[S4E9] State of the Grasslands 2025

About this episode

The episode discusses the state of grasslands conservation in 2025, highlighting significant threats and challenges while also sharing positive news.

In our final episode of Season 4, The Best Biome team discusses the state of grasslands conservation in the current year (and what an eventful year it has been). We discuss the most significant threats and daunting challenges that we'll need to meet head on to protect our underappreciated and overlooked ecosystems. Topics include rollbacks to the Endangered Species Act, attacks on research funding, extraction on public lands, the truth behind grazing leases, and much, much more. Of course, we have plenty of good news to share as well! Join us as we bid 2025 farewell and get ready for whatever next year will bring. Note: There is some occasional strong language used in this episode, as a result of our passion about these topics. Primary Sources : Rachel's Sources: Jack Hatzimemos, Georgetown Environmental Law Review, "The Single Most Impactful Day of Deregulation in EPA History", Mar. 20, 2025 More Than Just Parks: "Mike Lee is Still Trying to Steal Your Land", Nov. 5, 2025 Inflation Reduction Act Rollback Tracker **** Columbia Law Climate Backtracker Bill McKibben: The Crucial Years, "A Different Kind of Leader Gives A Different Kind…

People in this episode

Host: Rachel

Topics covered

• grasslands conservation
• Endangered Species Act
• research funding
• public lands
• grazing leases
• environmental challenges
• ecosystem protection

Keywords

• grasslands
• conservation
• Endangered Species Act
• public lands
• environmental policy
• grazing
• ecosystems
• research funding

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Georgetown Environmental Law Review, More Than Just Parks, Columbia Law Climate Backtracker, Center for American Progress

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• [S4E8] The Spookiest Biome! · October 9, 2025 · 45 min
• [S4E6] Rivercane Reverie · August 14, 2025 · 1h 1m
• [S4E5] Sunflower Politics · July 10, 2025 · 54 min
• [S4E4] Healing the World (and Heavy Metals) with Plants · June 12, 2025 · 55 min
• [S4E3] The Hottest Reptile (Tegus) · May 8, 2025 · 49 min