Environment

In Florida, local governments have taken the charge to address their climate-polluting emissions and transition to clean energy.

The highest concentration is in Central and North Florida, including most of the 30 "first magnitude" springs —those that discharge at least 65 million gallons of water daily. Most are considered polluted.

Plaintiffs call Florida's water quality criteria "woefully" outdated. It was last updated in 1992.

Beneath a cloak of darkness, illuminated only by glow sticks and red-filtered flashlights, researchers waited underwater off Key Largo hoping to witness one of the rarest events of sex in the sea.

More than a decade after the oyster industry collapsed in Northwest Florida’s Apalachicola Bay, state wildlife officials gave preliminary approval Thursday to reopen some oyster reefs for harvesting in January, with plans to start a recurring seasonal harvest later in 2026.

For the first time since 2015, Florida will reopen black bear hunting.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will take up a final vote Wednesday on proposed rules for a regulated bear hunt.

State wildlife officials could allow oyster harvesting in part of Northwest Florida’s Apalachicola Bay, where the fishery collapsed more than a decade ago and continues to struggle to recover.

A brief contends the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission — not the Department of Environmental Protection — is constitutionally responsible for wildlife-related issues.

Pennywise, weighing 302 pounds, was deemed healthy and strong enough to return to the wild Wednesday after being treated by Loggerhead Marinelife Center's veterinary team over the past few months.