forests – News Stories About forests - Page 1

California's Biggest Landowner
Closes Forests to Public

Jun 27, 2022 2:17 PM CDT

California's Biggest Landowner Closes Forests to Public

Sierra Pacific Industries cites wildfire risk

(Newser) - Sierra Pacific Industries, the largest private landowner in America, says its forest lands in California will be closed to the public starting Friday. The company, which owns 2.33 million acres of land in California, Oregon, and Washington, normally allows the public to use land that isn't being actively...

'Ghost Forest' Problem
Is Creeping Inland

new study

Apr 8, 2021 2:11 PM CDT

'Ghost Forest' Problem Is Creeping Inland

Study finds that once-thriving forest in North Carolina is being decimated by saltwater

(Newser) - The issue of "ghost forests" is a familiar one to climate researchers. The term refers to how rising sea levels—or, more specifically, encroaching saltwater—kills trees along the coast, per Live Science . But a new study out of North Carolina suggests that "it's not just the...

It Killed the Dinosaurs, but Then
It Gave Birth to Something Else

NEW STUDY

Apr 6, 2021 10:30 AM CDT

It Killed the Dinosaurs, but Then It Gave Birth to Something Else

You can thank the Chicxulub impact for our modern rainforests: study

(Newser) - We owe a lot to the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. For one thing, it gave us the lush tropical rainforests that help keep our planet healthy. That's according to a first-of-its-kind study published Friday in Science that looks at the effects of the...

Study: China's Forests Suck Up More Carbon Than Thought

Study: China's Forests
Have Been Underestimated

Oct 29, 2020 10:50 AM CDT

Study: China's Forests Have Been Underestimated

New forests are a major 'carbon sink'

(Newser) - China is the world's biggest polluter—but a massive tree-planting program has helped absorb more of its carbon dioxide emissions than researchers expected. In a new study in the journal Nature , researchers say that according to ground and satellite observations, the rapid afforestation of areas of northeast and southwest...

Company Says Its
Drones Will Plant
1B Trees by 2028

May 21, 2020 9:25 AM CDT

Company Says Its Drones Will Plant 1B Trees by 2028

Canadians say their tech can plant trees 10 times faster than humans

(Newser) - Drone projects don't get much more ambitious than the one envisioned by Flash Forest, which plans to plant a billion trees by 2028—helping save the planet in the process. The Canadian startup says its drones, which can identify the best planting sites before dropping specially designed seed pods,...

Scientists Stumble On
World's Oldest Forest

new study

Dec 21, 2019 4:30 PM CST

Scientists Stumble On World's Oldest Forest

Scientists find ancient trees just north of Manhattan

(Newser) - Earth's three trillion trees do a lot for us—make life possible, really—but how did they ever get started? Well, look no further than New York state. Scientists say they've found the world's oldest known forest in an abandoned quarry a couple hours north of Manhattan,...

Finland's President Says He Didn't Talk Raking With Trump

Finnish Leader: No Idea Where
Trump Got His 'Raking' Idea

Nov 19, 2018 2:48 AM CST

Finnish Leader: No Idea Where Trump Got His 'Raking' Idea

Finland's president says he didn't mention it during chat on forest management

(Newser) - Finland's president isn't sure where President Trump got the idea that raking is part of his country's routine for managing its substantial forests. Trump told reporters Saturday while visiting the ruins of the northern California town where a fire killed at least 76 people that wildfires weren'...

Trump's Answer
to Calif. Fires:
I May Yank
Federal Funds

Nov 10, 2018 7:30 AM CST

Trump's Answer to Calif. Fires: I May Yank Federal Funds

President blames state's 'gross mismanagement' of forests for wildfires

(Newser) - As the wildfires ravaging California continue to wreak havoc , President Trump has weighed in from across the world—and he's blaming California, per Reuters . In an early Saturday post from Paris, where he's attending events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I,...

Brothers Who Cleared
1.4K Trees Face $450K Fine

Oct 23, 2018 10:45 AM CDT

Brothers Who Cleared 1.4K Trees Face $450K Fine

Michigan township says they needed permission; brothers say it's 'misguided overreach'

(Newser) - An attorney for two brothers calls it "misguided overreach," but a Michigan township says it's a necessary move to keep local trees in place. All that Gary and Matt Percy know is they're now facing a possible fine of more than $450,000 after they cleared...

Canada Makes a
'Globally Significant'
Conservation Move

May 16, 2018 6:00 PM CDT

Canada Makes a 'Globally Significant' Conservation Move

Protected boreal forest will cover 26K square miles in Alberta, Canada

(Newser) - Canada will soon be home to the largest protected boreal, or coniferous, forest on the planet. On Tuesday, the Alberta government announced a plan for the creation of three new provincial parks bordering on Wood Buffalo National Park, as well as the creation of a fourth park to the south....

