greenvibrations : Messages : 4884-4913 of 9415

Orangutan Island Double Feature tonight on Animal Planet Don't miss tonight's episodes of Orangutan Island, featuring the orangutans of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation's Nyaru Menteng Project. At 8:30--River's Rewards Nadi's life hangs by a thread after her encounter with the deadly pit viper, as the vet team begins treatment. Meanwhile, the dry season has transformed the island's landscape, and the river banks now tower above the river providing a new playground. At 9:00--Rumble in the Jungle With the one year milestone for the ORANGUTAN ISLAND community looming, the orphans have made real progress in most of their forest skills but for one. A surprising number are not living in the treetops, which is vital for their survival from predators. Meet Nadi� As a baby Nadi spent her days in torment, locked in a tiny cage outside a house on the banks of a river. She was being kept as a pet but could barely stand up in her cage and was desperately malnourished. She was taken to the Nyaru Menteng Rescue and Rehabilitation Center where she began a process of growth and recovery, but her terrible past left her with a unique response to fear. Whenever she is afraid or unsure, she opens her mouth in a large yawn. Of all the orangutans transferred to their new home, Nadi was the most difficult to relocate. She was desperate not to get on the boat that would take her to the island. Lone suspected that the sound of the boat engine sparked terrifying memories of her caged existence as a pet. Since that first hurdle, Nadi has been going from strength to strength and is very independent. Nadi is the first to raise the alarm when danger appears on the island. She uses her characteristic open-mouthed pose that the others have come to understand as a signal that she is nervous. Although she is a small female, Nadi isn't afraid of putting the big boys in their place. Stats and Quirks Character: Wary, smart and bold Alias: The Alarm Bell Sex: Female Age: 7 ID Tips: Dark face with raccoon eyes; distinct "V" hairline; yawns when nervous Quirk/Dysfunction: Opens her mouth in a yawn pose when she is nervous, angry or scared. Listen to Lone Droscher-Nielsen talk about Nadi: http://animal.discovery.com/tv/orangutan-island/meet/nadi.html A variety of video clips available here: http://animal.discovery.com/tv/orangutan-island/video/video.html Please support the work of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. Visit www.savetheorangutan.co.uk or www.redapes.org.

The Dark Side of Dairy Please choose alternatives to dairy products from http://www.milkmyths.org.uk/intro.php Cows produce milk to feed their babies � just like humans. It flows for the best part of a year and then stops. More milk requires more babies. That's the reality of dairy farming � the visible, obvious side of the industry. But there is another, cruel, much darker side to dairy which few see much and even fewer know about. Drinking milk is cruel - it's also unnatural. Only humans drink it after weaning � and milk from a different species, at that. It's no more natural than drinking badger's milk or cat's milk. Designed for calves, many humans find milk hard to digest and the result is allergies. Hormones in milk are linked to ovarian, breast and prostate cancer, as well as juvenile-onset diabetes. The saturated fat, cholesterol and animal protein it contains are linked to many other diseases. Despite relentless claims by the dairy industry, milk is neither the only nor the best source of calcium and has little effect on bone strength. Broccoli, spinach (cabbage), watercress, nuts, seeds, soya and other plant foods are better and healthier sources. Unnatural and cruel: The dairy industry separates calves from their mothers after just a day or two. Desperation Despite the myth of contentment, a dairy cow is the hardest worked of all farmed animals. She nurtures a growing baby inside her while simultaneously producing milk - up to 120 pints a day. To keep the flow going, she is forcibly impregnated every year and her babies are taken away a day or two after birth � year, after year. Professor John Webster describes the removal of the calf as the 'most potentially distressing incident in the life of the dairy cow'. "The dairy cow is exposed to more abnormal physiological demands than any other farm animal. She is the supreme example of an overworked mother." Professor John Webster, Bristol University's Veterinary Science Department Separation Cows produce milk for a reason. They are female mammals who need to feed their young � just like us. And the process which makes it happen is also the same �pregnancy, birth and suckling. No babies, no milk! The final, cruel twist is that dairy cows are allowed to suckle their babies for just a day or two, after which they are taken away. The magical process of reproduction has been perverted � cows are no longer seen as mothers producing food for their babies but milk machines. A dairy cow's milk begins to dry up nine to 12 months after giving birth, when her calf would be weaned. This is bad economics so, to keep the milk flowing, she is artificially inseminated two to three months after giving birth. The result? A crushing double burden of pregnancy and lactation for seven months out of every 12. It inevitably takes its toll � excruciating mastitis (udder infection), lameness, infertility and low milk yield. A quarter of all UK cows, mostly under five years old, are killed every year - physically exhausted. Isolation Female calves mostly follow in their mother's footsteps and replace the cows who are killed each year. The first six to eight weeks of their lives are usually spent in tiny stalls, making exercise and socialising with other calves impossible. No mother's milk for them, just commercial milk-replacer. At 15-months-old, artificial insemination begins � as does their gruelling life as a milk machine. Distortion Her young would suckle five or six times a day but milking takes place only twice. Up to 20 litres of milk can accumulate in her udder, making it protrude between her hind legs. This distortion results in an unnatural stance and lameness. Over half the UK herd suffers this way every year but many animals go untreated because as long as they produce milk, they are still profitable. Destruction Male calves can't produce milk. If they are dairy/beef crosses they are sold to beef farms, with calves as young as seven-days-old enduring long journeys to and from livestock markets. Around 40 per cent of UK beef comes from the dairy herd. Pure dairy males simply aren't 'beefy' enough and many are exported to Continental veal farms, suffering terrifing journeys and slaughtered at only a few months old. Others are simply shot in the head shortly after birth, worthless by-products of milk production. Incarceration You see cows in the summer when they're at pasture. The other six or seven months are spent indoors on hard concrete, adding to leg and foot problems. Many of today's dairy cows are now too big for the indoor cubicles they inhabit, finding it difficult to lie down, rears protruding into the slurry covered aisles. An unnatural diet of high protein feed can release toxins into the bloodstream and cause inflammation of sensitive foot tissues. Contamination Mastitis is excruciatingly painful and there are over one million cases a year in the UK. Routine use of antibiotics has failed to control it and milk from infected cows containing up to four hundred million pus cells per litre can legally be sold for humans. "There's no reason to drink cow's milk at any time in your life. It was designed for calves, not humans, and we should all stop drinking it today." Dr Frank A. Oski, Former Director of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University Download and distribute the "The Dark Side of Dairy" leaflet by clicking on this link http://www.milkmyths.org.uk/pdfs/dairy_leaflet.pdf Find out more about to live a dairy-free life at http://www.milkmyths.org.uk/index.php

Prevent the extinction of the unique, Australian Mary River Turtle! Stop the Mega-dam!

Target: Penny Wong, Senator, Minister for Climate Change and Water

The Queensland Premier's announcement (5 July 2006) to build a mega-dam on the Mary River threatens the very existence of the most endangered turtle in Australia and one of the most unique turtles in the world. The seasonally variable Mary River is actually the last remaining habitat for several of the country�s endangered species. One of these is the Mary River Turtle Elusor macrurus , but other endangered and vulnerable species of this catchment include the Southern Snapping Turtle (Elseya albagula), Mary River Cod (Maccullochella peelii mariensis), Queensland Lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) and Honey Blue-eye (Pseudomugil mellis), just to name a few! The Mary River is clearly a unique habitat that provides specific requirements for all of these species that are found nowhere else in the world.

The Mary River Turtle was only described by Cann and Legler in 1994. It is a monotypic (one of a kind) genus representing a very old lineage of turtles that has all but disappeared from the evolutionary history of Australia. It is one of Australia's largest species of freshwater turtle with specimens measuring in excess of 50 cm carapace (shell) length! The tail structure, particularly in males, is a unique feature that has been lost in all other modern turtle species! This species is able to absorb oxygen via the cloaca/vent whilst underwater which is a survival strategy, particularly for hatchlings and juveniles. To do this, they require the water to be highly oxygenated and therefore impounded or dammed areas do not provide suitable habitat for their survival! Dams also have the effect of dividing or fragmenting populations thus impeding the gene flow and causing a loss of diversity.

The main threatening factors to the survival of the Mary River turtle include slow maturation (20+ years), the continued use of historic nesting sites (even when nests are heavily predated by feral pests and trampled by livestock), loss of habitat and loss of specific foods associated with the lack of aquatic and riparian ecosystems. Do they really need a dam to add to all of this?

Prior to the announcement of this dam the Mary River Turtle was federally and internationally listed as endangered by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999) and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2000), respectively. This listing is currently being revised using available data and, even before this dam is constructed, their status may be changed to �critically endangered�.

The Federal Minister for Environment and Heritage is the only person with the power to stop this dam. He has to be made aware of the potential destruction of this species, to be persuaded to act!

The answer to Queensland�s water crisis should lie in education about sustainable water use, storm water collection and the introduction of water recycling and other modern technology, not the damming of a fragile and unique river ecosystem.

Click on link below for a photo of a Mary River turtle!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a136/Expansa1/AdultmaleMRT800.jpg

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Now with the 2008 Summer Olympics being held in Beijing, China, we have an unprecedented opportunity to protect these magnificent creatures!

"Finning" refers to the practice of cutting off only the shark fins and discarding the body. Often times, the sharks are still alive as their four fins are cut off with a knife. When they're thrown back into the ocean the sharks either bleed to death, or they drown.

The rising consumption of shark fin soup is driving many shark species towards extinction. Shark fin soup, a symbol of privilege and social rank, is served to celebrate important events, including weddings, business meetings and, potentially, Olympic performances. A bowl of shark fin soup can cost $100.

A large increase in demand for shark fins, combined with this predator's role in oceanic ecosystems, adds up to an ecological disaster for the world's oceans.

Stand up to the International Olympic Committee to make sure Shark Fin Soup stays off the menu during the Olympic Games! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/424846860

I just took action online asking the USDA to clean up cruel slaughterhouses by banning "downers," or animals who can't walk, from the food supply. The current lax enforcement and loophole-ridden government policy allow hideous abuses to occur, causing excessive suffering and endangering our food supply. Please join me in asking the USDA to crack down on downers. It will only take a minute. Here is the link: https://community.hsus.org/campaign/CA_2008_investigation?rk=v7zeEQnqQcklW ****************************** This email is Powered by Convio, Inc. http://www.convio.com ******************************

