Cheers to surviving another week! Here is your reward: the latest Forest Digest.

  • Report: Wildfire Reconstruction of West’s Riskiest Homes is $237BInsurance Journal
    Wildfires are known to damage property and can be extremely dangerous during periods of drought, which much of the West has been experiencing over the past few years. A new report shows that 192,242 homes are at a high risk for wildfire damage this year!
It is important to know how much your home is at risk for wildfire damage in order to protect your property. Photo Credit: Dan Tentler/Flickr
It is important to know how much your home is at risk for wildfire damage in order to protect your property. Photo Credit: Dan Tentler/Flickr
  • Felling of tropical trees has soared, satellite shows, not slowed as UN study foundPhys.org
    According to a new study by University of Maryland researchers, the rate of deforestation has actually increased instead of decreased in recent years. Their research was aided by satellite images, which were previously unavailable for past studies and show that the rate of deforestation has increased to 62 percent — or the size of West Virginia — each year.
  • Why the Sahara is intricately tied to the Amazonmmn
    Researchers have recently found that more than 22,000 tons of phosphorous get blown across the Atlantic Ocean from the Sahara Desert to the Amazon. Though this is a relatively small amount — only .08 percent of the total dust brought into the Amazon — it is still enough to help enrich the soil and enable trees to grow tall and healthy.
  • Olivia Newton-John launches ‘One Tree Per Child’ campaignmmn
    Later this year in Bristol, U.K., the “One Tree Per Child” program will help kids under the age of 10 get their hands dirty by planting trees in the city. This will double the amount of trees in Bristol and will hopefully be launched worldwide in the coming years.
  • With wishing tree, SOL couple brings the community togetherThe Tribune
    In San Luis Obispo, Calif., a couple is making a big difference in the community by letting people from all walks of life and from around the world hang their wishes in a large, old oak tree. The owners, Kathy and Jim apRoberts, love the way the tree has bridged a connection to their neighbors and are currently looking for more wishes to add.
  • The tree that…charges your phone?CNBC
    Sologic, an Isreali solar company, recently invented a solar tree that produces seven kilowatts of daily power. This is more than enough energy to charge your phone and other devices and, maybe even better, the eTree is capable of providing WiFi.
  • Hey all D.C. readers! We wanted to inform you of a special event in our area happening this weekend. The Embassy of Finland’s “Trees are Poems” exhibition, which highlights trees as essential to human existence and symbols of life, closes this weekend. The exhibit is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday form 11am-4pm.