Forests

"Rapid ʻōhiʻa death, a fungal disease, has affected more than 71,000 hectares (175,000 acres) of forest on the Island of Hawai’i since around 2008, and has been detected on the islands of Kaua’i, Oʻahu, and Maui."

"A bipartisan group of senators is trying to make it easier for farmers and forest managers to make money from reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their land."

"The Senate on Thursday moved to advance a bill that would permanently fund the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) while the House introduced a companion bill."

"A federal judge has denied a request by coal companies owned by the family of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice to dismiss a lawsuit over selenium violations at a southern West Virginia coal mine."

"Destruction of tropical forests worldwide increased last year, led again by Brazil, which was responsible for more than a third of the total, and where deforestation of the Amazon through clear-cutting appears to be on the rise under the pro-development policies of the country’s president."

"The Trump administration is proposing to fast track logging on public lands, introducing two proposals Thursday that would limit the environmental review of new projects."

"The coronavirus scuttled plans and forced officials to ask people to get out of the woods. Of the thousands who hoped to hike the trail this year, only a few hundred remain."

"The public is broadly opposed to the Trump administration’s plan to open most of the world’s largest remaining coastal temperate rainforest to logging and road-building, according to an internal U.S. Forest Service report."

"Spring wildfires across Siberia have Russian authorities on alert for a potentially devastating summer season of blazes after an unusually warm and dry winter in one of the world’s climate-change hot spots."

"Personal protective equipment may not be sufficient to protect firefighters battling wildfires from Covid-19 because unavoidable smoke inhalation may increase their disease risk, researchers say."