Land proposed for red wolves' revival
A conservation group has proposed 20,000 square miles of land in six states for reintroducing red wolves, which are a critically endangered species.
The proposed area includes land in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
That area would support nearly 500 breeding pairs of red wolves, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. The center compiled the report, including recommendations to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to examine the science behind the report and pursue reintroduction projects in at least two of the sites that the center found.
Red wolves historically roamed across the southeastern United States, but the center estimates the current red wolf population to be fewer than 100.
In Arkansas, the center proposes reintroducing red wolves into portions of the Ouachita National Forest and the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest.
Arkansas State University adopted the red wolf as its mascot in 2008. The university also supports a captive-breeding population of red wolves, according to the center's report.
The center petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2016 to update the red wolf recovery plan. The service has not updated it, which prompted the center to sue President Donald Trump's administration for not updating the "decades-old" recovery plan.
Veterans garden project earns grant
For the second time in three years, Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light will receive a $30,000 environmental justice grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The group will fund three community gardens for veterans and others at risk for homelessness, according to a project description provided by the EPA.
The gardens will be located at the Arkansas State Veterans Home in North Little Rock and two yards of churches near Fort Roots VA Hospital, Amboy United Methodist Church and Gardner United Methodist Church.
Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light received a $30,000 environmental justice grant in 2017 -- the last grant cycle -- for starting community gardens in Little Rock, the creation of a network of local growers and starting a food hub on West 12th Street in Little Rock.
Metro on 11/11/2019