Publication archives

As wildfires in the Boundary Waters go, the Alpine Lake fire is a wimp. At under 1,400 acres, it pales next to the nearby 1995 Sag Corridor fire, which burned 12,000 acres, and even the 1976 Roy Lake fire, which covered some of the same ground as the Alpine fire.

Europe's rarest songbird is facing extinction, despite being the most promiscuous and energetic lover in the avian world, and concerned scientists are looking urgently for ways to save it.

Two new species of birds called tapaculos have been identified in the mountains of Colombia, a conservation group said Tuesday. The shy, dark-colored birds, which live in thick forest, are mostly identified by their songs and it was their calls that distinguished the two new species, BirdLife International said.

In the beady eyes of two invasive insects, the Philadelphia region would be a bacchanal - an orgy of fine food and wild sex amongst the maples, sycamores, birches and ashes that shade the city and suburbs. Were the Asian longhorned beetle and the emerald ash borer to converge here, potentially half of the urban forest - well more than a million trees - could be fatally infected.

Surged last month, the government reported yesterday, as the long rise in energy prices finally seemed to be pinching the American economy. After absorbing the burden of oil at $40 a barrel, then at $50 and beyond, consumers have started to react as prices have risen above $60 in recent weeks.

Gypsy moths - perennially unwelcome summer visitors that have defoliated entire forests along the upper East Coast - are back in Oregon. Agriculture Department employees have placed 19,000 gypsy moth traps around the state, in an effort to stop the voracious insect in its tracks.

India bypasses the wires to bring Wi-Fi to its remote residents Wireless technology will help bring the Internet to 600,000 villages in 2 years. -------------------------------------------------

For more than 80 summers, generations of young campers have headed to Camp Namanu to frolic in the Sandy River, ride horseback through forests of Douglas fir and hike along trails used by Roosevelt elk and black-tailed deer. The camp's idyllic landscape, spread across 545 mostly wooded acres on the western slope of Mt. Hood, is its most valuable asset.