Nicholas Iovino

For almost 50 years, states and tribal governments have played an outsized role in deciding whether projects that can harm water quality should receive federal permits — a role that is about to change under a new rule finalized by the Trump administration Monday.

After 45 years of saving animals like the bald eagle and grizzly bear from extinction, new Endangered Species Act rules will weaken protections for thousands of plant and animal species according to a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration Wednesday.

Outdoor recreation advocates praised a Trump administration proposal Wednesday to expand hunting and fishing on 1.4 million acres in national wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries, but conservationists fear it could weaken wildlife protections in some areas.

A judge’s stark warning that natural wonders have no right to exist under federal law unsettled a group of conservationists fighting a proposed highway project through a majestic grove of ancient redwood trees in Northern California.

In the latest fallout over yet another Silicon Valley privacy scandal, computer users hit Google and its parent company Alphabet with a federal class action Monday night for potentially exposing the data of up to 500,000 users of Google Plus to outside parties.

A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to reconsider its denial of Endangered Species Act protection for the weasel-like Pacific fisher, finding it ignored evidence of persistent threats to the animal’s survival.