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Ed continues to get GLOWING PRESS, this time from the Martinsburg-press: Why don’t we help out by calling the governor, and asking him to make sure that this never has to be repeated again… Wiley is on a mission to ensure the safety of the children in Sundial, W.Va., where their elementary school sits next…

[ South Carolina ] The largest habitat conservation purchase in the state ‘ s history is one-step closer to completion with the acquisition of 39,000-acres of working forestland, recreational lands and wildlife habitat by the State of South Carolina , The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy. In March, The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy…

BIOMASS: A new study looks at the harvest costs and environmental effects of removing “junk” trees to produce electricity and heat. [ Minnesota ] In the Northland, biomass generally means the stuff left behind at logging sites, or trees and brush too small for loggers to bother cutting. Promoters say biomass can help wean Minnesota…

Ghostly stands of dead and broken trees are a bleak reminder of Hurricane Katrina as the South Mississippi forest industry struggles to recover. Preliminary estimates statewide were a staggering $1.2 billion, according to Wayne Tucker, the executive director of the Mississippi Institute of Forest Inventory, shortly after the storm. Tree-growers are faced with a double-edged…

So after our much needed R and R here in Sheperdstown, we are gearing up for a shindig for Ed tomorrow. At 2 pm in Sheperdstown at the Train Station, Ed will have a stage to give a presentation on MFE. A local bluegrass band, who we hear is amazing (The Speakeasy Boys) are going…

The Senate Agriculture Committee held a field hearing on the Farm Bill in Grand Island, NE on August 16th. Farmers were invited to voice their opinions on what they would like to see in the next Farm Bill. Witnesses expressed interest in seeing a revenue-based approach to the upcoming bill and voiced little enthusiasm at…

[ England ] Biofuels can both bring down high pump prices and help halt climate change, their supporters hope. But the result of the global boom in the green fuel additive may just have precisely the opposite effects in the near-term, according to both oil company executives and green campaigners. The higher cost of the…

[ Japan ] The Environment Ministry said Thursday it will launch a project to mass produce environmentally friendly biomass fuel made from materials like wood chips to power about 40,000 motor vehicles annually in metropolitan areas. The ministry also plans to help build about 100 special gas stations in urban areas in the Kanto and…

[ West Virginia ] Wild ginseng diggers are getting ready to trudge deep into the hills as the harvesting season opens Friday. If West Virginia ‘ s crop is anything like last year ‘ s, more than $2 million worth of the perennial herb is laying ready in the soil. Last year nearly 4,800 pounds…

In rice-growing states, traces of an unapproved genetically modified (GM) rice have been found mixed in with conventional rice meant for human consumption. In Oregon , genetically engineered creeping bentgrass, being tested for possible use on golf courses, has been found miles outside its test beds, making it the first GM plant known to have…