Free Republic

"Their deaths have reignited the bitter debate over the presence of bears in the mountain range that straddles the French-Spanish border, where they were reintroduced 20 years ago after disappearing in the early 1990s."

Billionaire Paul Allen has given millions of dollars to conservation causes over the years, including ones that support ocean exploration and preservation. But earlier this month, his 300-foot yacht Tatoosh allegedly caused significant damage to a protected coral reef in the Cayman Islands. The anchor and chain of the vessel allegedly damaged 14,000 square feet of reef on January 14, according to Cayman Islands' Department of Environment. The incident occurred in a protected area of Grand Cayman called the West Bay replenishment zone, which is near popular scuba diving sites. The M/V Tatoosh was "moored in a position explicitly directed...

Conservationists have delivered five dead koalas to Queensland's Parliament House, saying the marsupials are on the brink of extinction in urban Australia. A hearse on Friday delivered five coffins each bearing a dead koala, with protesters placing the open caskets on the footpath outside parliament in Brisbane. The dead marsupials were collected by Vanda Grabowski in the Moreton Bay region of southern Queensland. She said the frozen bodies were brought to Brisbane to emphasise the plight of the koalas in southeast Queensland and in other parts of Australia. "I have a permit through Queensland Park and Wildlife Service (QPWS) who...

Decades ago, when geologists were developing ideas about how water typically flows across land, many of them studied the streams of the Mid-Atlantic States, concluding that they naturally move in ribbonlike channels cut through silty banks. In the years since, ecologists and conservationists have used this model in efforts to restore streams damaged by urbanization. Now, though, researchers at Franklin and Marshall College are challenging it. They say the streams studied by their geological predecessors were not “natural archetypes” but rather the artifacts of 18th- and 19th-century dam building and deforestation. The scientists, Robert C. Walter and Dorothy J. Merritts,...

A coalition of conservationist and health organizations has served notice that it will sue the state California Fish and Game Commission for continuing to allow lead ammunition to be used for hunting in California. The groups contend that lead bullets lodged in carcasses left by hunters are poisoning California condors that feed on them. "Lead poisoning from ammunition is the single greatest obstacle to the recovery of wild California condors," said Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the organizations joining forces in the suit. Other parties include the Natural Resources Defense Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility...

<p>Out in the golden hills of southern Monterey County, two hours south of Salinas in an area so rural the county doesn't paint lines on the roads, Jack Varian has spent the past 41 years roping, branding and herding cattle.</p>