Publication archives

What others see as used, decaying wood, Scott Royer sees as a business opportunity. A 20-foot-wide pungent vinegar cask headed for the landfill turned high-end hardwood flooring.

The trend of northern lakes losing ice cover earlier each spring accelerated during the past 30 years as scientists continue to document a warming climate.

A bloc of developing countries plans to make a radical proposal this week at the United Nations summit on climate change in Montreal: pay us, and we will preserve our rainforests.

A new forest and wildland health assessment center has opened for business. The Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center in Prineville is one of two pioneer research hubs charged with detecting, evaluating and predicting natural and manmade risks to forests and rangeland.

Ross Bennett co-founded a timber company, but claims environmentalists like him. He sells planks of ancient Northwest fir and hemlock, but he's never bothered a spotted owl. And he's after sunken treasure, but he's no pirate. Ross Bennett: "See, the side scan is hitting the side of it. That's that dark side there."

Original Publish Date 11/22/05 U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith , R-Ore., said Monday he has introduced a bill aimed at improving federal response to damage caused by wildfire and other catastrophes. Smith's bill builds on legislation introduced this month by Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Brian Baird, D-Wash.

The electric bill was staggering. With $400,000 being spent to heat the Mount Wachusett Community College campus four winters ago, school officials were desperate for a new source of energy. So they turned to woodchips. The school had just converted its electric heating operation into a system that runs on biomass -- products like wood and agricultural waste.