Poachers'
New Target:
Ancient Trees

longform

Jun 4, 2017 3:30 PM CDT

Poachers' New Target: Ancient Trees

This natural resource is centuries in the making, and the black market is thriving

(Newser) - When Colin Hepburn, member of the activist group Wilderness Committee, was walking through the woods in May of 2012 in Canada’s Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park, he came across the remains of an 800-year-old cedar tree. It had stood at almost 200 feet, and it was gone, cut off at...

Newly Discovered Forests
Could Cover 60% of Australia

May 13, 2017 1:27 PM CDT

Newly Discovered Forests Could Cover 60% of Australia

Researchers say world's dryland forests had been seriously under-reported

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered 467 million hectares of unreported forest—about three-fifths the size of Australia—scattered around the globe, the Conversation reports. The discovery increases the known global forest cover by about 9%. The study—published Friday in Science —focused on "drylands," areas that lose more water...

Mystery of the
'Crooked Forest'
Puzzles, Decades Later

Mystery of the 'Crooked Forest' Puzzles, Decades Later

Was it witchcraft or warfare?

(Newser) - The trunks all bend toward the ground in the same direction, extending three to nine feet, before curving upward and stretching toward the sky, taking the shape of an upside-down question mark. But almost a century after the 400 pine trees were planted in what is now known as Poland'...

7% of Trees in
Colo. Forests
Are Dead

Feb 16, 2017 12:29 PM CST

7% of Trees in Colo. Forests Are Dead

That's terrible news for those fighting wildfires

(Newser) - Colorado's beetle-infested forests are peppered with an estimated 834 million standing dead trees that threaten to worsen wildfires and degrade vital water supplies that flow from mountains, officials say. Roughly one in every 14, or about 7%, standing trees in the state's forests is dead, with the total...

Humans Taking a Toll on
100 World Heritage Sites

NEW STUDY

Jan 31, 2017 3:42 PM CST

Humans Taking a Toll on 100 World Heritage Sites

New study raises alarm on degradation

(Newser) - Almost half of all natural world heritage sites are slowly being degraded, and experts have a clear suspect: humans. A study based on the Human Footprint Index—which evaluates agriculture, infrastructure, population density, and other factors—identifies more than 100 of 229 sites that are suffering from human activities, reports...

'Suicide Forest'
Gets Another Look

Feb 27, 2016 4:35 PM CST

'Suicide Forest' Gets Another Look

Aokigahara Forest has long been a suicide destination in Japan

(Newser) - Shoes are piled neatly by the entrance, cars are abandoned in a square nearby, and bodies can be found hanging within. Long a subject of public fascination, Japan's "suicide forest" is now the inspiration for a new horror film—and gets a fresh look from Australia's News...

Scientists Find Tropical
Forest—in the Arctic

Nov 20, 2015 11:29 AM CST

Scientists Find Tropical Forest—in the Arctic

It would have thrived near the equator 380M years ago

(Newser) - Bet you didn't know there was a tropical forest in the Arctic. That's what scientists say they've uncovered in Svalbard, Norway, though the remnants of the forest are actually 380 million years old and fossilized. Back when the early trees—a type dubbed Protolepidodendropsis pulchra—were alive...

Since 1990, We've Erased a Forest Twice as Big as Texas

Sep 8, 2015 1:20 PM CDT

Since 1990, We've Erased a Forest Twice as Big as Texas

Still, UN report finds rate of forest loss has improved over 25 years

(Newser) - There are positives and negatives to grasp from a new report on forest loss from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. The good news: The rate of deforestation worldwide has been halved over the last 25 years. The bad news: We lost 500,000 square miles of forest—an...

Earth Has 3T Trees
—and That's Not Good

Sep 3, 2015 8:05 AM CDT

Earth Has 3T Trees —and That's Not Good

Study shows Earth has lost nearly half its trees since farming began

(Newser) - Congratulations, environmentalists, tree-huggers, and people who enjoy breathing oxygen: the Earth has seven times more trees—approximately 3 trillion—than previously estimated, according to a new study in Nature . Scientists from around the world created the first "data-driven global tree census" by combining satellite images with tree counts from...

Earth Has Just 2
Giant Forests Left

STUDY SAYS

Mar 24, 2015 10:40 AM CDT

Earth Has Just 2 Giant Forests Left

The only 2 unfragmented forest habitats are the Amazon, Congo

(Newser) - To see the Earth's ecology forest for its trees, first we have to acknowledge there aren't many large, intact forests around. In fact, according to a new study published in Science Advances , there are only two such continuous forests left: in South America and Africa, Christian Science Monitor ...