Free Republic

Along the Black River in North Carolina, bald cypress trees have been quietly growing for millennia. Quite literally so: Scientists recently found trees over 2,000 years old - including one that is at least 2,624 years old. Another nearby tree was found to be 2,088 years old - and geoscientists believe that more bald cypresses (Taxodium distichum) in the Three Sisters Swamp could be the same age or even older. Surprisingly, a tree named BLK227 was found to be at least 2,624 years old. That makes it a seedling or sapling in 605 BCE - a timeframe that predates the...

CARTHAGE, N.Y., Aug. 13 - For much of the summer, Dustan Wisner, 15, and his friends have whiled away the days fishing the banks of the Black River. On Friday, he and his friends were beside the river again - no poles in sight. This time, they were learning that a toxic spill was snaking its way through the slow current and killing vast numbers of fish. "That stinks," Dustan said. And it did. The toxin was liquid cow manure - three million gallons in all - creating a murky plume that stretched for miles and giving unfortunate new meaning...

<p>JONESVILLE - An 11-year-old girl was bitten by an alligator while swimming in Black River, state Wildlife and Fisheries agents said.</p> <p>An incident of an alligator attacking a person is "extremely rare, in my mind," said Lance Campbell of Wildlife and Fisheries.</p>