Irresponsible hunting or target shooting on leased land may be to blame for the shootings. Two students were shot during basketball tryouts at Harwell Middle School in Edinburg, Texas. Despite efforts, though, officials tell Reese "the extent of the problem continues to place a strain on resources." ( Read more) Last year, $3.5 million was spent for clean-up. Volunteers, and sometimes the National Guard, have helped the Forest Service clean up after crops are destroyed, which can cost between $15,000 and $20,000. In response, the Forest Service, BLM, the National Park Service and local and state law enforcement have "stepped up efforts to find growing operations in the past five years." Over the past two fiscal years combined, over 7 million plants were eradicated. Reese reports federal officials have said illegal marijuana plots "harm native plants and wildlife, contaminate streams and cut off public access." This is particularly true in the West, where David Ferrell, director of Forest Service law enforcement, told Reese there are plenty of "remote sites with thick vegetation cover, good soils and easily accessible water sources." The sophisticated operations often involve upwards of 1,000 plants covering as much as 20 acres, with financial incentives totaling as much as $3,500 per processed plant. (BLM photo: BLM workers clean up a marijuana farm after destroying plants.) Energy and Environment News' April Reese provides a nice round-up of issues surrounding illegal marijuana growing on public lands, mostly national and state forests.
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In Northern California, pot farms have increased violence in once sleepy rural towns, and Mexican nationals have migrated to Ohio national forests to grow pot. Forest Service have been responding to illegal marijuana growing on public land for a long time, but are concerned about recent developments. The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Frank O’Donnell, who heads the advocacy group Clean Air Watch, told the Post, “I think this will prove to be the signature environmental accomplishment of the Obama administration.” "The rules will prevent 91 percent of the mercury in coal from entering the air and much of the soot as well: According to EPA estimates, they will prevent 11,000 heart attacks and 120,000 asthma attacks annually by 2016. The new limits on mercury, acid gas and other pollutants "represent one of the most significant public health and environmental measures in years," the Post reports. Several individuals familiar with the details declined to be identified because the agency will not announce the rules until next week."
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"As part of last-minute negotiations between the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency, the regulations give some flexibility to power plant operators who argued they could not meet the three-year deadline for compliance outlined by the EPA.
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The annual pride event's slogan reads “Y’all Means All."The Obama administration finished crafting tough new rules Friday curbing mercury and other poisons emitted by coal-fired utilities, according to several people briefed on the decision, culminating more than two decades of work to clean up the nation’s dirtiest power plants," Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson report for The Washington Post. This year, the city celebrated Northern Kentucky Pride's 10-year anniversary with a vibrant rainbow crosswalk. In 2003, Covington passed one of the state’s first fairness ordinances, which prohibited LGBTQ discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. Covington, Kentucky MEI score: 94, Population: 40,000 The riverfront in Covington, Ky., in 2017. The Human Rights Campaign called the town a “shining beacon of hope” in a part of the country not known for LGBTQ inclusivity. Aside from anti-discrimination ordinances, the city also launched the Open for All campaign, which encourages businesses to post a sticker that signifies their support of the LGBTQ community. Since Huntington was first placed on the index in 2012, the small town has more than doubled its MEI score. Williamson / The Washington Post via Getty Images file
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Huntington, West Virginia MEI score: 100, Population 47,000 A yoga studio in Huntington, W.V., on April 5, 2019.