The Public Service Association (PSA) says that any increase in hazard reduction or land clearing targets, must be managed by a paid and permanent workforce.

The PSA is calling on the NSW government to end its over-reliance on volunteers to prepare for and fight bushfires.

General secretary fo the PSA Stewart Little says that NSW will face another Black Summer climate change guarantees this. Is it fair to keep relying on a temporary, unpaid workforce to be preparing and responding to these future catastrophes?

This Black Summer we saw the consequence of staffing cuts and a lack of investment in our bushfire preparedness.

The RFS went into a catastrophic bushfire season with a fifth of its permanent roles unfilled, because of budgetary pressures. NPWS is responsible for 75% of the states hazard reduction, but its firefighting workforce has shrunk by a third in less than a decade.

The reduction to National Parks firefighting staff include remote area firefighters, who play the vital role of chasing remote lightning strikes before they spread out of control.

The union, which represents the professional staff of the Rural Fire Service, as well as park rangers and Forestry Corp staff, says the state urgently needs 1000 permanent firefighting staff to reverse a decade worth of cuts and to begin properly preparing NSW for future bushfire risks.

These would be paid, secure regional jobs which would keep communities safe. If the government is serious about keeping regional NSW safe they must demand permanent firefighting skilled staff, rather than try and shift more responsibility onto farmers and private landowners to clear land and manage hazard reduction.

In its submission to theNSW Independent Bushfire Inquiry, the union also called for more aircraft and better equipment for those on the front line of bushfires.

Keeping the community together and the community voice loud and clear is what The Echo is about. More than ever we need your help to keep this voice alive and thriving in the community.

Like all businesses we are struggling to keep food on the table of all our local and hard working journalists, artists, sales, delivery and drudges who keep the news coming out to you both in the newspaper and online. If you can spare a few dollars a week or maybe more we would appreciate all the support you are able to give to keep the voice of independent, local journalism alive.

More here:
NSW needs 1000 new firefighting workers to avoid another Black Summer - Echonetdaily

Goats Cleaning Out Overgrowth in Asbury Farm

These goats here have been working hard munching down this grass along the edge of the Asbury farm neighborhood on the east side of mason city.

Way to clear brush and overgrowth - having goats munch on it to clear it out.

And currently - that's going on in one mason city neighborhood.

Live kimt news 3's alex jirgens is with the goats now.

Alex - how are they panning out?xxx goats-live vo-2 amy - these goats here have been working hard - munching down this grass along the edge of the asbury farm neighborhood on the east side of mason city.

Goats-live vo-1 lowerthird2line:goats clearing out overgrowth in asbury farm mason city, ia these goats have had a busy season so far - and are typically chewing on grass from end of april through september.

Recently - the asbury farm homeowners association got in touch with get your goat overgrowth specialists to clear out invasive shrubs and grass in their prairie areas along birch drive.

Deb paschal with get your goat says they serve as a great way to clear out this old overgrowth.

.xxx goats-live sot-1 "it gives people a chance to see what they need to cut.

A lot of times it's so overgrown you don't even know what you have in there.

The goats go in there and clean it up, and there's tree trunks left so they can go in and cut those down."

Goats-live sot-3 if you're wondering where you might have seen these goats - they've cleaned up areas along clear lake - and the pebble creek reservoir.

Live in mason city-alex jirgens kimt news 3 thank you alex.

Paschal notes that it is cost effective to use goats for land clearing - and is environmentall y friendly / coronavirus

Read more here:
Goats Cleaning Out Overgrowth in Asbury Farm - One News Page

A Lanarkshire farmer has had to pay 2,000 to clean up two tonnes of raw meat waste which was dumped on his land.

Davy Shanks stumbled across the disgusting discovery in one of the worst fly tipping incidents to hit Scotland recently.

NFU Scotland and Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) said the incident was 'frustrating and heart-breaking'.

The waste was dumped from a public road, over the side of a bridge - creating both a health risk and an environmental incident.

Despite repeated calls to North Lanarkshire Council for assistance, Mr Shanks was left with organising and paying for the clean-up costs.

North Lanarkshire Council agreed to a 24-hour road closure which allowed Mr Shanks to shovel the rotting butchery waste into plastic tubs to be lifted and disposed of by a local waste disposal firm.

Mr Shanks used his own staff and local environmental cleaning company Greenerleaf to clear up, but because the process took place at the weekend, overtime pay was also incurred.

