This month, the Georgia Forestry Association's Emerging Leaders and the Georgia SFI Implementation Committee, along with the Georgia Forestry Commission, Georgia Forestry Foundation and other organizations in the forestry community, launched a new public information program.
A wildfire that began Tuesday afternoon in Wisconsin consumed 8,131 acres, destroyed 17 homes and forced dozens of people to evacuate before firefighters contained it late Wednesday evening. The fire was one of the worst to strike northern Wisconsin in three decades.
Citrus greening, a bacterial disease with no cure, has infected all 32 of Florida’s citrus-growing counties. While the bacteria, which causes fruit to turn bitter and drop from the trees when still unripe, affects all citrus fruits, it has been most devastating to oranges, the largest crop.
Last week, officials with the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise said in their first 2013 summer fire outlook that a dry winter and expected warming trend mean the potential for significant fire activity will be above normal on the West Coast, in the Southwest and portions of Idaho and Montana.
The Central Texas oak trees that help shade homes and beautify neighborhoods are falling prey to an incurable and deadly disease. Oak wilt is a fungal disease that has caused tree deaths in 74 Texas counties.
Trees infected with oak wilt can spread the disease to surrounding oaks via their interconnected root systems. When that happens, the only way to stop further spread is by digging trenches to break the root connections.
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has decided to fully rebuild a state tree nursery in eastern Kentucky that was devastated by a tornado last year. The state had been planning to divert insurance claim money to fill a budget gap.
Woodland owners and the Kentucky timber industry have been asking the governor to rebuild, saying the seedlings grown there are vital for the environment and the economy.
Earlier this week Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law first-of-its-kind legislation that amends Maryland’s forest conservation policy to maintain the State’s current 40 percent tree canopy ─ a no-net-loss. The bill establishes new and expanded reforestation incentives and tools to help landowners and local governments meet and surpass the statewide goal.
Plum Creek reopened the Evergreen Sawmill in Montana last month, after it closed in 2009 as demand for stud lumber declined.
Plum Creek Vice President Tom Ray says the demand is back up and the sawmill is ready to deliver. "We are going to produce 40 million board feet of studs a year and part of that will be consumed in the state and part of that will be shipped out of state as well."
German Pellets plans to open a second giant wood pellet plant in U.S.. Just as it is readying to opening a 500,000-metric ton wood pellet production facility in Woodville, Texas, German Pellets announced that it plans to build an additional 1 million-metric ton plant in Louisiana, with construction slated to begin this month. The plant will be located in the central Louisiana town of Urania, which has a population of about 1,300.
Officials from the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development (DRED) and Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food (DAMF) have confirmed that the emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive beetle that attacks and kills ash trees, is in New Hampshire. A suspect tree was spotted in Concord on March 28.
