CT officials: Beware of invasive species in aquarium moss balls
Tara O’Neill
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Connecticut officials are advising residents to be vigilant after highly invasive zebra mussels were found in aquatic moss balls in 25 states.Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo
State officials are warning residents to destroy any aquarium moss balls after it was discovered this week that they might contain the highly invasive zebra mussel.
On March 1, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey learned that zebra mussels were found attached and inside moss balls sold as aquarium plants. While the mussels in the product are invasive, the moss ball is not.
Missouri hellbenders population granted federal protection
March 9, 2021
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ST. LOUIS (AP) A salamander species that lives in Missouri waterways has been granted protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Missouri s eastern hellbenders are the largest salamander in North America, growing to more than 2 feet in length. The amphibians can be found in the Meramec River and its tributaries, as well as watersheds in south-central parts of the state, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
The agency s designation means that the state s population, which is geographically isolated from other species in the eastern U.S., is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. The state has only several hundred of them remaining in the wild.
6 Mar 2021
Justice Amy Coney Barrett issued her first majority opinion for the United States Supreme Court on Thursday, ruling that while the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows outside groups to request documents, those documents that are part of the planning process and not final policy are protected.
The case was the first Barrett heard after former President Donald Trump nominated her to replace liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The 7-to-2 opinion said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marines Fisheries Service did not have to give the Sierra Club documents of communications with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about shaping power plant policy.