Flora & Fauna: Sentinel gardens; bats do good work; beavers saving ecosystems; firefly delights; seashore reporting

Sentinel gardens help save North American trees.
(Photo by Sophia Simoes, Unsplash)

Planting "sentinel gardens" in different places around the globe helps scientists protect native North American trees. "Scientists have planted American trees in China, Korea and elsewhere to attract hungry insects, reports Sachi Kitajima Mulkey of The New York Times. "These gardens are plots of foreign trees that researchers closely monitor to figure out what local bugs and diseases can damage them. The goal is to learn as much as possible about these potential threats before they cross the ocean and become a problem at home."

For the many Americans who consider bats an animal oddity that flies like a bird but kind of looks like a mouse, they are selling the furry echolocation-using creatures short. Bats do tremendous work, helping U.S. farmers and the economy. "Bats pollinate plants, including many important food crops, when they stop by flowers to drink nectar," write Dale Manning, Anya Nakhmurina and Eli Fenichel for The Conversation. "Their guano is mined from caves for fertilizer. And they eat a lot of bugs – the kinds that bother people (think mosquitoes) and others that destroy crops that humans depend on for food." Read about the impacts of bat population decline on economic markets and how humans are trying to address bat health here.

Beavers to the rescue.
(Drawing by Adam Dixon, Offrange)

In Utah, beavers that trappers would have killed for their fur are being spared and relocated from areas where they are a nuisance to locations where they help local ecosystems recover. "To maximize on their potential to restore ecosystems, the Beaver Ecology & Relocation Collaborative (BERC) at Utah State University started offering trappers a $100 surrender fee to catch beavers alive to transport them to private lands in need of hydrological TLC," reports Karen Fischer for Offrange. "The success of the project could be replicated elsewhere, with sweeping ramifications throughout the American West."

They light up forest floors and the air with their bioluminescence beauty, casting sparkle and wonder all around. Fireflies are among nature's most delightful creatures, and some campers are fascinated. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is not only America’s most-visited national park, but it is also "home to 19 firefly species," reports Jacob Passy of The Wall Street Journal. "Photinus carolinus, also known as the Smokies synchronous firefly, produces dazzlingly coordinated displays that rival even the most extravagant Christmas light installation. . . .Their annual emergence in the Great Smoky Mountains has become so popular that campsites sell out months in advance."

A polluted farm in the United Kingdom "let nature back in," providing a stunning example of how nature can heal itself, reports Jasmin Sykes of CNN. The Knepp Estate is a place where turtle doves "seem to be bouncing back. A recently published, two-decade review of wildlife on the estate found that the number of singing males rose from just two in 2008, to 22 in 2024. Isabella Tree, who owns the 3,500-acre estate in West Sussex, told CNN, “We never thought that in 20 years we could have gone from being this depleted, polluted, dysfunctional post-industrial farmland, to being one of the most significant biodiversity hotspots in Britain."

The famous Assateague wild ponies offer great photos and stories that feature the 
wonders found on our national seashores. (Photo by Sara Cottle, Unsplash)

For reporters who live anywhere near the seashore, there's an ocean of stories to uncover and discuss. "If national parks are 'America’s best idea,' then our national seashores may be America’s best-kept secret," writes Joseph A. Davis for the Society of Environmental Journalists. "For summer getaways, they are a treasure. . . . For example, Assateague Island National Seashore, established in 1965, is a beautiful barrier island running between Ocean City, Maryland, and Chincoteague, Virginia. You can swim or surf or splash in clean waves. You can study how land is built by dune ecosystems. You can see the famous wild ponies. You can go into town and eat oysters." Davis provides a list of national seashores to visit along with story ideas here. 

Timber giant doubles down on AI expansion plans to maximize profits

Weyerhaeuser plants more than 190 seedlings a 
minute. (Photo by Steven Kamenar, Unsplash)

Weyerhaeuser plans to use AI to amplify its forestry knowledge, building forests with greater scientific accuracy to maximize tree harvests and profits with fewer employees.

With AI efficiencies, company executives aim to "boost annual profits by $1 billion — roughly double 2025’s — by the end of the decade, independent of any increase in lumber prices," reports Ryan Dezember of The Wall Street Journal.

The AI rollout may sound like a science fiction novel written by a tree farmer, but Weyerhaeuser has already launched AI initiatives that will create a digital version of its "timberlands" with the help of satellites and drones. Dezember explains, "It will let Weyerhaeuser know the size and species of each tree, and how far it is from others."

The digital map will help manage tree growth and planned thinning. Dezember reports, "Weyerhaeuser trained an AI model to pore over drone footage and calculate seedling survival rates," replacing work that foresters would normally do. "For a company that plants more than a $100 million seedlings a year, or 190 a minute, the savings add up."

Another initiative will deploy autonomous skidders that drag felled trees with the help of a remote-working employee. "It isn’t just skidders heading toward autonomy," Dezember writes, "The whole logging process — from feller-bunchers that cut and stack tree trunks to delimbers that shear off the branches — could be operated by one person on-site with remote help from others."

