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[ Mississippi ] Roseburg Forest Products Co. took ownership of seven former Georgia-Pacific Corp. industrial wood products mills including the plant in Louisville , expanding Roseburg ‘s operations into the southeastern United States . The purchase, originally announced in September, makes Roseburg one of the largest providers of composite panels in the U.S. The transaction…

[ Virginia ] Spread throughout the thick of the Great Dismal Swamp, the western mountains and, really, almost every county in the state, biologists say there are more black bears in Virginia now than at any time since before the Civil War. The increase goes back to decades-old, fundamental changes in the state’s landscape and…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week announced the selection of Abigail Kimbell as the 16th chief of the Forest Service. Kimbell succeeds Dale Bosworth, who is retiring on Feb. 2 after 41 years with the Forest Service. Kimbell currently serves as regional forester for the Northern Region in Missoula , Mont. , which includes…

Sil Greene – Business League member and AV volunteer came into our office yesterday to recover data from a very aged and dying computer that crashed. Afterwards, he helped us update it with new software and hardware! Thanks Sil! Sil Greene’s business – Out the Window Services – does PC repair, user training, and home…

[ Canada ] …these are Canada ‘s first and only genetically modified trees to be grown outdoors. While some scientists believe that they represent the future of our forests — and a forest-product industry that accounted for nearly 60 per cent of our $55.1-billion trade balance in 2005 — others fear the fallout from experimenting…

[ North Carolina ] The old stone house doesn’t look like a high-tech headquarters, but the banner on the door advertises the home of the western office of the N.C. Biotechnology Center…Within the region’s treasure trove of native plants, center director Cheryl McMurry and others see opportunities for new research and new jobs. “Natural products…

Mount Hood Forest watchdogs worry that a federal study could lead to more logging. [ Oregon ] The U.S. Forest Service is studying how close its management practices at six sites, including the 1.1-million- acre acre Mount Hood National Forest and two other public forests in Oregon, come to meeting independent ‘green’ certification standards. The…

[ Michigan ] It has long been recognised that burning forests release more than carbon, as the cocktail of chemicals absorbed by the trees as they grow is set free as they are consumed by fire. But new research at the University of Michigan suggests that the role of forest fires has been underplayed when…

It’s not just the timber industry pressuring the US Green Building Council (USGBC) to award a new LEED credit for its greenwash self-certification scheme, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) label. Manufacturers of resilient flooring are seeking LEED recognition for their trade association’ s new certification system, FloorScore. Welcome to the label game. For manufacturers the…

The management philosophy advocated by many public agencies today has become known as “ecosystem management.” Under this philosophy, maintenance of ecosystem structure and functions becomes the primary goal, while production of commodities and services is viewed as a useful byproduct. However, any effort to assure sustainability and health of American forests can be expected to…