Mike Mascia, Ph.D.

Trump Administration to End Protections for 58 Million Acres of National Forests

Not good for #nature, #climate, or people.

#ICYMI #NoPaywall

What Rights Do Immigrants, Citizens, Green-Card Holders and Visitors Have? (Gift Article) The expansion of immigration enforcement actions by the Trump administration has thrown the status of some rights into question. See what is unchanged, what is expanded and what is in dispute.

FYI: citizen, immigrant, & traveler rights.

#ICYMI #FreeSpeech #Immigration #Education #NoPaywall

MaineHealth’s federal grant cut off over previous research on vaccine hesitancy A prominent Maine scientist said the system for supporting health research is "under siege."

"...the National Institutes of Health axed about $500,000 of a five-year, $1.25 million grant this month. The grant is part of the Pilot Project Program to support a variety of research by young scientists"

#ICYMI #NewsFromMaine #NoPaywall #Healthcare #science

Trump administration orders half of national forests open for logging An emergency order removes protections covering over half the land managed by the U.S. Forest Service as the president aims to boost timber production.

Forests protected no more.

#ICYMI #forests #climate #NoPaywall

Senate Votes Down Measure Aimed At Blocking Public Land Sell-Off Republicans are eyeing federal public land sales to help offset Trump's tax and spending cuts.

Hands off our public lands!
www.publicdomain.media/p/senate-vot...

Maine cultural organizations reeling from canceled grants, threats to funding Letters were sent Thursday to recipients of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, telling them their grant awards were terminated.

"The cuts could mean significant harm to community organizations of all kinds who receive money from those federal agencies. ... 'What happened over the past 24 hours is worse than what I would have imagined in those worst-case scenarios...' "

#ICYMI #NewsFromMaine #NoPaywall #museums #libraries

Opinion | The Rise and Fall of Elon Musk (Gift Article) His belief that liberal democracy has failed and that technologists should lead can be traced to the unusual life of his grandfather.

The mindset behind the mayhem.

Maine immigrants, undocumented or not, ‘walking on glass’ as enforcement ramps up The Trump administration's focus on detaining and deporting suspected undocumented immigrants, coupled with differing approaches by local law enforcement agencies, has spread fear and uncertainty.

"...many immigrants — including those with visas or green cards — are wary of being plucked off the street and pulled into an unmarked [gov't vehicle]. ...with each new arrest, more and more families are choosing to stay home from work or school..."

#ICYMI #NewsFromMaine #NoPaywall #Immigration

Trofim Lysenko - Wikipedia

@hcrichardson.bsky.social: Trump's approach to tariffs, vaccines, etc., remind me of Soviet approach to agriculture with Lysenko. Did not end well. Is history rhyming?

How the Trump administration took aim at Maine Maine has faced investigations and arbitrary reversals of funding, turning it into a test case for the Trump administration’s approach to perceived adversaries.

Education. Social Security. Fisheries.

Maine "has been subjected to unusual, overlapping investigations and arbitrary reversals of funding, turning it into a test case for the Trump administration’s approach to perceived adversaries."

#ICYMI #NewsFromMaine #NoPaywall #WaPo

Trump freezes $2 million in Maine family planning group funding Title X funds affordable birth control, cancer screenings, and other sexual and reproductive health care to people with low incomes.

Healthcare.

#ICYMI #NewsFromMaine

Maine’s rural libraries at risk as Trump guts agency that provides federal funding Librarians say the cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services will devastate museums and libraries in Maine and across the nation.

Libraries.

#ICYMI #NewsFromMaine

Social Security head called Gov. Mills a ‘petulant child’ in email ordering staff to cancel Maine contracts Emails show Acting Commissioner Lee Dudek ignored his own staff's warnings about the impacts and canceled Maine contracts because the governor publicly stood up to President Donald Trump.

Social Security.

#ICYMI #NewsFromMaine #SocialSecurity

The Federal Work Force Cuts So Far, Agency by Agency (Gift Article) Here are the layoffs, buyouts taken and planned reductions, by agency, that The New York Times has confirmed.

