Weyerhaeuser, America’s largest private landowner, said it has launched a venture to turn runty trees and sawdust from its fleet of mills into a replacement for metallurgical coal used in steel making. The forest-products company said it expects production to begin in 2027 at a facility being built next to its sawmill in McComb, Miss.—the first of several biocarbon plants planned by Weyerhaeuser and partner Aymium. It is the latest effort to find a market for the trees too small or otherwise unsuitable for making lumber. Such wood has typically been sent to pulp and paper mills, but U.S. wood-pulp consumption capacity has plunged due to waning paper demand. This year alone, the U.S. has shed roughly 10% of its capacity to produce containerboard, the thick paper used to make corrugated boxes. The closures have walloped timber growers, especially in the South, where landowners ranging from Weyerhaeuser, with its vast loblolly plantations, to families with 40-acre woodlots…
Salt Lake City, Utah, Tribune, December 18, 2025: Logan mayor-elect apologizes after taking down yard signs protesting the removal of century-old trees
Nearly a month after crews began cutting down century-old ash trees along Canyon Road to make way for a controversial waterline project, neighbors’ protest signs still peppered the street, staked in front yards and beside the trunks of felled trees. On Friday, Logan mayor-elect Mark Anderson and his wife removed many of those signs, pulling some directly from neighbors’ yards, according to residents who witnessed the removal. Erika Hansen, who lives along Canyon Road, said she watched the mayor-elect’s wife, dressed in black, carry signs opposing the tree removal from neighbors’ yards and load them into the Andersons’ truck. “The signs were placed on private property, and while many trees have been removed, the project is just getting underway,” Hansen said, “and undoubtedly more damage will be done.” The signs, she said, were one of the few ways residents felt they could continue to voice their support for the trees as construction on the project moves forward. “Keeping the signs up is just part of our way to communicate our love for those trees,” Hansen said, “even though they are gone.” Anderson issued a lengthy apology on his campaign’s Facebook page Sunday, adding that he woke up early Saturday morning to return the signs…
We asked, and you delivered: More than 400 readers sent us their Christmas tree prices — and among reader submissions and data collected by our staff, we found that the average price for a Christmas tree in New York City is $116. The cheapest was a fun-sized, 1-foot-tall tree from Trader Joe’s for $10. The priciest was a 9-foot-tall Fraser on the Upper West Side for $633. And while the prices in between are all over the map, Gothamist readers seem to agree that prices are way too high. “Ten years ago, we were shocked that trees were $100,” said Adam Benn, an East Harlem resident. “Now we’re shocked that they’re double the price.” If prices keep rising, Benn said, his family might go “Charlie Brown” and opt for a smaller tree. But Benn, a parent of a 12-year-old, said he can’t imagine not getting a tree. Other parents said Christmas isn’t Christmas without one. And while Benn remains loyal to his neighborhood vendor, other New Yorkers are more willing to forgo their local stands for better deals…
A 39-year-old man who was hit in the head by a falling tree while cutting wood last week is expected to make a full recovery, and nurses said a helmet saved his life. Aaron Feigl was chopping wood with a friend last Wednesday when a tree fell the wrong way, landing directly on his head. His friend called 911 immediately. Feigl was dragged out of the woods and airlifted to the hospital with severe damage to his face, jaw and neck. “We were at the ER room at that point our son was unrecognizable, his clothes were in a pile and this was on top of it and I picked it up and the nurse said ‘yea that is what saved his life,’” said Terri Feigl, Aaron’s mother. The cracked and broken helmet now sits under the Feigl family’s Christmas tree. “He has two beautiful girls, a beautiful wife and I can’t imagine this Christmas without this helmet,” Terri Feigl said. “So this sits under our Christmas tree as the best blessing we could have asked for this Christmas…”
The National Transportation Safety Board recently issued its report on the crash that killed a NJ Transit train operator last year in Burlington County and found what was obvious, that the light rail train struck a downed tree on the tracks. However, the report says River Line light rail cars struck trees four times in the 18 months prior to the early-morning Oct. 14, 2024, crash that killed Jessica Haley in Mansfield, and the investigation found six cases of downed trees being reported on or near River Line tracks in that period…
