"A Canadian mining company's discovery last week of high-grade gold deposits north of Glacier National Park has raised alarm among environmentalists that development of the deposits could imperil Montana's Flathead River Valley and fragment North America's most prized grizzly habitat."

"In New Mexico, a tribal attempt to protect Mount Taylor sparks a battle over ancient claims to the land."

"The new head of the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement promised Wednesday to find a way to reduce the impacts of mountaintop removal mining on Appalachian streams, forests and communities. But OSM Director Joe Pizarchik said he would not seek what most coalfield and national environmental groups are advocating: a ban on the practice."

"The federal Minerals Management Service has approved a controversial plan by Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. to drill up to three exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea on leases it purchased in 2008."

"Sears Holdings, the parent company of Sears and Kmart, along with two other jewelry retailers last week signed on to the No Dirty Gold campaign's Golden Rules for responsible sourcing of precious metals."

"The Obama administration on Wednesday announced plans to beef up federal strip-mining inspections and reviews of mining permits issued by state regulators like West Virginia's Department of Environmental Protection."

"A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday upheld a 2005 court decision that effectively halted the development of what would have been one of the nation's largest landfills near Joshua Tree National Park."

Since the 2008 Farm Bill capped the program for re-establishing native grasses on lands once swept bare by erosion like the Dust Bowl, some 3 million acres have been taken out of "conservation reserve."

"Congress approved legislation Thursday that includes $475 million to restore the Great Lakes by combating invasive species, cleaning up highly polluted sites and expanding wetlands."

Incoming head of the National Park Service Jonathan Jarvis "knows the park service's problems are epic. Its maintenance backlog is $8 billion, for one, and it is seeking more money from Congress to fill potholes, improve ranger living quarters, and build more visitor centers and campgrounds."

"The National Park Service has approved a plan to restrict the number of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park to fewer than half last winter’s limit."

"A new study for the federal Minerals Management Service concludes that the construction of pipelines related to oil and gas production in the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico 'can cause locally intense habitat changes, thereby contributing to the loss of critically important land and wetland areas.'"

"'Climate disruption is the greatest threat ever to America's national parks,' warns Stephen Saunders, president of the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and principal author of a new report released Thursday that identifies the 25 U.S. national parks, lakeshores, seashores and monuments most at risk of global warming."

"The Obama administration on Wednesday moved to curtail the practice of mountaintop mining to extract coal, angering mining companies that said the move threatens thousands of jobs."

"In what is being touted as the world's biggest dam-removal project, an agreement was reached Tuesday to remove four dams on the Klamath River and restore a 300-mile migratory route for California's beleaguered salmon."