10. Raven’s Tower (Sitka Spruce) Raven’s Tower is the tallest known Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), standing at 317 feet. These trees are native to the Pacific Northwest and thrive in coastal ...

Photo Credit: Sitka National Historic Park / Flickr / CC BY 2.0 The Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is a hardy conifer with a distinctive conical crown. Its flat, prickly needles contribute to its ...

The Quinault’s Giant Sitka Spruce, the reigning global champ, is estimated to be 1,000 years old. Western red cedar, and the thick gloom of western hemlocks with their feathery branches ...

The last time Sitka’s undersea fiber optic cable broke in 2017, the resulting outage lasted 12 days, but didn’t seem nearly as apocalyptic as the latest event. Seven years ago, we didn’t ...

Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, the community of Spruce Pine, population 2,194, is known for its hiking, local artists and as America’s sole source of high-purity quartz. Helene dumped ...

The remnants of Hurricane Helene ripped through the Western North Carolina mountain town of Spruce Pine last week, disrupting a quartz facility integral to the global production of solar panels ...

The quartz mines of Spruce Pine, North Carolina, part of the global computer chip supply chain, have suspended their operations due to the damage and aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Mines located ...

With the mud ankle-deep inside her music store, and the water stains climbing 8 feet high on the walls, Angie Buchanan said goodbye to 50 years of teaching music in Spruce Pine. Then she walked ...

Spruce Pine is home to two mines that are a key source of high-purity quartz. This crucial material is used to make the chips that power everything from smartphones to data centers, with experts ...

Hurricane Helene dropped more than two feet of rain on Spruce Pine North Carolina. The town is home to one of the world's only sources of high purity quartz— which is used to manufacture silicon ...