From the Griswolds to the Grinch, just about every holiday movie features characters cutting, decorating or stealing the perfect Christmas tree. But most people—including moviegoers—don’t consider that Christmas trees take work to cultivate. Like all trees, they are subject to the threats of disease, insects, fungi and other menaces. This is why scientists in Mississippi State’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center have been studying some of the most popular tree species that decorate homes for the holidays. Forestry Associate Professor Joshua Granger explained why Christmas trees often get overlooked in forestry programs. Christmas trees are considered a gray area in the forestry industry. Is it horticulture? Is it landscaping? Or is it forestry?” Granger said. “When I came to MSU, we didn’t have any research with these trees, but I’ve begun working with the Southern Christmas Tree Association to develop some studies to help our growers out.” Last year, Granger began research on behalf of a partnership established between MSU and Shady Pond Tree Farm in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana. Former owner Clark Gernon had discovered a novel variety of Leyland cypress, a popular, fast-growing species, on his farm. The single tree was unique in its apparent resistance to Passalora sequoia—a fast-spreading foliar pathogen attacking his other trees…
Earth.com, December 17, 2025: Little-known tree has enormous potential as both food and medicine
Few trees in food science work harder than Hymenaea courbaril, a towering tropical species whose fruit, sap, bark, and seeds all matter. One mature tree can hang roughly a hundred pods in a good year, and entire forests across Latin America are full of them. Inside the hard brown pods sits a pale floury pulp rich in fiber and antioxidant molecules, wrapped around large seeds loaded with natural gum. Researchers in Colombia and Brazil are now mapping each part so food makers can use it without putting human health at risk. The work was led by Luz María Alzate Tamayo, a food scientist at the Lasallian University Corporation in Colombia. Her research focuses on how this carob-like tree can supply safe natural ingredients for the food industry. Hymenaea courbaril is native to tropical forests from southern Mexico through the Amazon basin and into parts of the Caribbean. Local people know it by many names, including algarrobo, guapinol, and jatobá, and value it both as shade and as food…
A local tree-cutting business is reeling after burglars made off with roughly $80,000 worth of equipment last week. Bunyon Brothers Tree Service, which has been serving San Luis Obispo County since 1999, lost 54 chainsaws during an early-morning break-in at its facility. Owner Ron Rinell says the theft has put a major strain on his crew of 40 employees. “These saws are our livelihood. In order to make a living, we have to have a saw. We can’t create tree work without saws,” Rinnell said. The break-in occurred around 4:45 a.m. on Dec. 11. Rinell says one of his employees called to deliver the bad news: thieves had cut through locks with bolt cutters and taken every saw on site, each valued at $1,000-$2,000. While Rinell says this is the first theft of this magnitude his business has experienced, other tree service owners have faced similar crimes…
Randy Dullen and his wife have lived on Welch Avenue in Niagara Falls since 2001, but now they’re afraid to sleep in their own bedroom because of the tree next door. The tree stands in the backyard of a home that was condemned in July. The backyard is full of tangled branches and weeds, and the tree itself has branches that hang over their home. Dullen said he’s been calling the City of Niagara Falls for more than two years about this tree, foreshadowing the potential danger. “I’ve gone to city hall several times over the past two to three years,” explained Dullen, but he said nothing has been done. Then a few months ago, large branches fell off, piercing the roof of his garage. Dullen had to pay for the damage. Then last month, these massive branches crushed his deck…
London plane trees will be removed from a south-west Victorian city, as a growing number of councils across the country try to phase out the species. Southern Grampians Shire Council has confirmed 25 plane trees are in line for removal in Hamilton, and the future of another 75 trees will be considered. The issue came under the spotlight in April, when the council was told older people with mobility issues avoided the town centre because of the trees. The council organised an advisory committee to help determine the future of the trees. Group member Sarah Hope joined after she created a petition to save the trees. Ms Hope said the trees added “charm” to the city, and had a positive impact on local climate, biodiversity and mental health…
Everyone’s made some decisions that they later regret – going crazy with the hair dye, microwaving an egg, finding out how snails have sex… But what about inadvertently chopping down what would later turn out to be the oldest tree ever dated? That’s exactly what happened to an unfortunate graduate student named Donald R. Currey back in the summer of 1964, who ended up responsible for the demise of Prometheus, a bristlecone pine that stood in what is now Great Basin National Park, Nevada. Bristlecone pines are some of the hardiest trees out there; they’re slow growing, with dense wood keeping them resistant to the effects of weather, insects, and fungi, and have a characteristically twisted appearance. One species in particular, the Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) is capable of living for thousands of years. After never having heard of bristlecone pines before graduate school, Currey took an interest in them after his mother sent him a National Geographic article written by Edmund Schulman, the researcher who famously sampled bristlecone pine Methuselah – which may now be the oldest known non-clonal tree in the world…
Blue Dot Living, December 15, 2025: How Can I Plant a Tree from Seed?
Q: Can you recommend a good book with some information about growing trees from seed?
