Natural Resources

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has signed a bill lauded by the struggling coal industry and called dangerous by the miners’ union."

"Last week, with little fanfare, PNC Financial, the nation’s seventh-largest bank, disclosed a significant strategic shift. The bank said it would no longer finance coal-mining companies that pursue mountaintop removal of coal in Appalachia, an environmentally devastating practice that has long drawn opposition."

"By failing six years ago to implement higher entrance fees across all 131 parks that charge them, the National Park Service left tens of millions of dollars on the table in potential revenues, a report from the Interior Department's Inspector General asserts."

"With the recent huge growth in motorized winter sports, the Forest Service has been behind the curve in managing public lands, but last month, the agency released its final policy for managing snowmobile and other 'over-snow' vehicle use."

"The canal would allow passage for the largest ships on the water, but cut through wetlands, forests and the region's largest freshwater lake — and environmentalists worry about the consequences."

"The National Park Service announced yesterday that it had more than 292.8 million recreational visitors in 2014 -- a higher annual total than any time in its nearly 100-year history."

The National Park Service has been documenting the acoustic environment in National Parks for years. But in addition to the sounds of nature --  Coyotes in Colorado, a hummingbird in Washington State, elk from Sand Dunes National Park -- the microphones also capture the sounds of civilization -- such as sirens.