The clear up operation lasted four hours, and no compensation for Mr Shanks is available.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) are investigating the incident just off the A73 Stirling Road near Brackenhirst Farm. An appeal for information has been issued.

Mr Shanks said it was 'ridiculous' that he was held responsible for someone elses waste simply because it was dumped on his land.

Other than agreeing to the road closure, I received little support from my local authority and, disappointingly, despite the seriousness of the incident they failed to return my calls," he said.

This is a fly-tipping hotspot on a public road. We have had couches, beds and pallets tipped over the side of the bridge on numerous occasions, but this was the first time we have seen food waste dumped, creating an environmental hazard."

Mr Shanks said that until the local authority fenced the bridge or introduced CCTV, these incidents would continue to happen.

He added there was a case for some of the costs of clearing up to be covered by local authorities rather than farmers and landowners.

And since lockdown, fly-tipping has increased 'ten-fold': "We now use a phone app which sends an alert to the relevant council of any new incident," he said.

"We have seen numerous different episodes of fly tipping, more so during lockdown, these have been logged and photographs sent to the app of which only a few have ever been lifted.

"We have a burnt-out pick-up sitting in a gateway since March which we have reported but the council response is that they have no resources available to lift it.

Here is the original post:
Farmer pays 2000 to clean up two tonnes of raw meat waste - FarmingUK

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) The impact of a wind storm that tore through the Midwest continued to grow Wednesday, as widespread power outages kept businesses closed, limited communication, spoiled food and caused long lines at gas stations.

The rare storm known as a derecho hit Monday, devastating parts of the power grid, flattening valuable corn fields and killing at least two people. It produced winds of up to 112 mph near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and toppled trees, snapped poles, downed power lines and tore off roofs from eastern Nebraska to Indiana.

It feels like we got kicked in the teeth pretty good, said Dale Todd, a member of Cedar Rapids' city council. Recovery will be methodical, and slow. But right now, everybody is working to ensure the critical services are restored.

Todd said the city's response has been complicated by the challenge of communicating with people who have no power, which means they have limited access to internet, TV and phone service.

Across the city of 133,000 people, residents emptied their refrigerators and freezers as their food spoiled, waited at gas stations for an hour or longer to fill up their cars and gas cans, and worked to clear up fallen trees.

Cedar Rapids spokesman Greg Buelow said several patients reported to hospitals with chainsaw injuries acquired while removing tree debris. Scores of others who are on oxygen tanks and need nebulizer treatments have gone to hospitals for help, he said.

In addition, firefighters responded to two fires Wednesday morning that were started by power generators that were too close to homes, he said.

Crews throughout the region have been working around the clock to restore electricity, but theyve been hindered by downed trees blocking roads or on top of power lines. Those trees must be removed before power can be restored.

The derecho produced seven tornadoes in the Chicago metropolitan area, including an EF-1 tornado with 110 mph winds that hit the Rogers Park neighborhood on the citys north side before moving onto Lake Michigan as a waterspout, the National Weather Service said.

That storm left damage along a 3-mile-long (4.8-kilometer-long) path and was the first tornado of at least EF-1 strength to strike Chicago since May 1983, the weather service said.

Another EF-1 tornado knocked over the iconic white steeple atop College Church in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton. A crew used a crane to remove the steeple Tuesday and on Wednesday workers started repairs to the 1935 church buildings roof.

The weather service also confirmed two tornadoes in southern Wisconsin and two in northern Indiana, including an EF-1 that swept the rural community of Wakarusa, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of South Bend.

Alliant Energy said about 176,000 of its customers are without power, and half of those are in the Cedar Rapids area. MidAmerican Energy said about 139,000 of its Iowa and Illinois customers remain without power, half them in the Des Moines area.

As of late Wednesday morning, ComEd reported that about 200,000 of its Chicago-area customers remained without power. Northern Indiana Public Service Co. reported about 18,500 of its Indiana customers were still in the dark.

Mediacom said Wednesday that it has restored internet service to about half of the 340,000 customers that were offline a day earlier in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. But many others may be without service until their power is restored, a process that could still take days.

Some fuel terminals were also knocked offline and many gas stations have been closed due to power outages. Meanwhile, demand for gas to fuel generators, chainsaws and vehicles has spiked, leading to long lines at stores that sell gas.

