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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

WA National Parks Gear Up for Climate Change

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Monday, February 23, 2009   

Marblemount, WA – The three national parks in Washington are taking steps to fight climate change. At workshops held this week and last, park employees, scientists and conservation groups are creating action plans to minimize greenhouse gases and protect the natural resources at Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades National Park.

North Cascades' Superintendent Chip Jenkins is already seeing evidence of climate change, including more frequent flooding in the area. He says they may have to move some roads and campgrounds as a result.

"We're seeing changes in snowpack. We've had about a 40 percent reduction in the glaciers, and it's possible that, over the next hundred years, we might lose all of the glaciers. That has enormous impacts on fisheries, power generation, and on the hydrology."

There are 42 square miles of glacier ice in the North Cascades, says Jenkins. It is also where the Skagit River starts, the largest river that feeds Puget Sound. While parks are still good places to get away from it all, he notes, they have their share of modern conveniences that cause pollution.

"We have a fleet of vehicles. We maintain and operate a number of buildings. We use a lot of heavy equipment. We have concession operations, the lodging and restaurants and stores that are in the park."

Jenkins says the Washington parks have completed inventories of their pollution sources and are making changes, such as switching out diesel generators for photovoltaic systems. All are participating in a national program, called "Climate Friendly Parks," taking a prescribed series of steps to reduce greenhouse gases within the parks and adapt to climate change as best they can. Learn more about it online, at www.nps.gov/climatefriendlyparks.




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