"A century ago American chestnut trees dominated the eastern woodlands from Georgia to Maine. Growing straight and tall they were prized for timber. Wildlife depended on the nuts they provided every year."

"Eighty-five percent of male smallmouth bass tested in or nearby 19 National Wildlife Refuges in the U.S. Northeast had signs of female reproductive parts, according to a new federal study."

"LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - The $2 billion contract to manage one of the federal government's premier nuclear weapons laboratories will be up for grabs after 2017."

"Dreaming of a white Christmas? Depending on where you live, you might want to keep dreaming, according to current weather reports. If you live in the eastern or central United States, Friday could be 'one of the warmest Christmas Days of your lifetime,' The Weather Channel reported Sunday."

"How oil industry lobbyists played the long game — wearing down an overmatched federal bureaucracy to gain access to a fuel-rich corner of the Alaskan wilderness. "

"Federal officials are turning over scores of emails and documents related to climate science research in response to a subpoena from a House committee."

"Security researcher Brian Wallace was on the trail of hackers who had snatched a California university's housing files when he stumbled into a larger nightmare: Cyberattackers had opened a pathway into the networks running the United States' power grid."

"With a Paris climate agreement just over a week old, President Obama is singling out the GOP on climate change. In an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep, the president lambasted Republicans, whom he views as excessively contrarian on the issue."

"The Obama administration is expected to extend Endangered Species Act protections for two breeds of lions, in response to a large decline in their numbers in Africa over the past two decades."

"As Congress headed home for the Christmas break after passing a budget deal, Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack presented lawmakers with an angry ultimatum: Put up more cash if you want the U.S. Forest Service to keep putting out huge wildfires."