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News archives

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Through Genetics, Tapping a Tree's Potential as a Source of Energy (US)
It might be true that “only God can make a tree,” as the poet Joyce Kilmer wrote. But genetic engineers can fundamentally redesign them. Aiming to turn trees into new energy sources, scientists are using a controversial genetic engineering process to change the composition of the wood. A major g... Continued...

Update from FSC-US regarding US Forest Service Evaluation of FSC-certification (US)
During the November 9, 2007 FSC-US Board of Directors meeting in Chicago, staff and board discussed the US Forest Service’s (USFS) emerging interest in FSC-certification. Our goal was to weigh USFS’ interest in engagement against other pressing FSC needs, determine the appropriate role for FSC-US to... Continued...

Termites may produce cleaner biofuels
Termites may be the key to greener, more effective biofuels, report scientists writing in the November 22 edition of the journal Nature. Termites harbor stomach microbes that produce enzymes which may be useful in converting wood or waste biomass to biofuels. Scientists from the U.S. Department ... Continued...

Prairie dogs spark debate: Are they cute or menacing? (SD)
Conata Basin covers 130,000 acres south of Badlands National Park in South Dakota. It's one of the continent's most intact remaining grasslands, while serving as home to the world's largest population of black-footed ferrets, the rarest mammal on Earth. Unfortunately, this lovely area is also the... Continued...

Scientists look for answers to state forests' beetle epidemic (UT)
An ugly and puzzling problem in our forests has the attention of two Utah insect scientists. Barbara Bentz and Liz Hebertson study how beetles no bigger than a black bean are killing vast stands of conifers. You might call them CSI's of the forest. And, with winter coming on, one the mos... Continued...

Environmental groups challenge Forest Service over tree cutting (CA)
The U.S. Forest Service hasn't followed its own guidelines while removing potentially hazardous trees from the Angora fire burn area, Lake Tahoe Basin environmental groups say. The Tahoe Area Sierra Club and Sierra Forest Legacy, a Sacramento-based organization with representatives on the South S... Continued...

Kissing our ashes goodbye (MN)
Minnesota's ash trees are as good as gone. That's the sentiment of four Olmsted County officials, who are proposing the county start its own tree farm in preparation for the arrival of the hated Emerald Ash Borer in Minnesota and the subsequent disappearance of the ash. The argument is that the ash ... Continued...

A future without? Climate change threatens Vermont cornerstone (VT)
A century and a half from now, historic-minded Vermonters may rewind to 2007 and recall a teen rap group with a prophetic ear for the future: “Economy's hurting from a short ski season If that's not enough, let me give you another reason. Maple production is on the downfall Vermont will soon e... Continued...

American chestnut poised for comeback (IN)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Growing up in the 1920s, Bill Lord remembers feasting on the sweet, rich nuts of American chestnut trees - the majestic species that a fungus would soon all but wipe out. More than a half-century after the prolific nut-producer became little more than the stuff of holiday songs, ... Continued...

Decades later, Leopold's wisdom still rings true (US)
Aldo Leopold's seminal work A Sand County Almanac is required reading for conservationists. It should be required reading for anyone who spends much time in the outdoors. I long have contended hunters and fishermen have more in common with environmentalists than either group believes. Books ... Continued...

Canada Sets Aside Vast Northern Wilderness
Canada's government yesterday set aside 25 million acres of wilderness -- 11 times the size of Yellowstone National Park -- for conservation, a move that environmentalists called one of North America's most important acts of nature preservation. The land in Canada's Northwest Territories is in t... Continued...

Preparing for the Bali conference on climate change
The 13th Conference of the Parties, COP, to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCC, and the 3rd Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, will be hosted by Indonesia on the island of Bali from December 3 to 14, 2007. As is the case with many such global events, ther... Continued...

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Huge facility planned for Duluth to harvest state's trees for European power plants (MN)
Planning is under way to build a massive plant in Duluth's inner harbor to produce 500,000 tons of wood pellets every year to ship to Europe's power plants — at a time Minnesota utilities are struggling to find enough wood to burn in their own boilers. The facility would be Minnesota's largest wo... Continued...

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Scientists strive to get wildfires' number (CA)
After a day wrestling with the mysteries of fire, Francis Fujioka turned on the TV and watched Southern California burn into the night. A news feed showed a line of fire climbing a hillside. It was small, moving slowly, not a threat for the moment. But Fujioka saw what viewers missed: The flames ... Continued...

Fuel Without the Fossil (CO)
Mitch Mandich proudly showed off his baby, a 150-foot contraption of tanks, valves, hoppers, augers and fans. It hissed. It gurgled. An incongruous smell wafted through the air, the scent of turpentine. Mr. Mandich’s machine devours pine chips from Georgia and turns them into an energy-rich gas, ... Continued...

The western appetite for biofuels is causing starvation in the poor world
It doesn't get madder than this. Swaziland is in the grip of a famine and receiving emergency food aid. Forty per cent of its people are facing acute food shortages. So what has the government decided to export? Biofuel made from one of its staple crops, cassava. The government has allocated several... Continued...

Carbon-negative bioenergy to cut global warming could drive deforestation
A proposed mechanism for generating carbon-negative bioenergy -- an energy source that reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide levels -- could drive large-scale deforestation in the tropics and undermine efforts to conserve forests for carbon offsets says a biofuel expert. Laurens Rademakers, a natur... Continued...

Forests losing the ability to absorb man-made carbon
The sprawling forests of the northern hemisphere which extend from China and Siberia to Canada and Alaska are in danger of becoming a gigantic source of carbon dioxide rather than being a major "sink" that helps to offset man-made emissions of the greenhouse gas. Studies show the risk of fires in... Continued...

New generation of foresters study ways to improve productivity (MN)
The forests of northern Minnesota have been a source of livelihood, sport and solace for thousands of years, and as human beings made their marks on them, Mother Nature’s plans often have been thwarted. A new generation of foresters is beginning to look at wooded lands with the idea of getting mo... Continued...

FSC drafts anti-greenwash policy
A new approach to deal with “greenwashing” by companies associated with unacceptable forest practices is being reviewed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). ‘Policy for the Association with FSC’ is a draft policy currently under consultation that challenges the issue of partial certification.... Continued...