News
How humans are bringing an endangered bird back from the brink of extinction
2+ hour, 51+ min ago (436+ words) 150 years before the American Revolution, settlers arriving on our shores found an amazing site" 90 million acres of pine forest, stretching from southeastern Virginia to Florida and Texas. Those trees would become an engine for the British navy, supplying pitch to…...
Group plants 10, 000 trees across Southwest Virginia
1+ week, 5+ day ago (256+ words) If you've driven or walked through Blacksburg or Pulaski recently, you may have seen hundreds of green tubes sticking out of the dirt along creeks and fields. These are trees and shrubs planted by the New River Conservancy. The saplings…...
Washington, D. C. biologists wait for bald eagles to hatch
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (71+ words) WVTF Washington, D. C. biologists wait for bald eagles to hatch Wildlife biologists in the nation's capital are monitoring a massive bald eagle nest where eaglets are expected to appear any day now. Here & Now's Scott Tong joined wildlife biologist Dan Rauch…...
Wildlife group sues to protect rare bird in coastal Virginia, North Carolina
3+ mon, 7+ hour ago (632+ words) The coastal black-throated green warbler was one of the first birds that Will Harlan learned to identify growing up, and he later taught it to his children. "It is stunningly beautiful. This bright, vibrant yellow head is visible as it…...
Clones of endangered ferrets offer path to recovery, scientists say
3+ mon, 1+ week ago (1078+ words) Scientists believe there are only a few hundred black-footed ferrets still living in the Western United States. The carnivores once thrived on the plains between Canada and Mexico, eating prairie dogs and burrowing into their tunnels. But humans plowed up…...
Shenandoah Borderlands Project protects forestland next to national park
3+ mon, 3+ week ago (288+ words) A project to protect more than 5, 000 acres of forested mountain land adjacent to the Shenandoah National Park has secured conservation easements on two properties, with three more in the works. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports. The Shenandoah Borderlands Project is a…...
A new push to study Atlantic menhaden population in the Chesapeake Bay
4+ mon, 6+ day ago (226+ words) Virginian-Pilot'reporter'Scott Harper once said, "humans do not eat menhaden, but just about everything else in the marine environment does. That was 22 years ago. The answer: We don't know. But, this year, we may be on the road to finding out'with…...
What happens when a hawk is electrocuted by a power line?
4+ mon, 3+ week ago (957+ words) A huge bird recently fell out of the sky and landed in my neighbor David Slazenski's front yard. Slazenski was at work when his step-son, Vincent Medrano, found the bird, so Slazenski texted me to see if I could help....
Virginia expands preserve around Floyd County's Buffalo Mountain
4+ mon, 3+ week ago (299+ words) The Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve is a popular destination along the Blue Ridge in Floyd County, home to a 2-mile trail to a rounded summit with 360-degree views of the surrounding mountains. Now, the Virginia Department of Conservation and…...
VIMS is breeding ribbed mussels for the first time, in hopes of boosting local shorelines
6+ mon, 1+ week ago (702+ words) Inside the Virginia Institute of Marine Science's Acuff Center for Aquaculture, beneath a steady flow of water, tens of thousands of baby mussels sat in a tank on a recent afternoon. Facility manager Lauren Gregg picked up a bucket filled…...