The trees may continue to grow. The birds sing. The deer to walk down trails and drink from streams sparkling from leaf-filtered sunbeams.

The Jefferson National Forest, just down Interstate 77 in Virginia, is a testament to the beauty found in America’s woodlands.

Last week, the first step was taken to protect it for our children and grandchildren — and their children.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns agreed last Wednesday to develop regulations for limiting development in more than 380,000 acres of undeveloped roadless land in this forest and the George Washington National Forest, as well as others in North Carolina and South Carolina. Read more

Routt County resident Tina Harding had not been pulled over in six years. That is until Thursday afternoon, when she and her 3-year-old daughter were stopped by U.S. Forest Service officers while delivering food donations to Rainbow Family of Living Light gatherers.

Despite notifications posted on some of the vehicles parked at the Rainbow gathering area, Harding was surprised to be issued a federal citation for illegal occupancy and use without a special-use permit.

“I’m not affiliated with them in any way,” Harding said Friday. “I heard they were begging, so I decided to bring them some food.” Read more

About a year after a fire destroyed some 1,000 hectares of land in eastern Attica, the area remains without trees and under construction in some parts even though the government promised the whole area would be replanted.

The fire which hit the coastal resorts of Rafina and Nea Makri last July was considered one of the worst in the area, razing 100 houses.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, whose main residence is located in Rafina, announced then that the charred land would remain classified as forest.

But local officials immediately expressed concerns that the area will likely be developed after arsonists were blamed for the blaze. Read more

The group of foreign visitors peer at the branches but see nothing out of the ordinary – until Rabarison steps among the trees and puts his hand right next to the 30-cm (12-inch) chameleon gripping a branch.

Its presence becomes so obvious that you are astonished you missed it in the first place.

With its bulging eyes, horn-like facial “spikes” and rotund shape it hardly resembles a branch, but set against the dark green of the leaves it is almost impossible to spot.

Spotting concealed wildlife in Madagascar’s rainforest is a rare skill that 50-year-old Rabarison has honed through a childhood spent playing in the bush and an adulthood spent as an eco-guide. Read more

FOREST CITY, Iowa Five Iowans are among scores of people who have filed federal lawsuits against firms involved in the harvest or distribution of human tissue.
The lawsuits stem from a scandal that broke last fall on the East Coast and allegedly started with stolen body parts in a New York-area funeral home.

Malinda Andreasen, of Forest City is one of them. She had pieces of someone else’s bone placed in her neck during surgery, then received a letter in February telling her that her transplant might have included stolen tissue. The letter also instructed her to be tested for several diseases because the tissue may not have been properly screened. Read more

A lingering drought has created ideal wildfire conditions across much of the West and Southwest this summer, alarming forestry officials, who already are dealing with an unusually high number of fires.

Nationwide as of Saturday, officials have reported 54,686 fires charring more than 3.2 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Both figures were the highest in at least a decade for this point in the year. The 10-year average for the same date was 39,240 fires burning about 1 million acres.

So far, none of the fires has spun out of control, but scientists and forestry officials warned that exceptionally light rains and low humidity in many states have left dry, dead branches and grasses that could ignite like a tinderbox. Read more

The U.S. Forest Service is redrawing its maps for where you can ride your ATV, motorcycle, or four-wheel-drive, and it wants the public to help.

The agency is changing its national travel policy. Under current rules, roads and trails are open unless specifically closed by the ranger district. Under a new policy, all roads and trails will be closed to motorized traffic unless they are part of the official travel system.

Before the new policy takes effect, all ranger districts must update their travel maps, and Mountain Home Ranger District is starting the process with a series of public meetings next week.

“We’re looking for folks to tell us what routes out there they want us to add to the system,” said Larry Tripp, a ranger in the Mountain Home District. “Hunters who use motorcycles or ATVs to travel in these areas for hunting access, or to retrieve harvested big game, have the potential to be most directly affected in this designation process, and their input is strongly encouraged.” Read more