Legislation to allow a private equity firm to continue to run the Caneel Bay Resort at Virgin Islands National Park for 60 years was passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, but without language that would have required the company to ensure its activities were "consistent with all applicable laws and policies of the National Park Service.’’

On a hot, humid New York City day in September 1983, Laurance S. Rockefeller signed away, for $1, a beautiful sweeping parcel of ocean-front land on the Caribbean island of St. John to the United States government for inclusion in Virgin Islands National Park. While he held back a resort complex on that land, he fully intended to transfer it to the park 40 years later. U.S. Rep. Stacy Plaskett is working to void Mr. Rockefeller's desire, for reasons she won't explain.

An idyllic, 170-acre setting inside Virgin Islands National Park is home to the Caneel Bay Resort, a high-end luxury resort with waterside rooms, massage services, weekly cocktail parties, fitness center, tennis courts, and several restaurants. Now in shambles following last fall's hurricanes, the resort's future could hinge on an eight-year-old law passed by Congress and current legislation that would circumvent that law.

Four months after hurricanes Irma and Maria raked Virgin Islands National Park, some boat owners have yet to remove their storm anchor gear from Hurricane Hole, which didn't avoid the wrath of Hurricane Irma. If they don't remove it by the end of January, the National Park Service will do it for them.