Forests

Ancient chestnut trees in Europe are vanishing. "The culprits: a moth that produces leaf-eating larvae and a bacterium that makes trunks bleed and die. ... A cure? Not immediately in sight."

"A new management plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument further limits logging in and near groves of the world's largest trees, but would still allow it in nearly a quarter of the monument."

"A 4,000-acre (1,620-hectare) wildfire in the Angeles National Forest in Southern California has forced the evacuation of some campsites as firefighters struggle to control the blaze, authorities said on Monday."

"Fire scientists are calling it 'the new normal': a time of fires so big and hot that no one can remember anything like it."

"The FLAME Act of 2009 was supposed to ensure the Forest Service had enough money to fight fires without having to cut into programs to provide recreation, protect habitat and improve forest health. But after Congress raided the fund established by the law during the 2011 standoff over the debt ceiling, and after further cuts this year, the fund is empty."

"MANTON, Calif. — Aided by a shift in wind direction, firefighters made a stand against a huge lightning-sparked wildfire burning on the edge of three small Northern California towns."

"Beside Seattle’s notoriously polluted Duwamish River, an excavator scoops up small pieces of waste metal and slings them onto a rusty mountain at Seattle Iron & Metals Corp. A pile of flattened cars and trucks squats nearby amid vast sheets of scrap metal. For at least the last four years, this auto-shredder and metal recycler has dumped more pollutants into the river than allowed under the federal Clean Water Act, government records show. The levels have ranged higher than 250 times above what’s known to harm salmon that migrate through the river."

"FEATHERVILLE, Idaho (AP) — Across the West, dozens of fires fueled by searing heat, dry weather and strong winds have added up to misery for weary residents who already are fed up with one of the region's worst fire seasons in decades."