Publication archives

From a hillside near his barn, Jim Birkemeier looks down at a freshly sawn tree trunk that has just arrived by trailer to the valley of his farm. "Norway maple," he calls out, identifying the tree that until recently had shaded my home from the morning sun.

Expect deals like the $3.3-billion US merger of Domtar and Weyerhaeuser's pulp and paper assets to be repeated as companies struggle with greater competition and shifting markets, a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests.

The bark beetles that turn pine trees reddish-brown and may kill them have advanced briskly in Montana and another forest pest, the spruce budworm, surged as well, a new report says.

Burlington residents might be city dwellers, but they live in the midst of a forest -- an urban forest. "Trees on city property and on private property all make up the urban forest," said city arborist Warren Spinner.

Jim Riddle on the battle over organic milk standards, Richard Levins on the impact of globalization on the American middle class, and a trip to the Minnesota State Fair to learn about the new Eco-Experience building.

About 100 trees being raised to replace those destroyed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina have fallen victim to drought and heat. "Some of our trees were simply too stressed out by the heat and the lack of rain," said Bettie Pruitt, the urban forester for the city of Horn Lake, which had undertaken the reforestation project.

Four environmental groups have filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service alleging the long-term Superior National Forest plan fails to protect biodiversity in and around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Three companies have announced that they have completed development of a fully renewable and biodegradable (or compostable) extrusion-coated paperboard product that can be manufactured into cups.