The storm caused extensive crop damage in the nation's No. 1 corn-producing state as it tore across Iowa's center from west to east.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said Tuesday that about 10 million acres of Iowas nearly 31 million acres of agricultural land sustained damage. About 24 million acres of that is typically planted primarily with corn and soybeans.

In addition, tens of millions of bushels of grain that were stored at co-ops and on farms were damaged or destroyed when bins blew away.

The only known death in Iowa was a 63-year-old bicyclist who was hit by one of several large trees that fell on a bike path outside Cedar Rapids. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, the storm killed a 73-year-old woman who was found clutching a young boy in her storm-battered mobile home.

Many businesses, including banks, restaurants and a major corn processing plant in Cedar Rapids, remained closed Wednesday due to power outages.

The Cedar Rapids school district said it was considering pushing back this month's start date after over 20 of its buildings suffered roof and other structural damage.

State Sen. Liz Mathis said she took cover in the basement of her suburban Cedar Rapids home Monday as the storm battered her neighborhood for 45 minutes. She said pictures fell off the wall, water seeped in through windows and she worried the glass would blow in and injure her.

Mathis said the devastation is widespread across her district, and the tree damage is unreal. A local utility official told Mathis on Wednesday that it could be a week before everyone has power restored.

The cities are going to look much different without the trees and its going to take a while to recover from this, she said.

___

Associated Press reporters Dave Pitt in Des Moines and Rick Callahan in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

See original here:
Hundreds of thousands without power days after Midwest storm - Albany Times Union

Tropical rainforests have an outsized role in the world. Of the Earths ecosystems, rainforests support the largest variety of plants and animal species, house the majority of indigenous groups still living in isolation from the rest of humanity, and power the mightiest rivers. Rainforests lock up vast amounts of carbon, moderate local temperature, and influence rainfall and weather patterns at regional and planetary scales.

Despite their importance however, deforestation in the worlds tropical forests has remained persistently high since the 1980s due to rising human demand for food, fiber, and fuel and the failure to recognize the value of forests as healthy and productive ecosystems. Since 2002, an average of 3.2 million hectares of primary tropical foreststhe most biodiverse and carbon-dense type of foresthave been destroyed per year. An even larger area of secondary forest is cleared or degraded.

In recognition of World Rainforest Day 2020, which was launched in 2017 by Rainforest Partnership, below is a brief look at the state of the worlds largest remaining tropical rainforests.

Note: All figures below are based on 2020 data from the University of Maryland (UMD) and World Resources Institute (WRI) using a 30% canopy cover threshold. Tree cover loss does not account for regrowth, reforestation, or afforestation.

The Amazon is the worlds largest and best known tropical rainforest. As measured by primary forest extent, the Amazon rainforest is more than three times larger than that of the Congo Basin, the worlds second largest rainforest. The Amazon rainforest accounts for just over a third of tree cover across the tropics.

The Amazon River, which drains an area nearly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States, is the worlds biggest river. It carries more than five times the volume of the Congo or twelve times that of the Mississippi. By one estimate, 70% of South Americas GDP is produced in areas that receive rainfall generated by the Amazon rainforest. This includes South Americas agricultural breadbasket and some of its largest cities.

Due to its size, the Amazon leads all tropical forest areas in terms of its annual area of forest loss. Between 2002 and 2019, more than 30 million hectares of primary forest was cleared in the region, or about half the worlds total tropical primary forest loss during that period.

The Amazon is thought to house more than half the worlds uncontacted tribes living in voluntary isolation from the rest of humanity. However the vast majority of indigenous peoples in the Amazon live in cities, towns, and villages.

Extent: 628 million hectares of tree cover, including 526 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: About 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest lies within the borders of Brazil; the balance is found in parts of Peru (13%), Colombia (8%), Venezuela (6%), Bolivia (6%), Guyana (3%), Ecuador (2%), and Suriname (2%), as well as French Guiana (1%), a department of France.

Most famous species: Jaguar; tapir; capybara; river dolphins; various monkeys and parrots. Bulk numbers: more than 40,000 plant species, including 16,000 tree species; 3,000 fish; 1,300 birds, 1,000 amphibians; 430 mammals, and 400 reptiles.

Deforestation trend: Rising in most countries, led by Brazil. The Amazon lost over 30 million hectares of primary forest (5.5% of the 2001 extent) and 44.5 million hectares of tree cover (6.6%) between 2002 and 2019.