Flora & Fauna: The grizzly of 2026 awakens; springtime woodpeckers; America dominates pistachio market; crime solving with moss; eagle research helps human PFAS study

The first grizzly bear of 2026 spotted in Yellowstone National Park left its den in search of lunch.                                     (Photo by Jim Peaco, National Park Service)        

Yellowstone Park researchers know winter is on the way out when they see a grizzly bear out of its den and feasting on lunch after its long months of hibernation. "Scientists spotted the first grizzly bear of 2026 earlier this week at Yellowstone National Park, marking the beginning of the end of hibernation season for the massive creatures," reports Emily Mae Czachor of CBS News. "The grizzly observed this year was seen in the backcountry, scavenging on the carcass of a bull bison, another species found in the park." 

When spring starts its seasonal orchestra, the percussion section begins with the staccato drums of male woodpeckers trying to out "hammer" each other to win over female woodpeckers. "The emphatic drumming, meant to attract mates and drive off rival males, is by no means the only way woodpeckers are at the pulse of things," writes Margaret Roach of The New York Times. Abandoned woodpecker nests are repurposed into homes by "wood ducks, owls, bluebirds, tree swallows, squirrels, martens, bats and raccoons" to name a few. Woodpecker: A Year in the Life of North American Woodpeckers is a new book by author and wildlife photographer Paul Bannick that gives rich insight into how humans can help nature's amazing builders.

Chestnut trees that once filled American forests until an airborne blight and root rot pushed them to the brink of extinction might once again compete for space in forests from Maine to Mississippi. "A new study in the journal Science provides hope for its revitalization, finding that the genetic testing of individual trees can reveal which are most likely to resist disease and grow tall, thus shortening how long it takes to plant the next, more robust, generation," reports Michael Phillis of The Associated Press. "A smaller gap between generations means a faster path to lots of disease-resistant trees. . . . The authors hope that can occur in the coming decades."

U.S. pistachio production hit a record 1.57 
billion pounds last year. (USDA ARS photo)

They're cracked, green and more than a little nutty. Meet the American pistachio. It's an alternate-bearing crop that's gaining international popularity, especially when mixed with chocolate. "The U.S. pistachio industry appears to be attracting more demand as its supply could soon reach 2 billion pounds," reports Todd Fitchette of Western Farm Press. "The popularity of a chocolate bar created in Dubai with crushed pistachios in it has helped bolster global pistachio demand in other products. . . .The U.S. currently controls the world’s pistachio market share with about 63% of the global supply."

Moss can help 'track a suspect's movements' through
woods and water edges. (Photo by N. Macc, Unsplash) 

In some hard-to-crack crime cases, there's often a trail that leads to a remote location where a body is disposed of, leaving nearby flora as the only witness. And while plants can't talk, many a detective knows that foliage can still tell part of the story. More recently, forensic botanists are analyzing moss for clues. "Particles from the dense, green mats can easily attach to a suspect’s shoes or clothing, grow on human remains and survive in adverse conditions," reports Samantha Drake of The New York Times. Moss samples can help detectives determine postmortem timelines, "track a suspect’s movements and establish key links to help solve crimes including homicides, missing person cases and cemetery desecrations."

Research efforts in Wisconsin who are focused on bald eagle health are helping scientists determine PFAS levels in human populations across the state. "Dubbed 'forever chemicals,' PFAS don’t break down easily and are found in common household products," Sea Grant for the University of Wisconsin reports. "They’re harmful to human health and have been found in high concentrations in drinking water in communities across Wisconsin. The project's emerging contaminants specialist, Gavin Dehnert, said eagles are what’s known as a 'sentinel species,' organisms that can alert humans to environmental toxins. Due to their diet, bald eagles are particularly good indicators of how much PFAS are in the environment."

30,000 trees and 2,000 volunteers can restore New Orleans' wetlands

Volunteers from the CRCL plant trees as part of
 their Native Plants Program. (CRCL Photo)

Organizers are working to plant 30,000 trees in New Orleans to restore the wetlands around the city that have remained destroyed since Hurricane Katrina, reports Melina Walling for The Associated Press. 

Native trees like bald cypress and water tupelo will keep the land from slipping further below sea level, cultivate a better habitat for wildlife and provide New Orleans with a protective barrier from storms, Walling explains.

After the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made the Mississippi River—Gulf Outlet Canal (MRGO) to use as a shipping channel during the government’s new levee initiative, Walling reports. This canal furthered the damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 by letting saltwater into the freshwater ecosystems around New Orleans, killing many of the trees which held the land in place.

Environmental organizations have formed the Central Wetlands Reforestation Collective to start restoring the land after the MRGO was shut down, and the salt levels were able to normalize. “We’re one part of a larger movement to resist this sort of ‘doomerism’ mindset, and to show that recovery is possible,” Christina Lehew, executive director of one of these organizations, told Walling.

The organizers were able to receive federal and state funding for two large grants to work on the tree planting. 

Many of the organizers experienced the hurricane firsthand, so this initiative has helped them to heal and find hope in future generations.

Southern Florida orange farmers turn to other tropical fruit trees to diversify crops

U.S. grown mangoes may taste better.
(Graphic by Adam Dixon, Offrange)

Florida's famed orange production started in the 1830s, when farmers began shipping their citrus nationwide by rail. The state's orange industry continued to flourish until the mid-2000s, when Huanglongbing, a bacterial disease, decimated groves throughout the state. Since then, orange growers have been working to diversify their crops by replacing orange trees with other tropical fruits that thrive in the region's hot, humid climate.

