The idea that deep institutional damage can be easily rolled back seems like a very odd take for a conservative. The damage to the civil service system is huge, and legislation is needed to reassure future hires they won’t be fired on a whim.

Peter@notalawyer.bsky.social · 3d ago

also, describing a lack of legislative capacity as a point against authoritarian consolidation misses the point: the defining feature of Trump’s second term is consolidation of power in the *executive* - the lack of legislative authorization makes him more authoritarian, not less

Today's #BlueskyArtShow theme is #water. Most of my #landscape images feature water. Many of them, the crystal clear waters of #Florida springs. It's like swimming in an aquarium. There's nothing else like it. #photography #aquatic #springs #conservation #ecology #biodiversity #climate #nature

Cool write up about how humans impact apex predators featuring our bear-salmon work in Alaska! 🐻 Wildlife ecology: When the fearsome become fearful: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Wildlife ecology: When the fearsome become fearful

Humans recreating in wilderness areas face a risk of encountering and being harmed by fearsome large wild carnivores. Yet, the risk is exceedingly low, because, it turns out, these fearsome predators ...

cell.com

one thing i miss about florida is these guys. beautiful snakes. here it's garter snake garter snake garter snake garter snake garter snake twine

'You'll choke too' - an aerial embroidery landscape inspired by all the wildfires happening right now... I'm upset every time I smell smoke outside and somehow we have people starting them maliciously too! But we all breathe the same air so they'll choke too (1/2 - see thread for close-ups)

Not sure which hurts worse this morning: the fact that 600+ families just lost their home, or the knowledge that this will only keep happening in a warming world.

Alexandra (Alex) Duggan@alexdugganreports.bsky.social · last wk.

The front page of this morning’s Spokesman-Review, Aug. 2, 2026, the day after one of the worst wildfires in Washington state history. More than 600 structures, mostly homes, have been lost in the #OldTrailsFire. Read local news.

You cannot build anything surrounded by (or even adjacent to) a fire-adapted ecosystem and expect that the ecosystem won't someday catch fire. It will. It's only a matter of time.

Still thinking about this stoat down at Spirit Lake. Now you're thinking about it, too.

$11 billion. We paid *$11 billion* for people not to work for 6+ months, and now we are paying untold more to hire them back because oops! Turns out federal employees are actually important for a functioning society!

What the government lost through the $11 billion DRP | Federal News Network

Part of this issue to me is the financial cost, but the other part is the ineffective and really incompetent management," said Doug Pasternak.

federalnewsnetwork.com

This is so awesome and why I love working with science illustrators. Here's my rendering compared to the final product in a recent paper - www.cell.com/current-biol...

David Toews@davetoews.bsky.social · 2w ago

Just appreciating natural science illustrators, like Jillian Ditner, who turned this "sketch" (a dog's breakfast would be generous) into a clear, beautiful illustration of gene introgression among warblers... www.allaboutbirds.org/news/when-ev...

Sometimes the world seems too big and too small all at once.

Fuck ICE and any FS employees who enable or aid in their abductions.

ICE literally went into a national forest and arrested people who were swimming, etc. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/n...

ICE agents target NC’s Pisgah National Forest and make multiple arrests, feds say

Immigration and Customs Enforcement extends its reach to western North Carolina’s wilderness areas and makes 13 arrests in Pisgah National Forest, feds say.

charlotteobserver.com

The UNESCO Cascade Head Biosphere Region, Oregon's only UNESCO biosphere reserve, celebrated its 50th anniversary on July 18. The milestone came as more than a dozen other biospheres in the country have folded, following cuts by the Trump administration.

Oregon’s UNESCO biosphere is thriving, despite federal cuts

The Cascade Head UNESCO Biosphere on the Oregon Coast has grown tenfold since 2017, despite losing federal funding.

opb.org

The extraordinary wildfire outbreak across Oregon, eastern Washington, and southern British Columbia has become even more alarming amid critical fire weather conditions. Over 500,000 acres have already burned in OR & WA alone, and that number could be >1 million acres by Mon.

