Low-income Latino communities often bear the brunt of wildfires, so the Hispanic Access Foundation offers a wildfire management toolkit and video series to help families and policymakers prepare.
So far this year, more than 1 million acres have burned in wildland fires in California, more than three times what was lost in 2023.
Hilda Berganza, climate manager for the Hispanic Access Foundation, said Latinos who work outside in agriculture or construction are at high risk from the smoke.
"When there's a wildfire near, they don't stop working, either because they're not allowed to or because they don't know," Berganza explained. "Lung cancer, asthma rates are going up. There are now links to neurological disease and cardiovascular diseases, all from the wildfire smoke and different air pollutants."
Latinos are also less likely than their white neighbors to have home or renter's insurance, so losses hit harder. They are less likely to have a car to make a quick escape, and may not be able to afford a hotel in case of an evacuation.
Berganza argued agencies should partner with trusted local community groups and Spanish-language radio stations to make sure the language barrier does not delay crucial information.
"The Red Cross has an application on the phones where they're sending out alerts," Berganza observed. "While that is a good thing to use technology, a lot of Latinos actually don't have access to internet and or don't have smartphones because they're more expensive."
The toolkit's authors encouraged lawmakers to fully fund programs to allow low-income communities to reduce wildfire risk and programs to help families recover after a natural disaster.
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Days before the end of his term, President Joe Biden announced sweeping protections for the nation's coastlines.
President Donald Trump has vowed to retract them.
Biden used the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to withdraw large portions of the areas from being leased for future oil and gas drilling. The protected areas include Maryland, as part of the entire Atlantic coast, plus the U.S. Pacific coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico and parts of the Northern Bering Sea near Alaska.
Robert Percival, director of the environmental law program at the University of Maryland, said Trump tried to repeal coastline protections in his first term and got some pushback.
"It would be difficult," Percival explained. "When Trump tried to roll back, during his first term, some areas that had been protected by previous presidents, a judge said that the Act did not clearly give the president the authority to roll them back. So, it's kind of an open legal question."
This week, on his first day in office, Trump announced he has rescinded Biden's protections for the Outer Continental Shelf. Percival predicted there will likely be legal challenges.
Percival added every president, including Trump, has used the law to protect some parts of the Outer Continental Shelf, noting it is difficult to bounce between protecting land and rescinding protections.
"Once you develop it, then it's not going to be pristine," Percival stressed. "That's one of the reasons why it's important to have durable environmental protections, so that you aren't constantly changing the character of the lands and creating new risk."
Oil production across the country is at a record high, and the Outer Continental Shelf currently accounts for nearly 15% of U.S. oil production. Energy companies have yet to start production on more than 80% of the 12 million acres already under lease, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
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Chesapeake Bay has added more than six billion oysters since 2017 through the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance.
And last year, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation grew more than 100,000 oysters to be placed in the bay.
But oyster populations were not always on the upward trend. Overharvesting, pollution, and disease caused massive declines in oyster populations.
Today, only 3% of historic native oyster populations in the bay remain.
Jessica Lutzow, Virginia oyster restoration specialist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, says the mollusks are considered the "popular kid."
Oysters in Chesapeake Bay are a keystone species, providing many benefits to the bay environment.
"They filter up to 50 gallons of water a day," said Lutzow. "We're talking about a three- to four-inch oyster filtering that much water a day. You have this little, resilient creature that's doing so much for it all at once."
Oysters are also consequential in preserving coastlines. When oyster reefs form, they serve as natural buffers against coastal erosion and storm surges.
Oyster reefs disperse wave energy to protect coasts from the full force of severe storms. To grow oysters, a volunteer suspends a wire cage full of baby oysters - also called spats - from a dock or marina.
The only upkeep required is keeping the cage clean to provide enough waterflow to the oysters. Lutzow said she's encouraged by these oyster milestones.
"It's such a positive outcome," said Lutzow, "and I see it progressing in the future as people really start to fully understand how important these creatures are, and how important the other animals and plants that are on the reefs are as well. The oysters can help create that habitat to keep those animals thriving as well. "
Conservationists are currently working to reach their goal of adding 10 billion oysters to the bay by the end of the year.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation expects they will grow nearly 200,000 oysters this year.
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Environmental groups are suing South Fork Coal Company, alleging the company has repeatedly violated federal law in Greenbrier County.
The lawsuit said the company has continued to discharge pollutants into nearby waterways at levels exceeding legal limits. Environmental advocates said despite years of dumping pollutants, the state's environmental protection department has not taken action to stop South Fork Coal.
Andrew Young, chair of the extractive industries committee for the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, said the lawsuit is asking for an injunction to immediately stop the dumping and ensure the company properly reclaims the land.
"We noticed that South Forks' own monitoring data showed that they were often discharging pollutants like iron, manganese, in excess of their legal limits," Young pointed out. "The allegations are based largely on what the company itself is reporting."
Advocates said the five mines in the lawsuit all discharge pollutants into the Laurel Creek Watershed and/or the South Fork of the Cherry River Watershed. Both streams feed into the Gauley River, an internationally renowned destination for whitewater rafting and kayaking, and home to the endangered candy darter.
The lawsuit also highlighted the company's failure to submit required water quality assessments and reclaim unused sites. Young argued the company's neglect of water and land standards puts local communities and the outdoor recreation economy at risk.
"The mines at issue here lie adjacent to the Monongahela National Forest, and it's less than six miles from the world-renowned Cranberry glades and Cranberry Glades Wilderness Area," Young explained.
The state's tourism industry brought in nearly $9 billion last year. According to the governor's office, more than 75 million visitors traveled to the Mountain State last year, and spent more than $6 billion.
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