Publication archives

A Welsh company has won the backing of Greenpeace for its plans to import plywood from Latin America. Green Tree Plywood, which will be imported and distributed by leading Newport timber importers Premier Forest Products, will be launched in the UK this month. It has been welcomed both by the environmental pressure group and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

THE recent arrest of Shanghai Communist Party boss and Politburo member Chen Liangyu has shaken the Chinese political world and has China watchers astir.

When Michael Baltz gets wound up, few things can interrupt his sweeping descriptions of the Nature Conservancy's vision for Southern Illinois -- few things, that is, except a little bird. Baltz, a University of Missouri-educated biologist, stops in mid-sentence as the "pit-i-tuck" of the summer tanager arrives on the wind.

A U.S. study suggests live oak trees across the nation are losing their battle for survival to suburban sprawl and the encroachment of taller trees. A University of Florida botanist and the study's co-author, Francis Putz, said it is an irony of nature that the successes of reforestation and urban forestry threaten live oaks.

Ever feature yourself a timber baron, strolling like literary he-man Hank Stamper through your own mighty forest? Well, if you've got 10 acres or more, the state Department of Forestry would like to plant that forest for you under its Forest Resource Trust program.

The Stevens Point Forestry Department and some volunteers are working to help native plants thrive by removing invasive species that threaten to choke out the native plants. A group of about 15 volunteers from the community and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point gathered at Iverson Park Saturday to remove buckthorn plants that had begun to take over a section of the park.

Wisconsin officials announced a major initiative on Tuesday to cut down nearly 6,000 ash trees, including trees across metropolitan Milwaukee, to fight the threat of the highly destructive emerald ash borer. State agriculture officials said crews this fall will cut down 1,420 ash trees in 17 counties, including Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties.