Published June 15, 2017 03:17PM

'Kirt Edblom'
The United States’ share of the UN’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves got a little smaller this week when officials asked for 17 sites to be taken off the list of some of the world’s biodiverse learning ecosystems. They include the University of California’s California Coast Ranges and the U.S. Forest Service’s Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest. Officials didn’t give a reason for the request, though traditionally sites leave the list when countries can no longer meet protection requirements.