National forests throughout the US are expected to be subject to substantial development pressure around their periphery in the next quarter century, according to a US Forest Service study announced Oct. 25, 2007.

One of those problem areas is the thousands of old mines that were dug to extract uranium ore. During the era from the 1940s to the 1980s when most were excavated, many were simply abandoned when they played out or the economic incentives changed. Radioactivity now contaminates many sources of human and environmental exposure.

Another effort to revamp the US General Mining Act of 1872 is under way. The House on Nov. 1, 2007, passed by a 244-166 margin a bill that for the first time would collect for the U.S. Treasury royalties for mining "hard rock" minerals on federally owned lands.

Stories that we think will have great impact on the lives of Americans, but which we suspect will slip "under the radar" because of war-related media inattention.

EPA asks for comments on proposed regulation of 104 chemicals found in drinking water

Scorecard reports environmental records of US Representatives and Senators

The US Navy seeks comments on its proposed rules for using sonar for its Atlantic Fleet training exercises

Escaped pythons and other tropical pet snakes may be able to survive in one-third of Southern states, USGS predicts in new report.

EPA is scheduled to announce by March 12, 2008, its final rule for a new ground-level ozone standard, last updated more than a decade ago.

The strategy of changing chemical processes at industrial facilities so they use less hazardous materials, and pose less of a threat from terrorism and accidents, gained little traction in the Bush administration after 9/11. But a number of organizations continue to push the idea.