This admission was the GOOD version of what they’ve been up to

tony romm@tonyromm.bsky.social · 3w ago

NEW: In a stunning admission, the Trump administration admitted in court documents that it canceled billions in energy grants to states "based solely" on politics -- and whether that state was represented by Democrats and backed Harris in 2024. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...

Loot that drops after defeating me: - assorted conifer cones - one live pacific chorus frog - several mechanical pencils - bag of dark chocolate peanut butter cups - 1.5ft tall penguin plushie - recipe written on index card (rng-determined) - binoculars (rare drop)

Glonzo the Bureaucrat 🇬🇱 🌹@snarkranger.bsky.social · 3w ago

Loot that drops after defeating me: - National Park Ranger badge - Ignition key for the Baker, Nevada ambulance - ItsJabo plush rat - "Curse of Coeurasa" T-shirt from the very last RainFurrest

It's so thundery* today I love it * Obligatory acknowledgment of the risk of new fire starts from lightning, but this former east coaster deeply misses a good thunderstorm

More of the diverse Mount St Helens environs. Also since I've gotten a bunch of new followers lately - hi! 👋 I'm an ecologist and master's student studying wildlife communities and their habitats across the post-eruption disturbance "zones" of Mount St Helens 🌋

Some photos I wish you could smell

This highlights the importance of practicing situational awareness while doing fieldwork. Something most field scientists aren’t taught. Below are some things I had drilled into me that I hope will help other folks. This is general and isn’t meant to comment directly on the kidnapping. ⚒️

A nice overview of the factors driving the Canada fires and how fire in boreal forest differs from fire in dry western US forests

Andrew Dessler@andrewdessler.com · 4w ago

In case you're wondering, yes, the East coast smoke is related to climate change. @zekehausfather.com explains in a new post on The Climate Brink www.theclimatebrink.com/p/canadas-bo...

“The whole idea behind it is an experiment of a different way for humans to interrelate with sensitive biological areas and some of the most beautiful places in the world,” said site co-director Duncan Berry.

Oregon’s UNESCO biosphere celebrates 50th anniversary

Scores of people are expected to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Oregon’s only UNESCO biosphere this weekend near Lincoln City.

opb.org

Frequent large fires are only partially due to climate change. Its also things like extended periods of fire suppression that ignore natural fire return intervals & same stand-age "forests" aka tree farms that aren't actual forests. Ecology is not simple & mitigation can happen on multiple fronts!

Canadian firefighters hauled ass to get down here when half of Los Angeles was on fire last year. What a characteristically classy way to repay that favor.

Global News@globalnews.ca · 4w ago

"If Canada will not manage its forests to prevent these fires, the United States will look elsewhere, and act on our own, to protect our people,” said a group of U.S. lawmakers. globalnews.ca/news/1196860...

A random roadside stop in the early 1980s at Central Oregon's Lost Lake launched scientist Dede Olson’s decades-long study of the mating patterns of Western toads in the high Cascades, and her career as a research ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service.

Watch: The fascinating sex lives of high Cascade toads

Oregon scientist Dede Olson has been studying the lifecycle of Western toads for more than 40 years, marveling at how they produce millions of tadpoles every year.

opb.org

Been waiting to see these lovelies all season

NEVER FORGET the debt we all owe to the Miccosukee Tribe, without whom it would still be open. And never forget that Indigenous sovereignty and all our safety and flourishing are forever intertwined.

“Alligator Alcatraz” May Close After Months of Tribal Resistance in the Everglades

The controversial immigration detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” could soon shut down — a dramatic reversal following months of resistance led by the Miccosukee Tribe, Native advocates, and ...

nativenewsonline.net

Tyler King@tyleraking.com · 4w ago

After a cost of more than $1 billion, the Everglades concentration camp has been removed from the airstrip where it once stood.

This shouldn't be surprising to most of you, but as someone in the thick of it: federal science that should be getting done isn't being done, and it's a direct result of interventions by the current administration.

The BLM is moving forward with oil and gas leases on Conecuh National Forest, one of the most herp diverse national forests in the country and some of the best remaining intact longleaf woodlands left in Alabama.