The work of botanists at the University of Florida's Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC) is helping citrus growers go beyond oranges by teaching farmers how to grow other tree crops. "South Florida can support the kinds of fruits usually only found in the tropics," reports Diana Kruzman for Offrange. Consumer interest and advances in plant breeding have the region's tropical fruit business "booming."

Even with the steep dip in crop yields, oranges remain Florida's top fruit crop, but the "tropical fruit industry, which consists of higher-value crops like avocados and mangoes, as well as more niche fruits like starfruit and guava, isn’t far behind," Kruzman explains. TREC researchers are "working to introduce other varieties of tropical fruits, such as papayas and dragonfruit."

Meanwhile, farmers are tasked with developing bigger consumer markets for their growing list of exotic fruits. "So far, many customers have come from immigrant communities around the U.S. who already know about niche tropical fruits and are willing to pay a premium to ship them quickly," Kruzman adds. 

Domestic mango growers already have one marketing advantage -- their mangoes are likely to taste better because they aren't subject to USDA fruit screenings. Kruzman explains, "All mangoes shipped into the U.S. must be disinfected to prevent foreign pests or diseases from entering the country. . . .That process involves either boiling the fruit or zapping it with radiation, which tends to leach out nearly all of its flavor."

Quick hits: Dairy farming with a robot; CSA debate; Farmers' Almanac ends; rural hospital success; goodbye penny

A robotic milker takes the place of a hired hand as dairy
farmers face labor shortages. (Farm Progress photo)

Marlane Williams always dreamed of owning her own farm and milking her own dairy cows. Now she has both, along with a robot that helps out while she's at a day job that provides income stability. "Williams has held several jobs while trying to be a dairy farmer," reports Chris Six of Farm Progress. "She's owned a dairy farm in southwest Missouri since 2002 and says balancing both is tricky, but she feels blessed to have achieved her dream." Instead of trying to hire part-time labor, Williams purchased a Lely Astronaut milking robot to make sure her growing herd is milked twice a day.  

The debate over whether the Community Supported Agriculture model is dead or alive continues, with a fresh perspective from Ruth Katcher, who runs a thriving CSA for city folk in Brooklyn, New York. "I’ve been mulling over Lauren David’s thought-provoking article on whether we’ve outgrown the CSA model," Katcher writes for Offrange. "I have to admit she made some excellent points, especially about the appeal of models that offer more choice to consumers than traditional CSAs. . . . But the traditional CSA model has features I would hate to give up . . ." Read Lauren's essay here, and Katcher's full counter here.

Pecan trees don't have to be planted every year. 
(Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt, Reasons To Be Cheerful)

In a drastic turn from traditional row-crop agriculture, some Midwestern farmers are planting nut trees that are reviving soil depleted by corn and soybean plantings. "In 2017, Josh Payne planted 20 acres of chestnut saplings, growing commodity crops in wide rows between the trees," reports Elizabeth Hewitt for Reasons To Be Cheerful. "Payne is among a growing number of farmers looking to supplement or even replace common crops planted annually — like corn and soy — with various types of nut trees. . . which can provide a type of multi-generational resilience because they can generate income for decades."

U.S. Mint photos

The U.S. Treasury Department laid the U.S. penny to rest on Nov. 12 in Philadelphia after producing it for 232 years. Victor Mather of The New York Times reports, "Top Treasury officials were on hand for its final journey. No last words were recorded. The cost to mint the penny had risen to more than 3 cents, a financial absurdity that doomed the coin. The American penny was preceded in death by its smaller sibling, the half cent (1793-1857), and its cousin, the Canadian penny (1858-2012)."

Internal medicine residents at Billings Clinic 
in Montana. (Photo by Colton Adams via the Yonder) 

A community hospital in Billings, Montana, is bucking trends with its successful medical residency programs, which train new doctors who often decide to stay in the state and practice. "As rural areas across the country face worsening provider shortages and reductions in health care services, Billings Clinic is celebrating the success of two new residency programs training," reports Madeline de Figueiredo for The Daily Yonder. "Since launching its internal medicine residency program in 2014, Billings Clinic has graduated 75 physicians, with half now practicing in rural communities. The program’s outcomes stand out amid national trends, where only 11% of physicians work in rural areas."

After more than two centuries of publication, the Farmers' Almanac from Maine announced that 2026 is its last print run. "The 208-year-old, Maine-based publication that farmers, gardeners and others have relied on for planting guidance and weather predictions will publish for the final time," report Patrick Whittle and Kathy McCormack of The Associated Press. "The Farmers’ Almanac, not to be confused with its older, longtime competitor, The Old Farmer’s Almanac in neighboring New Hampshire. . . . The almanac cited the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the book in today’s 'chaotic media environment.'" The first Farmers' Almanac was published in 1818.

Northwestern timber industry hopes to revive as Trump administration eyes tariffs, more logging in national forests

Northwestern timber looks for a comeback.
(Photo by Spurwing, Unsplash)

Despite decades of decline, the U.S. northwestern lumber industry is hoping that changes under the Trump administration will revive the industry. "Sawmills have been closing across the Pacific Northwest over the past 30 years," reports Ryan Dezember of The Wall Street Journal. "Owners of the remaining mills have high hopes that President Trump will deliver relief by increasing logging in national forests and raising trade protections against Canadian exports."