Today for you 35 new articles about earth's trees! (287th edition) Subscribe / unsubscribe send blank email to: earthtreenews-subscribe@... Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com --Alaska: 1) Last day's in office give-away begins --British Columbia: 2) Truth in Voice of place, 3) Stubbs Island saved, --Washington: 4) Bio-fun money --Oregon: 5) We call it the breathing of the biosphere, 6) Dishonest over-cutting, --California: 7) Tahoe's Blackwood Canyon, 8) NC's plan to take Pacific Lumber land, --Montana: 9) How much could a conservationists conserve if a conservationist could conserve? --Colorado: 10) New Castle fire plan, 11) Tree-ring water tables, 12) DC money to clean up forests, 13) Udall opposes cleaning up forests --Minnesota: 14) After a brief round of speeches they cut 'em down --New Jersey: 15) "Neighbors For Saving The Woodland From Development" --Texas: 16) Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge plants trees --Arkansas 17) Biofuel feuding begins --Georgia: 18) Along the South Fork of Peachtree Creek --USA: 19) Getting rid of the federal wood fuel limits, 20) conservation and climate, --Canada: 21) Losing the scout camp to a forest center, 22) An industry view --UK: 23) Eco-activist leader steps down, 24) Invasive minature deer, 25) Forest Schools, 26) More Heathland means more logging, --Scotland: 27) Storm of protest in an Edinburgh suburb --EU: 28) Strange emissions comparisons with Brazil, --Sweden: 29) 50,000 forest owners representing 35,000 forest properties --Finland: 30) Shutter the mills, export the logs --Czechoslovakia: 31) Prague forests heavily used --Armenia: 32) Cooper Mine will destroy much more than 1,570 hectares --Spain: 33) A formal complaint to the FSC --Israel: 34) Twenty centuries-old oak trees cut down --Tanzania: 35) 77,043 hectares feared to have been destroyed --Kenya: 36) Tree connections between elephants and lizards --Central America: 37) Maya: visual placeholders for events in our past Alaska: 1) Robert Vandermark, manager of the Pew Environment Group's Heritage Forests Campaign, today issued the following statement in response to the release of the Bush administration's Land Management Plan for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. "In its final months, the Bush administration is attempting to give logging and mining industries the keys to the Tongass National Forest - the world's largest intact temperate rainforest."Wild areas like the Tongass contain watersheds that provide clean drinking water, wildlife habitat and outstanding outdoor recreation opportunities that should be kept safe for generations to come. "Today's decision in Alaska, coupled with recent attempts to open pristine backcountry in Idaho and Colorado to industrial development, underscore the need for reliable, nationally consistent protections for all of America's last roadless areas. Because once they are gone, they are gone forever." http://www.ourforests.org/ The Bush administration on Friday released a revised management plan for the southeast Alaska forest, the largest in the country at nearly 17 million acres. The plan would leave about 3.4 million acres open to logging and other development, including about 2.4 million acres that are now remote and roadless. About 663,000 acres are in areas considered most valuable for timber production. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/348912_tongass26.html British Columbia: 2) We live in Clayoquot Sound, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on the west coast of Vancouver Island where almost 1000 people were arrested to prevent to destruction of coastal old growth forests...for many reasons: the instable coastal mountains, the wild salmon and wildlife associated with it and other obvious connections. Both my husband and I went to prison to express our concern over this, where I spent time in maximum security where we were sent to "teach us a lesson"...(I chose to go to jail rather than pay a fine in spite of our four children). I am 62 years old and a grandmother of 3 and have lived here for almost 40 years now and have sadly watched the ongoing destruction of the coastal rainforest in this area and Canada's west coast along with much that it supports. The old growth forest that is presently being logged here (in 6 major river valleys) is Forest Certified by FSC and the logging companies (the very ones we fought against to protect this area) are now high-grading the old growth cedar trees (which contain much of the history of the First Nations people) with giant helicopters, new logging roads, log booms and blasting. It is a sad day for all of humanity when this is taking place in what is supposed to be one of the last remaining adequate stands of old growth forest left on Vancouver Island and Canada's west coast, and a United Nations Biosphere reserve, supposedly some of the best examples of what we as humans can accomplish. We have pictures of the slides being created by the logging. The rest of Vancouver Island which has been logged is a biological wasteland supporting very little. What can we do??? sincerely, Susanne Hare Do you have Simon Counsell's email as I feel it would be important to express our views and concern to him? Perhaps you could pass this on to him? Thank you for your good work, For All Our Relations, Susanne Hare. councilfire@... 3) The old growth forest on Clayoquot Island (also known as Stubbs Island) will now be protected forever, since The Land Conservancy has registered a conservation covenant on the property. The conservation covenant covers 70 percent of the Island, and is the first step toward future measures that will see the entire Island protected. Valued at over $4 million dollars, Clayoquot Island is the largest single gift ever received by TLC. The donor, Susan Bloom, made the gift under the federal Ecological Gifts Program. It is her intention to see the Island's significant natural and heritage values protected for all time. "We have been collaborating with Ms. Bloom since 2005 to protect the Island from the possibility of future development," says TLC's Executive Director, Bill Turner. "We are committed to protecting the Island in years to come, and it is wonderful to know that now the beauty of this special place will remain forever." Clayoquot Island is located near Tofino, at the entrance to Clayoquot Sound. Long used by the local First Nations, it was also the original site of European settlement in the area and a once thriving Japanese-Canadian community. The Island contains a mature old growth Coastal Hemlock forest, second growth forest, beaches, sand dunes, forest boardwalks and extensive gardens. Clayoquot Island has become a wildlife refuge to many species of animals. Seasonal changes to the tides make it possible for larger animals to swim across the strait from the mainland. Bears, cougars and wolves are occasional visitors. An assortment of birds thrives on the Island, including Brant Geese during the spring migration on their only pit stop along their 6,000 mile journey to the North Pole. Since the 1990s, the Island has been open to visitors on a limited basis, usually on the May long weekend of each year. A conservation covenant is one of the primary options for landowners who want to preserve natural or cultural places in BC. A covenant is a voluntary, legal agreement between a landowner and a conservation organization, such as TLC, in which the landowner promises to protect the land in specific ways. The promises the landowner makes will be attached on title to the land forever, regardless of who owns the land. In return, the conservation organization agrees to monitor the covenant and ensure that the objectives of the agreement are being maintained. HSkydt@... Washington: 4) Most of Washington state's biofuels come from plants grown elsewhere. But a newly launched $3 million program will team doctoral students, UW faculty and local Native American tribes to transform local forestry and agricultural waste into plant-based fuels. "We want to create a new generation of PhD graduates in sustainable energy, and develop local sources of renewable fuels," said Dan Schwartz, professor of chemical engineering and leader of an interdisciplinary group that has received the multimillion-dollar award for graduate education from the National Science Foundation. "These students will learn to consider not only economic benefit, but the environmental and social implications of their designs." The IGERT award, for Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training, funds six interdisciplinary doctoral students each year for five years. Program partners include the UW College of Engineering, the College of Forest Resources and the American Indian Studies Program. http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleid=39301 Oregon: 5) In the ponderosa pine forest near Black Butte, a skinny scaffolding tower rises above the trees. From the top of the 100-foot-tall tower, the panoramic views of the butte and Three Sisters in the distance are some of the best in the area. But the instruments attached along the span of the tower are providing scientists with information about an unseen side of nature. The equipment measures how much carbon dioxide is passing back and forth between the atmosphere and the trees, shrubs, soils and dead vegetation in the forest. It's one station in a nationwide network that, when the data is compiled, helps scientists investigate how much carbon dioxide forests across the continent remove from the atmosphere every year. And in this era of concern about global warming, it's information that interests researchers and forest managers alike. For instance, the information from stations in Oregon has shown that forests take in the equivalent of between 30 percent and 50 percent of carbon released statewide annually in fossil fuel emissions. And through measuring this carbon exchange in the Metolius Basin and other types of forests, Bev Law and others hope to understand more about their role. "We call it the breathing of the biosphere," said Law, a professor at Oregon State University and the science chairwoman for AmeriFlux, the network of more than 100 such carbon measuring sites across the U.S. and other countries. The Metolius Basin was the site of one of the first stations in the AmeriFlux program, which started in 1996. Law, who had previously done work across Oregon, chose the site because of its ponderosa pines. "We were intrigued by ponderosa pine because it's very widely distributed globally, so it's an important species," she said. And by placing these towers and instruments near the Metolius, Law and her colleagues have been able to determine differences between young and old forests, between wet and dry years, and also contribute to regional studies of the movements of carbon dioxide. Trees absorb carbon through photosynthesis, Law said, but they also release it through respiration. And then there's the rest of the organic matter in the forest, like soil, roots and vegetative litter that's being chewed up by microbes, which people sometimes forget about when they think of carbon cycles in forests, she said. "There's a lot of focus on the trees, but they're not thinking about the other stuff that's in there," Law said. And all this other stuff releases a large amount of carbon dioxide. The researchers found, for instance, that at the Metolius site about 70 percent of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere was from the soil. "It's just the cost of doing business" for the forest, she said. http://www.eastoregonian.info/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=48&ArticleID=72\ 421&TM=69140.16 6) Despite endless clear-cuts, destruction, massive subsidies, and the Third-world-colony behavior involved in exporting our raw materials and jobs, the only solution we hear is more logging, with or without the Bureau of Land Management's Western Oregon Plan Revision. Is anyone as saddened and tired of this as I am? I was born in Lane County 49 years ago, and I cannot remember a time when subsidized and dishonest over-cutting has not been an issue. Even when my father was born in 1916, trashing and liquidating lands was a point of contention. That was the year that the Oregon & California Railroad lands were turned back to public ownership because of corporate treachery and fraud. Teddy Roosevelt recognized these atrocities even earlier. The O&C act in 1937 that tied logging of these lands to the counties' general funds, while perhaps well intentioned, did not foresee the divisive and destructive path ahead. Today, the timber industry has the technical capability to log any tree, anywhere, anytime. That was not the case in 1937. We have two distinct goals mixed up in this conversation. First, we are committed to providing the community services that make our lives work. Second, we are committed to caring for our public forests, the lungs of the planet, in a prudent and sustainable way. Our production must be restricted to spending the interest rather than liquidating our capital. The Government Accountability Office has said that almost all federal logging sales lose money. The office calculates that the Forest Service lost in excess of $2 billion in cash flow alone, not counting the full replacement cost of goods sold, on timber sales between 1992 and 1997. Citizens and taxpayers lost $2 billion over and above the money that logging interests paid to the agency for your trees. http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=5590\ 3&sid=5&fid=1 California: 7) A rugged canyon that funnels up to the skyscraping crags of Barker Pass and Twin Peaks has become one of Lake Tahoe's biggest water clarity problems. But an enormous federal restoration effort seeks to repair the troubled watershed of Blackwood Canyon. Blackwood Creek, the lifeblood to the 11.2-square-mile watershed three miles south of Tahoe City, deposits the most sediment, for a creek of its size, in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The sediment can contain unwanted nitrogen and phosphorus, according to the Truckee River Watershed Council's Lisa Wallace. "These nutrients feed lake algae, and diminish lake clarity," said Rex Norman, spokesman for the Tahoe arm of the U.S. Forest Service, in a press release. Blackwood Creek generates approximately 30 percent of all streambank erosion in the Lake Tahoe Basin, according to documents provided by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. The other largest offender is the Upper Truckee watershed in South Lake Tahoe. The creek has lost its ability as a filter, Norman said, in part because of past unmanaged recreational use. Today's snowmobilers and offroaders, if they follow Forest Service rules, do not impact the stream, he said. It's the past's unmanaged gravel mining, logging and grazing, he said, that have damaged the stream's natural filtering effect. The stream channel was even changed to suit some past users, according to Norman. The creek is responsible for depositing 844 tons of sediment per year into Tahoe, 200 tons being directly related to eroded stream banks, according to Forest Service documents. http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/SS/20080128/NEWS/811751708 8) The press release from the Nature Conservancy posted on their site January 28th, 2008 states that they, along with their financial partners, wish to place the disputed 197,000 acres under a "conservation easement". They also plan to sustain local jobs, economy and the forests through an "environmentally sustainable way". However, the definition of sustainable is constantly changing and evolving. Even Mendocino Redwood Company touts that they promote sustainable forestry by certification through the Forest Stewardship Council. But there's a catch. The MRC can say they simply PLAN to be sustainable within the next five years, and bam, they get the green seal of approval. With the recent news regarding carbon trading and tax breaks, good intentions get these greedy corporations undeserved bonuses. No where in The Nature Conservancy's posted internet plan do they state details about what sustainable forestry is. Nor do they state what they plan to do with current Old Growth THP's, you know, THE FORESTS WE ARE PROTECTING. I hope that the Nature Conservancy is honest about their intentions, and that this is not just "greenwash". I hope that they put an end to herbicide use, clearcuts and steep slope logging. Otherwise, I feel that the activists needed to protect the Old Growth now will still have their hands full, along with opposing Green Diamond and the notorious Sierra Pacific Industries. Both of their websites claim that they are "green". Both companys use herbicide, as well as destroy the land through clearcutting. How is this "green" or "sustainable"? http://humboldtforestdefense.blogspot.com/2008/01/greatbut-what-about-clearcutti\ ng.html Montana: 9) It's often difficult for people to envision the scale of things. For instance, the Beaverhead Deerlodge Partnership calls for logging up to 7000 acres annually, and 70,000 acres over ten years. How much land is that really? Well most people can envision a football field. A football field with end zones is about 1.32 acres. So the BDP calls for logging roughly 9240 football fields a year, and 92,400 footfield fields over ten years. Put into that perspective, this is not an insignificant amount of logging! Any one who thinks that is just "little bit" of logging needs to seriously reconsider. wuerthner@... Colorado: 10) Fire prevention work near Canyon Creek, west of Glenwood Springs, may ease residents' minds after a wildfire threatened their homes last summer. According to the Bureau of Land Management, thinning trees and brush northeast of the Canyon Creek area could help prevent homes from catching fire should they be threatened again. The New Castle Fire prompted the evacuation of about 90 residences over four days last June, including those in Canyon Creek Estates. It burned 1,240 acres and threatened some 200 homes in all. "With the fire [last] summer out there, it just called attention to Canyon Creek," said David Boyd, a BLM public information officer. In the fall, the BLM trimmed and thinned brush and trees on 11 acres of public land northeast of Canyon Creek, Boyd said. The Canyon Creek Estates subdivision is in the hills above Interstate 70 and the actual creek valley, just west of Glenwood Springs and east of New Castle. More homes are located in the valley, to the north of the interstate. Boyd said the New Castle Fire could have approached Canyon Creek dwellings from the northeast. "The New Castle Fire was west of Canyon Creek," he said. "But had it kept burning around, if you had some wind shifts, it definitely could have come around and burned toward the community." About 25 piles of trimmed slash closest to the homes will be burned in February when conditions are right. Another 75 or more piles will be burned the following winter. By then, they'll have dried out and will burn better. Boyd said trees weren't cut down. Instead, branches close to the ground were trimmed. That way, fire is less likely to burn up into the tree canopy. The thinning can slow down the spread of fire and buy firefighters more time to get in there and stop it, he explained. "We look for opportunities where we can do this on federal lands that are right up against developments," Boyd said. The BLM is doing similar work near the Prince Creek area outside of Carbondale, Boyd said. http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20080125/NEWS/378324478 11) When provided with continuous nourishment, trees, like people, grow complacent. Tree-ring scientists use the word to describe trees like those on the floor of the Colorado River Valley, whose roots tap into thick reservoirs of moist soil. Complacent trees aren't much use for learning about climate history, because they pack on wide new rings of wood even in dry years. To find trees that feel the same climatic pulses as the river, trees whose rings widen and narrow from year to year with the river itself, scientists have to climb up the steep, rocky slopes above the valley and look for gnarled, ugly trees, the kind that loggers ignore. For some reason such "sensitive" trees seem to live longer than the complacent ones. "Maybe you can get too much of a good thing," says Dave Meko. Meko, a scientist at the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona, has been studying the climate history of the western United States for decades. Tree-ring fieldwork is hardly expensive�you need a device called an increment borer to drill into the trees, you need plastic straws (available in a pinch from McDonald's) to store the pencil-thin cores you've extracted from bark to pith, and you need gas, food, and lodging. But during the relatively wet 1980s and early '90s, Meko found it difficult to raise even the modest funds needed for his work. "You don't generate interest to study drought unless you're in a drought," he says. "You really need a catastrophe to get people's attention," adds colleague Connie Woodhouse. Then, in 2002, the third dry year in a row and the driest on record in many parts of the Southwest, the flow in the Colorado fell to a quarter of its long-term average. That got people's attention. The Colorado supplies 30 million people in seven states and Mexico with water. Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles, and San Diego all depend on it, and starting this year so will Albuquerque. It irrigates four million acres of farmland, much of which would otherwise be desert, but which now produces billions of dollars' worth of crops. Today the operation of the pharaonic infrastructure that taps the Colorado�the dams and reservoirs and pipelines and aqueducts�is based entirely on data from those gauges. In 2002 water managers all along the river began to wonder whether that century of data gave them a full appreciation of the river's eccentricities. With the lawns dying in Denver, a water manager there asked Woodhouse: How often has it been this dry? http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/2008-02/drying-west/kunzig-text.html 12) It should be a given that as many dead trees as possible must be cleared to reduce the threat of catastrophic forest fires and protect the mountain water supply - especially near inhabited areas. The $12 million in federal funding announced by U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard earlier this month, and the $5 million in state aid proposed by Colorado Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, and Rep. Christine Scanlan, D-Dillon, last week are intended to help achieve those goals. The equally pressing question, though, is what to do with the timber once it's hauled out of a dying forest. Even if there is a practical way to dispose of so many dead trees, which is questionable, it would only compound the loss if the answer is to waste a still-usable natural resource. Better to convert those lost trees to fence posts, two-by-fours, utility poles and fuel for heat and power. All of that is possible, and examples of such attempts exist already at Ranch Creek Limited, Confluence Energy and Mountain Parks Electric in Grand County, where the beetles hit first and, so far, hardest. But these productive solutions are possible on a large scale only if federal and state lawmakers act quickly to provide the economic assistance and regulatory relief needed to develop viable commercial applications of significant scope. As unpopular as it may be with some groups, relaxing certain zoning and environmental restrictions is as critical as finding funds for new machinery or other start-up costs. Removing barriers to quick production is essential because of the natural timetable at work in Colorado's forests. Experts say the dead trees will be commercially usable for only about three years after the beetles kill them. By the fourth year, they will be too dry to even make good home firewood, much less any acceptable consumer product. They'll begin to topple, littering the forest floor with perfect fuel for an immense wildfire. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/26/when-forests-die-then-what/ 13) Mark Udall is opposed to cleaning up the forests. It would require building forest roads. Heaven forbid! Today, the Rocky Mountain News made a proposal to remove dead timber that will never be allowed to happen, and it admits as much: But these productive solutions are possible on a large scale only if federal and state lawmakers act quickly to provide the economic assistance and regulatory relief needed to develop viable commercial applications of significant scope. As unpopular as it may be with some groups, [ and politicians like Mark Udall, John Salazar, Bill Ritter, and Ken Salazar ] relaxing certain zoning and environmental restrictions is as critical as finding funds for new machinery or other start-up costs. Removing barriers to quick production is essential because of the natural timetable at work in Colorado's forests. The Rocky didn't go far enough. Forest access roads must be built and maintained. Clear cuts must be established as fire breaks. Environmentalist terrorists like Mark Udall and his Sierra Club must be put on notice that their foot dragging won't be tolerated. Does anyone have the courage to do that? Not likely, unless it is the voters. http://schaffervudall.blogspot.com/2008/01/cleaning-up-forests.html Minnesota: 14) The first work toward the house began Saturday as trees were cut on a tree farm owned by Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook. After a brief round of speeches Saturday morning, a John Deere feller-buncher revved to life in a 40-year-old mixed aspen forest off County Road 115. In about 15 minutes, it cleared three-quarters of an acre, the trees from which should provide enough oriented strand board for Ritz's 1,100-square-foot future home. Bakk's land is enrolled in the American Tree Farm Program, which certifies private landowners. The wood was harvested by Cliff Shermer, who participates in the Minnesota Logger Education Program. Both programs are part of the Minnesota Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The initiative is one of a handful of groups that certify wood products, a process meant to assure consumers that landowners, loggers and companies have followed principles that maintain and improve the forest habitat, which includes soil, water, animal life, plants and trees. The land that was cleared on Saturday, for instance, was marked for harvest because the trees had matured and needed to be cleared away. Bakk said it will be replanted in the spring with white spruce saplings, which will do better in the soil than aspen. http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=59048 New Jersey: 15) "Neighbors For Saving The Woodland From Development", residents of Berkeley Heights who believe they will be adversely impacted by a new proposed development in Berkeley Heights called Tuscany Hills, recently expressed their opposition to the development. The residents allege that Tuscany Hills will cause several issues that need to be addressed: 1) the plans call for upwards of 150 trees to be removed from the area; 2) a large number of variances are being requested for the development; 3) an 18-foot retaining wall is planned that may obstruct the natural views of other property owners; 4) a serious traffic hazard may result from the development; and 5) the new development may cause flooding of area homes. According to the group, the Berkeley Heights Planning Board may hold a public hearing to consider the proposal tonight, Monday, January 28, 2008. According to the Berkeley Heights website, such a meeting is indeed scheduled for this evening. However, the Calendar on the Berkeley Heights website does not mention any such meeting. http://thealternativepress.blogspot.com/2008/01/berkeley-heights-neighbors-for-s\ aving.html Texas: 16) LIBERTY � A partnership of corporate and nonprofit groups working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today the planting of some 50,000 tree seedlings to reforest pastureland that's now part of a national wildlife refuge. It's hoped the trees, planted on a 158-acre grassy tract of the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge, will help rebuild animal habitat, combat global climate change and enhance public recreation areas. "I couldn't get this done," said Stuart Marcus, director of the 23,000-acre refuge about an hour's drive east of Houston. "We don't have the money. We don't have the resources." The $250,000 for the trees and plantings were financed by customer and corporate donations from Round Rock-based computer make Dell Inc.; online travel agency Travelocity, based in Southlake outside Dallas; entertainment giant NBC Universal; and The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit environmental group. The land was planted by Environmental Synergy Inc., a reforestation firm based in Atlanta. "This is definitely helping us out big time," Marcus said. The trees, a dozen species of hardwoods native to the area, are planted 300 per acre in rows about 12 feet apart. The tract being reforested was acquired by the Fish and Wildlife Service in the past year or so after serving as ranch grazing land. Officials said it probably was cleared of trees 40 or 50 years ago. "Climate change has absolutely become one of the most pressing environmental challenges, at least in the United States," said Jena Thompson, director of The Conservation Fund's Go Zero Fund. "Habitat loss has become the other pressing environmental challenge. "When people think about deforestation, they think about the Amazon and Brazil. You don't think about right here in the United States," she said. Thompson said some 20 million acres of native forestland had been lost in the last century. "So now we're 150-some acres closer today," she said. