ECONOTES 2012-02-07: Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region
Featured
- Forest Service sales try to salvage drought-stricken timber (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle, 02/03/2012)
Thousands of acres of the Sam Houston National Forest’s pine trees are dead or dying because of the drought. Forest officials have decided to cut some of the trees and harvest the wood before it rots, which is called salvage logging. Salvage logging is a controversial topic because many environmentalists question whether the Forest Service should allow more trees to decay in order to provide natural regrowth. Right now, the Forest Service plans to harvest only one-tenth of the drought-stricken trees.
http://www.chron.com/ - Texas Drought: Landscaping Reconsidered Among Homeowners (Betsy Blaney – The Huffington Post, 01/31/2012)
Texas has been hit hard by the drought with a loss of many trees, wildlife, and plant life. The expected population growth and the limited amount of water are reasons for Texans to make changes. These changes can include using mulch to help retain soil moisture, harvesting rainwater from roofs, and raising the lawnmower blade to at least three inches.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ - Artificial reef domes placed in Galveston Bay (Texas Parks & Wildlife, 02/03/2012)
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department recently added 59 concrete artificial reef domes donated by Galveston Bay Foundation to East Galveston Bay. The artificial reef domes are used in areas affected by natural disaster to encourage the resettlement of marine life. This project is designed to restore oyster reef habitats that were damaged by Hurricane Ike in September of 2008.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/
EcoNotes
- 7 February
- Houston Wins At Green Energy (Laurie Johnson – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/ - 6 February
- Recycling Program Sizes Up City For Larger Bins (Edel Howlin – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/ - Keystone Pipeline Side-tracked But Not De-railed (Larry R. Soward – Air Alliance Houston News)
http://airalliancehouston.org/ - 3 February
- Artificial reef domes placed in Galveston Bay (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/ - Galveston Water Line To Mitigate Storm Damage (Laurie Johnson – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/ - As South Texas Oil and Gas Boom Grows, So Do Water Concerns (Teresa Carrillo – Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/ - Matagorda County Placed Under the New Ozone Standard? (Larry R. Soward – Air Alliance Houston)
http://airalliancehouston.org/ - Texas’ Haul From BP Spill: $100 Million, and Counting (Kate Galbraith – The Texas Tribune)
http://www.texastribune.org/ - Forest Service sales try to salvage drought-stricken timber (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/ - TCEQ Environmental Crimes Investigators Pursue Worst Willful Polluters (TCEQ News)
http://www.tceq.texas.gov/ - 2 February
- The Countdown Continues: 5 Percent of Texas is Now Drought-Free (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - Dallas Off The Drought Map, But No Luck For Houston (Laurie Johnson – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/ - Where Did Spicewood Beach’s Water Go? (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - 1 February
- 5 Ways to Find Water for a Thirsty Texas (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - Fracturing site to detail what’s in the water (Emily Pickrell – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/ - Climate science experts predict intensified drought in Texas (Houston Chronicle)
http://blog.chron.com/ - Clues About Ocean Life Formation (Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/ - Teams compete to transform stormwater detention basin with Arbor Day tree planting (Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/
- 5 Ways to Find Water for a Thirsty Texas (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
- 31 January
- Texas Drought: Landscaping Reconsidered Among Homeowners (Betsy Blaney – The Huffington Post)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ - Texas Heat Wave Caused by Global Warming, NASA’s Hansen Says (Elizabeth Grossman – Inside Climate News)
http://insideclimatenews.org/ - Houston faces penalties over 1970s smog limits (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/ - What Do You Do When a Town Runs Dry? (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - EPA To Provide Nearly $10 Million to Clean Up Beaches Across the Nation/The agency launches improved website for beach advisories and closures (EPA News)
http://yosemite.epa.gov/ - Texas Forest Service looking for landowners with ash trees (Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/ - 30 January
- Cornyn Introduces Legislation to Authorize Keystone XL Pipeline (Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/ - 29 January
- Houston-Galveston Area Council Annual Meeting (Jim and Lynda Guidry – Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/ - 28 January
- Rethinking water: Growing population, limited supply mean costs destined to rise, experts say (Farzad Mashhood – The Statesman)
http://www.statesman.com/ - 27 January
- TCEQ Eases Some Restrictions on Water Rights (TCEQ News)
http://www.tceq.texas.gov/ - Culberson Cosponsors Keystone for Secure Tomorrow Act (Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/ - Innovative Parks Programs Honored By Houston-Galveston Area Council (Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/ - State denies bid for Brazos River rights (Matt Dietrichson – Houston Tomorrow)
http://www.houstontomorrow.org/ - 26 January
- U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge (BBC) (Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/ - Regulation Proposals Target Spread of Exotic Species (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/ - 25 January
- State rebuffs bid for Brazos River rights (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/ - 16 January
- Landowner workshop to consider woodlands, wildlife, drought on Feb. 25 (Kathleen Phillips – AgriLife Today)
http://agrilife.org/ - 15 December
- Project to transform stretch of Buffalo Bayou into ‘jewel’ (Zain Shauk – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/