FYI.

Here is the #Project2025 playbook that the US government is following to erase environmental protections.

Page 532 outlines plans to weaken, shrink, & eliminate national monuments across USA.

Chapter 16 details full array of rollbacks planned in Dept of Interior.

archive.org/details/2025...

SO 3418 - Unleashing American Energy | U.S. Department of the Interior SO 3418

Here is US gov't order with species & ecosystem protections at risk for "Unleashing American Energy".

Potential to weaken, shrink, or eliminate national monuments on p6, with mandate for "action plans" "to review &, as appropriate, revise all withdrawn public lands"

www.doi.gov/document-lib...

Interior Secretary Burgum eyes national monuments for energy resources Conservation groups fear the Trump administration may seek to redraw the boundaries of national monuments, including two newly created ones in California.

U.S. gov't sets stage to open national monuments, critical habitat, & other protected lands for mining & fossil fuel extraction.

#nature #biodiversity #climate #energy #backsliding #PADDD

www.latimes.com/environment/...

Cover of the journal Conservation Biology. Bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) off the coast of Carmel, California (USA).

Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur - the world’s smallest primate.

Conservation Biology and Conservation Science and Practice are now on Bluesky! Give them a follow:
@conbiology.bsky.social and @conservationsp.bsky.social

Countering Disinformation Effectively: An Evidence-Based Policy Guide A high-level, evidence-informed guide to some of the major proposals for how democratic governments, platforms, and others can counter disinformation.

Countering disinformation: good practices.

Opinion | How Trump is reshaping reality by hiding data Sweeping statistical purges are part of a broader attempt to reinvent “truth.”

This is not normal. Trust your eyes, raise your voice, & remind your elected officials to do the right thing.

yeah, need to use "flipflops" and "indecisive" and "bark w no bite" and 'bluffs then folds" a lot more in mainstream press.

Other SCB Bluesky accounts to follow:
ICCB 2025 - @iccb2025.bsky.social
SCBNA - @scbnorthamerica.bsky.social
SCB Oceania - @scboceania.bsky.social
SCB Europe - @scbeurope.bsky.social
#conservation #biodiversity #wildlife

The 50 Richest Americans Are Worth as Much as the Poorest 165 Million A look at U.S. wealth data through the first half of 2020 shows stark disparities by race, age and class.

A reminder: Richest 50 people in America have more wealth than poorest 165 MILLION.

But that isn't enough...

so they're dismantling the Federal gov't and gov't services (that 99% of us rely on) and pushing through massive tax cuts (for themselves).

MacArthur Foundation to Increase Giving for Two Years in Response to ‘Crisis’ The move was prompted by the Trump administration’s freeze on federal foreign aid and the now-suspended freeze on federal grants.

"courage is contagious"

I'm compiling a list of money wasted by Elon's mass firings in National Parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other public lands. If you know of an example, please add it here. I'll publish the result.

From Uprooted to Uplifted: The Movement to Restore Indigenous Land Rights (SSIR) Indigenous and local community-centered solutions to deforestation are among the most effective and enduring strategies for mitigating climate change. Social innovators in these communities pioneered ...

Worth your time to read.

#nature #climate #rights #indigenous #innovation

Countering Disinformation Effectively: An Evidence-Based Policy Guide A high-level, evidence-informed guide to some of the major proposals for how democratic governments, platforms, and others can counter disinformation.

Countering disinformation: good practices.

A past YWCB award winner, Itoro Archibong, holding an award trophy from the SCB Africa Region.

Are you inspired by the incredible work of early career African women in conservation? Nominate an outstanding individual for the YWCB Award, recognizing their contributions to advancing conservation biology in Africa.

📅 Deadline: 24 March 2025
📧 Learn more: conbio.informz.net/InformzDataS...

Conservation International is looking for a consultant to do the final independent evaluation of the GCF-funded "Sustainable Landscapes in Eastern Madagascar" project. Details here: lnkd.in/g-iZ6HGh

#climate #nature #livelihoods #evaluation #consultant #job