Natural Resources

"The Obama administration is proposing to allow up to 318 snowmobiles per day into Yellowstone National Park for the next two winters, cutting by more than half the 720 allowed last winter by the Bush administration."

"The environmental damage caused by mountaintop removal mining across Appalachia has been well documented. But scientists are now beginning to understand that the mining operations’ most lasting damage may be caused by the massive amounts of debris dumped into valley streams."

"In a modest victory for environmentalists, the Obama administration said Monday that it was designating nearly one million acres of Arizona land near the Grand Canyon off limits to new uranium mining claims for two years."

"The Corps is proposing to eliminate the use of its streamlined permit process -- in this case Nationwide Permit 21, or NWP 21 -- for the approval of surface coal mining in Appalachia."

"The National Park Service is proposing the extension of rules for boating on the Colorado River through part of Grand Canyon National Park to the landmark's entire 277-mile river corridor."

"California officials said Wednesday they are trying to avert the federal government's threat to seize six parks that could be closed to help reduce the state's ballooning budget deficit."

Engineering projects hope to save Louisiana's shrinking coastal wetlands by diverting sediment from the Mississippi River -- but a new study says there is not enough mud in the Mississippi to do the job.