Publication archives

These are good days if you're a tree-killing bark beetle. In 2007, the native pests ate deeper into the region's drought-weakened forests, choking the life out millions of trees in one of the largest outbreaks in decades.

Beetles are killing off large swaths of forest throughout the Rocky Mountain region, but every cloud has a silver lining, right? Officials in Carbon County think so. They hope to put the wood to use.

Most of Washington state's biofuels come from plants grown elsewhere. But a newly launched $3 million program will team doctoral students, UW faculty and local Native American tribes to transform local forestry and agricultural waste into plant-based fuels.

Anyone who has ever tried to book a room near Yellowstone National Park in August knows that natural places can get very crowded. But biologist Oliver Pergams says those crowds can hide an important trend: Every year, a smaller percentage of Americans are fishing, camping or engaging in other nature-based activities.

In the gloomy shade deep in Africa's rain forest, the noontime silence was pierced by the whine of a far-off chain saw. It was the sound of destruction, echoed from wood to wood, continent to continent, in the tropical belt that circles the globe. From Brazil to central Africa to once-lush islands in Asia's archipelagos, human encroachment is shrinking the world's rain forests.

Jan. 28, 2008 -- A new industry group aims to give sustainable furniture manufacturers a shared platform for their marketing efforts. The just-launched Design Green Alliance purchases large blocks of exhibit space at furniture trade shows and conventions to create a ,green pavilion where buyers, designers, and other show attendees can learn about sustainability from leaders in the industry.

The government's new renewable energy standards call for a big boost in production of biofuels like ethanol, to replace some of the gas we burn in our cars and trucks. But a new study by a Minnesota researcher says if those biofuels are grown on land that's converted from natural prairie or forest, they'll not only fail to reduce global warming; they could actually make it worse.

Earlier today, the World Trade Organization put out yet another draft text of trade rules for agriculture. Negotiators continue to press on, despite a growing consensus that further trade deregulation is not what is needed to address increasing global inequities between rich and poor.