"Prominent Republicans and conservative news media outlets rallied in recent weeks around the cause of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose armed standoff with authorities over grazing rights on federal land had made him an instant folk hero on the right. But Bundy’s GOP defenders, including Sens. Dean Heller (Nev.) and Rand Paul (Ky.), rapidly abandoned him on Thursday following reports of incendiary remarks that the white rancher made about minorities. Bundy wondered aloud whether blacks would be better off as slaves picking cotton, and alleged that people of color are 'against us.'"

"Florida Gov. Rick Scott and environmental advocates Wednesday called for federal officials to reconsider their delay of a $2 billion plan intended to help the Everglades and lessen coastal water pollution."

"Louisiana's coast is disappearing at the rate of about a football field an hour. Since the 1930s, the Gulf of Mexico has swallowed up an area the size of Delaware."

''Cementing protection for one of the largest privately owned pieces of land on California's 1,100-mile coastline, a San Francisco environmental group on Monday donated to the public the Coast Dairies property - a pastoral expanse of rolling meadows, redwood forests and panoramic ocean views north of Santa Cruz."

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) weighed in Monday against a Nevada rancher who is battling the federal government. 'Well, it’s not over,'Reid told KRNV, a Reno, Nev.-based television station. 'We can’t have an American people that violate the law and then just walk away from it. So it's not over.'"

"U.S. officials ended a stand-off with hundreds of armed protesters in the Nevada desert on Saturday, calling off the government's roundup of cattle it said were illegally grazing on federal land and giving about 300 animals back to the rancher who owned them."

"Passage Key became one of the first national wildlife refuges in 1905, boasting 30 acres of mangroves and an inland freshwater lake. Today, it sits under the water in Tampa Bay, only emerging at low tide as a small sandbar that is popular with seabirds -- and occasional trespassing nudists."

"NAPLES, Fla. – For their retirement, Pamela and Jaime Duran chose a cottage in Southwest Florida. Here, they could raise chickens, savor the quiet and enjoy the lush backdrop of the historic Everglades. They call it "a little piece of paradise.""