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5495326.html Arkansas: 17) Local tree farmer and forestry leader Ron Bell is mad � so mad that he's leading a charge to try to change legislation that he says is detrimental to forest landowners across the U.S. "For the individual forest landowners of the state of Arkansas, this is the equivalent of a legislative drive-by shooting," Bell said. "The forest landowners of north Arkansas did nothing to deserve being discriminated like this." At issue is language in energy legislation approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in December. Bell says certain definitions in the law, including the definition of renewable biomass, is likely to cost Arkansas landowners millions of dollars in forest product sales within three or four years. It's the difference between being able to sell forest byproducts � the parts of trees left after logging as well as products from thinning the forest as a management practice � for $4 or $5 a ton or selling it to a biorefinery for $12 to $15 a ton. With each acre producing 10 to 12 tons on a good harvest and 2.4 million acres of forest land in Arkansas, "You can see that adds up pretty quickly," Bell said. Add in other states, and the nationwide economic impact is staggering, he said. To boil the problem down into its simplest terms, Bell said, the law as written defines renewable biomass from forests as coming only from trees that have been planted or from forests that are actively managed. "Definitions are extremely important here," he said. "'Actively managed' generally means trees that have been planted in rows, probably mechanically planted, and commonly in our area we're talking about pine trees as opposed to a native, planted by squirrels hardwood mixed with pine forest." http://www.guardonline.com/?q=node/43558 Georgia: 18) The Three Forks Alliance is seeking donations to defray the legal costs of seeking an injunction against PATH to stop work on the half mile graded human expressway along the South Fork of Peachtree Creek from Medlock Park to the middle of Mason Mill Park. In addition to requiring the destruction of MANY old growth trees and the possible disruption of the habitat of a wide variety of animal and plant life, the trail also requires encroachment upon existing ball fields in Medlock Park (see this 3FA page and the image at the bottom of the continuation). Reportedly, the DeKalb Commissioners approved this project based on a survey of only those living along Clairmont, even though the trail is surrounded by several other neighborhoods. Donate what you can THIS WEEK to stop (or at least modify) this bad idea and save one of the few remaining old stands of woods in Metro Decatur. Checks can be sent to: Three Forks Heritage Alliance; P.O. Box 15445, Decatur, GA 30333-9998. See letter in continuation An open meeting of the Medlock Floodplain Coalition will be held at 7PM Monday, 1/28, and the N. Decatur Presbyterian Church, 611 Medlock Church. Try finding EVEN A MENTION about this project at the PATH site. Why is it being so secretive about it? Is it trying to slip it in, knowing there would be opposition if it were widely published? An injunction / stop work order beats chaining ourselves to trees or bulldozers, so let's see if we can raise enough money to do it this way. http://airbornecombatengineer.typepad.com/in_decatur/2008/01/donate-now-to-s.htm\ l USA: 19) Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., on Friday introduced a bill that would change language in the 2007 energy bill to allow wood waste from national forests to count toward the Renewable Fuels Standard in the energy bill. In a last-minute change, the final version of the energy bill enacted in December contained a definition of "renewable biomass" that excludes any material removed from national forests. The definition means cellulosic ethanol derived from wood chips and other wood waste from national forests does not count toward the renewable-fuels standard. The result is that fuel blenders and refiners have no incentive or requirement to buy biofuel made in the Black Hills area under the new fuels standard, according to a news release from Thune's office. Thune, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., all expressed dismay about the last-minute change to the energy bill. Herseth Sandlin said Monday at a meeting about the issue that the energy bill's biomass definition would hurt local efforts to turn wood waste into ethanol. http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/01/26/news/local/doc479abfd7d5da27\ 95612517.txt 20) "It's turning conservation on its head," said Bill Stanley, who directs the global climate change initiative at the Nature Conservancy. He said the organization has a goal to protect 10 percent of major habitat types � like grasslands, forests and freshwater systems � by 2015. "We are not sure exactly how to treat this yet," Mr. Stanley said. "Areas that we preserved as grasslands are going to become forests. Does this mean we are going to have to have more than enough forest and less grassland than we had before? Or does it mean we should fight it � try to keep the forest from coming into those grasslands? Or should we try to find new areas that are least likely to change, that seem to be the least susceptible to change, and prioritize those areas?" As Dr. Hamilton put it, "Our whole strategy is going to have to shift." No one is suggesting that land conservation done so far has been a wasted effort. Many argue that preserved areas will contribute immensely to ecosystem resilience as the climate changes. For example, environmentally intact salmon streams will undoubtedly be useful if new species move into them. And even if much of the Everglades is lost to a rise in sea level, preserving the rest will be crucial for maintaining fresh water supplies in South Florida, said Dan Kimball, superintendent of Everglades National Park. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/science/earth/29habi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Canada: 21) Don't take away the Scout Camp in Northumberland Forest. Don't ban motorized vehicles from the Beagle Club Road trail area. Protect the ecosystem of the forest. Provide safety for hikers and skiers. Consider any hunting restrictions from Alderville First Nation's perspective. And check out the mess being left behind on trails by current logging operations. These were among various groups' messages for Northumberland County officials and forest advisory committee members Thursday, January 24, after they heard a series of consultants' recommendations, primarily about future trail use in the 5,300-acre, county-owned forest. A strong contingent of the Scouting movement objected to a recommendation to change the Scout Camp on the east side of Highway 45, north of Baltimore, into a forest centre. Members were out in full force and very vocal at the public meeting held at the Alderville Community Centre. "The county hasn't renewed the lease for Scouting in that location," area Scouting Commissioner Mary Anne Rowlands said. Attempts to get the parties together in the past few weeks have been unsuccessful but the camp has been there for 60 years, she said. Together, the Scout Camp and Scouting program have educated young people about the beauty and care of the outdoors, Ms. Rowlands said. "We're looking for another long-term lease from the county." Respecting and valuing the forest's ecosystem can be done by "walking lightly in the forest," Richard Tyssen said during his presentation. Some people are looking at the forest as a "low-budget amusement park" or a store from which "nature is used, consumed and controlled for our benefit," he said. A Cobourg man said he has spent 30 years in the forest and in the past five, the trails are being destroyed. He wondered how motorized vehicles can be compatible with a delicate ecosystem. "I agonized over that as well," Dr. Marsh replied. But the forest has a tradition of human use, he said. The recommendations of Dr. Marsh and Al MacPherson, also of Trent University, are to provide areas that can tolerate motorized use and to protect natural significant areas. Basing this on scientific data is an important element, Dr. Marsh said. http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=877479 22) Brings to mind what Han Solo says when he rescues Luke Skywalker after the latter's ordeal in the ice cave, using Luke's lightsaber to slice open the dead lizard-like tauntaun: "And I thought they smelled bad on the outside." This is the good news? This is the best it gets in what used to be this country's dominant industry, the one that once built family dynasties, endowed universities and museums, put Canada on the international business map and maintained many a blue-haired dowager on the reliability of those quarterly dividends alone? But then, on the other hand, the general stink emanating from the paper and forest sector at this particular point in time raises more questions: If this is indeed as good as it gets these days, might it be time to buy? Or, to dip into the lexicon of what's left of the beleaguered forest products investment community: with the slowdown in U.S. housing, oversupplied newsprint markets, cumbersome energy and transportation costs, the high Canadian dollar, increasingly feisty paper customers with electronic options galore, the ongoing credit crunch and various other economic factors coming down on the paper and forest industry like one of those Acme anvils on Wile E. Coyote, is there any upside for investors? Forest products analysts, the investment equivalent of the Maytag repairman, are not what one might call the most cheerful lot. Their woods are not so much lovely as just dark and deep. "The evisceration of the Canadian forest products industry will continue," says Kevin Mason, forest products analyst with Vancouver-based Equity Research Associates, which specializes in the paper and forest industry. http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/commodities/article.jsp?content=20080123\ _198706_198706 UK: 23) I studied psychology and zoology at Bristol University and got my first big environmental job at the International Council for Bird Preservation. One experience shaped my thinking more than any other. In 1990, I went to north-east Brazil, where my Brazilian colleagues and I discovered the last wild Spix's Macaw. Here was a bird doomed to extinction, its forest home destroyed by grazing goats, logging and soya farming. This was my epiphany. It became clear that protecting birds was part of a bigger picture: the world economy was impinging on this defenceless creature. If I was to make a difference, I had to tackle the underlying causes of its plight. Just before I left for Brazil I had applied to work on Friends Of The Earth's rainforest campaign. Despite my lack of lobbying experience, I got the �10,000-a-year job. Friends Of The Earth was founded in Britain in 1971, inspired by the American environmental movement. My new office was exciting if a little anarchic, and a culture shock. We had an annual budget of �4million, 85 staff and a mission to change the system, reform capitalism and switch to a pure green lifestyle. Nothing too ambitious, then. Eighteen years ago, the green movement was on the very fringes of mainstream politics. Although several decades old, environmentalism was still dismissed by many as all brown rice and tree-hugging. So, after 18 years with Friends Of The Earth, I am passing on the baton. I remain committed to the green cause, but it's time for a change. After a couple of decades, you find yourself making the same arguments too many times. It has been my pleasure and pain to lobby the last seven Environment Secretaries. There is some justice in the world, it seems. Matthew Banks, the Tory who destroyed the Wildlife Bill in 1996, lost his seat the following year, thanks perhaps in small part to our campaigning in his Southport constituency. A version of the Bill became law in 2000. The Spix's Macaw also survived. Birds were discovered in private zoos and a breeding programme set up to preserve the species. I hope that one day soon captive birds will be released into restored forests. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_artic\ le_id=510612&i n_page_id=1773 24) Miniature deer introduced from China are spreading across Britain, threatening woodland plants and wildlife, writes Richard Gray Muntjac numbers have increased by 20 per cent in the past two years, to 150,000 animals. The deer, which stand 18 inches at the shoulder and escaped into the wild in Bedfordshire 100 years ago, now breed as far north as Tyne and Wear and as far south as Devon and Cornwall. Wildlife experts warn that the mammals have a ferocious appetite and can strip trees of bark and leaves, destroying the nesting sites of popular birds and affecting song birds such as the nightingale which rely upon the undergrowth for food. Endangered small mammals such as the dormouse also live in the thick undergrowth. In addition, the deer have been blamed for devouring native flowers such as bluebells which provide a vital source of nectar for insects. Emma Goldberg, forestry and woodland specialist at Natural England, said: "We are quite concerned about the biodiversity impacts that muntjac can have on woodlands. "When you have them in the same area as fallow deer, the fallow reach foliage up to 4ft while the muntjac clear everything off the ground. It knocks out the habitat of ground nesting birds, the nectar source for a lot of insects and the shrub layer for dormice." The muntjac escaped into the English countryside from Woburn Park in Bedfordshire in the early 20th century. It is now the third most common breed of deer in Britain, behind the native roe deer and the fallow deer, which were introduced by the Normans when they invaded Britain in the 11th century. Britain's only other native deer, the red deer, now number 15,000.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/01/27/eacount\ ry227.xml 25) Forest schools were introduced to the UK after a team of students from Bridgwater College in Somerset travelled to Denmark to watch woodland-based sessions in practice. Studies from across the world have provided statistical evidence to prove that children are more physically active and motivated in outdoor environments. According to American research, children who play in natural environments undertake more creative, diverse and imaginative play than those who don't, enhancing their overall mental development. What Forest Schools attempt to do is reconnect children, many in urban areas, with the green woodland spaces close to their doorsteps or classrooms. Already, teachers who have bought into the idea have reported positive results, ranging from higher levels of physical activity to calmer behaviour in lessons. The scheme has been rolled out further and there are now areas where older children, some with learning or behavioural issues, are also exposed to Forest School teaching. The idea is very simple. A selected group attends a Forest School once every week or fortnight within school time. Qualified leaders run the sessions with support from teachers and assistants, and activities can be linked to the academic curriculum. The type of teaching allows the children to explore their natural space but they learn quickly through hands-on experience rather than passively absorbing facts in a classroom. The participants are often urban children who may not have had regular access to green space. Tasks include tool-making, den-building, making fires and physical games using natural structures such as trees and boulders. The idea is to build confidence, independence and togetherness by setting up small, achievable problem-solving tasks. The end result has been an increase in confidence and physical stamina among the children and an unpicking of the accepted wisdom that green spaces, particularly in cities, are dangerous places in which to play. http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/features/display.var.2000577.0.Putting_child\ ren_back_in_tou ch_with_their_wild_side.php 26) "Some people think that the Forestry Commission is just about managing woods but as the nation's biggest landowner we are the custodians of many habitats, and lowland heath is among the most precious." Nearly 6,000 conifers have been felled on the moors near Helmsley as part of a drive to reinstate one of the countryside's most threatened habitats. Changing patterns of land use have led to the loss of about 80 per cent of England's lowland heath over the past 20 years, it has been estimated. In the mid-19th century, North Yorkshire boasted 87,000 acres of such heathland. Now, trees have been cut down on Wass Moor, next to the A170 west of Helmsley, in an attempt to reverse the trend. The rare nightjar, as well as insetcs and plants, are expected to thrive as a result of the work. Brian Walker, a wildlife officer with the Forestry Commission, said: "Rather than create a large swathe of open ground, we have opted to thin twelve acres of the woodland, leaving large spaces between the trees. The resulting sunlight reaching the floor will germinate long-dormant heather seed in the soil, sparking the area to life for heath-loving flora and fauna. http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/yorknews/display.var.1998849.0.trees_going_under\ _axe.php Scotland: 27) A proposed housing development set to be built in secluded woodland has provoked a storm of protest in an Edinburgh suburb. The city council has received 125 letters of objection against plans to demolish five 1970s bungalows in Barnton and replace them with 15 new homes. The site, which is surrounded by protected trees, lies within the Barnton Park estate off Queensferry Road. Council officials have recommended that the development is given the go-ahead. Tony Barnett, chairman of the Barnton Policy Park Association, said the development would be a massive blot on the landscape. He said: "It's enormous, and inappropriate for the area. They are going to be three-storey houses up against bungalows. "The development is going to be overcrowded and antisocial. "Just building the thing is going to be a nightmare and it will add to the amount of traffic in the area." Mr Barnett, who helps maintain the woodland on a voluntary basis, said that more than 200 local people had attended a public meeting to discuss the proposals in October. He said: "It's been a hard-fought battle and the people have made their feelings felt. "There are a couple of hundred folk out there who don't want this." Developers Rutherford Finance wants to demolish five of the eight bungalows on the cul-de-sac and replace them with 15 new homes and gardens. The site has mature woodland on two sides but the trees are protected by a preservation order. http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Housing-plan-brings-flood-of.3714750.jp EU: 28) EUROPEAN Union cuts in greenhouse gas emissions could be entirely wiped out by increased destruction of the Amazon rainforest, according to Birkenhead MP Frank Field, co-founder of environmental charity Cool Earth. EU Commission President, Jos� Manuel Barroso, announced this week new targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020. But these targets take no account of the fact that deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have surged over the last few months. Deforestation already accounts for one fifth of yearly global emissions and recent studies by the National Institute of Space Research show that the monthly rate of deforestation in the Amazon saw an unprecedented increase, from 94 sq miles in August to 366 sq miles in December. Scientists have warned that the 20 per cent cut is insufficient and in the face of these new findings could be entirely offset by rising emissions from deforestation - every acre burnt emits around 260 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But EU policy tools do not even include avoided deforestation. http://www.thisiswirral.co.uk/display.var.2002601.0.mps_campaign_for_amazon_rain\ forest.php Sweden: 29) With a membership of more than 50,000 forest owners representing 35,000 forest properties in southern Sweden, S�dra has operations in forestry services, wood products, pulp and energy. The association produces sawn and planed timber goods, interior products, paper pulp and biofuel. In recent years S�dra has also become such a large producer of electricity that the Group now produces more electricity than it uses. Eight forklifts with capacities from 15 tonnes will be used for pulp handling at S�dra Cell's pulp mills in M�rrum, M�nster�s and V�r�, Sweden. S�dra Timber's ten production facilities in the country's southern region will employ 24 units including forklifts for lumber handling with capacities ranging from 10 to 25 tonnes and logstacker machines purpose-built for wood handling with load ratings of up to 30 tonnes. As one of Europe's leading manufacturers of sawn and planed timber products, S�dra Timber produced 1.7 million sq m of wood products in 2004. http://www.mgn.com/news/newsreleasedetails.cfm?id=6524&type= Finland: 30) According to Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, the people of Kemij�rvi have to accept the closure of the local Stora Enso pulp mill as a fact. "As for timber, forest management and harvesting, and transport, I am not so worried because Stora Enso has pledged to source the same amount of timer from here as in the past. And, there are other timber purchasers. In other words, I am rather confident that for Finland to manage its timber requirements in general, forests in Lapland will have to be harvested, not less, but rather more than in recent years. This is of course a crucial matter for employment and for this economic area," said Vanhanen. Vanhanen's arrival on Sunday was met by a group of around 200 protestors, dressed in black. Leaders of a local movement demanded action from the Prime Minister to keep the pulp mill in operation. There have be doubts expressed about plans for a new laminated wood plant in Kemij�rvi because suitable grades of wood are not locally available and there is already overproduction in the sector. http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id81022.html Czechoslovakia: 31) More people go to Prague forests. They want to relax from the noise of the metropolis, but there has never been so many of them. The recent study of Prague City hall brought quite surprising numbers. Especially those, where Prague forests are compared to touristically attractive Sumava in the South of the Czech Republic. On one hectare of Prague forest 5200 visitors take turns. At turistically attractive Sumava, it is only tens of people. The most favorite Prague forest is Hvezda park at Prague 6, visited by the same numbers the as the botanical garden in Troja � seven thousand four hundred on one hectare per year. Prague so started planting of new forests, in supplying of the demand. 100 hectare forest is being planted at Brezineves, another will be planted in Dubec. http://www.abcprague.com/2008/01/29/overcrowded-prague-forests Armenia: 32) In Northern Armenia, a company has been given the go-ahead to establish a copper mine in Teghut Forest sparking off a struggle between industry and environmentalists. Teghut Forest spans approximately 29,000 square kilometers�the size of the English channel�and supports a large number of Armenia's native species, including the Syrian Brown Bear and the Short-toed Eagle. The mine will be operated by Armenian Copper Program (ACP). ACP is apart of the Valex group, located in Liechtenstein and co-owned by Russian citizen, Valeri Medzhloumyan. The project will be the largest mine in Armenia, and is estimated to make a hundred million annually for as long as the mining lasts (most likely, less than twenty-five years). Environmentalists believe that the mine will cause large and lasting damage to the region, while government and industry state that the mine's environmental impact will be small while giving the region an economic boost. The first environmental impact from the copper mine will be deforestation. The government has given ACP 1,570 hectares for the project and the company has stated that it will be necessary to clear cut 357 hectares for the mine. It will be an open pit mine, meaning that in place of these 357 hectares will eventually be a massive gaping hole. Gagik Arzumanyan, the executive director of ACP, said in an interview with Mongabay, "I personally do regret that this shall happen. I very much wish there would have been a way to avoid forest removal. Unfortunately, there is none." At 357 hectares the deforestation would be the largest officially permitted by the Armenian government, yet environmentalists believe the actual number of hectares required for the mine will be far more. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0129-hance_armenia.html Spain: 33) The Galician environmental group Asociacion Pola Defensa da Ria (APDR) has submitted a formal complaint to the FSC about the certification of plantation company NORFOR and the assessment of it's certifier, SGS that was undertaken by FSC's Accreditation Services International. In their complaint, APDR argues that the FSC-ASI report on SGS's certification of NORFOR is not only of very low quality, but it also fails to address the majority of the criticisms of NORFOR presented by a number of NGOs. Although the FSC-ASI report on the certification recognises a serious lack of compliance with FSC's principles and criteria, it does not analyse more controversial points such as relations with local communities and benefits from the forests. The omissions identified by APDR once again highlight FSC's inability to control the certificates that it's accredited certifiers are issuing - but they are perhaps not surprising. NORFOR's FSC certificate was awarded in 2004 by SGS. It has been heavily criticized by local groups for being socially, environmentally and economically unsustainable, therefore blatantly failing to comply with FSC's principles and criteria. In 2006, the Galician environmental movement decided to withdraw its support for the FSC. This was due to the FSC's failure to suspend the NORFOR certificate, therefore undermining the credibility of the certification scheme as a whole. After several informal complaints, presented by APDR, Greenpeace and WWF/Adena, FSC's Accreditation Services International (FSC-ASI) finally undertook an inspection of SGS's certification of NORFOR in May 2007. Even though the FSC-ASI report recognised that NORFOR did not comply with FSC's principles and criteria, the Eucalyptus plantations managed by the company continues to be FSC certified. Local expert group APDR was excluded from participation in SGS's November 2007 audit of NORFOR, and recent field visits from APDR representatives suggest that there has been no change in the way NORFOR carries out its forest management activities. http://www.fsc-watch.org/archives/2008/01/12/Galicia__Spain__form Israel: 34) Twenty centuries-old oak trees were cut down over the weekend in the Izrael valley in the Galilee. The tree stumps were discovered by Jewish National Fund forest rangers Sunday. "The trees were ancient and beautiful," the JNF said. Officials believe that the trees were chopped down for fire wood. A complaint was filed with the police. There have been many trees cut down this winter, including many rare and special trees, especially around the Miron Mountain forest preserve. Last week, ironically on Tu Bishvat, one of the biggest oak trees in the Mount Miron area was chopped down. The JNF has tried to counter the deforestation by passing out firewood to the poor who can't afford heating due to rising energy costs. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948527.html Tanzania: 35) An estimated 77,043 hectares of forest in several areas of Morogoro Region are feared to have been destroyed between July 10 and August 2 last year, the chairperson of the Morogoro District Council Committee for Social Services, Economy, Environment and Construction, Chanda Kangeta, said at a meeting in Morogoro over the week-end. Kangeta added that another 123,000 hectares of general land was also damaged in the same period. She named the areas destroyed as Chamanyani forests at Mvuha ward,Kitulangh`alo (Maseyu ward), Ngerengere, Mkulazi, Mlilingwa, Kiwege, Muhungamkola and Kiroka. The chairperson said bush fires in the district were rampant threatening vegetation and water sources. She said that measures were in place to make sure that bush fires no longer become a threat in the district. http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/observer/2008/01/27/107164.html Kenya: 36) An examination of the connections between elephants and lizards appears in the journal Ecology, where a researcher reports that the elephants' eating habits have a strong influence on the lizards' habitat choices. The results demonstrate an important and little understood aspect of ecosystem engineering, and may help land managers working on wildlife refuges in Africa. Working at the Mpala Research Center in Kenya between 2004 and 2007, the author of the report, Robert M. Pringle of Stanford University, found that Kenya dwarf geckos (Lygodactylus keniensis) showed a strong preference for trees which had been damaged by browsing elephants (Loxodontia africana). In fact, the local lizard population increased proportionally with the number of damaged trees. By contrast, lizards were virtually absent from undamaged trees in the same study area. Further investigations revealed that the preference was due to hiding places which were incidentally created by the elephants' activities. Pringle's results are important from a theoretical as well as management standpoint. Ecosystem engineering -- the idea that activities of one kind of animal can create habitat for other animals -- is a relatively new concept, having emerged only about 15 years ago. When examining such engineers, ecologists would like to predict whether their activities will have a positive or negative impact on the abundance of other species in the same ecosystem. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080128154611.htm Central America: 37) The location was different, but the work sometimes was similar, photographing what Martin called "visual placeholders for events in our past." "I didn't realize, but I guess I had a connection to it," Martin said. Likewise, part of his goal in photographing the Maya is to document a culture that existed long before European and U.S. influence. These indigenous people have unique ways of seeing the world, such as their close relationship with the environment around them, he said. These viewpoints can inform us, but they are fading as the rainforest disappears and the Maya are further cut off from their past, Martin said. "It's about enriching our lives, how there are multiple viewpoints," he said. "Change that throws out the past completely is going to leave a future without a foundation." Martin, who has lived in the MetroWest area since the early '80s and has had a studio in Natick about three or four years, visited the Yucatan peninsula on his first trip, focusing mainly on photographing ruins. "Look Close, See Far" includes images of everything from massive pyramids to close-up details of religious stone carvings. "It was really exhilarating," he said of that first trip. "Just the idea of looking at things that were non-Western was really fascinating." Some early voyages were a learning experience, including one with a questionably qualified guide. "Halfway through a hike, he turned to me and said, 'You think we're going the right way?"' Martin said.In other places, Martin traveled through areas where he was not allowed to photograph and where rebel groups fought in the forest. But Martin "just got caught up. Something just kept calling me back to that area." On return trips, he began photographing more people, visiting the small rural villages where many descendants of the Maya live. "To get to know them, you have to kind of keep going over and over the areas, going back and meeting people and talking to them," he said. http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/books/x2144948520

