If one reads of a species having a hard time, chances these days are good that global warming and climate change are getting the finger in the yarn somewhere. In Oregon’s Bend Bulletin Kate Ramsayer reports of efforts by Forest Service biologists to keep a few stands of local aspen trees from fading out. Their foes are not a warming climate, but lack of a warming wildfire once in awhile. Pine trees are moving in, it says here, and over-zealous fire suppression is one reason other trees are gaining an edge on aspens that sprout fast from roots, and whose stands often data from a ground-clearing fire.

Looks like a good sample of how a local reporter can find stories nearby that illustrate a larger context while providing their readers with information to help them understand their community and its landscapes.

-CP

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