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News archives

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Wood heat rises again
George and Judith Reilly own a big antique house on the main street of Brandon, Vt., a picturesque town on scenic Route 7. The house’s front parlor doubles as a gallery to display the fabric art Judith creates in her upstairs studio. Last spring, when oil for the house’s furnace began to top $4 p... Continued...

Climate change factors into conservationist buys
Climate change is prompting some conservation groups to broaden strategy in buying pristine lands, recognizing that some may be under water in 50 years or undergo other drastic changes. For the first time, land trusts and other conservationists are factoring in evidence that global warming is al... Continued...

Drought, beetles killing forests (CA)
Bugs and diseases are killing trees at an alarming rate across the West, from the spruce forests of Alaska to the oak woodlands near the San Diego-Tijuana border. Several scientists said the growing threat appears linked to global warming. That means tree mortality is likely to rise in places as t... Continued...

Lumber industry threatened by glut of unsold homes (MS)
The glut of homes in foreclosure, vacant, or stuck on the market has the nation's lumber industry hanging on by a limb. Since housing starts hit their peak in mid-2005, demand for lumber used in floors, home frames, and cabinets has declined sharply, and experts say the number of unsold homes wou... Continued...

Costa Rica protects green macaw by banning logging of mountain almond tree
Costa Rica's high court has prohibited the cutting of a certain species of tree, in part because a highly endangered type of parrot uses the tree almost exclusively for nesting. With one decision, the Sala IV constitutional court protected the mountain almond tree and the great green macaw, spec... Continued...

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

FSC General Assembly 2008: Join Us for the Forest Conference in Cape Town
Within the program of the FSC General Assembly 2008, FSC invites you to attend a truly unique and timely event - a two-day forest conference at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC). The Forest Conference is an opportunity to participate in the fifth General Assembly of members (... Continued...

A new gold rush for Wisconsin wood? (WI)
While the Industrial Revolution changed the foundations of the United States' economy, the dependence on fossil fuels to spur it along created the need a century later for what some have dubbed a "bio-based revolution" emphasizing the use of alternative and renewable energy as the foundation of the ... Continued...

Is biomass boom an environmental bust? (WI)
Traditional timber harvesting focused on extracting the trunks and left the messy tops and branches, and some unmerchantable or downed logs behind in the forest or on the sawmill floor. For decades, large-scale harvesting of biomass just wasn't profitable, and the benefits to soil and wildlife ke... Continued...

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Equine Forestry: Promotion of a Lowimpact
Project Summary

I started my business, Cedar River Horse Logging and Wood Products, 16 years ago and use draft horses for sustainable forest management. Horse logging is a low-impact tree harvesting method that promotes sustainability, decreases soil erosion and compaction, and promot... Continued...

Nature loss 'dwarfs bank crisis' (Spain)
It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion. The figure comes from adding the value of the various services that forests perform, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide. The study, headed by a Deutsche Bank economist, parallels the Stern ... Continued...

Researchers find new use for biomass
A China—US team has developed a new catalyst to directly convert cellulose, the most common form of biomass, into a useful chemical. The chemical, ethylene glycol, is widely used in products from polyester fibres to antifreeze for cars. Once industrialised, the improved catalyst will lower the... Continued...

Research report: Promoting birch in mixed stands (MN)
Want to grow quality paper birch in mixed aspen-birch stands? An article in the September 2008 issue of the Northern Journal of Applied Forestry reports dramatic results from early birch release in mixed birch-aspen stands in Minnesota. Study purpose and design: The research was designed to eval... Continued...

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Brazil’s worst logger: the government?
Brazil’s environment minister announced yet another series of measures to halt deforestation of the Amazon this week, but their impact was weakened not only by the fact that destruction had increased sharply once again but that the government itself was among the worst culprits. A federal agency ... Continued...

Xcel Energy plans to convert coal unit to biomass (WI)
Xcel Energy plans to spend $55 million to $70 million to convert the last remaining coal-fired unit at its Bay Front Power Plant in Ashland, Wis., to a biomass gasification system. The conversion will allow the facility to use 100 percent biomass in all three boilers. The gasification system wil... Continued...

One in 4 Mammal Threatened with Extinction, Group Finds (Spain)
An “extinction crisis” is under way, with one in four mammals in danger of disappearing because of habitat loss, hunting and climate change, a leading global conservation body warned Monday. “Within our lifetime, hundreds of species could be lost as a result of our own actions,” said Julia Marton... Continued...

Restoring Native Landscapes in Eugene (OR)
The Douglas fir trees grow so close to the white oak that on first glance the sweeping evergreen branches obscure the gnarled deciduous ones. But this week, on the ridge that leads to the summit of Mount Pisgah, the view is changing. The 30- to 40-year-old Douglas firs that have been slowly encro... Continued...

Study offers picture of next generation of woodland owners (WI)
Nearly 25 percent, or one-out-four, family-owned woodlands will be sold, subdivided or converted to another use over the next five years according to a recently completed survey of current woodland owners and their sons and daughters. At least half of the sons and daughters expecting to inherit thei... Continued...

Mini-Conference in Warren Provides Green Building Tips for Homeowners (MN)
Homeowners, business-owners, students, and building contractors from northwestern Minnesota gathered at the Bremer Bank in Warren on September 20th to attend a Green Building and Energy Mini-conference. The conference, sponsored by Marvin Windows and Bremer Bank, was hosted by the non-profit organiz... Continued...

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Forest Conservation Organizations Sue U.S. Government for Steering $350 Million to Timber Industry-Dominated Forest Foundations
A coalition of conservation organizations committed to promoting sustainable forestry in the United States filed a lawsuit today against the Bush Administration. The organizations are the Forest Stewardship Council-US, Conservation Northwest, and the Center for Biological Diversity. The suit alleges... Continued...

Trees self-power a wildfire alert network
This spring, a company called Voltree Power plans to test a wireless sensor network that taps into electricity generated naturally by trees in order to provide an early warning system against wildfires. The humidity and temperature sensors will be distributed over a 100-acre plot of land provided by... Continued...