Today for you 35 new articles about earth's trees! (286th edition) Subscribe / unsubscribe send blank email to: earthtreenews-subscribe@... Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com --British Columbia: 1) 304-hectare near Skaha Bluffs, 2) Industry review excludes enviros, 3) More details on the high-grading scandal, 4) Caribou protection may mean extinction, 5) Looking for new ways to pillage, 6) Hearing to halt Sprawl, 7) Public rage, --Washington: 8) Evergreen Cities Act, 9) Fighting Weyco's high lakes development, --Oregon: 10) Clearcut Climate Conference, 11) Logging caused landslide ends freight train service, 12) "Experimental" Intensive logging of 2nd growth, --California: 13) Sierra Nevada MIS Amendment is no good, 14) Trees ordered cut for solar panels, 15) Save the Pacific fisher, 16) City tries to stop UC tree cutting, --Nevada: 17) View enhancement may get her 10 years in jail --Minnesota: 18) RIP: Bill Rom of Ely --New York: 19) Denouncing Rainforest Alliance / FSC --Appalachia: 20) Mountaintop Removal --Alabama: 21) Counties conservation efforts are too little, too late --Florida: 22) Killing in the name of electricity --USA: 23) Ban all ORVs from public domain, 24) Collaboration turmoil, 25) Roads, 26) Biofuel incentives destroying the amazon, --Canada: 27) Even the weakest of logging rules are rejected as too expensive --Scotland: 28) Impacts of climate change on forests, 29) 700 say Save Pollok Park, --Poland: 30) Save the EU's last remaining patch of ancient forest --Russia: 31) Resource economics minus the cold war --Sierra Leone: 32) Efforts to control loggers from plundering forests --Congo: 33) World Bank fraud against natives now documented --Rwanda: 34) Work to restore the rain forest in Gishwati --India: 35) Full grown trees on farms cut for Prime Minister's visit British Columbia: 1) The Land Conservancy of British Columbia (TLC) and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) through the NCC-Government of Canada Natural Areas Conservation Program have partnered with Mountain Equipment Co-op and other supporters to acquire a 304-hectare property adjacent to the popular Skaha Bluffs recreational rock climbing area. The newly acquired land falls within the proposed Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park recommended in the Okanagan Shuswap Land and Resource Management Plan and will be managed for its important conservation and recreation values as a Class A provincial park. The property is made up of coniferous forest, riparian areas, rugged terrain and some shrub-steppe grasslands. This habitat helps support up to 15 species-at-risk, including California bighorn sheep. "This purchase was made possible through the co-operation of many partners and their unwavering dedication to seeing the project through," said B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner. "I had a chance to hike through the property and see the Skaha Bluffs first-hand last summer and, with the encouragement of MLA Barisoff, enthusiastically authorized the provincial financial contribution to secure public access to great recreational opportunities and protect a special part of the Okanagan." The Nature Conservancy of Canada participated in this project thanks to support from the Government of Canada through the Natural Areas Conservation Program, a new matching funds initiative to conserve ecologically significant lands across southern Canada over the next five years. "The Government of Canada is pleased to be able to play an important part in this land acquisition through the Natural Areas Conservation Program," said the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety and MP for Okanagan-Coquihalla, on behalf of the Honourable John Baird, Minister of the Environment. "Prime Minister Stephen Harper committed $225 million to support the work of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and here is another example of real results for Canadians. Protecting the important lands near the legendary Skaha Bluffs is a great example of what we can achieve when we work together to preserve our natural heritage." --Ministry of Environment, Land Conservancy of British Columbia, 2) Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell has been named to a roundtable on forestry meant to undertake an "exhaustive" review of industry to fast-track strategies to help the sector survive. Bell said it was important to ensure the forest sector was well represented on the roundtable, including forest companies, loggers and First Nations. He said union representation should be considered as well, but stopped short of saying they will be included. Issues that should be tackled by the roundtable include ensuring there is sufficient working forest to sustain the industry, and addressing forestry agreements signed with First Nations that have not worked out as intended, said Bell. Premier Gordon Campbell announced the roundtable -- which will be chaired by Forests Minister Rich Coleman -- last Friday at the 65th annual Truck Loggers Association convention. Campbell mentioned a number of challenges facing the forest sector: global warming, the pine beetle epidemic and increasing economic pressures. The lumber and panel sectors are being hammered by a number of negative market forces, including low prices due to a collapse in the U.S. housing market, a higher Canadian dollar and a 15-per-cent export tax on lumber shipments to the U.S. Newsprint is also being hurt by dropping demand in North America. The pulp sector has fared better with stronger prices, although it is also being hurt by the increased value of the loonie. http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=113\ 929&Itemid=556 3) The report was the product of a Forest Practices Board investigation that visited 54 helicopter logging sites on the mid- and north coast. Contractors there are hunting out cedar trees, dropping crews in to cut them down and then hauling the logs out with helicopters. It's expensive, but cedar is so valuable it can still be profitable. A single big cedar tree can be worth tens of thousands of dollars. The problem is that the cedar stands are often surrounded by hemlock forest, which is of lower value. And much of it is decadent hemlock, even less valuable. The cedar (and sometimes spruce) harvest is so selective that the forest looks untouched, which meets some of the goals set out above. The method sometimes even meets the standards of eco-system based management. But there is no requirement on the companies to replant. So the hemlock is left to fill in and the future value of that forest is significantly reduced. As it was explained to me, the diamonds are plucked and the garnets are all that's left. "This is a bit of a dilemma," said board chairman Bruce Fraser. "On one hand, government and industry want to extract some economic value from these sites and provide local employment and economic benefits, while also protecting other forest values. But on the other hand, the result is limited prospects for harvesting in the future." The chronically depressed coastal forest industry is in such a state now that cedar is all that's keeping some operations afloat. Cedar logs can't be exported, so that timber is also keeping some mills going, as well. The forest licensees' performance was mixed. Some are doing a better job than others. But high-grading is legitimate and even encouraged by some forest policies. http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=ed984027-\ 7e94-491e-984c -26897ac479e2 4) Planning teams are now busy making draft maps and doing analysis to implement the BC government's new protection plan for the Mountain Caribou. But the planning for the Central and Southern herds is so inadequate that it appears these herds might simply be allowed to disappear, according to New Denver-based Valhalla Wilderness Watch (VWW). "These herds have the fewest caribou and are the most endangered because past planning processes ignored their needs, giving largely only the appearance of protection," says VWW's forest technician, Craig Pettitt. "Now that a new plan has been created to save them, the very same thing is happening. Habitat protection and planning for the Southern and Central Herds is far below what is occurring in the Cariboo-Chilcotin and Robson Valley. Claims that the forest industry supported the plan have turned out to be false in the Southern and Central Selkirks. "The plan agreement that was negotiated behind closed doors promised everything to everybody," says Anne Sherrod, a director of VWW. "There was to be no reduction of the allowable annual cut (AAC), little or no impact on mills, and only 1% of the Timber Harvesting Land Base could be protected. On the other hand, there were to be substantial increases in the number of mountain caribou. But when an animal is being wiped out by excessive logging, how are they going to increase its population without substantially reducing the logging?" Now the scientists are trying to locate forest for new protection, and the logging companies are claiming big impacts on their approved cutblocks, their AACs and their mills. The companies are insisting they were promised "no net loss." They are claiming that the previous land use plan has caused them losses, so there can't be any further losses. "Excuse me," says Sherrod, "but we were told that the Council of Forest Industries had agreed to a plan that would provide 77,000 hectares of protection from the Timber Harvesting Land Base. The share assigned to the Central and Southern herds is pitifully small, given that these herds inhabit half to two-thirds of the range. There is no excuse for reducing it or shifting it into high elevation, poor quality forest. wildernesswatch@... 5) "The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects the wind will change, the realist adjusts the sails" says Snetsinger. He says the province has long history of forest management and a history of being able to adapt to market situations. So, If you're in a bad situation don't worry, it will change, and if you're in a good situation, don't worry, it will change." With that quote, Chief Forester for the Province, Jim Snetsinger, told the Natural Resource Forum in Prince George , that no matter what the challenges, forestry will continue to be an important player in the provincial Economy. "There has always been immense change in the forest sector" says Snetsinger who says the ripple from the pine beetle impact will resonate in the central interior until at least 2015. The pine beetle has impacted 13 million hectares of forest in B.C. "That's 530 million cubic meters, or 40% of the province's merchantable supply." Snetsinger says its important to think outside the box when it comes to forestry. "There was an article in the Globe and Mail that suggested it may be time to start thinking about privatizing Crown land and that is something that is worth thinking about. In Finland , there are private land owners who supply the major industry. We are starting to think about these things, and that is a good start." Snetsinger says some of the challenges that lie ahead includes trying to understand what type of trees to plant now that will not be impacted by climate change 80 years from now. Tim Renneberg, Communications Officer, New Democrat Official Opposition 250-361-6314 tim.renneberg@... http://www.bcndpcaucus.ca http://www.opinion250.com/blog/author/13/1/250+news 6) On Monday January 28th, the Capital Regional District (CRD) will hold a public hearing on two environmentally-progressive bylaws for parts of the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area that would halt suburban sprawl on these lands: Bylaws 3495 and 3500. The two bylaws go hand-in-hand. Bylaw 3495 would increase the minimum parcel size for subdivision purposes in the Forestry Zone to 120 hectares (296.5 acres); Bylaw 3500 would add a land use component to regulate the density of housing to one one-family dwelling unit per parcel for these lands. So far these two bylaws have passed through 2 readings, and they need to pass through a third reading to come into effect. More information will be available at the public hearing. You can also view details on the CRD website here: http://www.crd.bc.ca/jdf/documents/3495and3500_3rdversion_revisedforwebsite.pdf 7) QUALICUM BEACH�Communities will bear the true cost of the Campbell government's sell-off of private forest lands, say the New Democrats. "This week, we saw public outrage over the potential for old growth logging in Cameron Canyon," said Scott Fraser, MLA for Alberni-Qualicum. "And in Port Alberni, there was great public concern about a mudslide, suspected to have been caused by nearby logging. "In both cases, the buck stops with the Campbell government. They changed the law and removed these lands from a Tree Farm Licence, eliminating public oversight and reducing environmental protection. And they did it without consulting communities, who are left to deal with the aftermath," said Fraser. In July 2004, the Ministry of Forests authorized the removal of 70,300 hectares of private lands from Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 44, without public consultation or compensation. The lands were then sold to Island Timberlands in 2005, which last week spun off its timber assets to an offshore operation in Bermuda. Fraser expressed his concern about the impact of the move on communities. "What happens if the company is found liable for damages to civic assets like the Port Alberni watershed? Would they be exempt from civil suit, now that their operations are offshore? British Columbians have lost confidence in the Campbell government's ability to manage our forests," said Bob Simpson, NDP Forests and Range critic. "They just can't trust the B.C. Liberals to put the public interest ahead of forest companies." Fraser vowed to continue raising his concerns about the Campbell government's sell-off of private forest lands in the Alberni-Qualicum region. Debra Toporowski, Constituency Assistant for Doug Routley, MLA, Cowichan-Ladysmith 273 Trunk rd PO Box 659 Duncan, BC 250-746-8770 Washington: 8) The Evergreen Cities Act, under review in the Washington state legislative session, seeks to allocate $1 million to keep Washington cities green. "There are endless benefits for having trees in the city," said UW alumna Stacy Ray, an urban forester of Kirkland. "[Retaining trees] is always a challenge with the amount of growth in this area. We take them for granted because we seem to have so many." Satellite pictures provided by American Forests, a Washington, D.C. non-profit organization, show that in the last 30 years urban forests have diminished 25 percent in the state of Washington and nearly 50 percent in Seattle. Urban growth throughout the state is projected to continue. "The revenue will be available to communities to encourage urban forestry," said Gordon Bradley, a professor with the UW College of Forest Resources. This will be done by creating regional goals for the urban canopy, he said, and by establishing or improving regulations to guide new developments and provide funds for tree care and conservation. http://thedaily.washington.edu/2008/1/23/urban-forests/ 9) A group of outdoor enthusiasts asked the Cowlitz County commissioners on Tuesday to temporarily halt the development of prime hunting and fishing land near Mount St. Helens. The group said Weyerhaeuser Co's sale of the so-called High Lakes area north of Spirit Lake Memorial Highway will cut off the public's ability to use the land. They asked the commissioners to place a temporary moratorium on developing the property and perhaps find a way to keep it available to everyone. Commissioners haven't imposed a building moratorium since prohibiting development on the Cowlitz and Toutle river flood plains following the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption. Tuesday they said they'd consider one. "We'll take a very serious look at this issue," Commissioner Axel Swanson said. "This is all new ground for us." The commissioners also said they'd discuss the issue with their colleagues in Skamania County, which has placed a moratorium on its portion of the High Lakes area. At issue are 4,100 acres of forestland that Weyerhaeuser put on the market last year. Two men from the Tacoma area purchased the land, Paul Graves, a forestry consultant who is involved with the deal, said earlier this month. The Tacoma partners divided 1,354 of the acres into 19 parcels, each between 38 to 107 acres. Sales are pending on most of the available land, and prices range from $191,818 to $613,028. What exactly will be done with the property is unclear, although Graves, who is purchasing one of the lots, has said buyers aren't likely to put up large homes in the area. He could not be reached Tuesday. For decades, the land, which includes Elk, Hanaford, Forest and Fawn lakes, has been trekked by local hikers, hunters and anglers. The area is rebounding from the volcano's lateral blast on May 18, 1980. http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/01/23/top_story/10071999.txt Oregon: 10) What do Oregon's vast forests have to do with climate change? Plenty, say scientists. Their role in regulating the climate and their vulnerability to warming will be the topic of a daylong conference Saturday at the University of Oregon. The event includes presentations by Oregon State University researchers about the presence of carbon in greenhouse gases and the role they play in climate change, as well as the ability of forests to hold carbon in trees and soils. OSU Department of Forestry professor Mark Harmon, and OSU forest management and forest ecology professor Olga Krankini, are keynote speakers Saturday morning. In the afternoon, local environmental activist Doug Heiken, with Oregon Wild, will discuss misunderstandings about the role of forests in the global carbon cycle, and Eugene complexity expert Alder Fuller will address the speed with which climate change is occurring. The conference will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in room 150 of Columbia Hall at the corner of 13th Avenue and University Street. While admission is free, donations would be appreciated by the nonprofit agencies organizing the event, including Cascadia's Ecosystem Advocates, the Native Forest Council, GreenwashEugene.com, Many Rivers Group Sierra Club and the UO Survival Center. For a schedule, registration, and other information, visit the Web site: http://www.forestclimate.org 11) OAKRIDGE � Union Pacific and government officials say they have not determined the cause of the slide, and they are prudent to avoid premature judgments. But the slide started in a 15-year-old clear-cut, and it takes about 15 years for the soil-gripping roots of logged trees to decompose. This one is big. The Oregon Forest Practices Act and the timber sale policies of federal land management agencies need to be revised to take landslide risks into better account. The slide itself covers two sections of track at both ends of a long hairpin turn as the rail line climbs toward Pengra Pass (not nearby Willamette Pass, familiar to travelers on Highway 58) in the vicinity of Salt Creek Falls. The Cascade Main Line carries 33 million gross tons of freight each year. The American Association of Railroads reports that the annual volume of freight moved by rail in Oregon was 73.6 million tons in 2005, so more than 40 percent of the state's total moves over that one line. Daily traffic averages about 15 trains with 85 carloads apiece. It takes 3�tractor-trailers to haul one rail carload of freight. Some of the rail cars are empty, but even so the rail alternative diverts a lot of trucks from Interstate 5. Indeed, the Cascade Main Line is the I-5 of the rail system. Freight still can move between Northwest and California destinations by rail, but long detours are involved. The best option is to send trains up the Columbia Gorge and then along the Oregon Trunk Line that roughly parallels Highway 97 to Chemult. There, the trunk line connects to Union Pacific track and continues to Klamath Falls and Redding, Calif. For southern Willamette Valley shippers, this adds several hundred miles to the trip � and the trunk line's capacity is limited, so some freight moving between California and the Northwest is being diverted as far east as Salt Lake City. Restrictions on logging practices to limit the danger of landslides are resisted on the basis of their cost. But landslides can be costly as well. The economic consequences of the Cascade Main Line's closure will be widespread, and are continuing to mount. http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=5465\ 8&sid=5&fid=2 12) The public got a peek Wednesday at seven years worth of research into the effects of intensive logging on private lands. Nearly 60 people � composed of many professional foresters, a few elected officials and a few more conservationists � crammed in the Ford Room of the Douglas County Library for a one-hour presentation on the 10-year Hinkle Creek Paired-Watershed Study. The study is designed to laser in on the effects second-growth logging, contemporary harvesting equipment and newer road-building techniques have on the environment. The research is considered the most ambitious of its kind in Oregon since the 1960s. The forestry practices used are prescribed by the Oregon Forest Practice Act rules. Forest engineers