ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) — Federal officials and environmentalists are working together to boost protection for a rare poppy that is only found in southern Utah.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A land conservation organization has acquired 100,000 acres (40,469 hectares) on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

News outlets report The Nature Conservancy announced...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The economic benefits of preserving and restoring land in the upper Mississippi River's headwaters region nearly outweigh the costs, according to a new study.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Turtles and snakes and most insects are still underground, hibernating in the cold earth.

Good thing, as fire starters spread out recently, streams of fire dribbling...

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An associate director with The Nature Conservancy in New Mexico has been chosen as the first woman to lead the state forestry division.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (AP) — The Nature Conservancy says it will acquire more than 6,200 acres in South Texas as part of the largest conservation effort on South Padre Island in two...

WINDHAM, Vt. (AP) — Southern Vermont's Glebe Mountain will soon be conserved and protected from development.

The Brattleboro Reformer reports that The Nature Conservancy will be buying 3,500...

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Some north-central Montana ranchland is being conserved through a partnership between a conservation group and ranchers.

GOWANDA, N.Y. (AP) — A land preservation group has acquired 612 acres of forest in the Zoar Valley, an area of deep gorges in southwestern New York.

The Nature Conservancy says the purchase was made possible through a collaboration between a private landowner, the conservancy and the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (AP) — Coral reefs off the Big Island are stabilizing nearly four years after Hawaii's worst bleaching event, an environmental organization said.

Warm ocean water temperatures caused the first statewide bleaching event in 2015, damaging delicate coral reefs, West Hawaii Today reported Wednesday.

LAKE VILLAGE, Ind. (AP) — Indiana regulators have a granted a key permit for an organic dairy farm that could become home to more than 4,000 cows in Newton County.

Natural Prairie Dairy says its cows will graze on alfalfa and grass that hasn't been treated with synthetic herbicides or pesticides. Critics, including the Hoosier Environmental Council, fear the northwestern Indiana farm could harm wells and reduce property values.

TRINIDAD, Colo. (AP) — Conservation groups have reached a deal to buy and protect a southern Colorado ranch that includes the landmark Fishers Peak near Trinidad.

The Trust for Public Land and The Nature Conservancy said Friday they will buy the Crazy French Ranch from the French Trinidad Co. for $25.5 million. The public will have access to the land once the two groups, along with state and local officials, settle on a management plan.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by a wild horse sanctuary to get rid of a conservation easement that limits use of thousands of acres.

The operators of the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary near Hot Springs filed a lawsuit in 2016 alleging it was fraudulently induced into granting the easement to The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit with an office in Rapid City, in exchange for $230,000.

CLEAR LAKE, S.D. (AP) — A conservation organization has gifted 580 acres of land in northeast South Dakota to the state for outdoor recreation.

Minnesota residents John and Kimberly Puckett donated the property to the Nature Conservancy with the goal of it ending up in public ownership. The organization said Tuesday it had given the wildlife area along Bitter Lake in South Dakota's Day County to Game, Fish and Parks.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism wants to charge $50 a day for access to fragile rock formations at the state's newest park.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A program designed to keep policymakers up to speed on threats to the Great Lakes has created online tools to support early detection of exotic species.

Blue Accounting is an initiative led by the Great Lakes Commission and The Nature Conservancy, with help from other government agencies and private organizations.

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — Environmentalists plan to build a $3.5 million man-made oyster reef in Galveston Bay as part of an effort to preserve Texas' oyster population, which is on the brink of extinction.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire is going to get more than $136,000 to support the design of coastal tidal crossings to help communities and ecosystems.

The money is going to the New Hampshire Nature Conservancy for a tidal crossing replacement project. It's coming from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Two Iowa conservation groups are working together to turn a 506-acre site into a natural area that will be transferred to the state to manage and allow for public use.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — About 15,000 acres (6070.417 hectares) of a private ranch along the Texas coast has become a state wildlife management area in a $50 million conservation project.

OSSIPEE, N.H. (AP) — A nonprofit environmental organization has opened a handicapped-accessible trail in a rare New Hampshire forest.

New Hampshire Public Radio reports the Nature Conservancy unveiled the Ossipee Pine Barrens path Thursday.

SEATTLE (AP) — A new scientific effort will sequence the genomes of critically endangered Pacific Northwest orcas to better understand their genetics and potentially find ways to save them from extinction.

The collaboration announced Thursday involves scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the nonprofit Nature Conservancy and BGI, a global genomics company.

ELKHART, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and other land trusts in Iowa will be harvesting prairie seeds this weekend in central Iowa.

This Saturday, volunteers will be collecting seeds at the 154-acre Snyder Heritage Farm near Elkhart.

The foundation, Foundation, Bur Oak Land Trust, Four Mounds Foundation, The Nature Conservancy in Iowa and Whiterock Conservancy are hosting the seed harvest.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The University of Louisville says it has received $5 million to help fund a study that looks at the connection between a green environment and human health.

The school announced on Tuesday that the National Institutes of Health awarded the Green Heart project a $3 million grant over a five-year period and The Nature Conservancy awarded it a $2 million grant.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Wildlife officials say 20 threatened eastern indigo snakes have been released in northern Florida.

