Forest harvesting with animals is a labor-intensive operation. It is expensive to use machines on smaller woodlots, which require frequent moves if mechanically logged. So, small logging systems using animals may be more cost effective. In this study, work sampling…

[ Idaho ] Potlatch Corp., Idaho ‘ s largest private landowner, plans to start charging for recreational use of its land, an official of the timber company says. Potlatch, based in Spokane , Wash. , owns almost 670,000 acres that…

To get the FSC’s stamp of approval, forest operations must meet 57 criteria, including protection of local wildlife, minimal use of chemical pesticides, even the guarantee that loggers can unionize. If a forest makes the grade, its wood products get…

Cross-posted from Lazyhorses’ diary on the Daily Kos. This November is shaping up to be one of the toughest election seasons for the coal industry in recent memory.  No industry other than oil has benefited more from the attack on…

[Washington, DC] Three U.S. non-profit agencies are getting almost half a billion dollars in duties from Canadian lumber companies under the softwood lumber deal. The groups, announced Friday by U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, include the respected Habitat for Humanity…

The demand for Chinese goods is driving destructive logging around the globe. [ China ] Night and day, the timber ships reach this Yangtze River port, one of the world’s busiest clearinghouses for logs from every corner of the globe:…

[ Canada ] With dead trees helter-skelter on the ground and scrub bush hither and yon, many Canadian forests look as ”messy” as they are. This was once described with disdain by the Finns whose tidy, high-yield forests created wealth…

After calling just about everyone who works in the United States Government, it sounds to me like the committee in charge of the MSHA appointments is the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Now, they won’t meet again until…

I called MSHA ((202) 693-9400) to let them know that their logo was inaccurate and that they should alter it. Unfortunately, no one is there to pick up the phones. They do, however, forward you to this number for general…

Unions have come out swinging against the recess appointment of coal executive Richard Stickler to head the Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Stickler, a former employee of Massey, was TWICE rejected by the US Senate. The President circumvented this…