and biologists will examine changes in stream temperature and sediment disposition � including fish dispersal � in creeks downstream of harvest activity on upper watersheds; the seasonal hydrologic changes in headwater streams where clear-cuts have removed tree buffers to varying lengths; and the abundance of fish and fauna that remains after changes to watershed habitat have been made. This spring research will begin to focus on clear-cuts farther downstream and their effects. Arne Skaugset, project director of Hinkle Creek and associate professor in the department of forest engineering at Oregon State University, gave a slide show presentation Wednesday night that included research about the effects intense forestry management has on the headwaters of fish-bearing streams. Not surprisingly, headwater creeks about half a mile in length with the heaviest activity � 70 percent harvested, in one case � show the most changes in increased maximum temperatures and sediment dispersal, Skaugset said. The study compares the effects logging has on the south fork of Hinkle Creek to the unharvested watershed of the north fork, which serves as the control. The entire area, about 5,000 acres, was last logged around 1950. The two watersheds are comparable in size and complexity. About 380 acres of timber from five sites for a total of more than 12 million board feet was harvested from the south fork in 2005. This spring RFP will begin building roads and logging on the south fork watershed for the second phase of the project. The timber company will wait to log the north fork watershed until 2011. http://www.oregonnews.com/article/20080124/NEWS/475561028 California: 13) In a Record of Decision, released on December 14, 2007, the Forest Service proposed the Sierra Nevada Management Indicator Species (MIS) Amendment. The MIS amendment will weaken the forest habitat monitoring requirements of the Forest Service by significantly curtailing the management indicator species lists that cover all Sierra Nevada National Forests. Currently, the Forest Service must monitor the impacts of Forest Service projects on the long-term viability of the species and the long-term health of the habitats on which these species depend. Weakening the current requirements will result in significant negative environmental consequences as well as reduce protections for species and the biological diversity of the Sierra Nevada National Forests. These vital monitoring requirements for management indicator species are an essential part of land management plans and provide a safety net to decrease the possibility of implementing plans that may harm the environment. Without this monitoring program, there is little chance of measuring the effects of Forest Service actions, such as timber sales and other extractive processes, within these crucial habitats. The Sierra Forest Legacy is urging activists to appeal this Record of Decision. All appeals must be filed by February 4, 2008 via mail, fax or email. For more information and talking points to make in your appeal, visit: http://www.sierraforestlegacy.org/TA_ActionAlerts/TA_ActionAlerts.php or contact Jason Swartz, Sierra Forest Legacy, jason@..., or Craig Thomas, Sierra Forest Legacy, craig@.... 14) Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett own a Prius and consider themselves environmentalists. "We want to be left alone," said Bissett, who with her husband has spent $25,000 defending themselves against criminal charges. "We support solar power, but we thought common sense would prevail." Their neighbor Mark Vargas considers himself an environmentalist, too. His 10-kilowatt solar system, which he installed in 2001, is so big he pays only about $60 a year in electrical bills. He drives an electric car. Vargas said he first asked Treanor and Bissett to chop down the eight redwoods, which the couple had planted from 1997 to 1999 along the fence separating their yards. Later, he asked them to trim the trees to about 15 feet. "I offered to pay for the removal of the trees. I said let's try to work something out," Vargas said. "They said no to everything." Vargas filed a complaint with the Santa Clara County district attorney arguing that the trees reduce the amount of electricity he can generate. In 2005, prosecutors agreed. They sent Treanor and Bissett a letter informing them that they were in violation of California's Solar Shade Control Act and that if they didn't "abate the violation" within 30 days, they would face fines of up to $1,000 a day. The law, signed by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 1978, is rarely used. But county prosecutors say Treanor and Bissett are breaking it. In December, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Kurt Kumli found the couple guilty of one count of violating the Solar Shade Control Act. In a partial victory for each side, he ruled that six of the trees can remain and that the two generating the most shade must be removed. He also waived any fines. But the couple appealed. Why? They are worried that their case sets a precedent. Rosenblatt said prosecutors in Sonoma County are watching the case because they have a potential violator. Kurt Newick, who sells solar systems for a San Jose company, says he loves trees as much as anyone, but he falls on the side of solar energy. "I'm a big tree fan. They increase property values and provide shade and cooling. But it's actually better for the environment to put solar on your roof than to plant a tree," said Newick, who is also chairman of the global warming committee of the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8063034?nclick_check=1 15) A furry forest mammal whose numbers may be down to 850 in California deserves protection under the state's Endangered Species Act, an environmental group said in a petition filed Wednesday. The Center for Biological Diversity is asking the state Department of Fish and Game to protect the Pacific fisher, charging that the federal government has turned its back on the chocolate-brown-coated creature that lives under big trees. The elusive Pacific fisher, closely related to otters, martens, wolverines and weasels, is seldom seen by humans. Researchers have been warning for nearly 20 years that it is disappearing and perilously close to extinction as the timber industry continues logging and road building that eliminate forest habitat. If the state decided to protect the animal, it could do so in three months. The state Fish and Game Commission makes the final decision based on recommendations from the department. A listing would have the effect of limiting logging in the fisher's territory, some on private timber lands and national forests in Del Norte, Humboldt, Siskiyou and Trinity counties and in the southern Sierra Nevada. A small population exists in southern Oregon. Before the destruction of old-growth and other giant forests, the fishers made dens and foraged for small mammals and birds beneath vast canopies of branches across the Sierra Nevada and the Pacific Northwest. In California, they occupy half the range that they did 75 years ago, according to U.S. Forest Service researchers. The fisher, once trapped in great numbers for its lush fur, has a long, slender body with short legs, a bushy tail, a triangular head and large, rounded ears. Males weigh about 10 pounds; females weigh about 5 pounds. They have been wiped out in most of Oregon and Washington because of logging, researchers say, leaving fishers in Northern California isolated from mating with fishers in the rest of North America. Females don't bear young every year and, when they do, produce only one to four offspring. The birthrates can be affected by cold, heavy snow and drought as well as diminished habitat, researchers say. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/24/BA1FUKM5Q.DTL 16) First, as the Albany City Attorney Robert Zweben pointed out, the University claims an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that cannot be challenged for 30 days, by which time the first 180 trees will already have been clear cut. Once the first 180 are gone, then the remainder must follow (due to wind exposure). If UC were to comply with CEQA, then they must plant 317 native trees to replace the clear cut Monterey pines. Obviously, UC is preparing this plot of land for development�new trees would only get in the way. Secondly, by his own admission the UC spokesperson confirmed the obvious: UC must cut the first 180 trees down next week to shortcut a pending delay one week or so later in deference to the Cooper's Hawks nesting schedule. No cutting would be allowed during the nesting season, so UC must act fast now. Thirdly, the purported safety of the community, by which UC claims an exempton from CEQA, is a bogus misuse of the CEQA exemption. It ain't safety but timing that UC is concerned with: cut the trees next week before Albany can challenge the CEQA exemption, and get the clear cutting done before the hawks begin nesting. Then, we must smile at our swaggering arborist "experts" giving testimony at the city council meeting. Where have these responsible arborists been over the last 20 years? Not a single pine limb trimmed. Not a single pine tree thinned out to allow the others to grow stronger. And this in a property in plain view across the street from the City Hall. One outspoken so-called expert hadn't even taken the time to strut the 20 or 30 steps required to actually look at the Gill Tract trees; yet, he was certain they must all be cut down immediately, sight unseen. http://albanytoday.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/commentary-uc-is-shortening-the-tree\ -cutting-sched ule-to-stifle-community-concerns/ Nevada: 17) Felonious landscaping, the reckless guillotine of three Ponderosa Pine trees, could land a 58-year-old Reno women in federal prison. Patricia Vincent apparently wanted to improve her Incline Village view, so she hired a tree cutting business to whack the 80-100 year old-growth obstructions. Trees that just so happened to be on a U.S. Forest Service Lot. A lot designated by the Forest Service as an "environmentally sensitive urban lot designed to protect the Lake Tahoe Basin," according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The charge: One count of Willingly Injuring or Committing any Depredation Against Any Property of the United States and one count of Theft of Government Property. The penalty: Up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count. The view: From the inside of a federal prison cell? Not so great. http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/news/2008/jan/23/reno-woman-faces-slaughter-sui\ t-cutting-dow n-trees/ Minnesota: 18) Bill Rom of Ely called for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness when it was not a popular stand to take. The pioneering BWCA outfitter died Jan. 20 at his home in Ely of an apparent stroke. He was 90. "He just felt so passionate for wilderness that he felt compelled to speak up," said Kevin Proescholdt, former executive director of the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, and now of the Izaak Walton League. As a child, "he would hike for miles and miles just to go fishing for the day," Proescholdt said. When Rom was a month old, his father died as the result of a mining accident. As a youth, he gathered blueberries to sell, and he hunted and fished to help put food on the table at the family home. He refined his knowledge and love of the wilderness as a student of author and environmentalist Sigurd Olson at then-Ely Junior College, completing a bachelor's degree in wildlife management at the University of Minnesota in 1940. Rom worked on building the Kekakabec Trail that runs from the Ely area to the Gunflint Trail, spent a summer in a fire tower on Lake Kekakabec and cleaned campsites and maintain portages for several years in the 1930s. By 1941, he was a Navy officer serving in the war effort in the Pacific theater. Upon his return home, he started with around 10 customers and some wood and canvas canoes. When he sold the firm in 1975, he had 500 aluminum canoes for rent and 6,000 customers. A decade earlier, Argosy Magazine had dubbed him the Canoe King of Ely. Proescholdt said Rom sometimes paid a steep price for his dedication. During the debate over flight restrictions, an explosive was set off near his home. Over the years, Rom hosted meetings in his home, used his own plane to patrol for illegal activities and wrote letters pushing for wilderness protection. In 1974, he testified in Washington, D.C., against motorized access to the wilderness. In Ely, he was considered a traitor to an area with a poor economy, his daughter said. "He felt the wilderness was the best economy for Ely, because it was forever," she said. In 1975, protesters blocked the entrance to his business with logging trucks during the important fishing opener and Memorial Day weekend. The picket signs read, "Run the Bum Rom Out of Town," Becky Rom said. He sold his successful business later that year. "He never looked back, and he was never bitter," his daughter said. The day he died, he wrote a letter to the Forest Service suggesting how it could get the bottles and cans out of the lakes that accumulated there before he got the ban in place. http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/14014121.html New York: 19) New York Climate Action Group denounces Rainforest Alliance for profiting financially from the destruction of rainforests. NYCAG is demanding a permanent end to the industrial logging of old-growth forests worldwide. Dressed as creatures from the rainforests of the world, environmentalists from New York City will participate in a festive rally to greet and inform the participants at a Rainforest Alliance cocktail party. Scientific studies have shown that industrial logging in old-growth rainforests is never sustainable and leads to their permanent destruction by ranchers, mining operations, and industrial agricultural interests. Rainforest Alliance receives 30% of its funding by certifying industrial logging through their "Smartwood" program. They are the largest such certifier in the world. "Smartwood" certification follows Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) guidelines, which Rainforest Alliance claims will ensure sustainable forestry. In truth, however, FSC guidelines allow first-time logging of pristine ancient forests. These forests are recognized by climate scientists worldwide as our greatest defense against climate change. The watchdog group, FSC-Watch, is directed by one of the founders of FSC Simon Counsell, who became its greatest critic. They have reported that, in addition to legal unsustainable logging, SmartWood has issued FSC certificates to various companies involved in illegal logging; its parent organization, Rainforest Alliance, also issued 'ethical certificates' to a company which that was actually working with Colombian terrorists. On January 17th the city council of Ocean City (New Jersey) voted unanimously to cancel a $1.1 million purchase of timber from ancient rainforests, despite claims that its FSC certification ensured sustainability. Dr. Glen Barry, of Ecological Internet, responded, "The message is getting through: for our survival rainforest logging must end. Remaining rainforests must be protected and allowed to expand, with compensation to local peoples." But is the message getting through? Explains NYCAG member Emily Sandusky, dressed as a gorilla, "I hope Rainforest Alliance will recognize that FSC certification of old-growth tropical timber is certifying the destruction of the rainforest." http://www.fsc-watch.org Appalachia: 20) The fact of Mountaintop Removal exposes something profound, literally and figuratively, psychologically and emotionally, about both human nature and our economic culture. And it exposes that our words, like pebbles flung at the Death Star, may be inadequate to portray and fight against this crime and what it means. It's as though our language has suffered a prolonged, engineered drought, the meaning purposely drained from our words, so that the few survivors are flopping about like suffocating sardines on the ocean floor. Maybe it's that the ears to which the words are addressed have gone conveniently deaf. But, that doesn't mean we stop demanding that responsible words should lead to action. It might be worthwhile to approach this mountaintop phenomenon as though it were a religious sacrifice. Which it may well be. If you took your mother's ornate, antique clock, the one she inherited from her great grandfather and is shaped like a beautiful mountain, and threw it out the third story window, who would laugh at the punch line, "To see time fly"? A child might be forgiven, once, for a failure to appreciate the difference between the make-believe of a joke and the concreteness of the smashed clock. An adult, never. When adults try to disengage an act from its consequence and from its motive, it's not for humor. It's to lie. When we listen to a joke, we suspend our disbelief so we can allow ourselves to laugh at absurdity. When adults lie to other adults or children, they insist that the absurd be taken seriously, and they threaten to punish you if you don't. A joke asks you to trust the teller explicitly to entertain you. A liar in a powerful place asks you to trust him so that he can betray you, rob you of your most precious possession and ask you to be thankful. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/23/6568/ Alabama: 21) I cringe at the hypocrisy of Montgomery County Planning Board and Chairman Royce Hanson touting the ''new, stronger version of the county Forest Conservation Law." How insulting to those who spoke up for the forests and woodlands on the brink of eradication with the rollout of the Intercounty Connector. The State Highway Administration's Draft Environmental Study states that the ICC will destroy up to 552 acres of forests. Where was the Planning Board's advocacy for forests when letters were being written and public statements being made in an attempt to save those trees that stand in the ICC's path? Now, suddenly, they want to strengthen our forest conservation laws! It's hard to convince me of the integrity of the Planning Board after reading statements in Mr. Hanson's commentary such as, ''The county Planning Board knows our residents care about forests, and we're determined to protect them," and, ''It's important � for us and our grandchildren � that we maintain and enhance our county's forested areas." Have they driven up Redland Road lately? -- Karen Pittleman, Derwood http://www.gazette.net/stories/012308/montlet12721_32385.shtml Florida: 22) No one -- not property owners nor Progress Energy -- enjoys removing trees. But those that jeopardize service are usually not native species that grew before transmission lines were strung. Transmission lines are the interstate highways of our electrical system. They carry power to millions of customers and, like interstates, they are connected to a larger network that serves the entire country. Just as trees would obstruct traffic if allowed to grow in the middle of highways, so they would interfere with electrical service if allowed to grow beneath transmission lines. That's why virtually every utility in the nation has a program to prune, and if necessary, remove trees and other vegetation that grow near transmission lines and structures. Progress Energy's program -- underway in Florida now for years -- combines pruning and removal of trees along our 5,000-mile transmission system to ensure safe, reliable service to more than 1.7 million households and businesses that depend on us around the clock. Many were planted by developers within or near easements long after lines were established and in plain sight. Trees are the leading cause of power outages during storms. Such was the case during the 2004 hurricane season, when Central Floridians endured many powerless days while our crews worked to restore service after downed trees damaged our transmission system and impeded repairs. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/orl-myword22a08jan22,0,45315\ 17.story USA: 23) It's time to ban all recreational use of thrillcraft from the public domain. I personally can not understand how anyone can make deals about thrillcraft abuse. Why is it wrong or bad to operate these machines in one place and not another. Isn't the damage equally as bad? If it's not acceptable on some of our public lands, it's really not acceptable on any public lands. We need to get beyond the idea that we need to "compromise" on abuse. There is no compromise on some things. Right now various National Forests and BLM districts are beginning to put together travel management plans. Most of these plans are focused on corralling the growing abuse of our public lands by thrillcraft�ATVs, dirt bikes, dune buggies, swamp buggies, jet skis, snowmobiles, and other associated toys used by neotenous adults. Many citizens are agonizing over which parts of our public domain should be designated legalized abusement parks, and which lands should be protected from such abuse. The underlying assumption of all these travel management plans is that some level of abuse and vandalism of our public domain by thrillcraft owners is inevitable. I do not accept the premise that abuse of our lands is something that we must tolerate as inevitable. It is our land. It is our children's land, and their children's land. We have a responsibility to pass these lands on to the next generation in better condition than we found them. And we have a collective responsibility to protect our national heritage against the thrillcraft menace. The real problem isn't the machines. It's not even the people. Many otherwise decent people ride thrillcraft, but when they straddle one of these machines they become participants in a dysfunctional culture. It is a culture that sees our public land as nothing more than a giant sandbox. Thrillcraft culture represents a lack of respect for other people's property and the quality of their outdoor experience. What people do on their own property is not my concern, but when they ride their machines on public lands it becomes a societal issue. Our public lands are as close as our society has to shared "sacred" ground. