Free Republic

ANALYSIS: Increasingly, scholars and the media link so-called animal privilege with economic and sociological terms such as inequality and intergenerational wealth “Squirrel privilege is real.” “Checking Privilege in the Animal Kingdom.” “Even Hermit Crabs Have Wealth Inequality.” These headlines hail from Salon and The New York Times, respectively, and represent a growing trend among scholars and the media to tackle animal “inequality” — and also argue humans can learn important lessons about income inequality and privilege from such studies. “Inequality is a threat to our social fabric, but it’s not just a human problem,” argued the World Economic Forum in...

President Joe Biden’s order to protect the nation’s oldest woodlands is raising a simple but vexing question: When does a forest grow old? The answer could affect millions of acres of federally-managed forests where environmentalists want logging restricted as climate change, wildfires and other problems devastate vast forests. Scientists say there's no simple formula for what's old — in part because growth rates among species can vary greatly.

Journey with Helen into the wisdom and teachings of three master teacher trees, bringing the initiation and medicine needed for 2022 and beyond. Trees are often overlooked and disregarded in our search for healing, but their power and support is extraordinary. As well as bearing fruit, birds nests and treehouses, they are wisdom carriers and can provide healing as profound as any other medicinal plants that are more widely recognised. Whilst travel has been restricted, and the galactic energy is mounting, the earth is offering us a chance to come home to the medicine we are surrounded by. Connecting to...

Chainsaws are an important tool in any homeowner’s tool shed. From trimming trees to clearing fallen branches, there is no quicker way to cut through thick branches or take down a tree. In fact, you won’t get a tool with more power per inch than a chainsaw. But all that power comes responsibility. The chain of the chainsaw moves anywhere from fifty to even eighty miles per hour at full throttle, cutting through the thickest branches with ease. Just imagine what this tool can do to your fingers or toes after a small moment of distraction.

Aerial outline of Pando. (Lance Oditt/Friends of Pando) RICHARD ELTON WALTON, THE CONVERSATION24 NOVEMBER 2021 In the Wasatch Mountains of the western US on the slopes above a spring-fed lake, there dwells a single giant organism that provides an entire ecosystem on which plants and animals have relied for thousands of years. Found in my home state of Utah, "Pando" is a 106-acre stand of quaking aspen clones. Although it looks like a woodland of individual trees with striking white bark and small leaves that flutter in the slightest breeze, Pando (Latin for "I spread") is actually 47,000 genetically identical...

In 1999, radiologist Nicola Strickland went on a holiday to the Caribbean island of Tobago, a tropical paradise complete with idyllic, deserted beaches. On her first morning there, she went foraging for shells and corals in the white sand, but the holiday quickly took a turn for the worse. Scattered amongst the coconuts and mangoes on the beach, Strickland and her friend found some sweet-smelling green fruit that looked much like small crabapples. Both foolishly decided to take a bite. Within moments the pleasantly sweet flavor was overwhelmed by a peppery, burning feeling and an excruciating tightness in the throat...

Vice President Kamala Harris asked NASA if it could use its satellites to track trees “by race” in various neighborhoods as part of “environmental justice” during a recent display on climate change, leading many to ridicule the vice president online and even giving rise to a “Black Trees Matter” hashtag. Black Trees Matter

Decaying wood releases around 10.9 gigatons of carbon worldwide every year, according to a new study by an international team of scientists. This is roughly equivalent to 115 percent of fossil fuel emissions. Co-author of the study Professor David Lindenmayer from The Australian National University (ANU) says it’s the first time researchers have been able to quantify the contribution of deadwood to the global carbon cycle. “Until now, little has been known about the role of dead trees,” Professor Lindenmayer said. “We know living trees play a vital role in absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But up until now,...

Removal of trees from the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) site commenced Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021. Felled trees and stumps could be seen along the northern edge of the Jackson Park Women's Garden. Further south within the OPC footprint more trees had been cut, their stumps remaining in the ground. Earlier in the week, trees in the OPC site had been marked with bands of different colors: blue, green and white. According to a contractor doing a survey of the trees on the site, the trees with green and blue bands were to be "repurposed" and those with white bands were...

An advocacy group focused on protecting public parks in Chicago has asked the Supreme Court to temporarily halt construction of former President Obama’s presidential library which kicked off Monday. In an emergency request for a temporary injunction filed with the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the nonprofit Protect Our Parks argued that the federal government failed to carry out required environmental reviews for the Obama Presidential Center, which is being constructed in the historic Jackson Park. The group has long been opposed to construction of the library in the park located on the city’s South Side, claiming construction will put the...

