The birch leafminer ate its way through birches across Southcentral and Interior Alaska this summer. Hot and dry weather earlier in summer may have been optimal for them.

Shellfish growers in Willapa Bay in southwest Washington, the self-styled "Oyster Capital of the World," are alarmed by an invasion of potentially destructive nonnative European green crabs. Some are asking for an all-out trapping offensive to corral the invasive species.