In Annapolis, Baysiders were heartened at a scientific report last week estimating that underwater grasses had recovered by 14 percent in parts of the Chesapeake. But the news rang hollow in Herring Bay, where a fleet of clammers continued to kill grasses near the Fairhaven shoreline, apparently legally, amid complaints to DNR...

In Virginia, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries director William Woodfin was fired last week after an unflattering report by the state auditor. One complaint dealt with an African safari by Woodfin and two game wardens and their orders to state workers afterwards to produce a video of dubious value called Charging Rhino ...

In Baltimore, a study by the federal government’s Agriculture Research Service suggests that global warming and the gases that cause it are driving up pollen counts in urban areas. A research team found that ragweed, one of the causes of allergies, grew faster in cities where levels of carbon dioxide are higher from tailpipe emissions ...

In Washington, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced last week that scallop fishermen in the Mid-Atlantic must install heavy chain mats over their dredges to keep out endangered sea turtles. But Oceana, a global environmental advocacy group, says the service could have better protected turtles by closing waters to the scallop boats during turtle migrations …

Our Creature Feature comes from Cambodia, where farmers are hoping that the sacred oxen were right last week when they predicted an abundant rice harvest this season.

In a ceremony outside the royal palace in Phnom Penh, a pair of oxen was offered seven dishes: rice, corn, beans, sesame, water, wine and grass. They devoured nearly all of the rice, corn and beans but skipped the water, which signifies a plentiful harvest, Cambodia’s royal astrologer said.

Farmers were hopeful after what happened a year ago: After an ox became spooked and knocked over all the bowls, a terrible drought engulfed the land.