Natural Resources

"NAOMA, W.Va. — Junior Walk stands with one foot resting on the stoop of a log house. A slab of wood mounted above the door reads in hand-painted letters: Coal River Mountain Watch."

"Long after the Black Hawk helicopter carrying Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke flew off into the bright Utah sky, James Adakai stood in the airport parking lot with an angry frown frozen on his face."

"U.S. EPA [Friday] cleared a path for the Pebble mine to begin the permitting process, promising to scrap the Obama administration's proposed restrictions on the southwestern Alaska project."

"U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed an agreement recognizing the landmark Paris climate accord at a meeting of Arctic nations in Alaska on Thursday, but said President Donald Trump was not rushing to decide whether to leave or weaken U.S. commitments to the pact."

"Montana's Glacier National Park is quickly losing an important part of its natural beauty: Its glaciers. U.S. Geological Survey data released Wednesday shows the park's 37 glaciers, along with two others on federal Forest Service land, have shrunk an average of about 40% since 1966."

"SALT LAKE CITY — While protestors clogged the sidewalk outside, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he will be gathering perspectives of people on all sides of a deeply controversial issue as he reviews the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments."

"The most biologically diverse waterway in America is in bad shape. The Indian River Lagoon is repeatedly being choked with oxygen-robbing algae, its surface increasingly dotted with thousands of dead fish, manatees, birds and other creatures."

"Potentially harmful human-caused noise pollution affects nearly two-thirds of all protected areas in the United States, according to a report released on Thursday."

"To Native Americans, Bears Ears National Monument is more than a national park, it is holy ground connecting them to their ancestors and the spiritual realm."