Historically, northwestern timber harvesting has been a boom or bust industry for more than a century, with the government stepping in at times to prevent overlogging. In 1994, President Bill Clinton helped pass the Northwest Forest Plan, which "reduced logging on federal lands. In practice, there has been even less logging than the plan prescribed," Dezember explains. "Owners of the remaining mills have high hopes that President Trump will deliver relief by increasing logging in national forests."

Along with harvesting restrictions, cheaper Canadian lumber imports added to the region's timber decline, which has the Trump administration considering timber tariffs. Even if those specific tariffs aren't levied, an ongoing trade dispute is expected to increase Canadian lumber duties to "more than double in the coming weeks to about 34% for most producers," Dezember explains. 

Location of Skamania County in 
Washington. (Wikipedia photo)

While the anticipated duties on Canadian timber or even additional tariffs on its imports can help the area's lumber companies over the next few months, changing federal logging restrictions will take time and planning. "Boosting the federal timber harvest could take years and be impeded by litigation and red tape," Dezember reports. "Regional Forest Service supervisors have been directed to map five-year plans to contribute to a 25% increase in the overall volume of timber harvested from national forests to satisfy Trump’s call for greater wood production."

The slow bleed of logging jobs from the region hasn't just meant lost incomes; it has translated into community budget cuts. Skamania County, Washington, serves as an example. The county is "80% federal forestland and a further 10% or so is controlled by the state," Dezember writes. "That means that the county earns tax revenue on most of its territory from timber receipts, which have slowed to a drip. Recent budget cuts forced the local school district to lay off teachers and close two of its four schools."

Forest plants and resources can help feed more marginalized people while supporting biodiversity conservation

Policies recognizing the value of
forests have multiple benefits.
(Photo by Ruta Celma, Unsplash)

The first humans didn’t have a Walmart or a convenience store, but they did have the forest, which has provided food, medicine and life since the dawn of time.

In an article for the Great Lakes Echo, Victoria Witke wrote that a “notable” number of people in the United States rely on “public forests for food and medicine.” Witke acknowledged that this is a low-cost option.

Jimmy Chamberlain, a researcher in a study conducted in the journal Trees, Forests and People, told Witke that, “policies should be created to recognize forest foods as valuable, thus supporting food production and biodiversity conservation.”

According to Witke's report, "A notable proportion of the U.S. population relies on public forests for food and medicine, but the forest products industry is 'not well served by institutions that set forest management policies,' according to a new study in the journal Trees, Forests and People."

 
Chamberlain said that if public land agencies don’t manage the plants and resources, there will be less food security for the people using them. However, “If we can begin to manage for food and medicine, then we meet the needs of a larger constituency. That constituency is typically economically marginalized – poor people.”

Not only would caring for the forest increase its value and help people, but it is also a meaningful practice that encourages giving care to what provides our resources and discourages greed.

Roger LaBine, of the Lac Vieux Desert Band, told Witke, "his tribe is taught that plants and animals sacrifice for humans, and it’s mankind’s responsibility to protect them."

Flora & Fauna: Bald eagle vs. Canadian goose; ping! It's a whale; a woolly devil; feathered roommates; bird hitchhikers

A Canada goose and a bald eagle battled in Burlington, Ont.
The goose survived. (Photo by Mervyn Sequiera via CBC)

A bald eagle swooped down on a Canadian goose that looked like an easy meal. A battle ensued. "Mervyn Sequeira — who watched and photographed a 20-minute battle between the two birds — the goose held its own," reports Aura Carreño Rosas of CBC News. "Sequeira and his family witnessed a rare event — a fight between the national bird of the U.S. and the iconic Canadian animal. Sequeira told Rosas, "When we thought that it was really over for the goose, strangely, the bald eagle just gave up and left."

A marine AI tool is doing something humans can't do. "This is WhaleSpotter, an artificial intelligence-powered whale detection system that aims to transmit real-time alerts to ships to prevent them from colliding with whales — a threat that leads to the injury or death of thousands of whales each year," reports Ashley Braun of bioGraphic. "While the AI system is designed to filter out false alarms — such as signals from birds, breaking waves, and boats—the aim is for ship captains to receive zero false alerts, so that every ping truly requires their attention."

The first photo of the woolly devil made a stir among
botanists. (Photo by Deb Manley via Atlas Obscura)

Big Bend National Park has bragging rights to a "devilish" discovery. "This tiny, fuzzy sunflower relative has been hiding in plain sight — it represents the first new genus identified in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years," reports Andrew Coletti of Atlas Obscura. "The Big Bend species has been given the scientific name Ovicula biradiata. Informally, it’s become known as 'the woolly devil,' for its fur and the 'devil horn'-like rays protruding from its flowers."

Maple seeds are made to get around -- even if that means flying in the rain. "When wind or other disturbances detach winged maple seeds called samaras from their parent tree, they spin through the air – and can even spin when it’s raining," reports Andrew Dickerson for The Conversation. "The samaras’ spinning movement, called autorotation, keeps them in the air for longer so they travel farther. My colleagues and I filmed raindrops as they crashed into autorotating samaras. The samaras shed drops by shattering them, flinging the drops off, or rolling out of the way – like they’re turning away from a punch."

