Results that count in equity reporting are usually the product of organized, sustained effort — investments that take years before they produce something measurable. This week offers four examples, from a government-scale forest restoration to a court order that arrived Sunday evening.
Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative Reaches 47 Billion Seedlings, With Published Results
In seven years, tens of millions of Ethiopians have planted more than 47 billion seedlings under the Green Legacy Initiative — one of the world’s largest environmental restoration campaigns. In August, Grist reported, in a story originally published by Yale Environment 360, 26.6 million volunteers planted 800 million tree seedlings in a single day, topping the previous year’s record of 714.7 million. A 2026 study of more than 44,500 seedlings planted in southern Ethiopia found roughly 80 percent had survived. Between 2019 and 2023, national forest cover rose from 17.2 to 23.6 percent. Between 2013 and 2023, the annual deforestation rate fell from more than 350 square miles a year to around 100.
A Federal Judge Halted $20 Million in Taxpayer-Funded Trump Ads
A federal judge in Manhattan on Sunday evening halted the Trump administration’s $20 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign, issuing a temporary restraining order hours before DHS said the ads were set to end on their own. CNN reported that DHS had already spent $19 million from Customs and Border Protection funds on the campaign-style commercials before Judge Jennifer Rochon found that challengers — led by the nonprofit watchdog Common Cause and SEIU Local 32BJ — were “likely to succeed on the merits.” CNBC reported the order blocks further ad buys for two weeks. Rochon ruled that the administration’s pledge to let the contract expire did not moot the lawsuit.
78 Affordable Apartments Open on a Vacant Lot Near Detroit’s Eastern Market
Develop Detroit, a nonprofit that has built or preserved more than 500 multifamily housing units in Detroit since 2014, cut the ribbon in early October on The Hive on Russell — a $23.9 million project at 2033 Russell Street that converted a previously vacant site near Eastern Market into 78 apartments. Every unit is rent-restricted through the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program; households earning between 30 and 60 percent of area median income are eligible. Detroit contributed $4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, with additional financing from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and PNC Bank. The Kresge Foundation noted the project began in 2017 and navigated pandemic-era disruptions before opening.
Wisconsin Tribal Partnership Marks 20 Years Restoring Lake Sturgeon to the Milwaukee River Basin
A breeding and release program led by Riveredge Nature Center, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Wisconsin’s tribal communities has put more than 23,000 lake sturgeon back into the Milwaukee River basin over its 20-year run. In March, WPR reported, one male navigated a dam fishway and was detected in Ozaukee County — 20 river miles upstream of Lake Michigan — for the first time in more than a century. Commercial fishing and dam construction had eliminated the species from the basin by the early 1900s. DNR biologists are now watching for females to reach spawning age; if they do, the basin could see natural sturgeon reproduction for the first time in more than 100 years.