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ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST -- A man was arrested Tuesday after deputies caught him setting a fire in a steep, remote canyon filled with dry brush and large trees in the Angeles National Forest, according to sheriff detectives. Hikers in a remote trail about a half-mile north of the Eaton Canyon Bridge in Altadena saw a man making a fire there and alerted authorities, sheriff's Detective Ed Nordskog said. Los Angeles County Parks officials and deputies arrived about 10 a.m. as the man was standing next to a fire about four feet in diameter. He warned the deputies to stay away...

Firestorm Kills 12, Destroys Hundreds Of Homes Fires Threatens Much Of County POSTED: 7:12 a.m. PST October 26, 2003 RAMONA, Calif. -- The worst firestorm to hit San Diego County in living memory has killed at least 12 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and devastated more than 128,000 acres, fire officials reported Sunday evening. School Closures In addition to the 12 confirmed deaths, there are unconfirmed reports of more fatalities, Sheriff Bill Kohlender said. Some of those killed were found in their cars and others had died in their homes, said the sheriff. The county medical examiner was investigating all...

ROSEBURG - have discovered more than 5,000 marijuana plants in the Umpqua National Forest. More than 60 agents from several other agencies, including the US Forest Service removed the pot plants. One official said the garden covered between five and ten acres in Pinnacle Creek on public land. Forest Service employees discovered the site. And they wanted to remove the plants before the start of hunting season. Officials have no leads on who owns the marijuana plants. One Forest Service agent says it is one of the largest eradicated in the last decade on National Forest Land in Oregon or...

When fires turn eastern Washington and Oregon forests into wastelands, valuable wildlife habitat is lost and it costs between $1,300 and $2,100 per acre in fire-fighting costs, lost buildings, economic suffering by nearby communities and degraded waterways, say University of Washington researchers in a recently published report. The report attempts for the first time to tally the cost per acre of letting the worst wildfires - the crown fires - burn. It's a needed perspective when considering thinning overly dense stands - work that could cost nearly $600 an acre in some places. So say UW researchers who are offering...

Amazonian find stuns researchers Deep in the Amazon forest of Brazil, archaeologists have found a network of 1,000-year-old towns and villages that refutes two long-held notions: that the pre-Columbian tropical rain forest was a pristine environment that had not been altered by humans, and that the rain forest could not support a complex, sophisticated society. A 15-mile-square region at the headwaters of the Xingu River contains at least 19 villages that are sited at regular intervals and share the same circular design. The villages are connected by a system of broad, parallel highways, Florida researchers reported in yesterday's issue of...

Government licence to fell ancient trees leaves trail of destruction Loggers rip into Poland's wild forest Government licence to fell ancient trees leaves trail of destruction Sophie Arie in Bialowieza forest Friday August 29, 2003 The Guardian Late at night the howling of wolves still echoes through the dark shadows of Bialowieza forest, where the last European bison roam and more elks than humans tend to tread. For centuries only the odd Polish king, Russian tsar or Lithuanian duke out hunting disturbed this vast forest, a last fragment of the primeval woodlands which once covered much of Europe. But since...

Saving the Selva Maya Sunday, June 29, 2003, By JIM WRIGHT Editor's note: As part of his research for a book, Editorial Writer Jim Wright made several recent trips to the tropical forest in Belize, where until a few weeks ago a smoky haze often clouded the skies. WHAT IS THE SELVA MAYA?The Selva Maya consists of mostly contiguous jungle in three Central American nations: Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize. The three nations have created biosphere reserves, national parks, and other conservation areas to protect the jungle, conduct scientific research, and seek sustainable development. Guatemala has the 5-million-acre Maya Biosphere Reserve.Mexico's...

<p>He's come to the wrong place with the wrong plan.</p> <p>"We're all scratching our heads over why the president would attempt to use the 'Aspen' fire as a political stage for his Healthy Forests Initiative," said Brian Segee of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity.</p>

MADISON, Ga., Aug. 4 -- Soaring property taxes and increasing debt have forced giant timber companies to put millions of acres of timberland up for sale across the South. The Georgia office of Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Development Co. plans to sell roughly 30,000 acres in Morgan, Putnam and Oconee counties for more than $3,000 an acre. The company also announced plans to sell 174,000 acres in Tennessee and 170,000 in the Carolinas.SNIP Giant timber companies are selling forest land as they try to cut costs to offset mergers and operational changes. Larger tracts and corporate lands also are taxed at...

The Color of Money "Green" It is appalling that we face yet another year of substantial fire destruction of critical habitat for endangered species and the destruction of natural resources on public lands solely because so called “environmental groups” still have a financial incentive to litigate against beneficial public forest restoration projects. Under the Federal Equal Access to Justice Act, if an “environmental attorney” files suit and is successful in simply delaying a forest restoration project, we the taxpayers are required to send them a check for their excessive legal fees and “expenses.” This is an unintentional flaw in the...