The second largest block of tropical rainforest is found in the Congo Basin, which drains an area of 3.7 million square kilometers. The majority of the Congo rainforest lies within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which accounts for 60 percent of Central Africas lowland primary forest. Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea account for nearly all the rest of the Congo Basin rainforest.

Until the early 2010s, deforestation in the Congo Basin was relatively low. War and chronic political instability, poor infrastructure, and lack of large-scale industrial agriculture help limit forest loss in the region. Most deforestation was driven by subsistence activities, though degradation due to logging was substantial. The situation is changing however: deforestation has been trending sharply upward in recent years.

Extent: 288 million hectares of tree cover, including 168 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (60% of the Congos primary forest), Gabon (13%), Republic of the Congo (12%), Cameroon (10%), Central African Republic (3%), and Equatorial Guinea (1%).

Most famous species: Forest elephants; okapi; great apes including gorillas, bonobos, and chimps.

Deforestation trend: Deforestation is rising rapidly though it remains lower on a percentage basis than other major forest regions. The Congo lost over 6 million hectares of primary forest (3.5% of the 2001 extent) and 13.5 million hectares of tree cover (4.5%) between 2002 and 2019.

The Australiasian rainforest includes tropical forests on the island of New Guinea and northeastern Australia as well as scattered islands that were connected when sea levels dropped during that last ice age. As a consequence of this linkage, both land masses have common assemblages of plants and animals, while conspicuously lacking groups found on islands further west. For example, cats, monkeys, and civets are absent from New Guinea and Australia, but both have an unusually high diversity of marsupials like kangaroos, wallabies, cuscuses, and opossums.

Virtually all this regions primary tropical rainforest is on the island of New Guinea, which is roughly split between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse island on the planet with some 800 languages. There are believed to be a few uncontacted groups in remote parts of New Guinea.

Among major forest areas, Australiasia had the second lowest rate of primary forest loss since 2001, but deforestation is trending upward due to logging and conversion for plantations.

Extent: 89 million hectares of tree cover, including 64 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua (51% of the regions primary forest), Papua New Guinea (49%), and Australia (under 1%).

Most famous species: Tree kangaroos; cassowaries; giant ground pigeons; saltwater crocodiles.

Deforestation trend: Deforestation is rising rapidly due to plantation agriculture, especially oil palm. The Indonesian part of New Guinea lost 605,000 hectares of primary forest since 2002 (1.8% of its 2001 cover), while PNG lost 732,000 hectares (2.2%). New Guinea is seen as the last frontier for large-scale agroindustrial expansion in Indonesia.

Sundaland includes the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, among others as well as Peninsular Malaysia. Most of the regions remaining forest is on the island of Borneo, which is divided politically between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Sundaland lost the worlds largest share of primary forest cover between 2002 and 2019. Borneo lost 15% of such forests, while Sumatra lost 25%. Deforestation for oil palm and timber plantations, as well as fires set for land-clearing, are the biggest drivers of deforestation. However deforestation has been slowing since the mid-2010s.

Extent: 103 million hectares of tree cover, including 51 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Indonesia (73% of the regions primary forest cover) and Malaysia (26%). Brunei and Singapore have less than 1% of the regions forests.

Most famous species: Elephants; orangutans; two species of rhino; tigers; various hornbill and monkey species.

Deforestation trend: Deforestation is the highest of any major forest region, but trending downward. Between 2002 and 2019, Borneo lost 5.8 million hectares of primary forest (15% of 2001 cover), Sumatra 3.8 million hectares (25%), and Peninsular Malaysia 726,000 hectares (14%). Indonesia accounted for 75% of primary forest loss in the region, compared with 25% for Malaysia.

The Indo-Burma region includes a mix of tropical forest types, from mangroves to lowland rainforests to seasonal forests. Historical large-scale forest loss due to human population pressure means that surviving forests in this region are more fragmented than other regions mentioned so far. Most of the regions tree cover consists of plantations, crops, and secondary forests.

The largest extent of primary forests in this region are in Myanmar, which has about one-third of the total area.

Indo-Burma lost about 8% of its primary forests and 12% of its tree cover since 2001. Cambodia accounted for more than a third of the regions primary forest loss during this period.

Extent: 139 million hectares of tree cover, including 40 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Myanmar (34% of the regions primary forest cover), Laos (19%), Vietnam (15%), Thailand (14%), Cambodia (8%), far eastern India (6%), and parts of southern China (4%).

