In a 7-2 ruling Monday the U.S. Supreme Court said an energy company could run a gas pipeline across the Appalachian National Scenic Trail in Virginia, holding that the National Park Service controls just an easement to the land traversed by the iconic foot path without authority to block the project.

Any gas pipelines that cross the Appalachian National Scenic Trail or the Blue Ridge Parkway need to be approved by Congress, not simply the U.S. Forest Service, according to an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by former National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, the trail's former superintendent, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks.

A $4,000 grant awarded by the Appalachian Trail Conservation will allow that organization and Friends of the Smokies to repair food storage cables in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.