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/orvs_no_right_way_to_do_the_wrong_thing/C38\ /L38/ 24) For decades, our public lands have been a battleground: Timber, wildlife, recreation, wilderness -- which interests and uses should dominate? But now, "collaboration" is all the rage. In collaboration, diverse stakeholders (as they invariably tag themselves) -- environmentalists, developers, off-roaders, timber companies, county officials -- hash out an agreement on how to manage their local public lands and then submit it to Congress for approval. A few deals already have been enacted, and another half a dozen are in the works across the U.S. Collaboration has been touted as the solution to "gridlock" on our national forests. Timber companies and their allies gripe that the normal process -- extensive analysis, citizen involvement and the right to challenge agency decisions -- has ground all "management activity" (read: logging) to a halt. Western counties surrounded by public land argue that they need room to expand. Others believe lands worthy of protection are still threatened. The new paradigm means everyone sits down with their adversaries. But these collaborations are troublesome, particularly for environmentalists, who risk undermining their mission as well as the very laws that are the basis of their power, effectiveness and legitimacy. For example, a bill poised for introduction in Congress would turn into law an agreement reached by one collaborative group on how to manage Montana's 3.3-million-acre Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The stakeholders -- Montana Wilderness Assn., National Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited and timber companies -- had one thing in common: They hated the management plan proposed by the Forest Service. So they came up with their own plan specifying which areas can be logged, which can be opened up to off-roaders and which should be recommended to Congress for wilderness designation. Sounds reasonable enough. So what's wrong? To start, as owners of the public lands, all Americans have a stake in their management, and they have not designated these representatives. Even the most inclusive collaboration can go bad: Outliers who pose a threat to consensus are either not invited or made to feel unwelcome. And ultimately, decisions are being made behind closed doors. But Congress loves a done deal. With a local sponsor, Congress is inclined to rubber-stamp these initiatives, overlooking the fact that they are an end-run around the suite of laws that safeguard public lands and keep land-management decisions an open process. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-rosenberg24jan24,1,145711\ 1.story?ctrack =1&cset=true 25) Wednesday marked 10 years since the Forest Service proposed a moratorium on building new roads on 58.5 million acres of remote wild lands in our national forests. After three years of analysis and well over 1.5 million public comments, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule was finalized, making the moratorium permanent. Within 24 hours of assuming office, President Bush blocked implementation of this rule, and over the past seven years, his administration has tried to reverse and weaken it. Litigation both for and against protection has resulted in judicial decisions that have been appealed and reversed -- with still more litigation pending. In spite of seven years of Bush administration effort, roadless areas remain protected in the national forests of the lower 48 states, but more litigation to remove protection is in progress with the outcome uncertain. The Bush administration lifted protection of roadless areas within Alaska's vast and spectacular Tongass National Forest. After spending millions of dollars on administrative actions and judicial proceedings, it is time to stop fighting and look to the future. Here's why: Commodity values in the vast majority of roadless areas are low. The remaining wild and remote places in the national forests did not remain roadless by accident. Costs to access the timber and minerals in these rugged backcountry areas are always high. Harvesting the resource in most cases is simply not economical without government subsidy. During the past seven years, according to House Appropriations Committee, the operating budget of the Forest Service has been slashed by 34.8 percent. It's time to stop wasting money on endless debate, with no tangible outcome, that shortchanges higher priorities such as wildfire, forest restoration and visitor services. The 192 million acres of national forests "officially" contain nearly 400,000 miles of roads; countless thousands more that are not on the map. With nearly half the Forest Service's shrinking budget going to firefighting, deteriorating roads and bridges have created a maintenance backlog exceeding $10 billion. These roads, particularly in rugged country, are bleeding sediment into streams, thus destroying habitat for many species, including salmon and trout, and reducing water quality for downstream communities. With sprawl and development occurring at a near record clip, we are losing open space at a rate approaching 10,000 acres per day. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/348334_dombeck23.html 26) U.S. incentives for biofuel production are promoting deforestation in southeast Asia and the Amazon by driving up crop prices and displacing energy feedstock production, say researchers. William Laurance, a senior scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, says that massive subsidies to promote American corn production for ethanol have shifted soy production to Brazil where large areas of cerrado grasslands are being torn up for soybean farms. The expansion of soy in the region is contributing to deforestation in the Amazon. "Some forests are directly cleared for soy farms. Farmers also purchase large expanses of cattle pasture for soy production, effectively pushing the ranchers further into the Amazonian frontier or onto lands unsuitable for soy production," said Laurance. "In addition, higher soy costs tend to raise beef prices because soy-based livestock feeds become more expensive, creating an indirect incentive for forest conversion to pasture," added Laurance. "Finally, the powerful Brazilian soy lobby has been a driving force behind initiatives to expand Amazonian highway networks, which greatly increase access to forests for ranchers, farmers, loggers, and land speculators." Satellite imagery from NASA supports Laurance. Data released last summer indicates that much of the recent burning is concentrated around two major Amazon roads: Trans-Amazon highway in the state of Amazonas, and the unpaved portion of the BR-163 Highway in the state of Par�. http://redapes.org/news-updates/us-biofuels-policy-drives-deforestation-in-indon\ esia-the-amazon/ Canada: 27) Regional council may force loggers to buy $50 permits, then bar them from cutting trees in spring months when birds are breeding. "It's just going to drive more of us out of business," said Brian Hahn, who has logged hardwoods for 25 years, out of Cambridge. "From what I've seen in the woods, there's no shortage of any birds that I'm aware of," he said. "I've never seen a better population of birds, ever." But environmentalist Susan Smith says logging has to stop for part of the year, to better protect songbirds such as wood thrushes, hooded warblers and the scarlet tanager. "I don't want to live in a community that's just blue jays and crows," said Smith, of Wilmot Township. Local woodlands are harvested for firewood, furniture, flooring and pallets. This generates revenues for landowners and can improve woodland health when done properly, foresters say. Council proposed tree-cutting permits after Smith and others complained that nesting songbirds are not adequately protected. Smith points to a federal law that protects migratory birds. "Logging a forest that they're living in is clearly going to be a disturbance," Smith said. Currently, loggers can harvest trees above a certain size at any time, as long as they also leave some large trees behind. "We just basically approve the cutting," said Albert Hovingh, a regional planner and licensed forester. http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/300142 Scotland: 28) The shape and look of Scotland's forests will have to change if they are to escape the worst effects of climate change, according to work commissioned by Forestry Commission Scotland. A Forest Research report published last week � 'Impacts of climate change on forests and forestry in Scotland' � highlights the role Scotland's forests have to play in the national effort to tackle climate change and outlines steps the forestry sector may need to take to lessen the impact of warmer, drier summers and milder, wetter, windier winters. Visiting the Commission's Northern Research Station at the Bush Estate, Scottish Environment Minister Michael Russell said: "Climate change is not something that is on its way � it is happening already. "Over the past 40 years there has been a 30 day increase in the growing season, over 20 fewer frost days per year and a 60 per cent increase in winter rainfall. The report states that every element of forestry practice will need to be reviewed. Some of the key proposals include a move to more diverse planting, introducing different varieties of trees and revising operational practices. Forest managers will also need to ensure that staff receive appropriate training and guidance to help them meet the new range of challenges. http://www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk/news/Look-of-Scotlands-forests-must.369421\ 1.jp 29) Hundreds of residents demanded a halt to plans to "desecrate" a Glasgow country park last night when they confronted council officials at a packed public meeting. In a display of public anger, 700 people arrived for the meeting at Pollokshaws Burgh Hall, organised by campaign group Save Pollok Park in opposition to plans to build a treetop adventure course within the park's woodland. More than 100 were left outside in the car park while inside the crammed hall local councillors, officials and developers Go Ape struggled to fend off criticism. As tempers boiled over, BBC broadcaster Chick Young wrestled the microphone from a meeting official only to have the audio cut before he could express his evident disgust. Council officials were repeatedly accused by park-goers of failing to advertise its plan to site an aerial assault course in the North Wood, next to the Burrell Collection, costing �20-25 to take part. The council has been derided over its public consultation in October, where a majority of respondents were in favour of the Go Ape proposal, half of whom were pupils from a local secondary school. But when asked by Nicola Sturgeon if they would pause and reopen public consultation in the light of the "unprecedented" turnout, council chiefs stood firm. Turning to face the audience, Councillor Ruth Simpson, executive member for land and environment, shouted into her microphone: "We have made a full consultation, and you did not respond." Robert Booth, director of land services, was bullish in his defence of the council's right to grant planning permission, with or without the consent of the Maxwell family or the National Trust for Scotland, who oversee the estate under the terms of the gift to the citizens of Glasgow. "They have no right of veto. That is our legal opinion," said Mr Booth. "I am stunned by the attitude of the National Trust." http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1986089.0.Tempers_flare_at_meet\ ing_over_Go_Ape _plan.php Poland: 30) Poland is the last remaining patch of ancient forest that once covered the Central European Plain. The forest is home to the European Bison, lynx and wolves. Tens of thousands of vast oak trees, up to 40 metres high mean that the timber industry is interested. A small area of the forest is a National Park. Plans to expand the National Park brought conservationists into conflict with local people who make their living through forestry jobs and collecting firewood, fruit and fungi in the forest - the conflict was partly as a result of misinformation spread by state forestry companies. Part of the forest was FSC-certified in 2000. This might seem like a good compromise between conservationists and local people. In theory, the forest remains and local people keep their jobs. But this is only the case if SGS Qualifor, the certifiers, apply FSC standards strictly and consistently. Unfortunately they have not done so. http://www.birdlife.org/action/change/europe/forest_task_force/ftf_newsletter_02\ _06.pdf Russia: 31) With the fall of the Berlin Wall and rapid expansion of the Russian oil and gas sector, supported by rising world oil prices has come economic wealth in Russia. This has resulted in growth and development and many new initiatives that touch on agriculture, transportation infrastructure and forestry. It is not often that one will find a press release detailing $100 million in sales for forestry equipment. John Deere, as I posted on Vector1Media today has just signed on the dotted line to deliver a large number of forest harvesting equipment to the Russian Federation. A history of forestry in Russia can be found and by most accounts, only about 30% of harvestable forests were being actively engaged. Under-investment and mismanagement have plagued Russian forests for a long time - how else would you explain the world's largest forested area, but having to import wood? But change is happening. As the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says, At least four major factors are driving change. These include: 1) globalization, which is shifting industrial capacity to countries where costs are lower; 2) the extensive development of fast-growing tree plantations and the rapid emergence of new supplies of industrial wood; 3) the relatively recent and ongoing development of wood-based composite products technology; 4) the emergence of new important players in wood products manufacturing and consumption � especially China, but also other Asian countries, the Russian Federation, eastern Europe and some countries in Latin America. On the last point, in my opinion, having read quite a few press releases and followed events over the last while in Russia; the forested areas are on the edge of a large-scale infrastructure build-out. The border roads between Russia and western Europe are clogged with traffic, especially trucks. The infrastructure cannot handle it all. But forest equipment, such as the above order, represent the beginnings of land clearing and development, whether for forests or communities. However, be aware that forest management laws are in effect and being pursued. Most forestry professionals will tell you that with forest harvesting comes road layout and design, global positioning system (GPS) use, remote sensing to determine and classify land cover and drawings and geographic information systems (GIS). Associated with this development comes a wide array of sensor technologies and measurement technologies for environmental monitoring and cadastre management. http://vector1media.com/vectorone/?p=270 Sierra Leone: 32) Sierra Leone has joined the Ivory Coast, Guinea and Liberia in an effort to control loggers from plundering forests for their valuable natural resources. "They just invaded and started doing what they felt like doing," Forestry Minister Joseph Sam Sesay said of Chinese and other foreign companies, in a BBC interview. Logs were being cut and exported raw without value addition and benefit to the country, he said. A new forestry policy is being developed. Meanwhile, the 75,000- acre Gola Forest-home to 50 species of mammals, including leopards, chimpanzees and forest buffalos-has been declared a new national park. http://www.frostillustrated.com/full.php?sid=2740 Congo: World Bank forestry projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ignored the rights of indigenous pygmies and overestimated the benefits of industrial logging in reducing poverty, the bank itself said in a report that concluded internal guidelines had been breached. Activists say the projects left the forestry sector "in anarchy". The report, compiled by the bank's inspection panel, followed complaints by indigenous pygmy groups that the reforms had disregarded the rights of millions of forest-dependent people and ignored the existence of between 250,000 and 600,000 pygmies whose lives depend on the forests. The reforms, the complainants argued, would also lead to violations of their rights to occupy ancestral lands, and manage and use their forests according to traditional practices. "The panel found that there was a failure during project design to carry out the necessary initial screening to identify risks and trigger safeguard policies so that crucial steps would be taken to address the needs of the pygmy peoples and other local people," Werner Kiene, panel chairman, said. According to the panel, the bank underestimated non-timber values and uses of the forests to forest-dependent communities and 40 million rural people, when it conceived the projects. "Unless strong measures are taken to ensure that the benefits reach local people, the concession system will not make the expected contribution to poverty alleviation of the local people," it noted. The report was discussed by the World Bank's board of executive directors on 10 January. http://allafrica.com/stories/200801230501.html Rwanda: 34) By year's end, the Iowa organizations and Rwandan colleagues will begin work to restore the rain forest in Gishwati, Rwanda's first national conservation park. The short-term goal is to add 500 acres of forest. At one time, Gishwati forest spanned 250,000 acres. By the late 1980s, clearing for farming had cut it to less than 65,000 acres. When refugees returned after the 1994 genocide that killed 800,000 people, more land was cleared. The forest shrunk to 1,500 acres before early reforestation efforts brought it back to 2,500 acres. There is more at stake than possible jobs for Rwandans and the growth of the chimp population in the northwest corner of that country, said Benjamin Beck, Great Ape Trust's conservation director. Deforestation has caused massive mudslides, leading to the deaths of a couple of dozen people and the loss of as many as 300 homes. Two major rivers have silted in, forcing hydroelectric plants to shut down periodically for cleaning. Trees would have helped prevent that erosion, Beck said. "The government and people of Rwanda realize that the loss of ecosystem services has a real price tag," he added. "We aren't talking about some abstract idea of ecosystem conservation here." http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/k0126_BC_IA_Exchange_ApeProje_01_23_0777 India: 35) Farmers in village Birsi of this east Vidarbha district are restive as full grown trees on their farms are being cut ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled visit Feb 9. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is slated to lay the foundation stone of the National Flight Training Institute (NFTI) in Birsi on the outskirts of Gondia, the hometown of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. The Birsi villagers have joined hand with farmers in adjoining villages to protest the tree-felling and land-acquisitions for the pilot training academy. Though the formal foundation stone for the flight training is being laid next month, an old airstrip and a makeshift Air Traffic Control tower are already functional. These facilities at Birsi are at present being used for the on-going training programme of the Rae Bareilly-based Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy, which has been shifted here. 'At least 1,500 trees of mango and mahua were cut from about a dozen farms last week and many more have been ticked for felling in the days ahead,' Shyam Lal Thakre, a villager-turned-activist, told IANS. 'There was no advance notice, not a word on compensation,' he added. 'When the farmers objected to the move, the Airport Authority of India personnel accompanying the contractor told them they were empowered by law even to acquire their property and they were not bound to pay them compensation,' Thakre said. 'A senior lawyer whose land has been marked for acquisition has already moved the court against it and others are in a mood to follow suit,' said Thakre. http://newspostindia.com/report-33363

