Natural Resources

"As one of his last official acts in the Trump administration, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt rescinded an Obama-era order that directs the department to protect wilderness areas."

"The outgoing Trump administration is proposing to strip away protections for millions of acres of California desert, threatening damage to Joshua trees, desert tortoises and landmarks."

"Red Sleep Mountain began its official return to the Flathead Indian Reservation on Friday as Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed papers transferring the National Bison Range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes."

"The interior least tern, a hardy Midwestern bird that survived a craze for its plumage and dam-building that destroyed much of its habitat, has soared off the endangered species list."

"Little on-the-ground damage to the parks has been seen since they were shrunk in 2017. But conservationists say the sooner they can be properly protected again, the better."

"Environmental groups filed suit in federal court Thursday to undo a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last month that handed Florida officials primary regulatory authority over the state’s wetlands."

"The Alaska state agency that submitted most of the bids in a lightly attended auction for drilling rights in the Arctic Nationa"l Wildlife Refuge expects to have those leases in hand by next week, the organization’s executive director said on Wednesday."

"The company behind the controversial Line 5 pipeline under part of the Great Lakes this morning said it would defy a Michigan order to halt operations by May."

"The Trump administration has completed a review of plans to ease protections for a struggling bird species in seven states in the U.S. West, but there’s little time to put the relaxed rules for industry into action before President-elect Joe Biden takes office."