Are cramped chickens crazy chickens? Researchers are trying to answer that question through several studies that intend to take emotions out of an angry debate between animal welfare groups and producers.

BIG STONE GAP, Va. – A raucous crowd arrived Thursday for a public hearing on the future of permits allowing surface mine waste to be dumped into streams.

In September 2007, biologists joined forces with the Boxley Materials Company to build a new wetland outside the range of quarry expansion to give salamanders a place to reproduce.

A state panel adopted rules this afternoon designed to reduce the amount of pollution that rains wash from new office parks and other developed areas.

The number of poor air-quality days in Virginia dropped from 76 in 1999 to three in 2009, according to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

As of yesterday, patients, employees and visitors no longer are allowed to smoke on the property of the University of Virginia Medical Center.

The weed killer atrazine, widely used on Florida lawns and golf courses, interferes with the normal growth and development of amphibians and freshwater fish, says an analysis by researchers at the University of South Florida.

The Chesapeake Bay is too beautiful for its own good.

A committee will look at the Potomac River’s dwindling oyster population.

Virginia lost more than one-half million acres of farmland between 2002 and 2007.

The Obama administration proposed new requirements and incentives yesterday for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.ation released draft plans today for restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration is planning a $40 million effort to survey and chart coastal seafloors.

The Amherst County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss a letter today opposing the dumping, spreading or discharge of biosolids on land adjacent to the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail.

The cool, wet spring wasn’t just good for replenishing water reserves — it also has killed off vast swaths of gypsy moths that infested mountain forests throughout the state.

Virginia’s national forests are emerging as a potential battleground for wind energy, a key part of efforts to develop alternatives to coal and oil in the United States.

More than 110 people statewide participated in the day, including 11 members of the Greater Lynchburg Environmental Network.

Fish are dying once again in western Virginia.

Something bright flashed near the surface of the murky James River. Will McCahill swung at it with a net and caught a piece of living history.

Mother Nature decided this wasn’t a good weekend for the James River Float Company to take customers out on the water.

Despite ongoing water quality degradation, life in Lynchburg’s streams appears more resilient than scientists expected, according to new data just released in an ongoing study on the Blackwater Creek watershed.

CHINA GROVE - Lee Menius grew up on a farm where animals were raised the conventional way for many years. Now he’s trying something different.

Making your life more environmentally friendly doesn’t always include planting trees or starting compost piles. Caring about the environment means taking responsibility.

Here’s a sampling of courses related to sustainability at each local private college. For a more comprehensive listing of courses, visit each school’s Web site, as listed below.

With several colleges in and around Lynchburg, Central Virginia is well stocked with academic coursework anyone can access that focuses on the environment.

What do you do with leftover ribbon from your sister’s wedding? Or an old shirt that no longer fits? Or that too-cute sundress with a hole in the middle?

A popular way to increase a household’s eco-friendliness is to start composting.

Keeping pets involves a lot of responsibility, between feeding them, making sure they don’t leave messes everywhere and ensuring they are cared for properly. But there’s a lot pet owners can do to help the environment by slightly changing some every day practices.

A figure clad in a lime green safety vest holding an orange trash bag leaned over and picked up something lying on the ground beside Leesville Road: A bent diamond-shaped traffic sign that said, “No littering.”

If you’re in Abingdon behind a teeny little car crawling at 25 miles per hour, don’t honk the horn – it’s going as fast as it can.

Going green doesn’t mean completely uprooting your life. You don’t have to live in a house made from tires or give up showers, or blow your savings account on every product with spectacular claims of environmental friendliness.