While it's impossible to predict spring fire activity, the conditions on the forest floor are very dry and below average precipitation is expected across the northwest, specifically for the southern portion, from Kenora to Marathon. By the time the season had wrapped up, more than 1,700 fires had burned across the northwest, making it the busiest fire season on record and fires consumed almost 148,000 hectares of bush land. Last year, the region saw an unprecedented number of forest fires....

With the help of a volunteer contingent of 21 and a Streets Department contingent of two, the Phoenixville Tree Advisory Commission on Saturday planted new street trees in three locations in the Borough: on both sides of Third Street between Buttonwood and Gay, on Gay Street north of Third, and on Third near its intersection with Wheatland Street. With the help of a volunteer contingent of 21 and a Streets Department contingent of two, the Phoenixville Tree Advisory Commission on Saturday...

At the entrances to many forests, including the New Jersey Pine Barrens, Smokey appears with his smiling face and ranger hat next to a chart that warns of the relative danger of forest fires. He said Rutgers was broadly interested in how land-use change affects the resources in the Pine Barrens - whether it be the loss of endangered species or the effect of development on water resources, or, in the case of his work with the Forest Service, how the Pine Barrens react to and are changed by fire.

Planting is overdue for many plants in my greenhouse. From late fall through early spring people practice incorrect pruning, cropping off or cutting back to the same area of the branches. By not pruning, the flower heads do not get huge and heavy and weigh down the branches to form an arching, short, shrubby plant. That will result in healthy new growth and plentiful clusters of white, pink or red flowers. The idea is to add subtle, and in some cases insistent, perfumes to the garden to...

But for all the reflection expected, chances are good that few of those millions will muse on the frond itself: where it came from, how it was picked and whether the laborer who plucked it from a tree was paid a fair wage. A small but growing number of pastors are taking those questions to heart, weighing the moral and environmental consequences of a harvesting process that will bring an estimated 35 million palm fronds to churches across the nation for one day of celebration. A small but...