Most famous species: Elephants; two species of rhino; tigers; gibbons; leopards.

Deforestation trend: The rate of primary forest loss was roughly flat over the past 20 years, while tree cover loss is accelerating. Cambodia accounted for 34% of primary forest loss, followed by Laos (21%), Vietnam (18%), and Myanmar (16%). Cambodia lost over 28% of its 2001 primary forest cover over the period as natural forests were increasingly converted to plantations and industrial projects.

Mesoamerican rainforests extend from southern Mexico to southern Panama. Costa Ricas rainforests are arguably the best known in the region thanks to its world-famous ecotourism industry, but the country ranks fifth in terms of primary forest cover.

Extent: 51 million hectares of tree cover, including 16 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Mexico (39% of Mesoamericas primary forest cover), Guatemala (13%), Honduras (11%), Panama (11%), Nicaragua (10%), and Costa Rica (9%).

Most famous species: Jaguar; puma; tapir; peccary.

Deforestation trend: The rate of primary forest loss and tree cover loss accelerated toward the end of the 2010s driven by increasing incidence of fire, coupled with conversion of forests for cattle pasture, plantations, and smallholder agriculture. Mexico (534,000 hectares of primary forest loss), Guatemala (480,000), and Nicaragua (460,000) lost the greatest area of primary forest between 2002 and 2019. Costa Rica lost less than 2% of its primary forest during the period. In contrast, Nicaragua lost nearly 30%.

Wallacea represents a biogeographic oddity. When sea levels fell during the last ice age, islands to the west of this area joined continental Asia, while islands to the east got connected to land mass formed from Australia and New Guinea. As a result, Wallacea today has an unusual mix of species, drawing plant and animal groups from both regions, but also having high levels of endemism.

Extent: 24.4 million hectares of tree cover, including 14.6 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Indonesia. More than 60% of Wallaceas primary forest cover is on the island of Sulawesi. The Maluku islands account for 34%.

Most famous species: Babirusa; tarsiers and various monkeys; hornbills; cuscuses.

Deforestation trend: The rate of primary forest loss and tree cover loss jumped in 2015 and 2016 following a particularly bad fire season. Deforestation for industrial plantations, including oil palm and coconut, increased in the 2010s.

The Guinean Forests of West Africa consists of the lowland tropical forests that extend from Liberia and Sierra Leone to the Nigeria-Cameroon border. These forests have been greatly diminished by agriculture, including subsistence farming by small-holders and commercial cacao, timber, and oil palm plantations.

Extent: 42 million hectares of tree cover, including 10.2 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Liberia (41% of the regions primary forest cover), Cameroon (17%), Nigeria (17%), Cte dIvoire (10%), and Ghana (10%).

Most famous species: Gorillas and chimps; pygmy hippo; various monkey species.

Deforestation trend: The rate of primary forest loss has been rising since the mid 2000s. Tree cover loss sharply accelerated in the 2010s. While Cte dIvoire accounted for only an eighth of the regions primary forest cover in 2001, it had nearly 40% of total primary forest loss between 2002 and 2019. The country lost about a third of its total primary forests in less than 20 years.

The Atlantic Forest once extended from northeastern Brazil into the hinterlands of Argentina and Paraguay. Today it has been greatly reduced by agriculture and urbanization. Most of the tree cover in this region is crops, plantations, or secondary forests.

Extent: 89 million hectares of tree cover, including 9.3 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Brazil (86% of the regions primary forest cover), Argentina (9.5%), and Paraguay (4%).

Most famous species: Jaguar; Puma; Golden Lion Tamarin; Howler monkeys.

Deforestation trend: The rate of primary forest loss in the Atlantic Forestknown as the Mata Atlntica in Brazilhas slowed since the 20th century, with annual deforestation remaining relatively flat.

The Choc rainforest extends from southern Panama and along the Pacific Coast of South America through Colombia and Ecuador. It is the worlds wettest rainforest and has the lowest deforestation rate of any of the regions covered in this post. The Choc is home to both Amerindian tribes and Afroindigenous or maroon communities.

Extent: 15.6 million hectares of tree cover, including 8.4 million hectares of primary forest, in 2020.

Major countries: Colombia (79% of the regions primary forest cover), Panama (13%), and Ecuador (8%).

Most famous species: Jaguar; Puma; various monkeys.

Deforestation trend: Primary forest loss in the Choc amounted to 1.4% of its 2001 extent between 2002 and 2019. Ecuador and Panama accounted for a disproportionately large share of this loss.

