News
Debate Rages Over Dead Trees Decimated by Pine Beetles
Source - Fox News The Mountain Pine Beetle is tiny, about five millimeters long or about the size of a pencil eraser. But what it lacks in size, it makes up in number. So much so, that it has decimated 40 million acres of forest across the Western United States over...
read moreNew moves to boost tree planting for carbon capture
Source - Horticulture Week Two new moves announced today are expected to attract new investment into UK tree planting projects designed to help combat climate change. Planting new forests and woodland helps to counteract the greenhouse gas emissions caused by burning...
read moreInsects infesting forests in western Montana, killing vast stands
Source - Missoulian HAMILTON - Amy Gannon was rained on the other day just west of Hamilton. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. The moisture falling to the ground was excrement from what the state entomologist described as "massive, massive numbers of insects." The...
read moreAlliance Releases Wood-to-Energy Policy Roadmap
Source: 25x'25 Alliance http://www.25x25.org/25x’25 today released a Wood-to-Energy Policy Roadmap concluding that the focused use of woody biomass to help meet America’s energy needs could increase the nation’s forest land base and improve the environmental services...
read moreForesters from around world studying Montana timber management
Source - Missoulian Foresters from around the world came to western Montana this week to learn how to simplify their timber management. “Other states have very restrictive rules, while Montana adopted a voluntary system that takes advantage of stakeholder interest,”...
read moreLumber export restrictions hurt U.S. sawmills
Source: Ravalli Republic To parody yet another song: ‘where have all the flower's gone?' by Pete Seeger; ‘where have all the sawmills gone?' Most Montana wood products manufacturers are geared to supply the U.S. housing market. U.S. housing starts were at a seasonally...
read moreGuarding the Burn
Source: Missoula Independent Guarding the Burn - The Great Burn of.1910 Bob Clark first glimpsed it a decade ago from the summit of Grave Peak, in eastern Idaho. Looking north, he saw a stretch of jagged forestland with snowcapped peaks, granite cliffs and grand...
read moreForest thinning to provide protective buffer around town
Source: West Yellowstone News It may not make sense to the casual passerby. As a matter of fact, it might even seem wrong. But for many people who have lived in the rural Rocky Mountains, the project work going on north of West Yellowstone in Gallatin National Forest...
read moreUSGBC Floats Plan to Let Wood-Certification Groups Qualify for LEED
Source: Eco-Home In what could be a major step toward quieting the wood-certification dispute, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has proposed giving credit under its LEED program to several currently unrecognized wood-certification groups for at least helping...
read moreBaucus: Use Montana Timber Products for Government Buildings
Source - Baucus.senate.gov Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus is leading a bipartisan effort to urge the federal government to take steps to use American-grown timber in new construction for government office buildings. In a letter to the head of the General...
read moreKeep Montana’s sawmills spinning
Source - Missoulian Julia Altemus took the reins of the Montana Wood Products Association on June 1 with a mission to keep the state's sawmills strong. "For 23 years, it's been all about keeping the industry afloat, keeping them here," Altemus said. After earning a...
read moreImproving the health of America’s Watersheds
Source - Forest Business Network Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the release of a new map that characterizes the health and condition of National Forest System lands in more than 15,000 watersheds across the country. The U.S. Forest Service’s...
read moreArial view of forest health and needs
Source - Independent Record For Gary Burnett, the need for landscape restoration for the Blackfoot, Clearwater and Swan watersheds is particularly visual from the air. He understands that wildfire management, water quality and road removal can be murky concepts when...
read moreFire wood – Carbon neutral, renewable, clean energy
Source - Mother Earth News Wood, the oldest fuel source known to humans, may be about to experience a renaissance, thanks to rising oil and gas costs combined with shrinking bank accounts. Ultra-efficient, ultra-clean advanced wood combustion technology and...
read morePortable sawmills help reduce carbon emissions
Source - Forest Business Network Over the past 30 years portable thin kerf bandsaw mills have gained a reputation as a valuable asset to small woodlands owners. These easily transported machines are valued for their ease and safety of operation and an ability to...
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