Pennsylvania's trees are facing a multitude of threats including fungus, insects, and worms, like the ones that cause beech leaf disease. American chestnut trees once thrived in our region, but 150 years ago a fungus wiped them out. Researchers and advocates are trying to bring them back, but they disagree on how to do it. Plus, we tag along with a crew trying to save hemlock trees from a sap-sucking invasive pest. A researcher in Ohio was surrounded by hundreds of dead ash trees that the emerald ash borer, a beetle, had wiped out. But in that same forest, she found a lone tree thriving. Could this tree be the key to saving ash from extinction?

The Northeast has faced a record-breaking drought this fall. It's impacting trees, including the ones we put in our homes at Christmas. Most steel is made using coal. A new report says emissions from plants that are part of this traditional steelmaking have serious consequences for public health. A new exhibit looks at the environmental implications of our fashion choices. Also, there's been a sharp decline of several Pennsylvania bat species from white-nose syndrome. A new federal conservation plan aims to keep development projects from making things worse. ClearWater Conservancy recently received two grants to help pay for its new Community Conservation Center, which will serve as a hub for land conservation and watershed protection in central Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is hopeful a state ban on Sunday hunting will be completely lifted next year. After an explosion at a fracking waste disposal site last year, nearby residents had concerns about impacts on health and the environment.

Last year the Biden administration tasked federal agencies with considering environmental justice in their decisionmaking. Some say that isn't happening as planning for the seven new hydrogen hubs moves forward nationwide. Water quality in Pennsylvania streams is being hindered by aging dams, many of which are dangerous and obsolete. Climate-related weather like flash floods and extreme heat impacts people experiencing homelessness. Also, an environmental group wants state regulators to tighten water pollution restrictions on a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh which has released oil into the Monongahela River. Friends of the Riverfront released a new plan for recreation in Pittsburgh’s three rivers. PECO, formerly the Philadelphia Electric Company, has agreed to add solar energy to its mix of sources that generate electricity for customers in southeast Pennsylvania.