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission news release says the reptiles were set loose at The Nature Conservancy's Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve west of Tallahassee.

Government agencies, wildlife groups and universities are trying to return the native, nonvenomous apex predator to the region. A similar release was conducted last year with 12 snakes.

VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) — Nearly 18,000 acres (7,000 hectares) in Mississippi's Delta region have been acquired by the state in the largest piece of land it has bought in 40 years.

The Clarion Ledger reported Saturday the sale of the Steele Bayou Wildlife Management Area in Issaquena and Warren counties was announced last week. It's expected to open in 2019.

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — A wildlife refuge in southern Wyoming is expanding by 581 acres (235 hectares) with help from The Nature Conservancy.

The Mortenson Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Albany County is home to the endangered Wyoming toad.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Land surrounding Burnt Mountain in Vermont will now be a forest reserve and store carbon to help California meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals.

MONKTON, Vt. (AP) — The Nature Conservancy in Vermont says it will ensure a rare flower is protected while builders renovate a hiking trail in the town of Monkton.

FARMINGTON, N.H. (AP) — A portion of the blueberry barrens atop New Hampshire's Blue Job Mountain in Farmington will be set on fire to maintain important habitats and benefit a variety of wildlife.

DAVIS, W.Va. (AP) — A land donation will more than double the size of the Bear Rocks Preserve in West Virginia.

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Conservation groups say they have acquired nearly 18,000 acres of land in Down East Maine for preservation of wildlife habitat and recreation.

The Conservation Fund says the purchase is the result of a collaboration between itself, The Nature Conservancy, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, New England Forestry Foundation, Blue Hill Heritage Trust and the Downeast Salmon Federation.

DURHAM, N.H. (AP) — Nearly 6,000 aspen and willow trees were planted by Sunday in honor of Arbor Day at a river preserve in Durham.

More than 100 volunteers contributed to the efforts, which started on the holiday Friday with about 60 students from Phillips Exeter Academy. The trees were planted across six acres at the Lamprey River Preserve.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Bridgestone Americas Inc. has donated almost 6,000 acres (2,000 hectares) of forest in Tennessee for land conservation aimed at protecting endangered species and mitigating climate change.

The tire and rubber giant announced Wednesday that it would give the land on the Cumberland Plateau to The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee.

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island has paid about $2 million to ensure that an East Providence country club won't ever be developed.

The Providence Journal reports that under the agreement, the Conservancy bought the development rights to about two-thirds of the Agawam Hunt club. The 82 acres include the majority of the 18-hole golf course and a half-mile corridor of woods and wetlands.

RULO, Neb. (AP) — A Native American tribe has regained ownership of river bluffs, hardwood forest and tall grass prairie along the Missouri River through an agreement with the Nature Conservancy of Nebraska.

SIMPSON, Ill. (AP) — Southern Illinois conservation partners are testing a new information-sharing system using their smartphones.

NORTH STONINGTON, Conn. (AP) — Get your oxygen on. Get your crampons. No Sherpas today," shouted Carl Tjerandsen as we made our way through the valley of Brown's Mountain, close to where the borders of Preston, Griswold and North Stonington meet.

MOROCCO, Ind. (AP) — A wild bison herd has almost doubled since being brought to a northwest Indiana prairie in 2016.

SHARON, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont chapter of the Nature Conservancy says it's adding 468 acres to the White River Natural Area in the town of Sharon.

The Conservancy describes the area as a "biodiversity hotspot" that includes 13 natural communities and is home to 28 rare plants. The expansion also safeguards two miles of White River shoreline.

The natural area also hosts a 1.6-mile trail that's open to the public for hiking, fishing, bird watching, snowshoeing and hunting.

PAWHUSKA, Okla. (AP) — You hear them before you see them.

It's a loud rumbling, almost like waves of thunder clashing. Then they emerge, running, out of the thick fog.

Hundreds of bison thundered into the corral at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve early Thursday morning, as part of the 2017 Bison Roundup.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — More than $1.5 million in federal funding will support three projects intended to protect against invasive species and boost water quality in Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay.

U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters say the grants were awarded under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a wide-ranging environmental cleanup program.

The Nature Conservancy is getting $550,000 to remove invasive species that harm native fish such as lake trout, cisco and whitefish.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Imagine trees as a drug to prevent heart disease.

Aruni Bhatnagar, a medical professor at the University of Louisville, does — along with a team that unveiled a $14.5 million research project in Louisville on Thursday.

"We think (trees) might be more effective than statins," the air pollution expert said of the widely prescribed class of drugs used to lower blood cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

DETROIT (AP) — A new website is designed to help leaders in the Great Lakes region keep track of progress toward protecting the environment and boosting the economy.

The Great Lakes Commission and The Nature Conservancy developed the site as part of their Blue Accounting Initiative . It was introduced during the recent Leadership Summit of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers in Detroit.

GRAND PORTAGE, Minn. (AP) — An island off the northeast tip of Minnesota is back with an American Indian tribe.

The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and The Nature Conservancy said Tuesday that Susie Island was returned to the tribe.

The 142-acre island is the largest of 13 small, rocky islands in Lake Superior near Canada. The band owns most of the other islands in the Susie Island chain.