Today for you 35 new articles about earth's trees! (284th edition) Subscribe / unsubscribe send blank email to: earthtreenews-subscribe@... Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com --British Columbia: 1) Forestry policy has failed, 2) Save Saltspring Island's trees, 3) Ken Wu, 4) BC has highest carbon stores in Canada, 5) Prince George Flood Coalition, --Washinton: 6) More public access to state-owned forests, 7) Logging roads, --Oregon: 8) They knew about the landslide before it happened, 9) Conservation-oriented logging, 10) Silver Falls State Park as a national park? 11) BLM lies, --California: 12) HP's 60 mile corridor, 13) Dams removed plus Land for tribes, 14) Sun is saving paper, 15) Another UC tree massacre, --Idaho: 16) Saving Grizzly habitat? --Montana: 17) Logging Scratchgravel Hills --Minnesota: 18) Boreal forest taken over by more Southern species, --Missouri: 19) Small-scale logging --Arkansas: 20) Sabotage culprit caught --Vermont: 21) Stealing the man's syrup trees --Alabama: 22) Save Marion fish hatchery woods --North Carolina: 23) Slopes cleared for expansive resorts --USA: 24) Common Sense Forestry, 25) $million in road removal = 33 jobs, 26) It's not fire suppression, it's called photosynthesis, 27) Thinning affects bird populations, --UK: 28) Plans for 10 new eco-towns, 29) Only 12% left, --Ireland: 30) Felling part of one of the last woodlands --Mozambique: 31) Fires take 4 million hectares this year --Congo: 32) A month-long journey to help Canada Ape-Alliance --Mexico: 33) Rainforest to Reef --Guyana: 34) More logging fines --India: 35) We were the ones who nurtured forests British Columbia: 1) The Liberal government's forestry ideas have failed. B.C. isn't really very good at what it does with the forest resource. And there is no particular reason for hope, other than the fact that eventually we'll reach a point where things just can't get any worse. Campbell obliquely recognized the various crises engulfing the industry, even as he remained wildly optimistic. "It's not one thing," he said. "It's everything. And it's all at once." The Liberals have tried just about everything to respond to all those challenges since they formed government. They kicked off their first term in 2001 with a task force on the pine beetle epidemic. They did a full rewrite of forest legislation in 2003, freeing companies to do the most absurd things imaginable (like headquartering an Island timber company in Bermuda) in order to survive. In 2004, then forests minister Mike de Jong challenged the sector to become the best in the world."New Era policy changes provide the foundation for B.C. to become the leader in the global forest products sector," he said. "When we became government, the forest sector had suffered more than a decade of decline," de Jong said. "Change was needed. We delivered that change." That was about two dozen mill closures ago. In 2005 the government bulked up a forestry revitalization trust fund to "assist workers and contractors in the transition to a more diversified forest economy." Later that year it announced a blizzard of projects to use the $100 million Ottawa delivered to cope with the pine beetle disaster. Along the way there were reports on the state of the forests, preparing for climate change and log exports, to name a few. The Liberals didn't just order up reports. They also came up with a number of "strategies." There was a coastal recovery strategy, a bioenergy strategy, a log export strategy, a co-ordinated federal-provincial pine beetle strategy and a specific Port Alberni strategy. Eisenhower invaded German-occupied Europe with less planning and strategizing than the Liberals have devoted to forestry. But there's just not much to show for it. http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=0edf916f-\ baf6-445a-b2 49-11648f6a2800 2) Time is running out for a group of Saltspring Island residents dedicated to saving almost 20 acres of pristine rainforest. The islanders hope to raise $1 million by Feb. 29 to buy Creekside Rainforest, to be preserved in perpetuity by The Land Conservancy of B.C. They have collected about $600,000 so far. "There will be a lot of broken hearts if we lose it," appeal co-ordinator Maureen Moore said after a walk through the forest. The residents feel the land should be saved from development for both personal and environmental reasons, but the agreement giving them first option to buy it expires in a little over a month. Moore said the rainforest is a peaceful place that provides a "powerful expression of nature." Her six-year-old granddaughter calls the area "the Green Valley." "We need to preserve this land for our children and grandchildren," she said. The land is the last available parcel of temperate rainforest in a riparian area on Saltspring. A small salmon-bearing creek and several old Douglas fir trees support diverse wildlife, including the vulnerable red-legged frog. "Less than 10 per cent of the island is protected," said Moore. "If this doesn't go through the land would be subdivided and eventually logged." The race to save the rainforest is supported by the Salt Spring Island Conservancy, which has pledged about $25,000 to keep it green. "We want to do this because it's available. In many cases we can't do it, but here we have an opportunity to purchase it and have it kept as a forest forever," said president Bob Weeden. http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=8156b9f1-2ad4-4b46-9f3f-9cc\ 6e23f40f8 3) "We were living in the [Toronto] suburb of Scarborough and we had a wetland behind our home. I kept the frogs and toads as pets," Wu said. There's a pause as Wu thinks about the environmentally incorrect idea of wild amphibian pets. "I didn't know better at that time," he adds. For six-year-old Wu, the shocking eye-opener came when developers bulldozed the wetland. "I kept thinking about the tonnes of mud smothering all the animals," he said. That was the birth of Wu's interest in the environment, which has brought him across the country to Victoria where, since 1999, he has been the Western Canada Wilderness Committee's campaign director. "A great awakening for me was when I discovered the non-fiction section of my elementary school library in Grade 4. It was like walking into a gold mine. From then on, right through high school, I spent every recess and lunch break reading books about wildlife, nature and politics," he said. That's no surprise to anyone who has watched Wu do research all night, organize a protest, sail through a series of media interviews -- and then crash. His friend Ken James, a former sawmill worker who helped found the Youbou TimberLess Society, recalls a trip to Nelson where they spent hours preparing for a shared early morning radio interview. After a night of research, Wu was finally shaken awake about 15 minutes before going on air, but still managed to ace the interview. "He was sitting there after, and he said, 'You know that's why us environmentalists have so much problem fighting those people. They're always up so early,'" James said. "I have known him since he was barely shaving. I met him in 1993, when he came up to the Clayoquot protests. He looked as if he should have been in diapers, and he came up and said, 'What do you want me to do?'" Langer's answer was, "Organize people on campus," but, at that time, she had no clue how successful Wu could be when pursuing a cause. "The next thing I knew was him phoning and saying, 'I've booked a bus and I'm bringing students out to protest.'" That led to Clayoquot's massive student protest, largely because of Wu's networking and organizational skills, Langer said. "I see Ken as a true revolutionary. He's always thinking about what it takes to get people engaged. I see him getting better and better at tapping into the hearts and minds of people," she said. http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=6b935dd4-24db-423\ 8-a108-75be8 ba617ca&k=83948 4) Globally, forest ecosystems contain more than half of all terrestrial carbon and account for about 80 percent of the exchange of carbon between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. British Columbia forests have some of the highest carbon stores in Canada averaging 311 tonnes per hectare with some coastal forests holding 600 to 1,300 tonnes per hectare. Based on the average estimates, the total carbon stored by BC's forests amounts to 88 times Canada's annual greenhouse gas emissions. (989 times BC's GHG annual emissions � the equivalent of the annual electricity use of 8.5billion households, or keeping 14 billion cars off the road for one year.).[ii] This stored carbon is worth an estimated total of $774 billion, or $62 billion per year ($1,072 per hectare.) The Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia (LTABC) has just released a landmark report, Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change through the Conservation of Nature, authored by economic and climate change experts, Sara J. Wilson and Dr. Richard J. Hebda. Sara is a leading Canadian researcher on Ecological Economics, which is an emerging field that values nature's services. Dr. Richard J. Hebda is an adjunct associate professor, Biology, Schools of Earth and Ocean Sciences and Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria and a respected, published author and presenter on climate change. The LTABC commissioned report highlights the wisdom of investing in mother nature's intact ecosystems as a means of both adapting to and mitigating the significant effects of climate change. In British Columbia, virtually all discussions and proposed solutions to the increasing concerns about climate change are about energy, transportation and other technological advances. Very little attention has been paid to our forested lands, grasslands and wetlands � the critical role that existing ecosystems play actively conserving vast stores of carbon-reducing GHG emissions to the atmosphere. The most effective way to benefit from the carbon storage values of natural ecosystems is to prevent or mitigate their conversion to other uses and keep them healthy. This is exactly what BC Land trusts do. http://www.landtrustalliance.bc.ca 5) The Prince George Flood Coalition has joined together a number of concerned parties to ensure that the City of Prince George and the Province of British Columbia protect the lives, property and businesses of those affected by the ice jam and flooding of the Nechako and Fraser Rivers. The coalition comprises the Nechako River Industrial Group, The Nechako River Victims Coalition, the United Steel Workers and the Prince George Truckers Association and draws together businesses, residents, affected workers and contractors in a united effort to hold the municipal and provincial governments accountable for their responsibilities under the flood emergency and to have meaningful input for their plans for the future. By uniting together, the broad coalition hopes to have a louder voice to ensure that an acceptable long term solution is achieved. "We have over 100 residents that have been badly affected" said Jerry deWit, Co-Chair of the Nechako River Victims Coalition. "There was a state of emergency for flooding in 1996. Eleven years later we are again in a state of emergency and our properties are flooded by surface water and the basements are filling with groundwater," he says. Mr. Ed Mazur, Co-Chair of NRVC, is concerned that there has not been enough action on the part of the city and province to take effective measures to prevent flooding of the river. "We need to ensure this never happens again and that adequate flood defences are built for the future," he suggested. "We are into a narrow opening with our winter logging season," says Stan Wheeldon, "and some of our over 300 members are not working as Winton Global and Brink Forest Products have stopped logging and hauling lumber due to the ice jam. Immediate action is required. The city is hoping for warmer weather to break up the ice jam, but that may be too late and we won't be able to get into the forest under warmer spring like conditions". "We need the mills to operate again as soon as possible so our truckers are able to work uninterrupted," he said. He adds that the constant starting and stopping is extremely costly for his members. http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/8131/1/flood+coalition+calls+for+complete+re\ view+of+nechak o+hydrology Washington: 6) State Rep. Brian Blake's legislative proposal to study ways to provide more public access to state-owned forest and aquatic lands will resonate with outdoor enthusiasts in Southwest Washington, no doubt. And it does seem to us that the Aberdeen Democrat is offering a balanced, thoughtful process for determining how best to make these public lands accessible to hunters, hikers and others. Blake's legislation - House Bill 2472 - would create an advisory group to recommend to the Legislature how to improve access to certain state lands, according to a report last week by Daily News political writer Stephanie Mathieu. The advisory panel would include representatives for recreational groups, major landowners and the U.S. Forest Service. The group's work would be focused on lands, such as the some 36,000 acres of Department of Natural Resources forest land located between the two forks of the Toutle River. This public land is surrounded by private land owned by Weyerhaeuser Co. Previous to 2001, Weyerhaeuser pretty much allowed unrestricted access across its land. It still allows vehicular access during hunting seasons. But problems with vandalism, garbage dumping, meth labs and the like prompted the company to limit public access on most of the logging roads in its Mount St. Helens Tree Farm in 2001. Blake says his constituents want secured public access to the DNR forest lands between the two forks of the Toutle. During a public hearing on his bill Tuesday, many of those constituents showed up to testify. They said opening more public land for recreational use is long overdue. http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/01/21/editorial/10065760.txt 7) Thousands of miles of logging roads channel run-off from uplands, silting salmon spawning streams, dramatically reducing their reproductive habitats. The deactivation of logging roads poses a unique and heretofore poorly understood process. What is known is that the run-off of water from rains causes massive environmental havoc in the form of erosion, removing life-sustaining top soils, causing sedimentation and siltation inflows into downstream watersheds. With each successive tree-crop cycle, environments lose topsoils, slowing ecological recovery. In the not-too-distant future, as Washington State forests face 3rd, 4th, and soon 5th growth forests, the impact of thinning soils becomes more severe. Unless the depletion of the nutritional topsoil bank is addressed, the future economic return from Washington State forests is increasingly jeopardized by current practices. Washington State is not alone. The problem of roads causing ecological damage is universally shared throughout the world. For every mile of paved road in Washington State, there are more than 7 miles of unpaved roads. Washington State budgeted $165,000 in 2001 for the decommissioning of roads. In contrast, in 1999, the Forest Service budgeted $25,000,000 for federal lands. Increasingly state and federal governments have targeted roads as the primary vector of siltation and pollution to watersheds and sensitive ecosystems. Estimates for deactivating roads range from $4100 to $15,500 for every mile (Garrity, 1995) in the Northern Rockies to $21,000 to $105,600 per mile in the Olympics and Cascades. (Seaburg, 2001). The cost of building a road in Washington State is estimated at $600-2000 per hundred feet, or approximately $32,000+ per mile. The cost of destroying or building a road, using current methods, is roughly within the same range. As there is little precedent for an acceptable standard of decimation, restoration experts can benefit by adapting to mycofiltration delivery systems. We propose a new approach. The intention herein is to take the first steps in addressing a simple solution to a complex field of problems. When the full costs are taken into consideration, ecologically (i.e. forests & fish ecology), economically (lumber, road construction, access), and aesthetically, mycofiltration is worthy of serious consideration. What we propose is simple yet highly effective. http://rixonology.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/mycofiltration-a-novel-approach-for-t\ he-bio-transf ormation-of-abandoned-logging-roads/ Oregon: 8) State geologists predicted the landslide that crushed homes and severed U.S. 30 west of Clatskanie, but the state shelved the information partly because of concerns it would interfere with land development. The prediction was spelled out in the form of landslide hazard maps that state geologists drew up for all of western Oregon after landslides killed five people in 1996. The maps labeled most of the area involved in last month's U.S. 30 slide as posing "very high" or "extreme" landslide hazard -- the highest possible categories of risk. They showed the danger extending from Oregon State University clear-cuts where the destructive chain of events began, downhill to an old earthen railroad crossing that allowed mud and debris to collect for more than a week, forming a lake. The debris finally broke loose Dec. 11, releasing a muddy torrent into homes that sat in the danger zone. But people living in those homes never knew the maps existed -- even though the state spent nearly $250,000 developing them to help protect life and property. State foresters who reviewed logging more than a mile above the homes knew about the maps but did not refer to them, they said. And other homeowners in a state full of risky terrain -- Portland's West Hills, the Coast Range, parts of southwestern Oregon and more -- don't know whether they face the same risk as those west of Clatskanie. That's because a little-known state board quietly withdrew the maps from official use in 2003 after city and county officials complained that they labeled too much area as hazardous and might restrict development and hurt property values, according to state documents and interviews with people involved. The state law that called for the maps included mandates that made local officials see it all as a regulatory headache. The state never supplied money to refine the maps -- which cover 19 western Oregon counties -- the way cities and counties wanted. The result is that the maps showing areas at highest risk of landslides remain unknown to the people in the most danger. http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/120070952595600\ .xml&coll=7 9) Conservation-oriented logging can be successful both economically and environmentally, as evidenced by harvest operations conducted within reserve areas of federal forests, Heiken said. Since the Northwest Forest Plan was implemented, the amount of timber harvested within reserves has actually been greater than in mixed-use matrix areas of federal forests, said Spies. Heiken attributed that to the less-controversial extraction methods used in reserve areas. By not drawing the ire of conservationists, such operations move forward more easily, he said. "That's a good signal of where we need to go," said Heiken. The committee also shouldn't forget that old growth forests provide tangible benefits, such as clean air and water, he said. So, there's a much broader rationale for preserving such stands than abstract environmental or aesthetic concerns, said Heiken. "The touchy-feely aspect of the discussion about values made me uneasy, because it perpetuates the view that old growth is a social issue," he said. Tom Partin, president of the American Forest Resources Council, said that old growth management currently boils down to land allocation: Existing mature forests are protected, younger stands are set aside to become more mature, and additional acreage is needed to grow replacement "old growth" stands damaged by fire, insects and disease. "I don't think that's healthy," said Partin, noting that managing forests for maturity doesn't guarantee forest health. "It's not a canned solution." http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67&SubSectionID=782&ArticleID=38\ 459&TM=82228.27 10) In 1926, the National Park Service rejected the idea of making Silver Falls State Park a national park. It was the same story in 1935. Almost 75 years have passed and state Rep. Fred Girod, R-Stayton, thinks it's time to raise the issue again. He is introducing a bill for the February session that would get the process started. Silver Falls, at almost 9,000 acres, is the largest state park in Oregon. A 30-minute drive from Salem, it's also one of the most heavily used, with nearly 1 million visits each year � roughly twice the number seen by Crater Lake, Oregon's only national park. The idea was rejected last century because the Silver Creek watershed had been heavily logged. But the forests have made a comeback, and Girod thinks now is a good time to reconsider. He sees several potential benefits to national park status, from wider exposure to bigger budgets. More tourists are always welcome in communities such as Silverton, which bills itself "the gateway to Silver Falls." "I think that idea sells itself," said Girod, whose district spans the eastern portions of Clackamas, Marion and Linn counties. It's unclear whether the state would welcome such a move. Chris Havel, the spokesman for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, said the department hasn't studied the issue. "We would have to sit down and study that from a lot of angles because it's a really complex issue," he said. The department would lose about $800,000 a year in visitor fees and other income generated by the park, but would also lose the financial burden of maintaining it. If Girod's bill is approved by the Legislature, the state would make a formal request to Congress to consider adding Silver Falls to the federal park system. Congress could then direct the National Park Service to study the matter. "The study would look at three things: Is it suitable? Is it feasible? Is it nationally significant?" said Holly Bundock, a National Park Service spokeswoman. "All of those factors have to be yes." But there is a quicker route. Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, the president can create national monuments with the stroke of a pen. http://www.newsregister.com/news/results.cfm?story_no=230427 11) Jim Caswell � nominated by President Bush last summer to head the BLM � gave the keynote speech at a sustainability forestry convention organized by Associated Oregon Loggers Inc., a trade association with more than 1,000 member firms. Caswell spent a few days in Oregon this week as part of a tour of several Western states. The BLM manages 258 million acres of public lands. At the gathering of Oregon loggers, Caswell said that under a new management strategy being crafted by the agency, some of the old rules of the Northwest Forest Plan would no longer apply on the 2.2 million acres of Western Oregon forests the agency manages. Caswell said the new strategy would put an end to three provisions of the Northwest Forest Plan � which has guided logging on public lands in Washington, Oregon and California since 1994. The new plan will end watershed assessments, surveys of plants and animals before an area is logged, and upper management review of decisions made at the regional level, Caswell said. While the loggers welcomed the possibility of an increase in timber production on federal land, the proposal has drawn a raft of criticism from private citizens, environmental groups and other federal agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency has said the BLM plan will harm water quality, and the National Marine Fisheries Service said the plan will harm salmon, according to an Associated Press story. http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=5154\ 4&sid=1&fid=1 California: 12) While the Hewlett and Packard heirs will still own the land, the ranch - which is about the size of the city of San Francisco - will become part of a crucial 60-mile corridor of open meadows and oak woodlands, a safe habitat for deer, tule elk and mountain lions. "We've been working for more than 10 years in Mount Hamilton, and this is the last 10-mile link between two state parks," said Nature Conservancy spokesperson Jordan Peavey. "It's going to provide a buffer zone for all the plants and the animals in that area." Considering how easy it would have been for the Hewlett-Packard heirs to turn the area over to development - subdivisions and golf courses press in on the periphery of the property already - it's a pleasure to hear that the heirs have opted to preserve its rustic beauty for the future. Its preservation is also a gift for Silicon Valley history, since David Packard and Bill Hewlett held parties, retreats and legendary gatherings there. In his autobiography, Packard even credited the ranch for helping him develop a strong relationship with Hewlett. Unfortunately, the ranch has one thing in common with California's unfortunate state parks right now - it won't be open to the public. But its intact natural habitat will be a boon to future wildlife biologists, and the benefits of keeping it protected from development will be shared by all. