trade officials will meet in Ottawa on Thursday in an attempt to resolve a brewing dispute that threatens to derail the seven-month old softwood lumber agreement. Trade Representative Susan Schwab accusing Canadian lumber producers of exceeding their export quotas and provincial and federal governments of unfairly subsidizing the beleaguered Canadian forestry industry. Schwab's March 30 letter sets out a litany of complaints against Canada that she says contravene the lumber trade deal...

About 50% of tropical timber globally comes from this sprawling islandand the Malaysia plywood industry has been logging furiously. Borneo's rain forest cover is shrinking at alarming rates, but this island is still a remarkable haven of biodiversity and an eco-tourism dream. It's one of the last sanctuaries of biodiversity (new animal and plant species are still being discovered there) in a world getting more cemented-over with each passing year. Meanwhile, poachers and hunters continue...

I did know that the timber industry is important to the state economy, so decided to do a little research. The postwar generation also witnessed a significant change in mill and forest-land ownership. Bids for the timber flooded in. Bobby Joes company had sent him to oversee the job after they out bid all their competitors on a lucrative government contract. On the way home I felt a sense of relief, secure in the knowledge that our great forests are in the hands of people like Bobby Joe....

The report shows that Wisconsin would seem to have particular strength in so-called forest residues - waste products from forestry, and the pulp and paper industry, that could be converted into fuel. Biofuels and ethanol production is booming amid concerns over the nation's reliance on foreign oil and as a way to reduce the use of fossil fuels. The report also says Wisconsin's nearly 15 million tons of potential biomass could produce 1.3 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year -...

The board voted 4-3 in favor of the districts, which were formed to help the developers of the project pay for infrastructure and services that will be provided to Slitter residents as well as the town. The Forest Service will begin preparations for tree-cutting and will put out bids for the project this summer, but no trees will likely be cut in 2007, said timber management specialist Cary Green. The overall project calls for forest health and fuel reduction projects on 3,300 acres...