US sets aside habitat critical for survival of rare songbird [Associated Press]
… The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the final habitat designation for the western yellow-billed cuckoo on Tuesday. It covers about 467 square miles (1,210 square kilometers) along hundreds of miles of rivers and streams in the western states. Most breeding in the U.S. occurs in Arizona and New Mexico, but the habitat designation also includes areas in California, Colorado, Utah, Texas and Idaho. The designation isn’t as big as initially proposed. … Listed as threatened in 2014, biologists say the bird has seen population declines due to loss of riparian habitat and habitat fragmentation resulting from agriculture, dams and river management, erosion, overgrazing and competition from exotic plants.
Point Reyes ranch, elk plan nears key state vote [Marin Independent Journal]
A major controversy brewing for nearly a decade at the Point Reyes National Seashore is coming to a head this week. A National Park Service proposal, which includes whether to give cattle ranchers who rent the park’s land longer leases and a plan to reduce the size of the park’s iconic tule elk herd by killing some animals, is set to undergo a key vote before the California Coastal Commission at a special meeting Thursday. The meeting will be one of the only times the plan will be vetted in a public hearing before the Biden administration renders a decision before its mid-July deadline.
https://www.marinij.com/2021/04/20/point-reyes-ranch-elk-plan-nears-key-state-vote/
USDA extends universal free lunch through next school year, bringing relief to millions of food-insecure families [Washington Post]
The United States Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday it would extend universal free lunch through the 2021-2022 school year, in an effort to reach more of the estimated 12 million youths experiencing food insecurity. … Child nutrition program waivers, which aimed to cut through red tape to allow kids to eat for free even outside normal meal times, were implemented at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, at a time when millions of families faced financial strain, hunger and hardship. The waivers allowed schools and community organizations to adapt programs to better meet the needs of children and families.
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/USDA-extends-universal-free-lunch-through-next-16115271.php
California nut exports shine in wake of economic recovery [The Sun-Gazette, Exeter]
COVID’s grip over the economy is receding and that includes key ag exports. Despite the slippage in California’s overall export trade recently, the state’s tree nut exporters have seen positive results. Foreign shipments of almonds in the current crop year are at the highest level ever. Exports of the big-three nut crops are all important to grower profitability with their volume far higher than domestic shipments. But the numbers vary by year and as the result of tariff impacts. Both almonds and walnuts are enjoying record setting crops being marketed now.
17,000 pounds of hemp from Fresno is being moved across state lines — and it’s totally legal [Fresno Bee]
Ten of thousands of pounds of hemp left Fresno on Tuesday, bound for Denver on the Union Pacific Railroad. And while it may seem insignificant, the implications are profound. The shipment, from the Fresno-based company Golden Gate Hemp, will be the first hemp to cross state lines by train legally since the prohibition of the plant in 1937. … Golden State Hemp already ships millions of pounds of hemp across the country. Right now, that is mostly done by truck, which can be problematic in states that prohibit hemp cultivation.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article250793704.html
Historic Preservation Commission designates Cross of Palms ‘Area of Historic Interest’ [Bakersfield Californian]
… The stand of palm trees on Rudd Avenue near 7th Standard Road is believed to have been planted before the turn of the 20th century. In recent months and years it has become the setting for a standoff of sorts between landowner and local grower Keith Gardiner who wants to preserve the palms and their history, and PG&E, which has hired contractors to cut down more than a dozen trees. And PG&E has reserved the right to cut down more palms, citing safety issues and saying the trees are a hazard to nearby power lines.
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