Charles Sams was confirmed as the new Director of the National Park Service on a voice vote by the U.S. Senate on November 18. Sams has been a member of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and has served as
Two legal challenges to MVP heard before Fourth Circuit
A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on October 29 on two separate cases brought by ABRA members challenging permits issued for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). The first case, Wild Virginia v. U.S.
WV mine safety site gets O.K., despite environmental concerns
A proposed mine safety test facility to be located in Mace, WV, straddling the Pocahontas-Randolph county line, has been approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), despite strong opposition over environmental issues from conservation groups in
A virtual tour of Proposed Shenandoah Mountain Scenic Area
Friends of Shenandoah Mountain (FSM), a long-time ABRA member, has proposed that a 90,000-acre tract of the George Washington National Forest be designated by Congress as a National Scenic Area. FSM has just created a virtual tour of the proposed
WV Highlands Conservancy voices concerns over forest project
A proposed project in the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) has evoked strong concerns from the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy (Conservancy), the state’s most prominent conservation organization and a founding member of ABRA. The stated purpose by the MNF of the
Comments on MVP stream crossings due October 27
Comments on the request by Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC to have a new Section 401 Water Protection Permit issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for MVP related to its crossing streams and wetlands in Virginia are due October
Final SEIS on ACP Restoration to be published by November 19
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will be releasing by November 19 the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the restoration work that must be done on the route for the now-cancelled Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). The SEIS will
REMINDER: Army Corps hearings for MVP on November 1 and 4
Public hearings by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding the permit application submitted by Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC for its proposed pipeline to cross certain bodies of water along the project’s path in West Virginia and Virginia will be
Endangered species regulatory changes close to happening
The significant revisions made to the Endangered Species Act regulations by the Trump Administration in December 2020 are close to being reversed by the Biden Administration. The U.S. Department of Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) developed last summer proposed
Army Corps to hold MVP hearings on MVP permit application
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced September 30 that it will conduct two virtual public hearings to solicit the views of interested persons regarding the permit application submitted by Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC to cross certain bodies of water