This list is limited to the ten largest rainforests. Missing the cut are the forests of the Eastern Himalayas; East Melanesian Islands; the Philippines; Indian Ocean islands, including Madagascar; Eastern Afromontane; the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka; the Caribbean; and Polynesia-Micronesia.

The learn more about rainforests, please see the rainforests section of Mongabay, Mongabay-Kids, our rainforests news feed, or our Rainforests decade in review.

Read more:
The world's great rainforests - Mongabay.com

Australian Greens

The NSW Environment Minister must act upon alarming new evidence by WWF that estimates that 90 percent of some native species were wiped out by bushfires by immediately protecting more threatened species habitat, says Cate Faehrmann, Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment.

The report by Eco-Logical consultants, prepared for WWF Australia, comprises the results of extensive fauna surveys of Gibraltar Range and Torrington State Conservation Area in North-East NSW.

Even before the bushfires, NSW was in the grips of an extinction crisis, but the massive loss of native animals over the summer has pushed our wildlife to the brink, says Ms Faehrmann.

Despite this the Government continues to allow logging of native forests and clearing of threatened species habitat for development, while land clearing on farmland continues virtually unchecked.

The numbers in this report are clear: unless destruction of unburnt threatened species habitat stops, the Premier and Environment Minister are signing death warrants for our precious native animals like the koala.

The Government needs to introduce watertight protections for threatened species habitat now including expanding the national park estate and increasing protection for native vegetation on private land.

We also need to see a massive government stimulus package to restore habitat and create thousands of jobs by employing people to plant trees, restore forests and rehabilitate the land.

The only way to stop some of our most precious native animals becoming extinct is by taking strong action now. Sitting on your hands doing nothing to save our wildlife and their remaining habitat after the bushfires is as good as giving a green light to their extinction, said Ms Faehrmann.

Excerpt from:
Protect More Land After Fires or Face Mass Extinction in NSW - Mirage News

Our system, most specifically members of Congress, have been handed an opportunity to finally get this right. All of us should insist that they do just that, and with all deliberate speed.

Dreamers, by the policy definition of President Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, are people who were brought illegally to the United States from another nation, mostly in Central and South America, when they were children.

They are, by definition, innocent bystanders in our nations bitter and often cruel immigration policy disputes. In general, they are as American as any of us, in many cases speaking only English, fully steeped in American culture. They are students at, or graduates of, our schools and universities, members or veterans of our armed forces, and have no memory of or connections with the land of their birth.

The sitting president has, at times, exhibited sympathy for the plight of the Dreamers and, at other times, shown brutal disdain for their hopes and humanity. His Department of Homeland Security issued a policy order aimed overturning DACA and clearing the way for deporting hundreds of thousands of them to nations where they would be lost and alone.

In its 5-4 ruling Thursday, the court made a point of saying that it was offering no opinion on whether DACA or its reversal was the better policy. The opinion from Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by the four members of the courts liberal wing, was based on the letter of a law requiring such decisions to hew to a set of procedural requirements which, the chief found, the administration failed to do.

The administration did not even consider the fact that many thousands of people living in the United States had made serious life plans -- going to college, launching businesses, starting families -- based on the promise of DACA. Many of them are the essential workers who have powered us through the COVID-19 pandemic, and suffered a disproportionate share of its damage.

Taking away that lifeboat without at least going through the required steps made the removal of DACA, in lawyer-speak, arbitrary and capricious, and therefore void.

The bad news is that the court has provided the administration with a road map to cancel DACA again, and this time make it stick, by laying out the whys and wherefores of its move in a way that will be no less cruel but much better able to stand up to judicial review.

Unless Congress moves quickly to pass a bill making DACA, or policy very much like it, not just an executive pronouncement but the law of the land. Such a bill passed the House of Representatives on a vote of 237-187, but has yet to be taken up by the Senate.

Rep. Ben McAdams, the lone Democrat in the Utah delegation, rightly voted for that measure. Rep. John Curtis joined the two other Republican House members from Utah in opposing it, yet he spoke Thursday of an opportunity to finally resolve the issue.

Utahs senators, Mitt Romney and Mike Lee, have offered little that is hopeful on the matter. Romney has yet to walk back any of his remarks about being more of an immigration hard-liner even than the president. And Lee, as is his wont, is droning on about Obamas executive overreach.