<p>TONGASS: Former logging town says it can't find dock space for greenies' ship.</p> <p>JUNEAU -- A Greenpeace ship heading to protest timber issues in Southeast Alaska has hit a bureaucratic storm with the former logging town of Ketchikan.</p> <p>The environmental group will not be able to dock in the Ketchikan port when it arrives next week, city officials said.</p>

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - A federal judge Thursday stopped further logging on three old growth timber sales on the Willamette National Forest until he decides whether the U.S. Forest Service acted legally in offering the trees for sale. U.S. District Judge Garr King in Portland granted a preliminary injunction stopping work on the Straw Devil, East Devil and Pryor timber sales, which cover about 300 acres outside Oakridge. Straw Devil had been occupied by tree-sitters hoping to prevent further logging. One of them was arrested last week. King found that the environmental groups that brought the lawsuit challenging the sales...

How a forest stopped a fire in its tracks The New York Times SUSANVILLE, Calif. -- Where the fire came through Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest last September, the ground is ash and the trees are charcoal. Black and gray are the colors, lightened only by small mounds of red dust at the base of some of the charred trunks -- the leavings of bark beetles -- and flecks of green where new growth pokes above the ash. Through the tall, ravaged columns, however, a living pine forest is visible. And as visitors inspecting the fire damage walk toward the living...

SAINTE-MAXIME, France - Forest fires swept through the French Riviera on Tuesday, killing at least four people, devastating scenic woods and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people. Firefighters speculated that the fires — some 30 that broke out nearly simultaneously on Monday — were caused by arson. Molotov cocktails were found in the region, according to radio and television reports. The mayor of Roquebrune-Sur-Argens, Luc Jousse, called the fires "a new form of terrorism." The blazes were described as the worst ever in the Var region, an area thick with Mediterranean pine trees and picturesque bays that is a...

PETROZAVODSK, July 21 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that the preservation and reproduction of forests should be given close attention. Putin told the workers of the forest and wood processing industry during his current visit to Karelia on Monday that 19th-century Russian scientists spoke about the need of stable and careful forest use which remains as urgent today as it was a century ago. A meeting with the workers of the forest and wood processing industry is being held at the Vilga forest nursery.

The state government budget cuts are getting serious now: Smokey Bear has been furloughed."When you get Smokey requests, you should explain that staffing and budget issues have forced us to narrow our focus, concentrating on more essential services," S.C. Forestry Commission spokesman Ken Cabe wrote recently in a reminder to employees."Mention that we hope to resume our Smokey efforts when (and if) the budget situation improves."The agency has several Smokey costumes that state employees have used during appearances at school functions or festivals.The U.S. Forest Service also has Smokey Bear costumes, though the one used in the Midlands is being...

<p>National forests in the West were considered targets for al-Qaida attacks, according to an FBI memo to law enforcement agencies dated June 25.</p> <p>A senior al-Qaida detainee told federal investigators he had developed a plan to set midsummer forest fires in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, according to the document, obtained by The Arizona Republic.</p>

<p>When Cindy Hale hikes through stretches of the Chippewa National Forest in north-central Minnesota, she sees the depredations of her sworn enemy all around her.</p> <p>The colorful spring flowers that once bloomed are all but gone. Ferns and the seedlings of sugar-maple trees are in short supply. The thick, spongy forest floor that cushioned every step has disappeared, leaving bare dirt. There are fewer ovenbirds, warblers that rely on the downy floor for their nests.</p>

Countries which exploit their oil and mineral wealth are likelier to save their forests, researchers say. The more money they make from drilling and mining, the argument runs, the less temptation there is to clear the forests. More than 12 million hectares of tropical forest are lost annually The researchers say the real message is that economics have a marked effect on the environment. They believe cheap oil could be devastating for many tropical forests. The researchers, from the Center for International Forestry Research (Cifor), based in Indonesia, say they receive no funding from oil or mining companies. Their report,...

Daschle introduces 'Forest Health Act' BY DONNA SMITH, Black Hills Pioneer June 24, 2003 SPEARFISH -- On Monday afternoon, Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., introduced in the Senate the "Collaborative Forest Health Act" which he co-authored with Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. Daschle describes the bill as comprehensive national forest legislation, but said it is not meant to replace the need for locally negotiated agreements like the Black Hills Fire Prevention Agreement. The legislation, if passed, would provide $100 million annually in grants to reduce wildfire risk and restore burned areas on state, tribal, and private lands. It also excludes hazardous fuel...