The state added 20 counties to the fire alert Monday after temperatures climbed into the upper 80s, humidity dropped below 30 percent and wind gusts surpassed 20 mph. The forest service has placed a temporary ban on campfires and charcoal fires except in recreation areas that provide grills and fire rings. The fire alert, which now affects 43 counties, appears to be helping, she said, because Monday afternoon there were only three fires in progress and the state had been averaging 10 each...

March 30, 2007 - 12:02PM Brazil will offer free satellite internet connections to indigenous tribes in the Amazon as part of its latest effort to crack down on illegal logging in the world's largest tropical rain forest. Brazil, a relatively poor country that is the size of the continental United States, has struggled to protect its vast Amazon rain forest from illegal miners, loggers and ranchers. Silva, who was raised by Amazon rubber-tappers and fought alongside land-rights activist...

But their models are developments that leave extensive parks and natural areas, and they plan to permanently protect some of the forest that is now home to rare species and a large population of black bears. Besides the wildlife management area previously owned by timber company Weyerhaeuser, the developers purchased 1,600 more acres of adjoining Ocmulgee riverfront property in 2005 for a total of more than 21,000 acres. Scott Free and Charles Ayer, two of the four developers involved in...

More than 7,000 individual peony plants will need to be moved from their current field in Delano to their new and permanent 40-acre home located 1.5 miles southwest of Howard Lake. The majority of Swenson Gardens peonies do not need staking because they have very stiff stems, they offer extended bloom times, and they have dozens of blooms. Theyre really coming into their own as not only accents in clump gardening, but also in hedge applications, Swenson explained. His wife, Becky, also has...

The move by federal police and environmental agents closing Cargill's controversial terminal on Saturday was a major victory for environmentalists in Santarem, a sleepy jungle city about 1,250 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. Environmentalists who blame soy farming, logging and cattle ranching as the primary threats facing the Amazon praised the closure, calling it a milestone in attempts to push the government to more effectively police a region where lawlessness often prevails. grain...