There is a thread of commonality in the Colorado River as it flows through the Grand Canyon, and the Potomac River as it flows into Washington, D.C. It revolves around preservation.

Is the country’s approach to public lands management balanced, or is it skewed toward resource development at the expense of the environment and recreation? A coalition of conservation groups believes it is skewed, and wants the Obama administration, and Congress, to provide that missing balance.

First of all, and most paramount, we must say that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with mountain bikes.

As the country endeavors to become more and more energy independent, new techniques for extracting oil and gas from beneath the landscape are greatly expanding the footprint of energy exploration in the country. These efforts have greatly increased the production of oil and natural gas in the United States, and they also are creating problems when the drilling operations turn up on the doorsteps of national parks.