On a traditional steam locomotive the pistons drive the wheels directly via cranks. An unusual looking series of variants, the geared locomotives, took a different approach - using gears and driveshafts, giving them an advantage in traction at the cost of speed, making them ideal for steap grades and tight curves of logging railroads. The most common was the Shay Locomotive (video), with it's vertical pistons. Other variant included the Climax (video, seen at the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad) and the Heisler, which had it's pistons in a V-formation (video). Many examples of the geared locomotive can be found at the Northwest Railway Museum.
posted by Artw on Nov 8, 2008 - 19 comments

Old Growth Forests Are Valuable Carbon Sinks. "Contrary to 40 years of conventional wisdom, a new analysis published in the journal Nature suggests that old growth forests are usually 'carbon sinks' - they continue to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigate climate change for centuries." Seven Best National Parks for Visiting Old Growth Forests. 20 Visually Arresting but Threatened Forests. [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Sep 14, 2008 - 32 comments

The world's second largest forest and one of the oldest on Earth, was traded for bars of soap and bottles of beer: Logging companies negotiate with local chiefs, walk away rich
posted by growabrain on Apr 11, 2007 - 30 comments

Judge overturns Bush petition plan on roadless forests and reinstates the Clinton Roadless Rule. The policy gave governors an 18-month interim period to submit petitions to protect their national roadless areas, but the Forest Service sold timber rights to two tracts of land in Oregon (which have already been logged) before Gov. Kulongoski could submit his petition. A copy of the judge's ruling can be found here (PDF).
posted by arrhn on Sep 20, 2006 - 27 comments

Tigers bite back. Endangered Sumatran tigers have taken the destruction of their habitat into their own mouths by killing three & mauling several other illegal loggers.
posted by i_cola on May 13, 2004 - 12 comments

Treetop Bloggers Protest Logging A group of anti-logging activists are now ready to maintain their own blog 130 feet up in an ancient redwood. I've considered tree sitting, but find myself much more inclined to do so if I could continue working (or reading MeFi, as the case may be). Interesting intersection of technology and activism. Doncha think? (via /.)
posted by maniactown on Dec 13, 2002 - 6 comments

Head of National Forest Service resigns. Mike Dombeck was actually "protected" from replacement by the Bush administration but chose to step down and retire when it was obvious Dubya aims to open thousands of acres of national forest to logging as well as new oil, gas and mining operations. What's next? Will Bush lift regulations on how toxic and nuclear waste are disposed of? His new policy appears to be an environmental nightmare.
posted by bkdelong on Mar 28, 2001 - 39 comments

Loggers Said to Wipe Out 22 Million Butterflies It appears that 22 million Monarch butterflies were illegally slaughtered through the use of pesticide in two Mexican butterfly sanctuaries so that loggers can have more forest to tear down. This makes me sick... how can people do stuff like this?
posted by fusinski on Mar 6, 2001 - 20 comments