Lyn Heideman

Shiny glass skyscrapers are hot, dotting major cities as a symbol of modernity and prosperity. Their popularity, though, is running into the reality of global warming: the overuse of glass literally makes skyscrapers hot and expensive to cool. Cities are starting to rethink their skylines,...

Imagine this is the view outside your window... If you're looking for fall foliage in your county or a nearby park, check out the More Than Just Parks (@morethanjustparks.bsky.social) Fall Foliage Map. Type in your ZIP code and choose a date(s). The map ranks the best places within reach...

#California Residents: Since 2019, #bobcat hunting has been prohibited in California. That could change with the publication of the draft Bobcat Conservation and Management Plan by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). CDFW is seeking public comment on the plan.

Big Bear Valley Bald Eagles. Lots of activity in the 'hood as visiting #eagles pass through in the off-season. Shadow had a meet-up with 1 visitor. Kaydee did not make an appearance but may have been among the flying eagles (video by @skh4birdies.bsky.social): www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLYL.... #birds

DeepGreen has been granted a permit to build an underwater data center in Maine's Bay of Fundy. The company has 48 months to conduct studies and surveying but can't do any construction. The $100M facility would span 27 acres and be powered by 34 tidal turbines (converts tides into electrical power).

Cornell Lab's Wild Birds Revealed. The 5th video in the series explores Brown and American White #Pelicans, two similar-looking birds each with unique flying and hunting styles. Brown Pelicans prefer coastal marine habitats, hunting with a breathtaking dive from high above the waters...

#California Residents: Since 2019, #bobcat hunting has been prohibited in California. That could change with the publication of the draft Bobcat Conservation and Management Plan by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). CDFW is seeking public comment on the plan.

Last spring, Trump announced that companies could bypass Clean Air Act rules by mailing the EPA and asking for an exemption. Trump gave waivers to 202 industries that are among the worst US polluters. He also staffed the EPA with industry insiders who worked from within to gut the rules altogether.

The waivers potentially affect the health of ~3.3 million Americans. For the past 6 months, 2 NY Times reports have researched how those decisions were made and how they've affected Americans. Summary: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/24/c.... 🌎

To drive fossil fuel & chemical industry profits, Trump is dismantling programs that keep cancer-causing toxics out of our water, air, workplaces, homes. For example: The EPA is repealing/delaying drinking water protections against PFAS. 200 polluters have received exemptions to release carcinogens.

Owlets often look very little like adult #owls. For example, below are photos of a Eurasian Eagle-Owl baby owlet and adult. See if you can guess which owlets belong to which species in this puzzle from Cornell Lab's Bird Academy: academy.allaboutbirds.org/owls-young-a...? #birds

Trump signed the Chiricahua National Park Act, making it our 64th national park. With hundreds of rock spires rising out of a landscape where desert, grassland, and forests meet, this park is going to be tough for Trump/Burgum to drill, mine, graze, log, or pave over with a data center.

More on Chiricahua: It is a “sky island” ecosystem, an isolated mountain range that rises sharply from low-lying, dramatically different surrounding environments. And the park offers some of the best bird-watching in the world: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/t.... 🌎

New research set out to identify which US national parks have the most fatalities and why. The 2014-2022 study found falls the most common cause of death (36.1%), followed by vehicle crashes (21.3%) and drownings (16.3%). While bears and other animals are a common safety concern,...

An injunction recently blocked border "security" construction on a >500-mile stretch in and around Big Bend National Park. Trump officials have now asked the Supreme Court to let the project resume. The $1.7B project—with roads, cameras, sensors, and vehicle barriers—will cover an area...

Trump signed the Chiricahua National Park Act, making it our 64th national park. With hundreds of rock spires rising out of a landscape where desert, grassland, and forests meet, this park is going to be tough for Trump/Burgum to drill, mine, graze, log, or pave over with a data center.

A family ranch in southwest Wyoming is among the growing number of places embracing #beaver “starter homes.” Made of wood and brush, they’re built near existing beaver families to encourage them to “move in” and, ultimately, build dams. Those dams slow water, create habitats,...

By capturing CO2, trees work every day to combat climate change. Yet Trump would log all the trees in our forests. And the trees that aren't being logged are often sick. Entering the US via global trade, pests & pathogens are invading our forests. They have killed billions of trees already,...

with countless under threat. This is a crisis: plants & trees—not oil & gas—are the ultimate source for all of the energy & food on the planet. A warming planet compounds the problem by stressing trees and helping pests survive. What is being done: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/19/c.... 🌎

The Trump family is selling the presidency, and the American people aren’t fooled. Per a recent poll from AP-NORC, 6 in 10 US adults believe Trump is profiting from the presidency either through unethical or illegal means. The Center for American Progress (CAP) CAP has been tracking Trump’s take...

Will humans ever treat wildlife as sentient beings instead of as target practice? Hunters on some public lands in Alaska will be allowed to bait bears with human food before shooting them at close range. That final rule from the National Park Service revives a hunting method Biden banned in 2024.

What is "sporting" about shooting a hungry bear? Where is the humanity in killing a bear and leaving her cubs to starve to death? In addition to being inhumane, it's also dangerous: the NPS surveyed 28 wildlife biologists, and 26 "thought baiting would lead to bears associating food with humans.”

The US can expect an El Niño-fueled winter to be warmer and wetter. The northern part of the country should expect below-normal snow, while the southern part may get more than usual. 41 of the Lower 48 states are forecast to be warmer than normal; no states are forecast to be cooler than average.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups have asked the Supreme Court to review a lower court’s decision that the Biden EPA had authority to issue more stringent air-quality standards for fine particulate matter outside of the Clean Air Act’s usual 5-year review cycle.

Fine particulate matter has been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular ailments and premature death. Industry groups say the agency didn’t weigh the costs to them of tighter standards. What’s next? The court must decide to add the case to its calendar: www.eenews.net/articles/ind.... 🌎

The Center for Biological Diversity (@biologicaldiversity.org) is suing Trump's EPA to set water-pollution limits for #atrazine. A hormone-disrupting, cancer-linked chemical, atrazine is the US’s most widespread #pesticide water pollutant and found in waterways at levels harmful to #wildlife.

Bright, flashing Halloween light displays pose serious threats to #birds and other wildlife. Many animals rely on light to trigger foraging, sheltering, migrating, other behaviors. Artificial light can cause confusion, birds to crash into buildings, and temporary blindness in some nocturnal species.