Forests

""It has been a record year for wildfires in California, and officials are warning that the end is not yet in sight."

"Land degradation, such as a spread of deserts in parts of Africa, costs the world economy trillions of dollars a year and may drive tens of millions of people from their homes, a U.N.-backed study said on Tuesday."

"MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — Corie Barloggi looked across a charred field in this once scenic Northern California town, best known for hot springs and its proximity to Napa Valley, and was struck by what she didn't see: her neighbors' homes."

"Two major wildland fires continued to burn out of control Sunday in Northern California despite the efforts of more than 5,000 firefighters to halt the progress of the blazes, which had burned hundreds of homes and scorched more than 164 square miles in Amador, Calaveras and Lake counties."

"With bows, arrows, GPS trackers and camera traps, an indigenous community in northern Brazil is fighting to achieve what the government has long failed to do: halt illegal logging in their corner of the Amazon."

"MOUNT EVANS WILDERNESS, Colo. -- A violent wind tore across this mountain ridge four years ago, flattening more than a thousand trees and burying a prized trail in the Arapaho National Forest. But instead of using chain saws and bulldozers to remove the debris, the Forest Service is wielding antique crosscut saws manufactured long before most of its employees were born."

"Earth is home to just over 3 trillion trees - the redwoods of California, the olive trees of Tunisia, the cherry trees of Japan, the eucalyptus of Australia and so many more - but they are being lost at an alarming rate because of human activities."

"Crews battling the largest array of wildfires in Washington state history gained more ground against the flames on Tuesday, as property assessors reported the deadly conflagration had destroyed more than 170 homes and dozens of other structures."

"As drought-fueled wildfires rage across the West, farm communities on the frontlines are feeling the heat."

Illegal logging on a key sanctuary in Mexico threatens monarch butterflies already decimated by herbicides sprayed on milkweed in the U.S.