A: What a delightful question! As that old chestnut goes, “the best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago. The next best time is now.” And “now” really means now. As I write this from my home in the North, the snow is piling up outside, but we needn’t wait til the weather warms to begin the process of planting a tree under whose shade we hope eventually to sit. A few years ago, Dot planted four paw paw trees, thanks to a local environmentalist who, keen to restore populations of these formerly ubiquitous and beloved trees, offered up seeds to anyone interested. Just one of those trees survived. Clearly, I’m no expert at nurturing tree growth, but I found someone who is. So we will not only offer up a selection of books that will tell you how to grow a tree, but also some straightforward instructions, courtesy of Jordan Jones, a regenerative tree farmer in Kansas…
A tree rapidly spreading across Oklahoma is causing problems — from helping disease-carrying ticks thrive to increasing wildfire risks. Oklahoma State University has suggested that eastern redcedar, a fast-growing, drought- and climate-tolerant species, is reshaping grasslands in ways that put people, livestock, and local ecosystems at risk. Researchers have confirmed that the expansion of eastern redcedar across Oklahoma is boosting populations of the lone star tick, as reported by KOKH. This species is the primary carrier of alpha-gal syndrome, a rare condition that can trigger allergic reactions to meat. It also commonly spreads Southern tick-associated rash illness, which is similar to Lyme disease, and other illnesses. As OSU entomology professor Dr. Bruce Noden documented the species’ spread over the years, ranchers kept pointing to the same culprit, per KOKH: “Everybody knows they’re down in the cedars.” Research from Noden and graduate student Jozlyn Propst shows why. Redcedar stands create dense, humid pockets of shade, which provide an ideal habitat for ticks. OSU ecology professor Dr. Scott Loss explained how. “There is certainly evidence now that areas with eastern redcedar retain moisture more consistently and return it to the atmosphere as water vapor, which is creating the new microclimates,” he said, per KOKH…
For the last several years, Kyle Dalton has taken unpaid time off from his job as a sales rep in Canada to live in a trailer without running water so he can sell Christmas trees to New Yorkers. “The first year when I told my friends back home what I was doing, they were like, ‘Must be nice to live in New York City for a month,’” said Mr. Dalton, who works for a beverage company in Newfoundland. “Then I told them about my living arrangement.” Mr. Dalton, 28, and his friend Charlie May, a 31-year-old Salt Lake City ski instructor and river guide, share an 7-foot-by-20-foot trailer parked on South Fourth Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They hang their clothes on wall hooks above their cots. A power box from nearby Domino Park powers the trailer’s mini refrigerator, space heater, microwave, hot plate and toaster oven…
Christmas trees are big business in Oregon. In 2023 alone, the industry contributed $118 million to the state economy. Researchers at Oregon State University are working develop resilience strategies to help the state’s Christmas tree growers. “If you’re sick you call a doctor. If you’re a Christmas tree grower who has a sick tree, you call me,” said Priya Rajarapu, a tree specialist for Oregon State University’s Extension Service. Events like the 2020 wildfires and the 2021 heat dome have made things more challenging for Christmas tree farmers and Oregon’s forests in general. To combat this, Rajarapu and her team are working to develop new resilience strategies. Those efforts include testing different mulch alternatives to see if they can help, or studying different tree species that may be better suited to the changing climate. “Oregon is a perfect place to grow evergreens because of the climate,” she said. “Our mild summers and wet winters are ideal for native species like noble and Douglas-fir that are traditionally among the most popular Christmas trees in the Western United States.” But new species are starting to grow in popularity. The Nordemann and Turkish fir species, for example, are new to Oregon but native to Georgia. They hold their needles longer compared to the noble fir trees native to Oregon. They’re also drought and pest-tolerant…
So I interviewed tree-seller George Smith. I asked why this is such a cutthroat business. Smith: Cutthroats years ago thought they owned those locations, so you now can’t put one stand near another. I’m from Brooklyn. Learned the old-fashioned way. At 12, I was a tie boy. Tying trees onto cars. Now I’m in the fields, pick my own trees, watch them grow. I shear them in Canada and North Carolina. “Saying ‘a tree is a tree’ is like saying ‘sneakers are sneakers.’ There are different types, grades. Frasers last longer. Some customers leave theirs up till Valentine’s Day and put hearts on it. They’re cheapos. Also, make sure your tree guy cuts the stump, put it on your radiator so your house smells of Christmas. You know, there’s nothing like Christmas, especially in New York.” Me: “What’s the best sort of Christmas tree?” “I prefer a Fraser, but I used to like the balsam. They drop their needles more. That’s why I say you should get a Fraser. Fraser needles shed less. Last longer in the house. A tree doesn’t start dying until it hits the heat in your house…
Tree and Neighbor Law For Homeowners and Professionals 