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In 1964, Elizabeth Hird and her husband bought Connecticut’s Outer Island; in 1995 she donated it in his memory so it could remain protected for wildlife, research and education

Connecticut’s Outer Island (Image Credit: outerisland.org) In 1964, Elizabeth Hird and her husband, Basil Rauch, purchased Outer Island as a summer retreat in Connecticut’s Thimble Islands. More than three decades later, Hird made a decision that transformed the island’s future: in 1995, she donated it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in memory of…

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Trump admin urges Supreme Court to lift block on mail-voting order ahead of midterms election

Trump administration again asks Supreme Court to intervene and allow mail-voting restrictions. A federal court has blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting. The administration has again asked the US Supreme Court to step in and allow the policy ahead of the November midterm elections.The Justice Department filed an emergency request on Wednesday…

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Washington began a two-year project to restore 270 acres in the South Fork Skagit estuary, reconnecting two islands to natural tidal habitat

South Fork Skagit River estuary (Image Credit: Instagram/ @thewdfw) Washington has begun a major restoration project aimed at returning 270 acres in the South Fork Skagit River estuary to natural intertidal and marsh habitat. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), construction on the Island Unit Restoration Project began in June 2026…

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Michigan plans to remove the century-old Sanback Dam in 2026, reopening a half-mile of cold-water stream, restoring 14 wetland acres and protecting more than 70 downstream miles

A century-old dam that no longer serves a purpose will be removed in Michigan in order to restore natural ecosystems of the region. The Sanback Dam on Beechwood Creek in Rose City was constructed in 1920 to power a flour mill and later a lumber mill. Today, it stands as a crumbling concrete structure and…

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Florida spent about $17 million transforming degraded farmland near Tampa Bay into Robinson Preserve, a 700-acre coastal refuge that now draws about 240,000 visitors annually

Robinson PreservePhoto credit: Lindsay Rosegger/NOAA Fisheries On the edge of Tampa Bay, where mangrove forests meet open water and birds call from the treetops, lies a place that was never meant to exist. Robinson Preserve, a 700-acre coastal refuge in Manatee County, Florida, was once degraded farmland slated for development. Today, it is a thriving…

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In 2006, Alaska began rebuilding a creek damaged by decades of gold mining; the first restored stretch was followed by a six-fold rise in salmon runs

Resurrection Creek, near the small town of Hope in Southcentral Alaska, has a long history of gold mining. Image: U.S. Forest Service For decades, gold mining has done more than alter the scenery around Resurrection Creek in Alaska, it has changed the creek itself. Degradation of riverbanks, alteration of stream channels and loss of wetlands…

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College student Lillie Vehling was reading beside Lake Washington while waiting for the Blue Angels; she saw three girls drowning and rescued them one by one

Lillie Vehling (Image Credit: YouTube/ KOMO News) College student Lillie Vehling was sitting near Lake Washington in Seattle, reading and waiting for the U.S. Navy Blue Angels air show during Seafair weekend when she noticed something alarming in the water. Three young girls were struggling to stay afloat beyond the buoy line. Vehling, who had…

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In 1953, construction narrowed Cape Cod’s Fresh Brook; a concrete weir then blocked sea-run brook trout from their spawning grounds, and 73 years later it is set to be removed to bring the native trout back

Trout representative image For more than seven decades, a quiet stream in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, has been held back by a concrete barrier. Fresh Brook, once known as “Trout Brook,” was a thriving habitat for native sea-run brook trout, locally called “salters”, until the early 1950s. Anglers from across the country travelled to Cape Cod to…

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Colorado city uses 15-minute water data from smart meters to catch illegal lawn watering during drought

Aurora, Colorado, is using smart water meters to enforce drought rules as the city faces severe water shortages. The meters track water use throughout the day. This allows Aurora Water, the city’s municipal utility department, to identify lawns being watered outside the permitted schedule.Under the city’s current Stage 1 drought restrictions, grass can be watered…

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