Articles by Grist staff

Ranger Rearranger

Federal wildlife agents and rangers — the folks who protect U.S. public lands from poaching, endangered species smuggling, illegal off-road activity, and other no-nos — were in short supply long before Sept. 11. But now their ranks are even thinner, after scores of agents were re-assigned to serve as sky marshals or guard federal buildings […]

Hi Ho Silver

Notwithstanding intense citizen pressure, the U.S. EPA decided yesterday to proceed with a massive cleanup of Silver Valley, Idaho, making the area one of the nation’s biggest Superfund sites. Many residents had argued that toxins leftover from more than a century of mining no longer posed health or environmental problems, and feared that the EPA […]

Accountant Dracula

The U.S. Forest Service’s accounting practices are “totally unreliable,” the General Accounting Office reported Tuesday. The GAO report, which came in response to a request by Reps. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) and George Miller (D-Calif.) for an agency audit, was by far the most scathing condemnation of irregular accounting practices at the USFS to date. Watchdog […]

Fuel for the City

Seeking to control sky-high summertime fuel prices, the U.S. EPA proposed new regulations for anti-smog gasoline yesterday. The EPA has been gradually phasing in a plan to combat summer smog in densely populated areas by mandating the use of cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline (RFG). The oil industry blames that plan for high prices at the pumps […]