Spike is a 'small but mighty' Eastern Screech Owl.
(Fontenelle Forest photo via M. Stewart)

It's hard to match the curious cuteness of screech owls -- especially when they have heart-tugging stories. Meet Spike and George. "Spike was found trapped in a train car, during which he sustained brain damage that made it impossible for him to survive in the wild. But since finding his new home at Fontenelle Forest, one of Nebraska's oldest conservation organizations, Spike has been thriving," reports Sydney Wingfield for Martha Stewart magazine. "Spike is an excellent roommate to George, another owl who arrived at the conservation 12 years ago after his nest tree was mistakenly cut down. While George is notorious for being a picky roommate, he and Spike have proven to be a perfect match."

Flower mites hitch rides on hummingbirds. (Pixabay public domain photo via Physics.org)

Hummingbirds may seem like an odd choice for a taxi, but tiny bugs can hop on for a ride. "Flower mites spend their lives slurping nectar and nibbling pollen in flowers throughout the tropics. To travel from one blossom to another, these tiny, eight-legged creatures hitch rides on the beaks of hummingbirds, taking shelter in the birds’ nostrils during flight," reports Douglas Main of The New York Times. "When a speedy hummingbird arrives at a flower to drink nectar, mites run toward its beak to get onboard before eventually transferring to another blossom." The mini stowaways are blind and can't jump. Main explains how they "hummingbird hitchhike" here.

Since the Paleolithic era, honey bees pollinated apple trees and humans picked the apples. That's about to change.

A robot inspects apple blossoms for possible pollination.
(Washington State University photo via WSJ)

Human apple harvesters must scale ladders, fend off bugs, balance on branches and twist stretchy stems to get the job done. For farmers, hiring experienced apple pickers is difficult and expensive, which is why several "universities and startups are developing specialized robots for each stage of apple production," reports Jackie Snow of The Wall Street Journal. The bots will handle everything from "pollinating the trees to fertilizing them, pruning them and harvesting the fruit."

In areas where there aren't enough honey bees to pollinate apple blossoms, "researchers have developed robotic pollinators," Snow explains. Cameras help robots find apple blossoms, and then "a mechanical arm moves in close and releases a precise burst of pollen through a nozzle. Early results are promising."

Robots used to fertilize apple orchards base their application on individual tree's needs. Snow writes, "They consider multiple indicators, including trunk diameter, canopy growth patterns and fall leaf-color changes, and use AI models to determine precise nitrogen requirements. . . . Researchers believe precisely targeting individual trees could significantly reduce overall fertilizer."

Researchers are working on robots that can also prune. "The robots must evaluate the entire structure of each tree, analyzing branch length, angles, thickness and spacing to determine which cuts will promote ideal growth patterns."

To harvest apples, robots need to be gentle and nimble. "Researchers at Washington State are testing inexpensive, fabric-based robots that have three silicone fingers that close around apples," Snow explains. So far, their research has been in a lab "with fake trees and fruit. . . The system will face its first orchard trials during the next harvest season, in the fall."

Southern timber owners could benefit from plan to create electricity and carbon credits by burning wood chips

The U.S. Pine Belt is filled with fast-growing Loblolly
pines. (Reddit map)

 

United Kingdom power producer Drax is scouting locations in America's Pine Belt to "build electricity generators fueled by burning wood chips," reports Ryan Dezember of The Wall Street Journal. "The plants’ exhaust will be piped underground instead of out of smokestacks, which generates lucrative carbon credits for which Drax is already lining up buyers." The company plans to sell its electricity to data center companies looking to fuel their artificial intelligence operations.

The plan could be an economic game changer for the U.S. South "where pulp and paper mills have closed and left timber growers without buyers for those trees unfit for making lumber or poles," Dezember explains. "Biomass power has long been dangled before Southern timberland owners as a potential solution to the glut of pine that has depressed prices and complicated harvests."

Drax's UK facility "burns pellets of compressed sawdust in a converted coal-fueled power plant," which fuels roughly 5% of the country's electricity. It already runs several U.S. pellet mills that fuel its UK operation, Dezember writes. The planned U.S. plant will be a BECCS, short for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. The company plans to provide 24/7 renewable energy for AI data centers.

Drax is pinpointing locations that have all the elements it needs, which include a "confluence of carbon dioxide pipelines, pine plantations and a short wait to connect to the grid," Dezember reports. "It has options on properties and expects to announce a location for the first plant in 2025."

The company has sought timber managers who will manage forests without stressing their ecosystems, and it "plans to buy wood only from properties managed for timber production, not old-growth stands," Dezember explains. "Nor will the plants need the wood to be ground down to dust and pressed into pellets, which are made to facilitate ocean shipping. The U.S. power plants will only need the wood chipped into small pieces."

