U.S. Forest Service

Weyerhaeuser is close to becoming a real estate investment trust. For tax analysts and shareholders, forests are no longer about timber; they're about harvesting tax-advantaged money.

Behind Weyerhaeuser's move to REIT-hood

Posted Mon, Jan 4, 2 a.m.

Weyerhaeuser is close to becoming a real estate investment trust. For tax analysts and shareholders, forests are no longer about timber; they're about harvesting tax-advantaged money.

Restoring saltwater, and nature, to the Nisqually River estuary

Posted Tue, Nov 24, 6 a.m.

While multiple agencies argue over the Columbia River system, changes are afoot in the Nisqually Delta north of Olympia. Already you can see a difference.

Back to the drawing board on spotted owls

Posted Fri, Apr 17, 6 a.m.

A new administration signals yet another deep examination about how to save forest habitats for endangered spotted owls. After decades of studies and litigation and administrative maneuvers, are we any closer to a solution?

The lasting impact of the New Deal's CCC

Posted Fri, Apr 10, 6 a.m.

By Brian D'Ambrosio

A new book looks at one spectacular legacy in the Colorado Plateau

The Bush court sets back environmental litigation

Posted Mon, Mar 9, 6 a.m.

While Obama is undoing some Bush rules on endangered species, the Supreme Court renders a verdict that could be a serious blow to future environmental lawsuits.

Beware the fad of hybrid poplar trees

Posted Thu, Jan 15, 6 a.m.

By Todd Myers

Poplars such as the Pacific albus have limited use, and they create environmental problems of their own: requiring tremendous amounts of water and raising questions about genetic engineering.

Reframing Northwest environmental issues

Posted Mon, Dec 15, 6 a.m.

By Floyd McKay

Lacking top figures in the Obama administration from the region, area environmentalists are linking forest and salmon issues to a cause Obama understands better: climate change.

How Wall Street is destroying the timber way of life

Posted Fri, Dec 12, 6 a.m.

The pressure for real estate and the short-term perspective of fancy Wall Street financial instruments have changed the old line companies utterly.

On the fire line

Posted Tue, Aug 26, 4 a.m.

By Bob Simmons

The U.S. Forest Service considers changing its firefighting protocol in the wake of sentencing over handling of the Thirtymile Fire, which claimed the lives of four firefighters.

A new owl plan with the same old goal: more logging

Posted Wed, Jul 23, midnight

The new Northern Spotted Owl recovery plan could be worse, but the Bush administration hasn't given up on cutting a billion board feet a year in Northwest forests.

Conservation groups buy pieces of Montana — a lot of pieces

Posted Thu, Jul 3, 5 a.m.

By Kim McDonald

The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land are buying 500 square miles of western Montana from Plum Creek, the timber real estate investment trust, for $510 million. It involves a federal financing mechanism, to the consternation of conservatives, and compromise, to the displeasure of some environmentalists. But it is preventing development of forest habitat.

When animals attack, and also when they don't

Posted Mon, Jun 30, 5 p.m.

It's the time of year when animal-human encounters are on the rise. Bears are picnicking on hikers, moose are invading trailer parks, and muskrats are blamed for destroying entire towns. You could be next.

Wilderness redefined

Posted Fri, Jun 20, 8 p.m.

By Kim McDonald

Wild Sky in Washington's Cascades is just one of a number of areas designated for protection that are not, in the strictest sense, primeval environment. But they are wild, and in modern times they're worth preserving, say environmentalists — even if unprecedented compromise is necessary.

Wanna rent a ranger station?

Posted Tue, Jun 3, 6 p.m.

America's national forests are in the middle of a "heritage" crisis as historic structures fall victim to budget cuts, vandalism, and neglect. Northwest forests are not immune, but citizens can help. How about vacationing in a fire lookout this summer?

A plea bargain douses the scandal of the Thirtymile Fire

Posted Thu, May 8, 5 a.m.

By Bob Simmons

The darkest moment in U.S. Forest Service history won't be told — not to a jury, anyway.

Wheat-country blues in Washington's least-populous county

Posted Thu, Nov 1, 5 a.m.

Walla Walla might be flush with the grape, but just down the road the juice runs out in Pomeroy, Wash. It's the land that agri-tourism forgot – or hasn't found yet. Whiskey, anyone?

Larry Craig: the last of the 'servants of the lords of yesterday'

Posted Sat, Sep 15, midnight

By David Frey

Environmentalists argue that the disgraced Idaho senator represents a constituency that has declined in importance in the minds of voters – the legacy timber, grazing, and mining interests. Says one: "Now Idaho's a different place."

With 'nature-deficit disorder,' the decline of traditional summer camps

Posted Tue, Jun 12, midnight

Hidden Valley Camp, a Northwest institution, is concerned about the future of old-school summer camps, and they're not alone. Some experts worry that a younger generation is disconnected from nature. It might be time to unplan – and unplug – the kids.

How they drew lines in the Northwest's forests

Posted Sat, Jun 9, 10 a.m.

By Kevin Marsh

An environmental historian traces the century-long evolution of a government-managed patchwork in the Cascades. In the end, designating wilderness areas was as much about cutting down trees as preserving them.