skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Conservation Groups Celebrate New Program to Fund Desert Restoration

play audio
Play

Friday, October 1, 2021   

JOSHUA TREE, Calif. -- Projects to protect the Mojave and Colorado Deserts stand to get a lot more funding, as Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill creating the California Desert Conservation Program.

The program is not yet funded, but the money should come with the 2022 budget cycle.

Cody Hanford, deputy executive director of the Mojave Desert Land Trust, said he would like the state to purchase parcels of private land that connect large tracts of public land.

"The top priority would be acquisitions of private land inside habitat linkages," Hanford explained. "By preserving these linkages, that enables the desert to remain intact and species to flow as needed. "

The Southern California desert is a big hit with tourists, attracting $7.6 billion in spending in 2018, which supports 78,000 jobs. The program would funnel money to tribes, nonprofits and local government agencies to restore desert habitat, fight climate change and improve recreational access.

Brenda Gallegos, conservation program associate for the Hispanic Access Foundation, said the projects will make access to nature more equitable.

"One third of every community of color is nature-deprived," Gallegos pointed out. "This will actually increase that access to nature for all of our communities of color in the area."

Janessa Goldbeck, California director of the VetVoice Foundation, said her group was an original co-sponsor of the bill.

"We believe strongly that protecting our public lands is a patriotic duty," Goldbeck contended. "Veterans and military families use public lands to reconnect after they are deployed."

The program also will fund efforts to remove nonnative plant species such as cheatgrass, because they create fuel for wildfires.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021