From CQPolitics.com: The House Appropriations Committee abruptly adjourned in chaos Thursday before acting on two big domestic spending bills, after Republicans tried to force the committee to take up a bill covering the Interior Department they believe could be used to lower fuel prices. The Interior-Environment spending bill would provide $27.9 billion for the Interior Department, the EPA, and other environmental and cultural agencies.

Scientists are gaining a better understanding of the subtleties of plant and soil chemistry; a new appreciation for nitrogen fixation is enhancing global estimates of forest productivity and how much CO2 forests can remove from the atmosphere.

For some large manufacturers, green practices are similar to corporate programs that drive cost savings by increasing efficiency. This tendency toward green has led to the emergence of a new cadre of sustainability officers – also known as chief green officers or similar titles – at senior or middle management levels.

The Heinz Center held a Congressional briefing on Capitol Hill this week to discuss the 2008 State of the Nation's Ecosystems, a report that presents 108 indicators describing the condition and use of ecosystems in the U.S. The findings show that the acreage burned every year by wildfires is increasing, non-native fish have invaded nearly every watershed in the lower 48 states, and chemical contaminants are found in virtually all streams and most groundwater wells, often at levels above those set to protect human health or wildlife. On a positive note, ecosystems are increasing their storage of carbon, there are improvements in soil quality and crop yields have grown significantly. For a summary of key findings, visit the report's website: http://www.heinzctr.org/ecosystems.

From Biomass Magazine: International partnerships offer some of the best opportunities for Canadian entrepreneurs and municipalities to develop bioenergy. Finnish, Swedish and Austrian technologies and consultancies have been building sustainable bioenergy chains for the past two decades, and Canada, with its vast supply of forest resources, is well positioned to take advantage.

Reuters: Congress on Wednesday overturned President George W. Bush's second veto of the $289 billion U.S. farm law, enacting 35 pages omitted from the original bill in the third veto override of Bush's tenure. The rest of the farm bill became law on May 22, when the first override was passed. A clerical error deleted farm-export and food aid programs which now are part of the law.

Arizona's second and largest biomass plant began providing electricity to 9,000 homes last week, generating electricity with material from forest-thinning efforts in the White Mountains and unusable, recycled paper fibers from a nearby paper mill. Officials say the plant will provide a stable source of electricity for communities that were dependent on power lines that are often compromised during Arizona's active wildfire season.

Remote-sensing techniques can make forests more productive, offsetting increased carbon-dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere and oceans, according to Dr. Randolph Wynne, a NASA investigator and Virginia Tech professor of forest biometry and geomatics.

A bill currently making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives would make a dramatic change to the way the Forest Service funds the costs of fighting wildfires – going a long way towards solving the problems the agency has been experiencing due to the fact that fire suppression now accounts for more than 45 percent of its budget. The idea is long overdue and the legislation deserves to be approved by Congress and President Bush this year.

TreePeople, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit focused on urban forestry, has received a $1 million grant from The Boeing Company to launch a comprehensive California Wildfire Restoration Initiative in response to the numerous wildfires that have ravaged Southern California in recent years.

Debate over the Climate Security Act ground to a halt today before ever really getting started. The bill, which had bipartisan support, fell a dozen votes short of the 60-vote threshold it needed to overcome a GOP filibuster and move to final consideration.

From The Associated Press: A wildfire that started on a wildlife refuge in eastern North Carolina and burned into privately owned rural land doubled in size as it sent smoke and ash as far away as the Outer Banks and neighboring Virginia. The fire consumed just over 32 square miles of forest and fields at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. About half the fire was burning on the refuge and about half was on private land in Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington Counties, officials said.

New York has taken new efforts to stop the influx and spread of tree-killing pests such as the Emerald Ash Borer, Asian Longhorned Beetle and Sirex Wood Wasp by restricting the importation, transportation and sale of untreated firewood. The action closely follows measures imposed by Pennsylvania and other states to stem the proliferation of invasive species that can wipe out trees in forests and neighborhoods.

Ohio State University ecologists fear that the voracious borers will trigger dramatic changes in Ohio's forests....David Lytle, state forester with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said that if invasive plants get a stranglehold, they can create simple ecosystems that could be devastated by a single disease or event.

From E&E News (subscription required): "The massive climate change bill under debate in the Senate this week contains major provisions for quelling wildfires but does little to quantify the effects those fires actually have on global warming." Read more for NASF's response...