It’s worse than we thought. It’s bad enough that “peoples of color” are victims of racist math and racist bird names, but now we know they are also made to suffer from “tree inequity.” It’s worse than we thought. It’s bad enough that “peoples of color” are victims of racist math and racist bird names, but now we know they are also made to suffer from “tree inequity.” A research group called American Forests, in conjunction with the United States Forest Service, recently announced that peoples of color, living as many do in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, often have fewer trees...

Tree racism uncovered in Minneapolis. But won't putting more trees in black neighborhoods remind them of lynchings? Well worth watching 2 minutes of launacy

There is a saying among some farmers in the Carolina Sandhills: “A man would have to be a fool to cut down a longleaf pine.” It’s not because the gangly-limbed tree is particularly beautiful. The pine doesn’t have a magnolia’s flowers or an oak’s shade. He could get $4,000 an acre for clear-cutting his mature longleaf pines for timber. Or, he said, he could earn $1,200 an acre collecting pine needles from the same trees — every year.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is leading a campaign to plant 6 billion trees across the country this year. It forms part of his ‘’Green Legacy’’ project to promote eco-tourism and combat the effects of climate change. The initiative highlights his focus on the environment ahead of the elections. At the launch in a meeting hall filled with freshly watered seedlings Tuesday, Abiy encouraged Ethiopians to plant billions of trees.

In remarks at the White House virtual climate summit, Lopez Obrador said that Mexico aimed to expand his administration's signature "Sembrando Vida," or "Sowing Life," program to Central America, which he said is planting 700,000 trees. Calling it "possibly the largest reforestation effort in the world," Lopez Obrador said the program aims to create 1.2 million jobs and plant an additional 3 billion trees through expansion into southeastern Mexico and Central America. Lopez Obrador said U.S. President Joe Biden "could finance" the program's extension to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. "I add a complementary proposal, with all due respect, the...

Keiynan Lonsdale doesn't care for labels all too much, as admitted in an interview with BIllboard. Now, rather than identifying with any specific pronoun, Lonsdale wants to go by “tree." The Love, Simon star opened up about sexuality and gender pronouns in an intimate Instagram Live session on Tuesday. When a fan asked if Lonsdale was gay, the actor was surprised to keep getting that question. “Now it just depends on the day. Sometimes I’m bisexual, sometimes I’m gay, sometimes I feel straight, sometimes I’m not anything,” Lonsdale said on Instagram Live. “It doesn’t matter. Either way, throughout all of...

Watch - eerie baby dolls found nailed to trees on Cannock Chase The dolls were found at the Ministry Pensions Hospital site A spooked walker has made a very unsettling discovery while exploring Cannock Chase. The trekker, who is a theatre practitioner at Walsall Manor Hospital, uncovered an assortment of creepy baby dolls when she was walking over the Chase last Thursday (January 28). The 64-year-old waded her way through the undergrowth and discovered a clearing where a number of trees stood with the dolls 'nailed' and 'tied' to them. Speaking to Black Country Live, the mum-of-two said: "I've had...

Lumberjacks, arborists and other tree professionals cut down an untold amount of trees and stumps every year. The extremely high risk associated with tree felling requires them to undertake precautions and measures to protect themselves. Despite the safety precautions, many people still get injured in the line of duty. Tree felling is extremely dangerous, that is why most people rely on professionals to get the job done. Of course, not all tree felling is performed by professionals. Hobbyists cut trees too, along with many property owners, but most of them are backed by decades of experience.Facts and figures According to...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:Section 1. Purpose. As I declared in Executive Order 13855 of December 21, 2018 (Promoting Active Management of America’s Forests, Rangelands, and Other Federal Lands To Improve Conditions and Reduce Wildfire Risk), it is the policy of the United States to promote healthy and resilient forests, rangelands, and other Federal lands by actively managing them through partnerships with States, tribes, communities, non‑profit organizations, and the private sector.Our Nation is home to hundreds of millions of...

A Canadian startup, Flash Forest, that hopes to [plant trees] by drone. “This industry is ripe for innovation,” said Bryce Jones, the company’s CEO. “With recent developments in lithium ion batteries, the drone industry has been revolutionized with increased payload capacity and flight time. Jones and his team plan to use drones for every step of the reforestation process. That means surveilling target areas, planting seedlings, monitoring growth, and collecting data, all from the air. The planting will use a pneumatic gun on the drone that will fire seed pods into the soil. The drones can hold hundreds of seed...