Flora & Fauna: Joyrides for rats; feral pigs forage through Hawaii; serviceberry tree history; a unique "comeback" bird

Rats learned to love driving and would opt to take longer routes to get to their destination.
(Photo by Kelly Lambert, CC BY-ND)

People aren't the only ones who love to go for a drive. Rats do, too. "I’m a neuroscientist who taught rats to drive − their joy suggests how anticipating fun can enrich human life," writes Kelly Lambert for The Conversation. "My colleagues and I found that rats could learn to drive forward by grasping a small wire that acted like a gas pedal. Before long, they were steering with surprising precision to reach a Froot Loop treat. . . . Unexpectedly, we found that the rats had an intense motivation for their driving training, often jumping into the car and revving the 'lever engine' before their vehicle hit the road. Why was that?" Read the research here.

In the lowlands of Hawaii, things are going to pigs. Feral pigs have invaded six of the state's islands with shocking efficiency and left a path of overwhelmed ecosystems in their wake. "Their impact is profound on Kaua‘i. Its mountains are home to 255 unique native plant species and 208 native birds, including 11 found nowhere else on Earth," reports Brendan Borrell of Hakai magazine. "Their wallows breed mosquitoes that spread avian malaria, contributing to 10 of Kaua‘i’s 16 native honeycreepers [birds] going extinct. . . . Despite the damage that feral pigs are causing, you can’t just shoot them on sight . . ."

Serviceberry trees are smaller trees native to North
America. (The Spruce graphic)

Like humans, a tree species has a history. The serviceberry tree was once common in the United States, particularly in colonial New England, where its bloom cycle indicated when the soil was soft enough to begin digging graves for the many settlers who didn't make it through the winter. "Preachers then went from settlement to settlement to perform funeral services," writes Jessica Damiano of The Associated Press. "Because it’s one of the earliest spring bloomers, the serviceberry is an important food source for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Later, its berries sustain dozens of bird species and mammals. . . .There are more than 20 species of the North American native tree, which is sadly underused." Here are four favorites.

Whether it's that hefty frozen turkey, a delectable ham or ground lamb ready to be transformed into meatballs, the holidays can be a special time to be thankful for the meat on our tables. As an act of gratefulness for farm animals, a donation to an animal charity that works to make the lives of factory animals better may be in order. "Animal Charity Evaluators, a California-based nonprofit, puts out an annual guide for recommended animal charities," report Sigal Samuel and Kenny Torrella of Vox. "ACE researches and promotes the most high-impact, effective ways to help animals." Find this year's list here.

Red-cockaded woodpeckers nest in family units.
(Adobe Stock photo)

Americans love a comeback, especially when the returning member is cute, social and unique. "The red-cockaded woodpecker, an iconic bird in southeastern forests, has recovered enough of its population to be downlisted from an endangered species to a threatened one," reports Christina Larson of The Associated Press. Will Harlan of the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, told Larson, "It’s an amazing bird that has an unusual communal nesting structure. All nests usually cluster in the same tree, and the birds stick together as a family unit.”

Hazelnut trees are poised to flourish where they once died by the thousands. "Bullied by blight, the filbert has long failed to find a home on farms in the eastern U.S.," reports Ben Seal of Ambrook Research. "All across the eastern United States, hazelnuts had been cut down by Eastern filbert blight, or EFB, an endemic disease that chokes life from a tree. . . .But now, after nearly three decades of developing a way for farmers to overcome EFB. . . . A collection of four cultivars, [was] released in 2020, that can withstand even the intense pressure on [a] New Jersey research farm, where numerous strains of the blight are present."

AI is helping wolf trackers without using radio collars.
(Photo by ML, Unsplash)

New AI tracking technology is making it easier for wolves and ranchers near Yellowstone Park to coexist. "After 30 years of using traditional boots-on-the-ground observations, researchers are collecting wolf calls in hopes of honing population estimates, tracking wolves without using radio collars, and reducing conflict between the animals and ranchers," reports Devin Farmiloe of The Washington Post. "Learning more about how wolves communicate from a young age can shed light on pack dynamics that wildlife managers can use to better track and protect the species."

Christmas tree growers are 'overcoming historic challenges' to provide live trees to holiday buyers

Fraser firs are a holiday tree
favorite. (Photo by W. Hicks)

Picking out a live Christmas tree, even with the family haggling that often comes with it, is how many Americans officially begin their holiday season. But this year, Christmas tree farmers had to work harder and with more creativity to get those trees ready for sale, reports Valerie Bauerlein of The Wall Street Journal. "Growers are having to overcome historic challenges to get them to the lots."

The difficulties Christmas tree farmers face aren't limited to growing perfectly shaped trees. They also face tree disease, labor shortages, plastic tree competitors, and "inflation on everything from seeds to tractors," Bauerlein writes. "And that was before Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the western part of North Carolina, which produces more Christmas trees than any state except Oregon."

The beloved Fraser fir tree crop grows primarily in western North Carolina where flooding "left 95 people dead, washed out roads and destroyed homes," Bauerlein adds. Tree farmer Waightstill Avery III lost a barn, equipment and "60,000 trees, a third of the total at family-owned Trinity Tree Company-Avery Farms. Many of the damaged trees were partially submerged by floodwater. Others were covered in clingy silt that resists washing. . . . Avery’s staff have been recovering what they can."

