[Oregon] By knowing the genes that control these processes, it should be possible to genetically engineer trees that flower and reproduce more quickly. The long, slow growth of trees before they produce seed has been a major stumbling block toward…

FIVE more coal miners are dead. Now, turn off your lights while you read this. If every coal miner in the United States decided to walk out of the mines, crawl off their draglines and bulldozers, hop out of their…

The debate over genetically modified plants is moving beyond the fields and heating up under the forest canopy. Scientists are experimenting with increasing levels of BT (a naturally occurring pesticide) in trees, increasing trees’ resistance to herbicides, reducing levels of…

Yikes: A team of federal investigators will visit the Catawba nuclear plant on Lake Wylie today to learn what led to the emergency shutdown this weekend of both of the plant’s reactors. Appearantly no people were in danger, but it…

Underground scoop operator Todd Upton, this week, became the 19th West Virginia miner to die on the job this year when he was “struck by a wooden board and suffered fatal head injuries.” The Sycamore No. 2 mine, where Upton…

The Watauga County Planning Board has recommended an exemption of the popular “ridge law” dating back to 1983, which keeps things like this from being built… The “ridge law” came about after these condominiums were built on Sugar Mountain. Imagine…

[Pennsylvania] After more than a decade of closely monitoring regeneration of oak trees on forest tracts around Pennsylvania, researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences have begun to understand why stands of the state’s most important tree are not…

American Farmland Trust is focusing America’s attention and action on the tremendous threats facing the nation’s agricultural lands: unplanned, sprawling development; inadequate conservation programs; and a lack of options for farmers and ranchers who want to stay on their lands.…

Despite the more than 21,000 N.C. sites that have been contaminated by leaky underground tanks, no law requires public officials to notify the people who live nearby. Later this year, the NC General Assembly is expected to hear legislation, brought…

The EPA just announced the winner for its’ P3 (People, Prosperity, and the Planet) competition. Students from across the United States competed for $75,000 in prize money. Congratulations to the six winners! Appalachian State University – Closing the Biodiesel Loop:…