Hopeful headlines: Demolishing a lumber mill to daylight salmon habitat
A rare butterfly appears after prescribed fire, kiwis show up after 50 years, sea cucumbers clean up, and frogs find a crossing. And save the date! August 27, Climate Action Now hosts Earth Hope.
The former graveyard of millions of old-growth redwoods has been torn up and transformed into salmon habitat as the Yurok Tribe in far Northern California daylights a creek and converts the 125-acre site of the former Orick Mill back to nature, a tribe village, and a park visitor entrance.
The site is named O’Rew, a former seasonal fishing and gathering spot for the tribe, and is adjacent to scenic trails entering Redwood National and State Parks.
“Yurok Tribe construction crews are putting the finishing touches on an ecological transformation with the addition of a new two-acre backwater pond and wetland complex and a new meander bend in Prairie Creek,” the tribe said in an announcement. “The new creek channel creates gently sloped banks that allow the creek to reconnect with wetlands and wood features mimic important natural conditions for salmon. The deep backwater ponds furnish slow water and create refuges for fish species during high flows as well as desirable habitat for otters, amphibians and more.”
The five-year project to tear up many acres of concrete foundation is almost complete, having received funding from a variety of sources, including President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and the State of California. The mill shut in 2009, and the land was purchased by Save the Redwoods League in 2013. The nonprofit will transfer the site to the tribe in 2026. The tribe will co-manage the entrance with the National Park Service, the first arrangement of its kind in the country.
To bring back their salmon runs, the Yurok successfully fought to tear down four aging dams along the Klamath River, work that was completed in 2024. They’ve also used carbon credits generated from their redwood holdings to buy back large tracks of their ancestral territory.
Very close to the O’Rew restoration site, the Yurok have also welcomed another cohort of California condors in 2025. Forty years ago, only 27 of these birds were left on the planet, and here in one spot, across two camera views, as I write this, I’m currently looking at 30 birds! VIEW THE YUROK LIVE CONDOR FEED.
Redwood Rising cuts trees to restore a forest
We at Earth Hope have long raved about the benefits of cutting trees to save forests, a technique embraced by The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, and Save the Redwoods League, but which the Sierra Club can’t quite wrap its head around. Check out the video below.
“These young trees are packed in too tightly ... they're all fighting for sunlight and space. So through Redwoods Rising, we're using modern forestry techniques to speed up the recovery of a healthier, more natural forest ecosystem. And while it seems counterintuitive, the first big step is thinning. Here's how that works.”
Redwood Rising is a collaboration between Save the Redwoods League, the National Park Service, and California State Parks to restore 120,000 acres of redwood forest in Northern California. When logged, redwoods send up shoots from their still-living stumps, creating second-growth groves without the need for new planting. However, those forests still need care to grow into high-functioning old-growth forest ecosystems. Here’s how that’s done:
Save the Date! August 27 Earth Hope jam with Climate Action Now
I will be chatting with Sam Matey-Coste and the Climate Action Now team for their Monthly Dose of Climate Hope on August 27, 11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern. Don’t miss it! Tickets are FREE, follow this link to get the Zoom invite.
WHAT: Monthly Dose of Climate Hope
WHEN: Wednesday, August 27, 11 am PT, 2 pm ET
WHO: Amanda Royal and Sam Matey-Coste
WHERE: Zoom, worldwide
WHY: Hope is a verb.
We are in the fight of our lives for the future of this planet, and the legacy media treats every victory like a “human interest” snore fest and back-page news. Meanwhile, as solutions-focused journalists, we’re showing readers how millions of people are creating a better planet every day. It’s time to grow a movement of solutions-based news!
Endangered butterfly appears at Michigan restoration site
Land managers in Michigan have painstakingly restored several hundred acres of oak savannah over the past decade at the Muskegon State Game Area. Last year, they were delighted to spot one—ONE!—endangered Karner blue butterfly, which told them they might have been doing some things right. This year, biologists spotted three of the butterflies, whose caterpillars feed exclusively on sundial lupine.
Prescribed fires have opened the oak canopy so that more of these lupine can thrive.