Besides dealing with unpredictable weather, most tree farmers are short-staffed, with many using migrant workers to shore up labor gaps, but that solution has become more difficult and expensive. Bauerlein reports, "Tree farmer Rusty Barr said the regulations around hiring foreign workers have become increasingly cumbersome. . . . The hourly rate he pays is increasing to more than $16 next year, another cost to absorb."

The industry also faces a smaller pool of customers as "baby boomers stop putting up live trees," Bauerlein explains. "There is increasingly stiff competition from China-made artificial trees, which have become easier to assemble and more lifelike, sometimes boasting scents like 'white winter fir.' . . . Such challenges have buffeted market size: The number of trees harvested in the U.S. has declined 30% since 2002."

Even as the industry looks at this obstacle-filled season, "the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association said there should be enough supply for anyone who wants a real tree this year, though growers say that buyers might need to adjust their expectations," Bauerlein adds. "Some church groups that flock to the mountains to stock their tree lots back home have been intentionally seeking out scraggly 'Charlie Brown' trees as a show of support."

Hardwood logging in Appalachia is 'hanging on by a thread.' China, tariffs and U.S. economics all play a part.

A logger in West Virginia posing with a large tulip poplar log.
(National Park Service photo)

Since American colonial times, Appalachians have logged the region's vast forests and run sawmills to prepare cut wood for use, but the industry has been hampered by multiple economic setbacks and faces an uncertain future, reports Paul Kiernan of The Wall Street Journal. "The industry has been in decline for decades. A series of shocks since 2018 has accelerated the decline: a trade war with China, a collapse in exports due to Covid, China’s real-estate slump, and falling U.S. home building." The downturn has had a domino effect on loggers, sawmill workers, truckers and manufacturers.

Once a robust economic sector in Appalachia, logging businesses have closed due to poor market demand and high operational costs. "Roughly two dozen sawmills in the region have gone out of business in the past year or so. . . .The Eastern U.S.’s hardwood production has fallen to its lowest level in records going back to 1960," Kiernan explains. "Workers’ compensation insurance is too expensive for many sawmills to directly employ loggers."

Where two decades ago harvesting hardwood trees was profitable, trade, particularly with China, has decimated U.S. logging businesses and jobs. "Appalachian hardwoods supported thriving manufacturing facilities in nearby towns and cities," Kiernan writes. "North Carolina’s furniture plants, for instance, employed nearly 80,000 workers in 1999, shortly before China’s accession to the World Trade Organization opened the U.S. to Chinese imports. Within 10 years, that number had fallen to 35,000, with most of the jobs shipped overseas."

While some political agendas support protective tariffs, that may not be an easy solution. "Trump says tariffs will bring back manufacturing jobs. Yet the North Carolina furniture business currently employs under 30,000 workers, 20% fewer than when Trump imposed tariffs on China, including on furniture," Kiernan explains. "A worrisome trend for sawmills in recent years is that China has been reducing its imports of finished lumber from the U.S."

Appalachia already has economic worries and the shrinking hardwood industry has added to them. Kiernan adds, "Closing sawmills will accelerate the decline of communities already faced with aging populations and outward migration."

What is "climate-smart" agriculture and how do we know if it works? Report authors call for a CSA framework.

U.S. farmers have their hands full amid increased production demands, climate change management and working to use fewer environmentally harmful practices. In response to those needs, a new agricultural strategy known as "climate-smart agriculture" has evolved; however, the concept lacks a prescribed model. In their article for the Prairie Research Institute, Olivia Messerges and Trent Ford "call for developing a consistent, widely applicable, and standardized framework to assess what makes a specific agricultural system or practice 'climate-smart' and analyzes agroforestry and prescribed grazing within said framework."

At this time, CSA is broadly defined with a three-pillar structure, which includes: increasing agricultural productivity, enhancing agricultural resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Beyond those requirements, more specific guidance is needed. Messerges and Ford explain: "A standardized framework would also enable producers, policymakers and researchers to consistently compare the effectiveness, tradeoffs and implementation barriers of various CSA systems and practices. The framework will result in improved implementation of CSA goals, better policy development, and more informed decision-making processes on a national scale. . . . This article subsequently provides examples of such an assessment using examples of agroforestry and prescribed grazing systems, which are often referred to as 'climate-smart.'"

In its simplest terms, agroforestry means farming with trees, and its use is divided into four methods including silvopasture, riparian forest buffers, forest farming and alley cropping. Each implementation practice comes with a complex set of positives, negatives and "we don't know yet" results. "Alley cropping can support soil stabilization, bioremediation, and biodiversity, which are important for climate change adaptation and emission reduction," Messerges and Ford note. "However, root competition with grain or horticulture crops may hinder production benefits. Riparian forest buffers are effective at helping farmers to become more resilient. . . but productivity and emission benefits are not well-known."

Prescribed grazing is another farming practice considered "climate-smart," but once again without a structure the term and use of grazing as a method that delivers on the three pillars is hard to measure. "In the context of the three-pillar framework, the CSA benefits of prescribed grazing are less clear than for agroforestry," Messerges and Ford report. "While prescribed grazing offers many benefits, there is substantial uncertainty in its effectiveness in achieving CSA objectives."

To read Messerges and Ford's full report, sources and descriptive graphs, click here.

