Now that spring has sprung, go outside and enjoy the nice weather! But be sure to read the latest Forest Digest first!
- Alaska yellow cedar closer to Endangered Species Act protection — Los Angeles Times
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last week that the Alaska yellow cedar may soon be listed in the Endangered Species Act as climate change worsens and threatens the tree’s native range. Already more than 600,000 acres of cedar forests have died, and more will if CO2 emissions are not curbed.
- Ecological properties of nature reserve areas can now be analyzed by laser scanning from a plane — Phys.org
Nearly one-fifth of the EU’s land is covered by natural areas, so how do they protect all this land? With lasers, of course! Planes are equipped with infrared lasers that send pulses to the ground that can monitor the protected areas for growth or disturbance.
- 144ft beech in Sussex named Britain’s tallest native tree — the guardian
A 200-year-old beech tree in the National Trust’s Devil’s Dyke Estate in West Sussex claimed the title of tallest native tree from more than 200,000 other contenders. And while it is not the tallest tree in Britain — that title belongs to a non-native Douglas-fir that stands at 200 feet — it can proudly stand over all other native trees in Britain.
- Tree-clearing turns Chicago area’s forest preserves into prairie preserves — Chicago Tribune
Many of Chicago’s forest preserves have become crowded with trees in the last decade and as a result, officials are beginning to thin the forest. This practice will allow the once-shaded understory to support life and help restore native prairies.
- Jury: $160,000 for trees killed by herbicide — Argus Leader
Herbicides are used to kill weeds, but that is not the only thing they kill. Trees, ponderosa pines in this case, can also be damaged by the chemicals, and after a small co-op company killed more than 200 pines on Richard Krier’s property, he took them to court and won a settlement.