Daily Archives: June 30, 2012

Court upholds $28.8 million penalty in Angeles National Forest fire

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Los Angeles Times 6/29/2012
Excerpt:   ” A federal appeals court upheld a $28.8 million jury verdict Friday against a construction firm blamed for causing a 2002 wildfire that burned roughly 18,000 acres in the Angeles National Forest.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the award was “not grossly excessive” and based on sufficient evidence of environmental damage from the blaze that was ignited by a welder’s sparks.   …..”
Read entire article at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/court-upholds-judgment-in-angeles-national-forest-fire.html?dlvrit=649324

Is Acid Rain a Thing of the Past?

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Science Now 6/28/2012
Excerpt:  ” The story of acid rain from the 1970s is preserved in newspaper headlines, textbooks, and, it turns out, the soils of the northeastern United States. Forty years after humans first began tackling the problem, the impact of acid rain still lingers in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, according to a new study. But the research also shows the first signs of recovery.     …”
Read entire article at http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/06/is-acid-rain-a-thing-of-the-past.html?rss=1

Conservation groups outline how to boost timber cut without harming environment

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Portland Tribune 6/9/2012
Excerpt:   “Regional forest conservation groups have released a new study showing how logging volume on federal lands in the Northwest could grow 44 percent if certain ecological criteria are followed.

The report, Ecologically Appropriate Restoration Thinning in the Northwest Forest Plan Area, projects that annual timber cutting could grow from the recent 537 million board feet up to 774 million board feet, via thinning of mostly small-diameter trees. If followed, the plan could increase logging and related jobs by 2,700, backers estimate.      ……..”
Read entire article with links to study at http://www.portlandtribune.com/sustainable/story.php?story_id=134101273923423300