"The Trump administration is seeking to loosen federal rules intended to protect historic sites, alarming outside groups who say the changes would allow government agencies and developers to pursue major projects — such as President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch — without soliciting public input."

"In a case that has become a local flashpoint, environmental groups seeking to halt a lithium operation in Imperial County until it gets further review argued before a state appeals court in San Diego on Thursday."

"The U.S. government plans to auction off massive sections of water surrounding American Samoa for potential deep-sea mining in an unprecedented move that is expected to draw criticism from many countries."

"The U.S. Interior Department on Friday canceled a rule meant to protect plants and animals that are determined to be threatened with extinction, the latest step by President Donald Trump’s administration to dismantle key provisions of the landmark Endangered Species Act at the behest of industry."

"Until recently, when members of the Konkow Valley Band of Maidu pulled up a map of their ancestral land in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, only about two dozen of their historic sites appeared." "Then the forests burned."

"Thousands of visitors were told to evacuate a remote Minnesota wilderness area accessible only by boat as wildfires send dangerously heavy smoke over the U.S. Midwest and Northeast this week."

"Two coalitions of Native American tribes emphasized Tuesday that they weren’t consulted before President Donald Trump downsized Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by roughly 90%."

"The Trump administration proposed Tuesday to hand over management of grizzly bears to Western states, a win for advocates of local control that did not change the underlying imperiled status of the bears."

"For half a century, millions of workers have repeated a task across the deserts in northern China: inserting forearm-length sticks into shifting sand, ... The technique, known as “straw checkerboards,” is a simple yet widely used method to stabilize sand dunes against the wind and help plants take root by using water supplied through an irrigation system."

"A quarter century after the church’s attempted purchase fell flat, a renewed plan that would trade LDS land has emerged — and it’s garnering broad support."