But offering DACA protection, and adding a legal path to citizenship, is an idea supported by the public, by long-time champions of immigration reform such as Utahs former Sen. Orrin Hatch, as well as politicians at all levels and of all ideological stripes and business interests that include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and top management at Apple and Microsoft.

It could be said that the Supreme Court punted on this issue, kicking it back to the democratic process where it belongs. Good.

Now, let us show the wisdom and humanity that democracy is capable of, and welcome the Dreamers, once and for all time.

View post:
Tribune Editorial: Make DACA the law of the land - Salt Lake Tribune

In 11-plus years covering the Yankees, Ive been lucky to chronicle my share of incredible performances, memorable games for reasons good and bad and, yes, the bizarre involving baseballs winningest franchise.

But one entry immediately comes to mind when it comes to craziest of all, and the Yankees were not a part of it.

Instead, we go north of the border for the Jose Bautista bat-flip game, a wild free-for-all of a playoff series-deciding game between the Blue Jays and Rangers at Torontos cacophonous Rogers Centre.

It included a near-riot by the hometown fans, a game protest by the home-team manager, three consecutive errors by the visiting team and a pair of bench-clearing incidents and all of the above occurred in a 53-minute seventh inning that remains difficult to fully or adequately describe.

In October 2015, with the Yankees having been eliminated in the AL wild-card game by Dallas Keuchel and the Astros, I was assigned the ALDS between the AL East-winning Blue Jays and the AL West-winning Rangers.

It was a series for the most part contested in anonymity at least as far as New York was concerned. Appropriately so, as the Mets were about to embark on an impressive postseason run that would land them in the World Series for the first time since 2000.

Rangers-Blue Jays already had a bit of everything before Game 5, including the road team winning each of the first four games.

Torontos reputation as a friendly city is well-earned, but its no secret among visiting teams that all that pleasantness does not extend inside Rogers Centre.

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Certainly not on this Wednesday afternoon, with most of the sellout crowd of 49,742 already in their seats well before the 4:07 p.m. first pitch and creating a din.

The Rangers were not intimidated, and the score was tied at 2 entering the top of the seventh.

Blue Jays righty Aaron Sanchez relieved former Patchogue-Medford High School star Marcus Stroman, who allowed two runs and six hits in six innings, and the Rangers Rougned Odor led off with a single before reaching third with two outs.

With Shin-Soo Choo at bat, Sanchezs 1-and-2 pitch was a ball.

Then, chaos.

Catcher Russell Martins return throw to the mound clipped Choos bat and skipped away. Odor sprinted home and initially was sent back by plate umpire and crew chief Dale Scott.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister, a former minor-league catcher, calmly argued that the ball was live, and, according to little-known Rule 6.03 (a) (3), indeed it was. Scott correctly changed the call and the Rangers led 3-2, prompting an 18-minute on-field argument, accompanied by a torrent of garbage, including water bottles and beer cans, raining down.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons protested the game. More debris from above.

Perhaps impacted by the palpable hostility of the crowd in real time, one couldnt help but wonder just how ugly it might end up being if the Blue Jays lost by that 3-2 score the Rangers shockingly committed three straight errors to load the bases to start the bottom of the seventh.

Toronto pushed the tying run across and righty Sam Dyson came on to face Bautista, who obliterated a 97-mph fastball to leftfield to give the Blue Jays a 6-3 lead. Bautista accentuated the blow with what still is considered the gold standard of bat flips. Rogers Centre resembled the inside of a jet engine, and another hailstorm of refuse, this time in celebration, came from the upper levels.

Dyson and the next batter, Edwin Encarnacion, began jawing, causing a bench-clearing incident. Another followed when, after fouling out to end the inning, Troy Tulowitzki and catcher Chris Gimenez startedyelling at each other.

Somehow, the final two innings were without incident and Toronto was in the ALCS.

Insane was just one of the words used in the victorsclubhouse afterward.

Absolutely crazy, Tulowitzki said.

The craziest.

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.

Read more:
From the Press Box: The Bautista bat-flip game - Newsday

Between Busselton and Bunbury stands Ludlow Tuart Forest, the largest remaining forest of its kind in the world with trees soaring more than 33m into the sky.

But while tall and mighty, the tuarts are facing a conservation crisis, last year listed as critically endangered following decades of land clearing, the timber industry, farming and urban sprawl restricting the population to ever smaller pockets.

