Natural Resources

"When you were trying to figure out what to buy for the environmentalist on your holiday list, fur probably didn't cross your mind. But some ecologists and fashion enthusiasts are trying to rekindle a market for fur made from nutria -- rodents that are destroying Louisiana's wetlands."

"Data obtained by The Associated Press indicates that just a small percentage of the leveled Appalachian mountain landscape has been transformed into new developments such as businesses, prisons, golf courses and subdivisions."

"Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) this week blocked a package of public lands bills pushed by Democratic leadership after the removal of his own proposal to promote a land exchange in Arizona to allow a new copper mine."

"The Obama administration has restored U.S. land managers' powers to curb development on vast tracts of America's back country, undoing what conservation groups called a 'no more wilderness' policy put in place under President George W. Bush."

"The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta would become a "national heritage area" and receive federal funding and planning oversight under a controversial provision slipped into a massive spending bill that died a sudden death Thursday night."

"The Department of Interior has identified some two dozen potential sites for large-scale solar power installations on public lands in six Western states as part of an effort to encourage development of renewable energy on public lands and waters."

"The United States is too reliant on China for minerals crucial to new clean energy technologies, making the American economy vulnerable to shortages of materials needed for a range of green products — from compact fluorescent light bulbs to electric cars to giant wind turbines."

"In the fight over proposed mining projects in northern Minnesota, a new player with a surprising amount of clout has emerged -- wild rice."