Two new Web sites are online

Two new Web sites highlighting various Pacific Northwest trees are now online.

The Tree of the Month Web site features colorfully illustrated pages detailing not only the natural history but the aesthetic qualities of each month's selected tree. Here is an entry for May's selection: "Unlike any other tree in the region, Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) sparkles in the dark coniferous forests where it makes its home. Not unlike stars in the sky, the bright white bracts of the dogwood captivate any springtime visitor to the moist forests of the Northwest. The delicate and unparalleled blossoms grace the thin arching twigs of the dogwood in April and May, and in some cases, again later in the season. Well worth a trip of any distance, these colorful trees astound all who find them . . . "The viewer may also learn about trees featured in previous months.

Web page creator Ryan Bidwell with professor Ed Jensen.

The Tree of the Month site was designed and built by OSU graduate Ryan Bidwell and Ed Jensen, associate professor in the Forest Reesources department, with help from College staff members Sandie Arbogast and Kathy Howell. It can be found at www.cof.orst.edu/cof/fr/outreach/treeomth.

The second Web site, also beautifully illustrated, explores the topic of quaking aspen in the western United States. The page was developed by Bill Ripple, associate professor in the Forest Resources department and director of the Environmental Remote Sensing Applications Lab (ERSAL) at the College. It includes the work of Eric Larsen, a doctoral candidate who is researching the remote sensing of changes in aspen in Yellowstone National Park. The Web site, also built by Ryan Bidwell, can be found at www.cof.orst.edu/cof/fr/research/aspen/.