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By CHRIS LARABEE

NORTHFIELD — With the most land of any school district in Massachusetts, this year the Pioneer Valley Regional School District is setting off on a long-term environmental and outdoor education initiative to make use of that natural resource.In...

By SOPHIE HAUCK

AMHERST — Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and U.S. Geological Survey are teaming up to address the impact of hydropower installations on fish migration patterns, thanks to a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy they...

By DOMENIC POLI

David Boles considers himself fortunate.He grew up in upstate New York’s Niagara County, which he said had some of the most polluted water in the country. But 45 years ago, when he moved to Greenfield, he marveled at the area’s water quality.“I live...

Nature Photo Contest

By BILL DANIELSON

The first week of September was appalling. The highest combination of head and humidity that we had experienced all summer all presented in a heat wave that lasted for four days. Then, even though the temperatures moderated somewhat, the humidity...

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — The Wendell Recycling and Transfer Station stopped redeeming bottles and cans over the summer, a change that is expected to impact the Good Neighbors Food Pantry that was receiving the money generated from those refundable items.Resident Tom...

By MARY BYRNE

Franklin County advocates were among the 21 groups and 258 people to sign a letter sent to the Healey administration on Tuesday, encouraging passage of a bill that would provide funding for a Municipal Reforestation Program.The letter asks that the...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern has introduced a bill in Congress that could ban dozens of pesticides in the United States, including many banned in other countries. The bill, known as the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act, would update...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

State agriculture officials are moving to prohibit the importation, sale and trade of two plants thought to be invasive to Massachusetts, including one that “is well-known for having nasty-smelling flowers.”The Department of Agricultural Resources is...

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — The town is looking at $264,000 in utility savings thanks to a net-metering contract with the community solar field in Warren, according to the Orange Energy Committee’s chairman.Henry Oertel went before the Selectboard last week to give his...

By DOMENIC POLI

The Rich Earth Institute hopes you’ll stop wasting your waste.The research and education center in Brattleboro, Vermont, hosted the first of two sessions dubbed “Peecycling in the Valley: Community Conversations for Franklin County, MA” on Thursday to...

The article [“They’re like ‘vampires’: Heavy rains, warm temperatures cause mosquito excess,” Recorder ,July 31], offers an essential reminder of why mosquito control is necessary to help reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. But the article...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

SHUTESBURY — A significant drop in the level of Lake Wyola in mid-July, apparently caused by the intentional release of water through the dam, is prompting the Conservation Commission to issue the town a violation notice under the Massachusetts...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — The Franklin Regional Council of Governments has received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assess brownfield sites across the county.The money will enable FRCOG to hire a professional engineering firm to...

By MARY BYRNE and JULIAN MENDOZA

For the third time in just over a week, heavy rains led to the discharge of untreated sewage and waste mixed with stormwater at locations in Greenfield and Montague that have impacted parts of three Franklin County rivers and made swimming unsafe.In...

By VICTORIA MILKO

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The International Seabed Authority – the United Nations body that regulates the world’s ocean floor – is preparing to resume negotiations that could open the international seabed for mining, including for materials critical for...

By MICHAEL P. NORTON

BOSTON — Massachusetts has more than enough solar energy potential to support the decarbonization requirements enshrined in state laws, according to a report officials released Thursday.The Department of Energy Resources report found the state’s land...

The board of the Woodlands Partnership of Northwest Massachusetts is expanding its membership to include Indigenous representation.Following a unanimous vote taken during the board’s June meeting, the Ohketeau Cultural Center of Ashfield, a...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Following years of a piecemeal approach to PFAS contamination and more than a year after a task force unanimously recommended 30 steps to deal with the problem, environmental groups, consumer advocates, firefighters and the Attorney General’s...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

The Healey administration moved Wednesday to draft the state’s forests into the effort to address climate change, announcing a new initiative to invest in conservation, develop updated guidelines for state lands, and provide incentives for landowners...