Forests

"EDMONTON -- On the one year anniversary of the Slave Lake fire, here is a troubling thought. There is a good chance — an ever-increasing chance, as a matter of fact — that it will happen again. Perhaps not to Slave Lake, Alta., but to another community, or communities, nestled in the national tinderbox that is the great boreal forest stretching from British Columbia to Labrador."

"In California, May typically marks the beginning of a warm and dry summer season. This year, however, things are different. Not only has it been warm and dry for the past couple weeks; it's been warm and dry for months. So dry, in fact, that officials are warning the risk of wildfires across much of the state is going to be much worse than usual, for several months to come."

"U.S. EPA is writing rules that would require pollution-discharge permits for the muddy runoff from logging roads -- regulations mandated by a court ruling that sparked bipartisan political backlash."

"Some of the main proposals in a draft text for negotiation at a U.N. sustainable development conference next month are being watered down at informal talks in New York, observers said on Tuesday, heightening fears the summit will fail to deliver."

"The rising tide laps at the feet of local children and fishermen and submerges all but the tops of the mangrove trees of Tiwoho village in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province. At one degree of latitude north of the equator, the climate here is about the same all year round: hot, wet and perfect for the forests of salt-tolerant trees that grow along sheltered coastlines.

"The early spring of 2012 raised both temperatures and eyebrows, including President Obama's.

"ALBANY, N.Y. -- The invasive beetle that has destroyed tens of millions of ash trees over the past decade has been found east of the Hudson River for the first time, marking its closest known threat to New England, researchers in New York told The Associated Press Wednesday."

"WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Forest Service is investing $40.6 million to acquire 27 pieces of land in 15 states that the agency says will help safeguard clean water, provide recreational access, preserve wildlife habitat, enhance scenic vistas and protect historic and wilderness areas."

"With spring having sprung, it will only be a matter of time before many area residents who have ash trees will find out if their trees will be added to the rapidly growing list of victims of the notorious emerald ash borer."