILIENCY”] The White House released a new resiliency-focused strategy to protect natural resources from threats posed by climate change. The “Climate and Natural Resources Priority Agenda” focuses on building climate change resilience through various means including enhancing US carbon sinks such as forests, grasslands, wetlands and…
Highlights from the October 2014 issue of the Ecological Society of America’s journal Ecology.
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”WHITE HOUSE: OBAMA DESIGNATES WORLD’S LARGEST MARINE RESERVE”] On Sept. 25, President Obama signed a proclamation designating the largest marine reserve in the world off-limits to commercial resource extraction including fishing. The proclamation expands the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to an area 490,000 square miles, six times its current size and fully…
The October 2014 issue of ESA Frontiers spotlights river management in the Anthropocene FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, October 8, 2014 Contact: Liza Lester, 202-833-8773 ext. 211, LLester@esa.org Last spring, the Colorado River reached its delta for the first time in 16 years, flowing into Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of California after wetting 70 miles of long-dry channels through the…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”APPROPRIATIONS: CONGRESS PASSES MEASURE TO FUND GOVERNMENT THROUGH DECEMBER”] On Sept. 17, the US House passed H.J.Res. 124, a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through Dec. 11. In general, the resolution includes an across-the-board cut of 0.0554 percent in order to bring spending within the $1.012 trillion FY 2014 discretionary level…
David Inouye, plant ecologist and professor emeritus of the Department of Biology at the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park has been named President of the Ecological Society of America.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 11, 2014 Contact: Alison Mize, 202-833-8773 ext. 205, Alison@esa.org Datasets from long-running volunteer survey programs, calibrated with data from sporadic intensive monitoring efforts, have allowed ecologists to track the recovery of peregrine falcons in California and evaluate the effectiveness of a predictive model popular in the management of threatened species. In recovery from…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”APPROPRIATIONS: CONGRESS WILL TAKE UP RESOLUTION FUNDING GOVERNMENT THROUGH DECEMBER”] As Congress reconvened Sept. 8, House and Senate appropriators were pressed for time to craft and approve a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government after Sept. 30, 2014 in order to prevent another federal government shutdown. The CR being considered this week will…
40 years after enactment of the Endangered Species Act, shifting public priorities remain an uphill battle. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, August 7, 2014 Contact: Terence Houston 202 833-8773 x224; terence@esa.org Liza Lester (202) 833-8773 x 211; llester@esa.org Conservation researchers and managers will discuss how prospects for endangered species recovery have changed since the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [/toggle] [toggle title=”GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS: SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES OPPOSE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS BILL”] The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is among 70 research organizations that signed a letter expressing concern with legislation moving in the Senate that would impose restrictions on the ability of government scientists and engineers to participate in scientific conferences. On July 30th, the Senate Homeland…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, August 6, 2014 Contact: Liza Lester (202) 833-8773 x 211; llester@esa.org Fire season has arrived in California with vengeance in this third year of extended drought for the state. A series of large fires east of Redding and Fresno, in Yosemite, and on the Oregon border prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of…