Publication archives

A new law giving rights to millions of poor Indian forest dwellers has provoked debate among conservationists who disagree over whether it will help save or further threaten the nation's dwindling tiger numbers.

The possibility of being held personally liable for actions during wildland fires has loomed over firefighters ever since four local firefighters died in the Thirtymile Fire. The prospect became reality Wednesday when federal manslaughter charges were filed against former crew boss Ellreese Daniels.

Weyerhaeuser Co. said Monday that it is permanently closing two veneer plants in Oregon and cutting more than 100 workers at those sites. The company said shrinking demands for veneer products drove the gradual reduction and closure of the plywood mill in Springfield and a veneer plant in Coburg. The closures are effective immediately.

"Timber!" Seven-year-old Zack Selinger scrambled to his feet as the white spruce he had felled with a hand saw tipped gently into his father's arms. "We should have brought a snow machine," he said, as his dad, Jeff, began hauling the family Christmas tree over the tussocks of a frozen swamp in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

Potlatch Corp. estimates that between 18 percent and 20 percent of its 1.5 million acres of timberlands would be worth more if used for something other than growing trees, the company announced Monday.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. announced it will begin sourcing, effective immediately, virtually all (in excess of 95 percent) of the paper used in the company's seven catalogs (Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Bed and Bath, Pottery Barn Kids, PBteen, west elm and Williams-Sonoma Home) from sources certified by FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).

Night and day, the timber ships reach this Yangtze River port, one of the world's busiest clearinghouses for logs from every corner of the globe: Southeast Asia, the Amazon, Russia, the Congo. Soon, this wood will be yours.

A new study shows that screening for potentially harmful foreign plant species before they are imported is more economically beneficial than fighting them after they take root in new areas.