“Repeated fire is very important. We’ve had at least three cycles of burns on this piece alone in the last 12-14 years,” wildlife biologist Nik Kalejs told Michigan Live. “And we have another one on the books for as soon as possible.”
More habitat restoration is slated for 6,500 acres of national forest near the game refuge.
Mexico, Guatemala, Belize will create 14-million-acre nature reserve in Mayan rainforest
“This is one of Earth’s lungs, a living space for thousands of species with an invaluable cultural legacy that we should preserve with our eyes on the future,” Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said while standing side-by-side with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and Belize Prime Minister Johnny Briceño.
The Associated Press reports the news comes as the countries grapple with protests over a new rail line slicing through the rainforest.
Wild kiwi pair discovered on one of New Zealand’s main islands
A pair of wild little spotted kiwi have been discovered on New Zealand’s South Island, the first sighting in 50 years. The little spotted kiwi is the smallest of five kiwi species that inhabit the islands. A hunter thought he saw the flightless bird in a remote wilderness and reported his suspicions to the conservation department, which sent a specialized kiwi-sniffing dog and ranger to confirm.
“I heard kiwi calling the first night – two of them duetting – and immediately knew they didn’t sound like other kiwi. It was exciting, but it took a few days to narrow down the area,” Biodiversity Ranger Iain Graham said.
These kiwi pukupuku are extremely vulnerable to non-native predators like feral cats, rats, weasels, and possums. Until this discovery, it was believed they only survived on offshore islands and fenced predator-free sites. About 2,000 birds remain, though the population is increasing, thanks to conservation efforts.
UK: Inoculating rainforests with fungi to help trees grow
Researchers in the UK are inoculating newly reforested land with cups of soil containing fungi spores from nearby old-growth Celtic rainforests, according to a Guardian article titled “Magic mushrooms: how scientists discovered fungi are the secret ingredient for restoring the world’s forests.” Over 100,000 trees have been planted in north Devon to connect and rebuild the island’s ancient temperate rainforests.
Although mycorrhizal fungi have seen huge declines across Europe, being planted in native soil microbiome with healthy fungi can stimulate the growth of trees and other plants by 64%, research has shown.
Philippines: Sea cucumber ranching attracts fish and improves water quality
A group of women in the Philippines is helping restore sea cucumber populations, attract fish, and improve water quality through their underwater ranch. Sea cucumbers are a part of Asian cuisine, and their numbers have plummeted in recent decades due to overharvesting. Scientist Annette Meñez recruited women in the small community of Bolinao to safeguard her lab-grown sea cucumbers when released to the sea.
The BBC reports:
Apart from their economic value, sea cucumbers provide benefits for the environment. Commonly referred to as the janitors of the sea, they clean sediments in the seafloor by eating bacteria and decaying organic matter, and recycle nutrients that benefit ecosystems. Their presence has even recently been found to suppress diseases among corals. Bolinao and its neighboring towns are known for their rich marine life, which includes a 200 sq km (77 sq mile) coral reef area that provides benefits to residents through shoreline protection, fisheries, aquaculture and tourism.
Annette Meñez, a marine invertebrate ecologist at the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UPMSI), reached out to the Bolinao fishing communities in the early 2000s to ask if they would like to try co-designing a system to restore the town's sea cucumbers. Meñez has been researching marine invertebrates … since the 1980s, including how to help Bolinao's fishing communities replenish their stocks of sea urchins and giant clams.
This story reminds me of Julia Platt’s efforts to set aside a sanctuary for marine invertebrates in Monterey Bay, which later proved crucial to the return of sea otters.
US: Crews build mock beaver dams for salmon in Washington
The Wild Salmon Center is removing old fish weirs and installing beaver dam analogs on the Dickey River to enhance conditions for salmon fry.
“Restoring natural hydrology could open up all sorts of great habitat for coho [salmon]. And maybe, one day, we’ll even see some beavers here, getting back to work.”
