Last week’s fiscal cliff deal included a nine-month extension for the Farm Bill. While the deal doesn’t provide mandatory funding to energy programs in the Farm Bill, it does extend most conservation provisions that are already (or set to be) expired, like the Wetlands Reserve Program and Healthy Forests Reserve Program. Other programs like EQIP, [...]
A national park that speaks to the thrill of exploration celebrates its birthday today. Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota became the nation’s 36th national park when Richard Nixon signed it into creation in 1971, but don’t plan on taking in its sites in your car. This “Land of Lakes” is more than a third water [...]
Nature can be hard on trees. There are floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. Then, there are bugs and disease. Basically, trees are fighting a lot of forces to survive, which is why it’s so disheartening when trees are lost deliberately to human folly. While there can be a lot of human folly to discuss, I want [...]
Yesterday brought more good news for the Southwestern willow flycatcher. Back in October, I wrote about New Mexico’s two newly designated national wildlife refuges — areas that in addition to creating great outdoor recreational opportunities for New Mexico communities, protect valuable habitat for the willow flycatcher. Well, the flycatcher is on a roll. Yesterday, the [...]
For years, one of my holiday gifts to my wildlife-loving brother has been a wall calendar featuring gorgeous photography of wolves, polar bears or anything else that really pops that year. This year’s calendar was “Wild Cats,” featuring the biggest and baddest felines around. I bought it with a little bit of a heavy heart, [...]
As most people celebrated the New Year with confetti and champagne, Congress was on Capitol Hill trying to reach a last-minute agreement. The New Year’s negotiations finally ended when House Republicans agreed to a deal passed in the Senate, which was pulled together by Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY). But even though [...]
We’ve loved sharing our milestones and our love of forests with our friends in 2012. Before the year ends, let’s take a look back at some of the stories people loved most: 10. Redwood National Park People like what we do here at American Forests because they love the forests we protect. It’s no surprise [...]
From the “most wonderful time of the year” to maybe the most dreaded: holiday clean up. It’s estimated that each year, more than 25 million live Christmas trees decorate people’s homes, businesses and other establishments during the holiday season. That’s a lot of pine needles! These trees represent just a fraction — seven percent — [...]
Have you ever been strolling through the park and suddenly been hit by with a sense of clarity or the solution to a problem you didn’t even know you were thinking about? Or said to yourself, “I need some fresh air,” just as you were on the verge of throwing in the towel on a [...]
For today’s post, we’d like to give our readers a fun three-minute break. If you enjoy these short videos about the benefits of urban forests, please share them with your friends and tell your city council how much your neighborhood trees mean to you! Urban Forests Cool Our Cities Trees and greenspaces in cities cool [...]
