Publication archives

From the Idaho State Journal, by John O'Connell Cleve Davis calls his hobby botanizing. He heads to remote places to seek plants that no one has ever recorded seeing in Idaho. Davis, a botanist with the Bureau of Land Management's Pocatello field office, is credited with introducing four new rare plants to the state's list.

From the Billings Gazette, by Eve Byron The jobs of Forest Service employees who give information to the public are being scrutinized to see whether they might be better handled by private public relations firms.

From the Birmingham News, by William Thornton High gas prices don't seem to faze Wayne Keith. That's because his faded red pickup runs almost totally on wood. "I've worn the latch off the hood because of people wanting to take a look inside," he said.

From the Duluth News Tribune Peat in the Pine Island bog is centuries-old decaying plant material trapped under a wet, boggy spruce forest. Under the plan in Koochiching County, about 840 acres will be logged, ditched, drained and the topsoil removed -- the site will look much like a farm field with no crops.

From Knight Ridder Newspapers With all due respect to Bambi, deer are the cockroaches of the animal kingdom. For millions of years, they thrived in local forests among jaguars, cheetahs and grizzly bears.

From the Duluth News Tribune, by Scott Thistle Plans to reorganize the University of Minnesota's College of Natural Resources are being closely watched by Northland lawmakers, environmentalist and rep-resentatives of industry.

From Forestry Tips, by Clare Nunamaker What do you think the biggest threat is to biodiversity and our ecosystems? According to two separate sources I've read recently, "land use conversion" is the answer.

From the Duluth News Tribune, by John Meyers The plan would produce the largest loss of wetlands for one project in Minnesota. PolyMet Mining Co. has formally applied for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit to fill or drain 1,200 acres of wetlands for a proposed copper mine in the Superior National Forest near Babbitt.