The United Nations Environment Programme has launched a major global tree-planting campaign to encourage people, businesses, and governments to enter tree-planting pledges online. The effort's objective is to plant at least one billion trees worldwide during 2007. The Billion Tree Campaign.

What can I do to help the tree recover? Answer: Storage on the tree of excess grapefruits is normal, and many hang on the limbs until early summer before they drop. What is the best way to open a plant's root system when planting it in the landscape from a container? A: Slash, fluff or tear the roots apart to get them out of the container shape before adding them to the landscape. Allowing the fruits to remain on the tree might lower production for the next year, but seldom does the tree...

by Jon Ostendorff, JOSTENDORFF@CITIZEN-TIMES.com published March 30, 2007 12:15 am e-mail this Print this BRYSON CITY Without added precautions, rural homeowners remain vulnerable to woods fires like ones that have burned 9,200 acres in North Carolina this year, state Forest Service officials said Thursday. by Jon Ostendorff, JOSTENDORFF@CITIZEN-TIMES.com published March 30, 2007 12:15 am e-mail this Print this BRYSON CITY Without added precautions, rural homeowners remain vulnerable to...

State officials believe, in general, that the timber industry does a good job of caring for the environment. In addition to the ups and downs of wood and related markets, those in the industry must contend with a number of other challenges. The initiative is aimed at promoting responsible forest management. Much of his organization's concerns surround mountaintop removal mining, which causes the loss of much forest land each year, he said. Areas in West Virginia that once were used to grow...

Realization of many of the goals in the new plan released yesterday by the Forest Service here in the shadow of the state's only national forest will require additional federal funding at a time when most other national forests are getting less. He said the public overwhelmingly supports more wilderness in the Allegheny, based on written comments made during the Forest Service planning process. Those two parcels totaling 12,379 acres, will be subject to additional biological review but...