Natural wonders: Mt. Rainer's glaciers; wacky animals decline; the little bat that could; repurposing waste wool

Mt. Rainer is an active volcano. (Photo by Tiffany Von Arnim
via the National Park Service, CC image)

At 14,410 feet, Mount Rainier is the highest volcanic peak in the contiguous United States. It boasts the largest alpine glacial system outside of Alaska and contains the world's largest volcanic glacier cave system. It is the Mount's unearthly "frozen labyrinth tucked within the majestic volcano's east crater" that scientists are now daring to explore, reports Rebecca Dzombak of National Geographic. "The glaciers atop Mount Rainer, which towers to the southeast of Seattle, Washington, contains clues about the volcano, the inner workings of glaciers, and even icy worlds far from Earth."

In 2002, America's wacky animals -- think the great American llama, ostriches and emus -- flourished in the lower 48 states, Alaska and even Hawaii. Today that is no longer the case. All our "looney" animal populations have collapsed while other farm animals continue to thrive, reports Andrew Van Dam of The Washington Post. "From 2002 to 2022, we lost 83 percent of our ostriches, 79 percent of our llamas, 74 percent of our emus and 63 percent of our elk. Over that period, cattle were down just 8 percent, poultry was up 16 percent, and hogs were up 22 percent." The farms in Alaska and Hawaii no longer exist.

Little brown bat weigh less than 10 grams.
(Photo by Michael Code, Ambrook Research)

Cute as a button and confounding to scientists, Alaska's little brown bats have escaped white-nose syndrome. Can their "niche" in nature save them? "Meet Myotis lucifugus, commonly referred to as the little brown bat," reports Trina Moyles for Hakai magazine. Or, as chiropterologist (bat researcher) Jesika Reimer fondly calls it, 'the flying brown bear.'. . . Scientists know little about where [these bats] live at this far northern margin of the species' range."

Across North America, stands of trees of all different species are struggling to survive climate change. In response, scientists from the Cutfoot Experimental Forest are introducing some southern tree species to more northern regions, reports John H. Tibbetts of Knowable Magazine for Inverse. The survival of a grove of bitternut hickory trees, common to Illinois but transplanted to north-central Minnesota, is an example. "Normally, if a southern-adapted seedling is planted in an unsuitably cold climate like this one, it can risk frost damage, and its survival is threatened. . . . Today [scientists]can see the success of almost all the southern trees they planted."

Not all wool is usable for textiles, but it can make
'sweaters for the soil.' (Photo by Sam Carter, Unsplash)

Sheep farmers have developed a new way to repurpose coarser wool or "waste wool" that would have been thrown away by using a wool pelleting machine, reports Elise Konig for Ambrook Research. "A pelleting machine transforms the fleece’s long strands into cylinders that can more easily be handled. The pellets are then sold as soil amendments, providing water retention, nutrient recycling, and soil aeration."

Are you ready to clean, prune, test your soil, pick the plants and snuggle them in some soil? March is get-ready to garden month, and there's lots to do. "If you’ve been itching to get out and get gardening, we’re on the cusp of the season. This is the time to get organized and get ready because by the time we talk again in April, we will be in it, writes Amanda Blum for Lifehacker. From tidying the garden to splitting bulbs to fertilizing shrubs, Blum has a list of all the jobs to do before planting begins.

Chestnut trees were possibly on the cusp of revival, but a lab error undermined that project; future success is unclear

Few chestnuts ever reach maturity.
(Graphic by Adam Dixon, Ambrook Research)

A blight-resistant American chestnut seems a long way off despite years of dedicated scientific research and work to revive it.

The first epic chestnut loss goes back to the early 1900s when a deadly fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica, wiped out "5 billion trees and their 2 billion tons of biomass," reports Lela Nargi of Ambrook Research. But scientists at the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry had been working to develop a genetically altered chestnut that could survive the blight, and their work showed progress until a lab blunder set the entire project into a tailspin.

Nargi explains, "This past December, SUNY admitted a major error with a variant known as Darling 58. This caused its research and financial partner, The American Chestnut Foundation, to pull its support of D58. . . ."

Not all chestnut tree supporters agree that genetic modification is the path to the trees' revival, but despite the controversy, SUNY put its first trees in the soil in 2006 and, by 2019, filed a petition with the Department of Agriculture to have D58 deregulated.

Things looked to be going well until the lab gaffe was aired. Nargi reports, "SUNY had goofed up variations of its breeding line. Instead of using D58 to pollinate trees in its research plots, it had accidentally used D54. . . .TACF withdrew its support of the petition and the trees themselves, saying they'd already noticed 'disappointing performance results.'"

Besides using genetic modification trees to bring back the chestnut, two other methods are in the works. "The American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation seeks to breed resistance into 100 percent American chestnut trees," Nargi adds. "Another, undertaken by the American Chestnut Foundation, is a backcross in which American chestnuts are cross-bred repeatedly with Chinese chestnuts to impart the latter's blight tolerance into a hybrid tree." All the methods have problems, and while millions of wild chestnuts exist, few will reach maturity.

Donald Davis, author of The American Chestnut, told Nargi: "Even people who used to be fans of the American chestnut would say it had its chance, it had its place in history. They say now we need to move on to species that are going to be more likely to survive in new environmental conditions."