NEW EXPANDED PROTECTED NATURAL AREAS PROPOSED . . . FROM MCDONALD'S TO ORGANIC VALLEY, YOU'RE PROBABLY EATING WOOD PULP . . . BIRD DECLINE “SMOKING GUN” FOR PESTICIDE’S EFFECTS . . . VERMONT’S WOOD HEAT RENAISSANCE . . . WIND POWER OF AN’UDDER SORT . . .OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST...

NEW EXPANDED PROTECTED NATURAL AREAS PROPOSED
Source: N.B. Dept of Natural Resources
The provincial government is proposing the creation of 138 new Protected Natural Areas and the expansion of 21 existing ones. The move would create 115,000 hectares of new Protected Natural Areas on Crown land. (read more)

FROM MCDONALD’S TO ORGANIC VALLEY, YOU’RE PROBABLY EATING WOOD PULP
Source: NPR
Do not be alarmed, but you may be eating wood pulp. Or at least an additive that started out as wood. If you buy shredded cheeses, including brands such as Organic Valley and Sargento, or hit the drive-through at McDonald’s for a breakfast sandwich or a smoothie, or douse some ribs with bottled barbecue sauce, there’s likely some cellulose that's been added to your food. (read more)

BIRD DECLINE “SMOKING GUN” FOR PESTICIDE'S EFFECTS
Source: BBC
The widespread use of a type of insecticide that has been blamed for honeybee deaths is linked to a marked decline in bird numbers in Europe, a report says. Imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid chemical, is widely used in agriculture to exterminate pests. Dutch scientists say their data shows that the chemical is associated with a collapse in common bird species. (read more)

VERMONT’S WOOD HEAT RENAISSANCE
Source: Biomass Magazine
As world oil prices were on the brink of collapse back in the mid-1980s, Vermont was seeing its first successful wood chip-to-heat school installation come to life. Today, more than 40 schools in the small state of 625,000 people have adopted wood heat, and that’s just a snippet of the industry’s success story there. (read more)

WIND POWER OF AN’UDDER SORT
Source: The Chronicle HeraldBottom of Form
Freshly mowed hay lies in the field along the driveway. In the barn, a curious milk cow tentatively approaches, sniffs, and eventually extends a coarse tongue to lick an unsuspecting visitor. Not far from Shubenacadie on Highway 224, the Windmill Holsteins farm appears to be a typical dairy operation in the farm-rich area. Until you get to the $4-million anaerobic digester system that sits adjacent to the cow barn. (read more)