Forests

"A new study looked at a group of forest lands that hold big conservation potential but aren’t adequately protected."

"When the Bootleg fire tore through a nature reserve in Oregon this summer, the destruction varied in different areas. Researchers say forest management methods, including controlled burns, were a big factor."

"State investigators have determined that a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. power line was responsible for sparking last year’s massive Dixie fire, which torched more than 960,000 acres in five Northern California counties as it burned clear across the Sierra Nevada."

"Deforestation last year rose to the highest level since 2015 in Brazil's Cerrado, prompting scientists on Monday to raise alarm over the state of the world's most species-rich savanna, a major carbon sink that helps to stave off climate change."

"The Sitka spruce soaring more than 180 feet skyward has stood on this spot on Prince of Wales Island for centuries. While fierce winds have contorted the towering trunks of its neighbors, the spruce’s trunk is ramrod straight. Standing apart from the rest of the canopy, it ascends to the height of a 17-story building."

"The U.S. Forest Service violated numerous environmental laws in approving a 105-square-mile (270-square-kilometer) logging and restoration project in west-central Idaho, a conservation group alleges in a lawsuit."

"Deforestation is a global and accelerating threat. But new research shows that tropical forests can recover naturally and remarkably quickly on abandoned lands."

"How a blind spot in the Kyoto Protocol helped create the biomass industry."

"Democrats are proposing a potentially seismic shift in how the nation battles wildfires by dramatically increasing funding for efforts that aim to prevent blazes, rather than focusing on the tools to put them out."

"BORBA, Brazil — Brazilian police said Monday they burned 131 boats used by gold miners in the heart of the Amazon, raising tensions in an isolated region rife with poverty and crime.

Smoke has been wafting over the Madeira river since Saturday, with many locals complaining the swift action by authorities has left them stranded in the rainforest.