41 New Trails Span About 650 Miles

June 8, 2011–Just in time for summer, 41 new segments of the US National Recreation Trails system in AL, AR, CT, FL, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, MI, MN, NJ, NM, OK, PA, TN, and WV, covering about 650 land and water miles in 17 states, are open for business. These are part of a much larger system of about 1,100 trails spanning 13,000 miles.

Univ. of Virginia Bows to Denier Group on Climate Science FOIA

June 1, 2011–In a court agreement filed May 22, 2011, University of Virginia agreed to release documents of former U.Va. researcher/climate scientist Michael Mann. The plaintiff is American Tradition Institute, which raises funds with the slogan "Crush Gang Green and their anti-business allies."

Ocean Issues Highlighted at 'Blue Vision' Summit May 20-23 in DC

May 11, 2011–The event will cover everything from the Gulf of Mexico's struggle to recover from the BP oil spill to protection of over-exploited commercial fish stocks … to ocean acidification, marine protected areas, offshore energy, and coastal ecosystem restoration.

Meetings Set for Getting Public Feedback on Solar Sites

February 2, 2011–The federal government has released its draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for identifying and evaluating the best areas on public lands for building utility-scale solar plants. A 90-day public comment period ends March 17, 2011, preceded by 14 meetings in 6 Western states and Washington, D.C.

AAAS Meeting: Source for Cutting-Edge Enviro News

January 19, 2011–Topics at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Feb. 17-21, 2011 in Washington, D.C., include climate change, energy, health, oceans, national security, nanotechnology, GMOs, religion, space weather and many more.

EPA Won't Disclose Alternative Study on Spruce Mine MTR Permit

December 1, 2010–Despite promises of transparency, the US Environmental Protection Agency has denied a Freedom-of-Information request by Charleston Gazette reporter Ken Ward Jr. for the contractor study, which apparently outlines less harmful options for this West Virginia mountaintop-removal project.

Natural Gas Hazards Drawing Federal Attention

July 7, 2010–After hearing for years about public concern over the adverse health and environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing used to increase production of natural gas, US EPA has begun a process (including 4 public meetings in July; CO, NY, PA, TX) to decide what the issues are and how to address them.

EPA Lists Counties Likely To Violate Lead Standard

June 23, 2010–Counties, currently in 12 states with more likely to be added next year as a result of new lead monitors, must take steps within five years to meet the standard.

15 States Get More Federal Recreational Trails

June 9, 2010–The National Trails system, already stretching more than 12,500 miles, expands with the addition of 31 more trails totalling 716 miles.

BLM Tweaks Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Policies

June 9, 2010–The changes affect only new drilling areas and may include greater consideration of environmental impacts, more public review, fewer "categorical exclusions" from environmental review, and more.