Articles by Grist staff

Canary Row

Ten years ago, the nations of the European Union agreed to create Natura 2000, a continent-wide network of conservation areas designed to protect 200 habitats and 600 species. The network was supposed to be in place by 1998, but foot-dragging and local resistance gummed up the works. Now, Natura 2000 is finally becoming a reality. […]

Making History

Historian-in-the-news Stephen Ambrose has pledged to donate $250,000 to help remove an aging dam near Missoula, Mont., at the confluence of the Clark and Blackfoot rivers, and clean up the 6.6 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment behind it. The Milltown Dam and its reservoir constitute the terminus of the nation’s largest Superfund site and […]

She’s Breaking Up, She’s Breaking Up

The proposed reorganization of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which is currently in federal bankruptcy court, could spell bad news for thousands of acres of pristine landscape in the Sierra Nevada. Right now, PG&E is supervised by the California Public Utilities Commission, whose regulatory structure requires strict environmental protection and encourages public access to the […]

Long Live King County

How far would you go to stop urban sprawl? That’s the question of the hour in King County, Wash., where a private anti-sprawl proposal is pushing the conservation envelope on several fronts. At issue is a proposed $185 million purchase of second-and third-growth forest just east of Seattle. The land purchase by the Evergreen Forest […]