Publication archives

The Northwest timber industry has been decimated by the nationwide housing slump. But one mill is still churning out planks. It's on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in north-central Oregon. The tribes found an unlikely niche market -- sending their timber to Japan.

A rash of a disease known as anthracnose has made its way throughout Marshalltown, causing some concern among local residents. The disease mainly affects maple trees and is caused by a fungus. Eventually, it could cause the leaves to die and fall off the tree. Some maples will even respond with a second batch of leaves, depending on the severity.

A warming climate will lead to more wildfires in coming decades, with the most dramatic increase in the Northwest, a new study predicts. The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, is not the first to look at how a shifting climate will influence fire patterns, but it goes a step further by attempting to show the impacts of increased wildfire on air quality.

The Women, Infants and Children Nutrition program (WIC) is one of the most important government programs for low-income families. WIC's food package provides vouchers for milk, eggs, cheese, cereal and other food items.

Earlier this month, IATP reported on the widespread and unnecessary use of antibiotics by the ethanol industry. IATP's Julia Olmstead visited a Wisconsin ethanol plant last week that is using a hops-based alternative to antibiotics to manage bacteria growth in the fermentation process.

Congress should pass proposed legislation that would strongly regulate what has become almost indiscriminate use of antibiotics in healthy chickens, pigs and cattle not to fight disease, but to promote the animals' growth. ...

Seattle Steam, a company that's been using old school technology to heat downtown buildings for more than 115 years, is turning to an even older fuel source-wood-in its efforts to reduce carbon emissions.