Despite the pouring rain last week, volunteers from across the region came out in droves to plant some 50,000 seedlings to restore stands of the iconic South West species.

Organised by the passionate volunteers behind the Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group who last year planted 17,000 seedlings with the help of 400 school children and 100 community members they hope one day the forest will return to its former glory.

Its very significant that this section is protected, president Evelyn Taylor said.

Its the only tuart forest in the world and were down to 3,000ha it was 110,000ha originally so weve used 97 per cent of this forest.

But due to the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions, Mrs said they were unable to use school groups and were calling on the community to donate their time over the next couple of weeks to help out.

Vice president Des Donnelly who first came to Ludlow in 1972 as the district forester has been a driving force behind the project and hoped within 10-15 years, tuarts would dominate once more and the weeds that had invaded over the years would take a back seat.

Its going to take 100 years but if we dont start we wont get there.

If we can get the tuarts established all of the other plants that go along with the tuart forest will start to come back. Theres a lot of native plants still here, they just need space to grow and some cover.

Anyone wanting to get involved can contact the Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group on Facebook.

Read more from the original source:
Volunteers called to help plant 50,000 seedlings in fight to conserve Ludlow Tuart Forest - The West Australian

THE discussion whether to remove certain statues and/or change certain street names that celebrate those people who were involved in the slave trade is taking place throughout the UK. It has taken the loss of life and reassessing historical fact to get to this stage.

Money and power for the wealthy came from those who bought and sold black human beings to work on their plantations. In return they ploughed some of their profits into bricks and mortar in their home cities. All this at the expense of indigenous people they slaughtered. Yet we glorify the British Empire and those who brought it about by raising statues and street names to people who have shamed Scotland and indeed humanity.

The indigenous population of the Highlands were not immune to suffering at the hands of such people looking to acquire even more wealth. Here in the Highlands we have a massive statue of the Duke of Sutherland on the top of Beinn aBhragaidh in memory to such a man.

READ MORE:Operation Legacy: How Britain is dealing with its dark past

In early 1996 the local Council Planning Committee refused an application to dismantle the Duke of Sutherlands statue. During discussion of the issue, it became apparent that a number of the local residents of Golspie were of the view that the statue should remain in place. If the people who were cleared from the Sutherland estate had been black and that planning application was being considered today it would have been approved and that statue would rightly be removed.

The first Duke of Sutherland held more titles than Alex Ferguson has won football silverware. He was the second Marquis of Stafford, an MP and one of the richest men in England. His family originated from Yorkshire and married into a wealthy Stafford family of French descent. In due course, the second Marquis married the Ban mhorair Chataibh, the great lady of Sutherland, who was five feet tall and 27 years of age. Her heart was as cold as the sandstone on top of Beinn aBhragaidh.

It is interesting to note that after Culloden the Duke of Cumberland and the Duke of Newcastle gave serious consideration to clearing and removing the inhabitants of the Highland glens to the colonies, but this was thought to be unmanageable and unrealistic and the easier option burning their homes, destroying their crops and driving away or killing their cattle was taken. The genocide of the Highlanders was government policy.

READ MORE:Education Secretary John Swinney spells out the Government's schools strategy

In other words what the Duke of Cumberland could not achieve, the first Duke of Sutherland achieved in the areas he controlled. He was not the first or last Highland laird to clear his people but he was certainly the most successful.

When he died, his wife decided to erect two statues in England and one on top of Beinn aBhragaidh to honour the achievements of this man who had made a desert of the land which he had acquired through marriage and by betraying the people whose families had lived on that land for centuries.

The statue was raised in honour of a fiend who betrayed and cleared the people from the land simply for profit and that is why it should come down. At the time of the Clearances Golspie was inhabited mainly by incomers from the south who witnessed at first hand the desperate state of some of the Highlanders who were called to Golspie to hear their fate. While many people in Golspie wished to help, they too were at the mercy of the Duke, unlike the churchmen who chose to betray their flocks again for profit.

The statue is an affront to the memory of not only the Sutherland Highlanders who were cleared but to all Highlanders who suffered the same fate. Winifred Ewing MEP attended a debate in Golspie in 1995. At that debate the majority of local people did not want the statue removed. Winnie is on record stating that in her view it was like having a statue of Hitler outside Auschwitz.

Bill ClarkBanavie

Continued here:
Why is no-one talking about the Duke of Sutherland's statue? - The National