Publication archives

More than 1,000 people will be searching forest floors in western and northern Wisconsin this month and next for the gnarled root of wild ginseng, desired by Asians for both its soothing and energy-boosting qualities.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2005 - U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service today announced $115,000 in assistance to the State of Colorado for developing a petition to the Secretary of Agriculture to protect inventoried roadless areas in the state.

A group of environmentalists is trying to block construction of two federal water projects in Arkansas, arguing they could damage the habitat of the highly endangered ivory-billed woodpecker.

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 1 -- The federal government has a new high-tech weapon, but this one battles wildfires. It is a remote-controlled spy plane that does not mind smoke and can see in the dark.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Lester M. Crawford has turned down a petition by Bayer Corp. asking for permission to keep selling its veterinary antibiotic Baytril while it appeals an agency ban on the drug.

Atop the food chainThe fewer antibiotics in animal feed, the better for human healthIt wasn't too hard to tell when the weight of consumer opinion started swinging against the routine use of antibiotics in food animals to make them grow faster. Giant fast-food corporations in 2003 began asking meat and poultry suppliers to stop using antibiotics important in treating human illnesses.

Picture a forester and what often comes to mind is a burly man in a plaid flannel shirt striding through unbroken rows of trees with an ax slung over his shoulder. The idea of an "urban forester" at first may seem a bit contradictory; isn't the point of urbanization to eliminate trees and erect cities?

The worst has happened in New Orleans and not everyone is surprised. For years, specialists have warned that the city, built partly below sea level and in an area of radically depleted wetlands, was a natural disaster waiting to happen. And when it did, they said, we would have no one to blame but ourselves.