— Wild Salmon Center Fish Habitat Specialist Betsy Krier
Related:
From Madison Pobis of Stanford University for Phys.org: Strategically bringing back beavers could support healthy and climate-resilient watersheds
OPB: Oregon increasing beaver protections to help salmon, slow wildfires
Earth Hope: Coalition builds low-tech beaver dams to save meadow
Oregon has built a wildlife underpass for frogs!
Hundreds of frogs have used a new wildlife underpass in Oregon since its completion in December 2024. The Northern red-legged frogs that live near the Palensky Wildlife Area must make a perilous journey twice each year from their home in a creek on one side of a highway to their breeding grounds on the other.
The Palensky Underpass was built specifically with the frogs in mind, with holes for light and drainage to eliminate standing water. Small mammals, reptiles and other amphibians have been spotted on cameras using the underpass.
Further up the highway, a dedicated volunteer effort called the “Harborton Frog Shuttle” collects frogs at one side of a four-lane highway and taxis them to safety.
We have the solutions to save right whales
In response to my repost of “Whales rebound near New York …,”reader and fellow creator Perrin Ireland brought my attention to their touching video for NRDC on SOLUTIONS for avoiding right whale entanglements. Thank you!
How pufflings are saved in an Icelandic village
We mentioned this effort in our “Life is carbon capture” post several months ago. A new video is out that shows how a village in Iceland takes a family approach to saving thousands of pufflings per year. The group that checks and releases the juvenile birds has banded 24,000 to date!
More headlines that caught our eye:
Defenders of Wildlife: Four wild red wolf litters born this summer in North Carolina
Hawaii News Now: Thousands of pounds of marine debris removed from Kauai coastline
Inside Climate News: A Vermont Forest Tries a New Model of Growth, Diversity and Logging
Minot Daily News: Conservation Forage Program restores 10,000 grassland acres in North Dakota
Here & Now WBUR: 'Prairie Enthusiasts' hope to resurrect America's endangered grasslands
The Press Democrat (California): Volunteers unite to remove invasive ice plant from Sonoma Coast
The Guardian: ‘Brownfields can be rich habitats’: the abandoned oil refinery where wildlife now thrives
This “ruined” landscape – where disused street lamps poke up above rampant scrub – resembles some kind of post-apocalyptic London. But in its ruination, this brownfield site beside the Thames in Essex has become one of the most nature-rich places in Britain, home to 3,200 species including endangered shrill carder bees, pantaloon bees, water vole, cuckoos and long-eared owls.
From the Substack universe:
Fix The News has joined Substack. Follow them for stories of progress on health, society, environment, and more.
Sam Matey-Coste interviewed electrification expert Saul Griffith, who points out Americans are being denied the cheapest energy on the planet by a political party that has long championed “freedom.” While the rest of the world is driving $10,000 electric vehicles and paying nearly nothing for solar, Americans are stuck in a quagmire of distribution and permitting costs. 👇🏼
This should be politically neutral. Like, “I want my guns, my God, and my solar.” You know, “Get the government off my roof!” Give me cheap solar.
Also from Sam, plug-in solar is now available in the San Francisco Bay Area!
California Curated writes “How California has revived its groundfish fisheries,” noting that vessel buybacks, quotas, closures and bottom trawling bans helped most species recover from near collapse. If you protect a place, it can rebound!
Paul Hormick reminds us that composting green waste keeps the potent greenhouse gas methane out of the environment. To reduce emissions, my home state of California has enacted a law requiring most municipalities to pick up green waste separately. Readers, what are the composting policies where you live?
Rhett Ayers Butler, founder of Mongabay, writes twice about the need for solutions and hope in conservation news:
Rethinking the narrative: Big environmental change needs smaller stories of success
The case for hope in environmental journalism
Roger that!🫡🏃🏼♀️➡️🌄🌲
Follow this link to SUPPORT SOLUTIONS-BASED NEWS FOR $20.
About Earth Hope:
Earth Hope is a solutions-based journalism project that highlights environmental success stories to inspire action. I’m Amanda Royal, a former newspaper reporter and current eco-news junkie. Read more about this project and what inspired it. Visit earthhope.substack.com for more stories.
You had me at "live condor feed" 😊
Wow thank you for sharing these messages of restoration and hope!