Natural Resources

"Back in February, the Parnell administration told a judge that Cook Inlet beluga whales didn't need the protection of the federal Endangered Species Act because the state was perfectly capable of protecting them itself, in part because of the Alaska Coastal Management Program. But in a notice belatedly filed in the case Friday, the Alaska attorney general's office acknowledged the state had lost that conservation and enforcement tool four months ago."

"WASHINGTON -- A new fast-track planning effort could shave years off the next phase of Everglades restoration, putting more fresh and clean water into the central and southern portions of Florida's 'River of Grass' more quickly."

"The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled its road map for solar energy development, directing large-scale industrial projects to 285,000 acres of desert land in the western U.S. while opening 20 million acres of the Mojave for new development."

"New uranium mining claims on 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon will be blocked for 20 years under a decision the Bureau of Land Management announced Wednesday."

"The US Department of Interior plans to integrate the responsibilities of two sub-agencies with diverse portfolios overseeing surface mining, federal land management, oil and natural gas royalty collection and hard-rock mining, among other areas, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday."

"The leaseholder for a controversial coal mine proposed in the Matanuska Valley has withdrawn its application for a state air quality permit for a second time, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation and the company, Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc."

"A few hundred voters in the remote hills of western Alaska cast ballots this week -- in one of the most closely watched elections in the country -- to halt big mining projects that might poison fishing streams. That initiative was targeted squarely at the giant Pebble Mine.

"MIAMI -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is in South Florida to learn about the progress of the Tamiami Trail Bridge Project.

A press release says Salazar and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe on Thursday will be highlighting the Department's work to help preserve and protect America's great outdoors."

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel had the story October 20, 2011.

With a $10 billion maintenance backlog, the National Park Service is struggling to make do as aging buildings deteriorate. This week it shuttered the Grand Teton's Indian Arts Museum, because uncontrolled humidity and other conditions there were ruining a world-class collection of ancient Native American artifacts.