In case you haven't been paying attention, a recent 11th hour decision by the U.S. National Park Service to cancel implementation of a ban on bottled water sales within Grand Canyon National Park ruffled a few feathers after it was revealed that the Coca-Cola company, both a purveyor of bottled water in and a large donator to the national parks system, had lobbied hard against ban. More than 100,000 people signed a petition urging the Park Service to go through with the ban. And now it seems that they will get their wish ... sort of.

A revised National Park Service policy memorandum issued on Dec. 14 indicates that managers at each national park will be empowered to institute bottled beverage bans as they negotiate vendor contracts. While falling somewhat short of the blanket mandatory ban some had asked for, it does appear to be a victory for those hoping to combat the improper disposal of bottles in the parks through source reduction.

Still, given the many reversals in this story so far, it's hard to imagine the book is closed.