Bush: Farm Bill Is Bad for American Taxpayers
This bill adds provisions never considered by the full Congress such as numerous trade-related provisions and expansion of the Davis-Bacon Act. Congress should reconsider increasing by $20 billion the current spending level of $596 billion over 10 years.
AR: Law Center Creates Historical Farm Bill Database
The U.S. Farm Bill is the primary agricultural and food policy tool of the federal government. The first bill was signed in 1933, and there have been more than 60 enactments and amendments since.
TX: Plow Under This Wasteful Farm Bill
Small farmers/family operations aren't real beneficiaries of this $300B boondoggle. Sixty percent of the subsidies will go to the wealthiest 10 percent of recipients.
Congress United On Farm-Bill Package
The bill also would trim support of corn-based ethanol and steer new benefits to biofuels made by prairie grass, wood chips, farm waste.
WY: Shoshone NF Forest Plan Revision Public Meetings
A new round of public meetings is scheduled during the month of May for Thermopolis, Cody, Dubois and Lander.
New Nature Conservancy Pres/CEO from Goldman Sachs
CAN: Union Charges Forestry Jobs Lost from Shutdown
Corner Brook Pulp/Paper permanently shut down its No. 1 machine at the Corner Brook mill last fall, affecting about 100 positions.
ME: Paper Industry Fears Fight for Pellets
The Maine Pulp/Paper Association raised alarm about a new market for wood pellets. "This could hit the forest products industry hard."
ME: Overheated Fan Sparks Small Fire at Verso Mill
The fan is part of a recovery boiler that Verso is going to rebuild in June and July, Cohen said.
ME: Fire Shuts Down Mill
A fire Wednesday morning at the Irving Forest Products sawmill in Dixfield forced the evacuation of a shift of 40 workers, none of whom was injured.
WA: U.S. Judge Stops Logging Project Olympic National Forest
U.S. District Judge Leighton says the NFS approved the Bear Creek Saddle logging operation under changes the Bush administration made to the Northwest Forest Plan in 2004. Those changes have been struck down as illegal.
NE: Bush Signs Platte River Recovery Act into Law
The plan is part of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Ben Nelson and Chuck Hagel.
Lawmakers Finish Farm Bill as White House Repeats Opposition
Congressional negotiators announced a final agreement on a $300B farm bill Thursday, as the White House and key conservatives continued to signal opposition to the legislation.
Lawmakers Make Strides On Farm Measure
Details of the legislation are expected to be unveiled Thursday on Capitol Hill.
Harkin Calls on EPA to Continue Renewable Fuel Standards
‘There is no question rising food prices are turning into a global concern, but the call for EPA to halt the growth in U.S. ethanol use and cut short the promise of biofuels for our nation’s energy security is without merit.’
Farm Bill Stuck On Sugar-Support Proposal
The initiatives a priority for House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, a Democrat whose rural Minnesota district is among the nation's top producers of sugar beets.
Maine Trucks Roll on D.C.
The Coalition to Lower Fuel Prices In Maine began as one determined voice on a tired Friday afternoon and has grown largely in part to the faith of Maine people. People who want more from life, for themselves, their families, their state and their nation.
TN: IP Plant Explosion Kills Worker
A boiler exploded on Saturday at an International Paper mill in western Mississippi, killing a contract worker and injuring 17 others.
Farm Bill Upends Normal Political Order
Bush/Pelosi are on a collision course over the farm bill. Bush is aligned with liberal activists pushing for reform. Pelosi’s protecting billions in subsidies to the richest farmers.
Beetle-Ravaged Forests Prompt Campground Closures in Rockies
An abundance of aging lodgepole pines that haven't been thinned by fires have allowed populations of bark beetles to explode, infesting nearly 3,600 square miles of forest in Colorado/Wyoming.
ME: Paper Companies with Mills Going Public
Two paper companies with operations in Maine -- NewPage and Verso -- have filed for public ownership.
CAN: Hope Fades for Mill Workers 08
The Supreme Court of B.C. in Vancouver will determine the fate of Nanaimo's Harmac pulp mill this morning.
AZ: Forest Proposes Recreation Fee Changes
Fee changes are proposed at 31 recreation sites. The proposal would remove fees at 2 sites and increase fees at 29 sites.
Agencies Issue Plan to Run Columbia Dams, Preserve Salmon
Salmon advocates blasted them as a step backward, saying they depend not enough on reducing the high numbers of young salmon killed by 14 dams on their way to the sea.
OR: Sea Lions Shot Dead on Columbia River as Salmon Battle Rages
Over the weekend, federally protected sea lions were easy prey for a gunman who shot/killed six sea lions laying in traps meant to humanely catch them.
CO: BLM Defers Leases in Rio Grande National Forest
The BLM announced deferral of 84 parcels from its 5/8 oil/gas lease sale “until additional analysis can be completed.”
VA: State Gets a New Forest
The land, known locally as Brumley Mountain, was purchased from The Nature Conservancy for nearly $3.8 million.
NM: Officials say Wildfire has Burned Nearly 60 Homes
The 50 homes went up Wednesday after the fire jumped containment lines.
CA: Sierra Madre Wildfire is Fully Contained
Farm Bill Conference Includes Measure To Close Enron Loophole
Since 2000, the "Enron Loophole" has exempted electronic energy markets for large traders from government oversight.
New Farm Bill Retains Big Crop Subsidies
Food Scientists Say Stop Biofuels; Pres. Bush Says Opposite
Bush declared the United States should increase ethanol use because of national energy security and high gas prices.
Log Trucker Optimistic About TRUCC Act Following DC Protest
CAN: Pulp Deal Cancellation Jolts Industry
Asia Pulp & Paper terminated a deal Friday to buy three pulp mills from insolvent Pope & Talbot, sending shock waves through the two British Columbia mills where the future of over 800 workers is now in jeopardy.
Al Gore's Climate Solutions Fund Closes $638 Million
The fund will be focused on equity investments in small companies in four sectors: renewable energy; energy efficiency technologies; energy from biofuels and biomass; and the carbon trading markets.
High Energy Costs From Climate Bills
Projected cost increases per household ranged from $76 a year more to as much as $723 a year more by 2030.
House OKs Massive Public Lands Bill
Michaud/Allen voted yes. The massive bill advances water projects across the country, combining 62 proposals related to public lands coast to coast.
ME: Wood-Pellet Industry Shows Great Promise
While the state/federal government have been helpful with grants/loans to get the pellet operations up/running, there's more room for [state] assistance.
