Alaska and Hawaii

"Documents unveiled by a Freedom of Information Act request show agencies’ behind-the-scenes critiques of the proposed Pebble Mine."

"Rapid ʻōhiʻa death, a fungal disease, has affected more than 71,000 hectares (175,000 acres) of forest on the Island of Hawai’i since around 2008, and has been detected on the islands of Kaua’i, Oʻahu, and Maui."

"The Trump administration violated the law when it approved a land swap to build a controversial road through a wildlife refuge, a federal court in Alaska ruled Monday."

"The plan for a large proposed gold and copper mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay has changed to include a two-lane, 82-mile access road along the northern shore of Lake Iliamna, alarming environmental opponents who say they weren’t informed of the change until late in the permitting process."

"The public is broadly opposed to the Trump administration’s plan to open most of the world’s largest remaining coastal temperate rainforest to logging and road-building, according to an internal U.S. Forest Service report."

"As the famed Copper River salmon season begins, isolated fishing towns are bracing for an influx of workers and their first brush with the coronavirus."

"In a tunnel beneath the frozen soil of Fox, Alaska, scientists are racing to understand permafrost before it is gone."

"The latest front in the war against drilling for oil in Alaska’s rugged wildlife refuge isn’t Washington -- it’s Wall Street."

"Opponents of the Pebble Mine lost one of their lawsuits Friday, when a federal court judge ruled against them."

"A proposed private 211-mile mining road that would cross a national park and preserve, opening access to untapped precious metals, came one step closer to approval Friday."