Environment

The Minnesota DNR has found invasive carp farther upstream in the Mississippi than the fish has previously been encountered.

Environmental Protection Agency officials insist new exemptions will ease and clarify regulation on agricultural land. But some farmers are concerned that the new rules will give federal regulators an expanded role on farmer's fields.

The DNR stocks about 25,000 muskie in as many as 30 lakes each year.

He said converting coal plants to users of natural gas should continue, along with investments in renewable energy.

In recent years, the DNR has removed up to 18,000 pounds of trash from one spot on the Mississippi River.

Federal authorities say Minnesota Power has agreed to install technology to reduce air pollution from three coal-fired plants.

Residents will be fined for wasteful outdoor watering, including "watering landscaping to the point that runoff flows onto sidewalks, washing a vehicle without a nozzle on the hose, or hosing down hard surfaces such as sidewalks and driveways," AP reports.

The wasps are natural predators of the tree-killing insect found in Winona in April. They eat the bug or use ash borer larvae to incubate their eggs.

Creeping Charlie, also called Ground Ivy, thrives in shade and high-moisture environments. The recent heavy rainfall has not helped in that scenario to lessen moisture from soil.

Billions of dollars are riding on how these rules are written, and lobbyists from the railroads, tank car manufacturers and the oil, ethanol and chemical industries have met 13 times since March with officials at the White House and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

With billions of dollars at stake, the railroad, oil, ethanol and chemical industries -- along with their critics-- have been trying to shape the rules to their advantage in a series of meetings with the White House and PHMSA.

Palm oil is used in foods like toaster pastries, instant ramen noodles and doughnuts. Palm oil production in Africa is picking up. And the new farms there are threatening great ape populations in West and Central Africa, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

Lawn watering is one of the biggest uses of groundwater in Minnesota, but a combination of technology, pricing and attitude change suggests that residents may be starting to change their behavior.

Green-thumbed gurus answer questions and offer advice for Minnesota gardeners.

The DNR says it's ramping up enforcement this weekend as a result.

A University of Minnesota study says a recent switch from grassland to crops in southeastern Minnesota could increase the number of household wells contaminated with nitrates.

The rain has led to more black flies and a shortened nesting season for many of the state's birds.

Samples from Spring Park's municipal water supply system found elevated levels of an industrial solvent.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is seeking input on how to regulate development along the 72-mile Mississippi River corridor in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Minnesotans are spending millions of dollars to deal with nitrate contamination in their water, and the state agriculture department says it's time to insist that farmers do more to prevent the problem.