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/22/EDNHUJ27S.DTL 13) In the proposal to remove the dams are sweeteners for various interest groups to get them to cooperate. They range from guaranteed irrigation water for farmers to money for Native American tribes. Under the new strategy, the agreement supports the tribes' request for $21 million from Congress over the next four years to buy 90,000 acres of private forestland. That amounts to about 2 percent of the $1 billion estimated cost of the Klamath Basin settlement. The only reference in the 241-page settlement proposal to re-establishing the reservation is a brief mention of what it calls the Mazama Project. Restoring the reservation is a hot-button issue in Klamath County, where farms go back generations and tribal lore to time immemorial. This past Thursday, about 50 people stood outside the Klamath County Courthouse holding placards protesting the tribes' land deal and other portions of the agreement. At a three-hour meeting of the county's Natural Resource Advisory Committee that followed, Edward Bartell of the Klamath Off-Project Water Users Association urged the committee to reject the settlement. "The way this has worked out is you stab everyone in the back and the last one standing has a settlement," Bartell said. The land in question is a 25-mile-long wedge of lodgepole and ponderosa pine straddling Highway 97 north of Klamath Falls and covering the northwest corner of the tribes' former reservation. More than 50 years ago under a federal policy called termination, members of the Klamath Tribes got cash payments and their reservation was converted into the Fremont-Winema National Forest. Many of the 3,500 tribal members today contend they were swindled, but others in the basin say the Native Americans got a fair price and aren't entitled to federal money to help them recover their lost land. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004137639_klamath22.html 14) For Sun Microsystems, "eco" stands for both ecology, as in the environment, and economy, as in the financial bottom line. Recently the company realized savings in both areas when it decided to go electronic with its financial filings under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule. Under the SEC's new Notice and Access rule, companies can make proxy materials available via the Internet. In place of the proxy materials, companies can mail a "Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials" to stockholders and then provide Internet access to the materials. By using the electronic financial filings, Sun reduced their hard-copy printing of proxy materials by 92 percent, from about 1 million copies to about 80,000, saving $500,000, according to Bret Schaefer, VP of Finance and Investor Relations for Sun Microsystems. On the environmental side, that translates into saving about 100 million pieces of paper and avoiding the generation of 1300 metric tons of CO2 and 9.5 million gallons of wastewater. The tradeoff? According to Sun, there really isn't one. In 2006, the last year the IT giant mailed hard copies of proxy materials, 90 percent of shares voted. In 2007, using electronic proxy materials, 89 percent of shares voted, a reduction of only one percent. http://www.environmentalleader.com/2007/12/10/new-sec-rule-saved-sun-500000-and-\ 100-million-sh eets-of-paper/ 15) University of California maintenance workers will begin removing 317 Monterey pine trees from the Gill Tract in Albany later this month after determining that the trees pose a hazard to people and property on nearby sidewalks and streets. UC officials said many of the trees are dead or infected with pitch canker, a fungal disease that causes pine trees to die prematurely. The trees can drop large branches or fall down completely, threatening nearby sidewalks, which are used by children and parents of Ocean View Elementary School, or busy streets, such as Buchanan Street and San Pablo Avenue. "You want them to be taken down in a controlled manner," said Phil Cody, manager of campus arboriculture and wildlands for the university, which owns the land. The first phase of removal is scheduled to begin Jan. 28, weather permitting, and will include 184 Monterey pines that are closest to streets and sidewalks. The second phase of removal has not been scheduled because funding has not been identified for it, according to university spokeswoman Sarah Yang. When it takes place, the second phase will include an additional 133 trees. Albany Mayor Robert Lieber said he was not convinced all the trees need to be removed. "I'm disappointed that we're removing so many trees," he said. "I didn't think there was community outreach to educate people about why they'll need to be removed. I'm skeptical that they all need to be removed as the university says. Hopefully, we can preserve some." Lieber said he was disappointed the university didn't plan for a replanting of new trees sooner. "If they knew about this, we could've been in the midst of a replanting effort a long time ago," he said. "We could've been putting in better trees and taking these trees out." http://www.contracostatimes.com/animals/ci_8032944?nclick_check=1 Idaho: 16) After grizzlies nearly disappeared in the 1970s, the Reagan Administration listed them as threatened, setting off three decades of protection under the Endangered Species Act that led to a tripling of the bear population. In 2005, the Bush Administration revoked its protected status, declaring the bear recovered. Great news, right? The symbol of the American West, like the wolf, had climbed back from the brink of extinction. Not so fast. Even while wildlife conservation groups cheered the success of the grizzly's recovery, they warned that the decision would pave the way for commercial exploitation on formerly protected lands. True enough. The Bush Administration now plans to start phosphate mining, commercial logging and energy exploration on 6 million acres that includes part of Idaho's Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which is set amidst a region of renowned American wilderness near the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, six national forests and two national wildlife refuges in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. A majority of Idaho voters oppose that plan, according to a recent poll. Meanwhile, concerned that habitat loss and increased hunting may see the grizzly slide again toward extinction, Idaho has proposed a $10,000 reward for turning in those who poach grizzly bears on protected lands. Some claim such a bill could backfire, hurting people who killed bears in self-defense. (While there is no comprehensive data on grizzly-human conflicts, a recent Associated Press article claims that at least a dozen grizzly bear attacks have been reported since April 2007. Similar controversies, each with their own character, are playing out in relation to other prominent Endangered Species Act decisions about wolves, bald eagles and others. How do we treat vulnerable species that have made a recovery? How much protection do these species deserve? You haven't heard the last from the grizzly bear. http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/grizzly-bears-47011508 Montana: 17) Simulated wildfire models show that flames could rip through public and private lands in the Scratchgravel Hills northwest of Helena in about four hours, according to John Thompson, a fire management officer for the Bureau of Land Management. So his agency has put together a plan to remove thousands of mostly small Douglas fir and ponderosa pine trees from 1,160 acres of public lands in an attempt to lessen the danger posed to firefighters who would try to keep the flames from some of the hundreds of houses abutting the BLM lands. They want to keep the fires from climbing up small "ladder fuels" into the crowns of trees, since ground fires are easier to reach and extinguish than crown fires. Thompson described the Scratchgravel Hills parcel as an island of public land surrounded by homes scattered about its base and climbing up the slopes. "Everybody, at least in the fire community, is in agreement that we need to do something out there," Thompson said on Friday. "The timing depends on funding, but � we'd like to get the project going in late 2008 into 2009. "It's like a bamboo forest in there � so thick you can't walk through it and most of the trees are less than 5 inches in diameter." West Valley Fire Chief Jerry Shepherd attended public meetings held last summer, and he said the vast majority of the Scratchgravel residents are anxious for the BLM to create fire breaks. "Up in the Head Lane area, there are a lot of houses and there's definitely a hazard to those homes," Shepherd said. "People who live there are concerned." This won't be a typical commercial logging project, since most of the trees are too small for saw boards. Instead, the materials mainly will be used for pulp wood products or biomass fuels, Thompson said. Because there's not a lot of product to sell, Thompson estimates it could cost taxpayers about $500,000 to $600,000 for the project � an amount the BLM is seeking through a congressional appropriation. However, some or all of that money could be repaid, since whoever takes on the project will pay for the product at a fixed rate. http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/01/20/top/70lo_080120_scratchgravel.txt Minnesota: 18) For trees, northern Minn. is something of a cross-roads. The state's hardwood forests blend north into pine and birch, and then, in the northeast lakes area into cold climate species like aspen and jack pine. Cold tolerant trees are a signature feature of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park. That is the southern stretch of the boreal forest, which continues north into Canada. However, according to researchers with the Nature Conservancy, the northern forest could look a lot different in the coming decades, as warming temperatures push cold climate trees out. Mark White has developed forest computer models to predict how things will change and recently presented them at a wildlife research seminar in Duluth. "What it tells us at this point, is over the next 100 to 200 years, that a lot of the characteristic boreal forest species, like balsam fur, and black spruce, and white spruce and paper birch, are really going to decline dramatically, regardless of how we manage the forest," said White. Imagine a Boundary Waters lake surrounded in the autumn by lush red maple, and golden oak. That's not a bad forest, but it's different than what we see in one of today's key tourist destinations. And, it will support a whole different set of other plants and forest animals than today. And White says climate change can put the forest at risk. The best defense, he said, is a diverse forest that mixes both different species and the ages of trees. "And we think that's important because species, sort of diversity in species and structure, makes forests more healthy and resilient in the face of these many stresses, like increased droughts and more insect pests and wildfire risks, and all of those things," said White. http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=91754 Missouri: 19) Missouri Woods is not a large scale logging operation so typical of today that practices clear cutting or high grade logging using equipment that tears up the land and deforests it or leaves behind the diseased and dying trees. We practice a form of forest management that is called "restorative forestry," which over time increases both the productivity and health of the forest in a sustainable, generationally oriented manner. This link, What Every Forest Landowner Should Know About MODERN MULE LOGGING, directs you to a PDF version of a tri-fold brochure we recently published, which details the practice and economics of restorative forestry. It might take a few minutes to download if you have a slow Internet connection, but be patient, especially if you are interested is seeing an example of the practical, real world application of biblical agrarianism. We want to recognize and thank Jason Rutledge of the Healing Harvest Forest Foundation for giving us permission to use one of his tri-fold brochures to help us create our own. Jason is the father of the animal powered, restorative forestry movement and the genius behind the creation of a new profession he coins the biological woodsman. Last November Art spent a week with Jason and his son in the woods of Virginia learning all he could of the art of restorative forestry, which has been a real help and boost in getting the logging end of Missouri Woods focused and running. In promoting Missouri Woods we have purposely distinguished it from modern commercial logging and have no desire to compete with it, as we believe the handwriting is clearly on the wall for all such forms of commerce that work outside the scale of God's creation and the boundaries of His law, a form of secular (pagan) agrarianism that is both destructive and unsustainable, as America is painfully learning. http://ruralmissourian.christianagrarian.com/?p=83 Arkansas: 20) Over a year after the New Year's Eve incident in which a contractor with the U.S. Forestry Service suffered an estimated $100,000 loss after his 1999 Tigercat log skidder � a piece of heavy equipment used in the industry to transport cut logs from timberlines to trucks � was destroyed in an apparent case of arson, investigators arrested Jerry Wayne Taylor, 21, on Wednesday. Pope County Sheriff's Deputy Stephen Pack testified in a Friday hearing Taylor, one of several questioned in connection with the suspected arson throughout the last year, confessed during an interview with investigators Wednesday to setting the fire while he and two friends were out "riding around and drinking" on the night of Dec. 31, 2006. Pack, who worked the case in cooperation with Arkansas State Police Special Agent Bill Glover and U.S. Forestry Service investigators, said Taylor indicated he started the fire by slashing an upholstered seat in the cab of the skidder, then lighting the exposed padding. Pack also testified Taylor admitted to using a Ruger rifle to fire 15-20 shots at the machinery's tires prior to setting the blaze. Evidence collected from the scene � off a forestry service road near Broomfield Road, north of Dover � immediately following the incident included spent shell casings and empty beer bottles, Pack added. District Judge Don Bourne, at the conclusion of the hearing, found probable cause to order Taylor held on a $250,000 bond. He also ordered Taylor to stay off land owned by the United States government � including land areas contained within the Ozark National Forest, where the skidder was parked at the time of the incident. If charged in connection with the arrest, Taylor, who told Bourne he works in the logging industry, will appear Feb. 4 in Pope County Circuit Court. http://www.couriernews.com/story.php?ID=17426 Vermont: 21) ROYALTON � The trees around George and Agnes Spaulding's 170-year-old farmhouse here are as good as money in the bank, many being old-growth maples that are valuable not only for the quality of their wood but also for the sweet sap that the couple boils into syrup each spring. Having been born on the farm, Mr. Spaulding, 78, loves the trees the way only someone who grew up with them could. But beyond that, he counts on the syrup sales to supplement the family income, which comes mainly from the twice-a-day milking of three dozen cows. So when a neighboring farmer crossed onto the Spauldings' land and chopped down 30 or so of their best trees, the couple was devastated. "There were a lot of nights spent worrying, and when I'd get up, I'd just see bare stumps," said Mr. Spaulding, who was awarded about $30,000 for the tree loss in a civil lawsuit against his neighbor last month. "The wood was sold for lumber. And he didn't leave much very good." Across the country, trees are disappearing in cases that are often small in scale but largely unsettling, probably prompted by the rise in timber value and the increase in worldwide demand for American hardwood � particularly from builders in Europe and China. The total value of the American log export market has more than doubled since 2000, industry experts said, and it continues to grow. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/us/20timber.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Alabama: 22) The Alabama Department of Conservation has made no decision about cutting down mature pine trees in the Marion fish hatchery woods in Perry County, and a Judson College biology professor hopes the agency will never choose to. The fisheries division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources operates a fish hatchery and woodland adjacent to a state-owned park leased to Perry County for recreation and watching birds, including nesting bald eagles. The area includes the county-leased park, a Nature Conservancy beach and adjacent state land containing ponds, buildings and woods with native and foreign trees and plants that grow in a former cotton field. Judson College biology professor Thomas Wilson about three years ago warned that the state had plans to cut a certain species of pine tree and sell it. "The park is technically 80 acres ... and what we want to do is protect the entire 600 acres," Wilson said in a telephone interview. "They've been out there deciding where to cut the big trees." Conservation Commissioner Barnett Lawley vehemently denied Wilson's charge. "What we were talking about was a study that would tell how best we could manage that [property]," Lawley said. Wilson said the preserve contains mature swamp tupelo, water tupelo, cherry board oak, swamp chestnut oak, bald cypress, yellow poplar and other tree species. It also has mature loblolly pine trees which, because they only live about 80 years, are candidates for harvesting before they die and become unusable, said Alabama Forestry Commission lands division forester Eddie Kirkland. He said the pine trees are a renewable resource because they can be replanted. Conservation officials argue that the mature loblolly pines, which really aren't native to the property and were planted for erosion control on the former cotton farm, can provide income to defray the nearly $1 million annual cost of operating the fisheries and adjacent endangered species aquatic biodiversity farm. http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20080122/NEWS/801220310/1007/dateline&cach\ etime=3&templ ate=dateline North Carolina: 23) The mountain slopes of Western North Carolina are being cleared for expansive resort development. Will these activities weaken the landslide prone slopes of Western North Carolina? According to Tyler Clark, chief geologist with the North Carolina Geological Survey, "There have been landslides in the North Carolina mountains since prehistoric times, but now more people are vulnerable because more people are choosing to live in areas that may be prone to landslides. When you add to that hurricanes or other storms that could start a landslide you have a really dangerous situation." "Our studies of landslides across North Carolina over the last year and a half indicate that a large number of them occurred because of things that people have done to alter the landscape. These activities have included construction of roads, house building, and the cutting of trees. When you try to develop land on a steep slope, you can change a stable condition to an unstable one." http://wncsos.blogspot.com/2008/01/western-north-carolina-mountain-slopes.html USA: 24) Trees are the ultimate sunlight-harvesting machines. The care and nurturing of trees has been a recurring theme in Chelsea Green's publishing program, from The Man Who Planted Trees to Julia Alvarez's A Cafecito Story. Here is a book that foregoes romance in favor of straightforward, practical knowledge. Twenty-five years ago, when Hans Morsbach became interested in cultivating trees and managing small woodlands, he searched for a good how-to manual. He never found one, so he decided to write his own someday. Based on his subsequent experience, combining deep research into the academic literature on forestry with his successes and failures as a small-scale commercial tree farmer, the result is Common Sense Forestry, an indispensable reference for anyone who owns or wants to own wooded property. Morsbach is an unabashed nature lover as well as a businessman, and well understands the essential importance of a long-term approach to sustainable forest management. In this highly readable and entertaining text, the author offers a comprehensive look at managing existing woodlands by creating, and later maintaining, forests that promote biodiversity while providing an income stream. This comprehensive examination of sustainable forestry includes everything from choosing land to beginning a forest through seeding and transplanting, from pruning and thinning to harvesting trees, from debates over herbicides and clearcutting to working with professional foresters, from business strategies to tax planning. While Morsbach's personal experience is in the Midwest, the information in this book is applicable to a wide range of trees and is relevant to all regions of North America. http://www.creativedesignzone.com/ASIN_1931498210.htm 25) America's first National Forests were established more than one hundred years ago, and today we have 155 of them, stretching across 191 million acres. Although almost all of our original old-growth forests are gone, three-fourths of what remain are within National Forest borders. Many people assume our National Forests are off-limits to logging. They aren't. Not only is commercial logging allowed, it's encouraged-with your taxes paying the way. The Forest Service logging program is subsidized by taxpayers and operates at a huge loss. In addition to the loss incurred by timber sales in the National Forests, taxpayers also face the cost of environmental cleanup of the areas damaged by logging. Americans love to hike, camp, fish, hunt and canoe in National Forests. And it's no wonder: with 4,400 campgrounds, 121,000 miles of trails and 96 Wild and Scenic Rivers, our National Forests are truly America's favorite playground. Hunting and fishing generate 2.9 million jobs a year. There are consistently more jobs, more income and more public revenues associated with forest protection. On the state level, forest protection is directly related to economic gain. New businesses are drawn to forested regions seeking the quality of life that a scenic and healthy environment provides. Healthy forests purify drinking water, stabilize hillsides and protect us from floods. Hillsides with clearcuts or logging roads lose their ability to absorb heavy rains. Forest Service studies in the Northwest found that more than 70% of mudslides and landslides in some areas were linked with logging roads. More than 80% of the nation's drinking water supply originates in National Forests. A forest with decommissioned roads and healthy stream banks provides benefits such as high quality water, improved habitat for fish and wildlife, and improved quality of life. In addition, numerous studies have found that restoration programs can help meet the needs or rural communities. For example, one report found that every $1 million spent on removing roads and restoring the land underneath them creates 33 jobs. http://petalac.blog-city.com/forests.htm 26) Fire suppression, throughout its entire history, has not added one ounce of fuel to the environment. Not even a microgram of fuel has been added by fire suppression. The culprit is photosynthesis. All the biomass in the Biosphere got there directly or indirectly via photosynthesis. There is an exception: sulfur bacteria growing near undersea vents, but besides that paltry scum, the rest of Life is photosynthetic in origin or dependency. Reducing, hamstringing, and/or banning fire suppression altogether will not solve our fire crisis. Withholding fire suppression will not stop any fires. It's the biotic fuels that are burning, and they got there via photosynthesis. Another non-solution to our fire crisis would be to attempt to eliminate photosynthesis. This would be an impossible task, for Life is Resilient. If it could be done, it would also have the unintended consequence of killing off all oxygen-dependent life forms, including you and me. Interestingly, there are a few spots where mankind has nearly eliminated photosynthesis. The Los Angeles Basin comes to mind. In LA the roadside and sidewalk vegetation is made of plastic, because real trees won't grow there anymore. The Los Angeles Basin is a net oxygen depleter, an oxygen sink, a photosynthetic black hole. If photosynthetically-produced oxygen didn't diffuse into LA from elsewhere on the planet, everybody there would suffocate and die. Ditto Washington D.C. Far more hot gases are expelled in D.C. than the weeds in the concrete or the moss under the eaves can even begin to fix. Fortunately (in my opinion, I don't know about yours) 99.99+ percent of the Earth's surface is not like LA or D.C. http://westinstenv.org/sosf/2008/01/20/fire-suppression-is-not-to-blame/ 27) When more than half of trees are harvested from a mature forest, the populations of some bird species plummet. An analysis of 42 studies looking at how partial harvesting of forests affects 34 bird species finds that 14 species become less common after a site is logged. Meanwhile, another six species gain abundance after cutting a forest. The amount of trees left after harvesting has a bearing on how drastically bird numbers drop. Overall, when 70% of the trees are left, a few species decline by 25%, but no populations fall by as much as 50%. It's when more than half the trees are logged in an area that severe drops of 75% or more occur for some species. Certain species are far more sensitive than others to tree removal. Two birds particularly require the habitat only found in intact mature forests. Brown creepers use the bark of large trees for feeding and nesting. Ovenbirds need deep leaf litter under a closed tree canopy. In contrast, other species decline by as little as 25% when three-quarters of the trees are harvested. Birds that do benefit from tree harvesting respond enthusiastically, generally increasing by at least 50% in number when 70% of a forest is retained.The meta-analysis only covered studies examining partial retention harvesting that left behind a uniform distribution of live trees. The research came from many different regions and forest types including Douglas-fir forests in British Columbia and Oregon, ponderosa pine in Arizona, beech in West Virginia and New York, and sugar maple in Ontario and Michigan. The analysis found that most kinds of birds respond consistently throughout Canada and United States. Three species though, black-throated green warblers, rose-breasted grosbeaks and yellow-rumped warblers, are more sensitive to tree harvesting in boreal forests than in habitat farther south. http://www.currentresults.com/Wildlife/Birds/some-801211.php UK: 28) When Gordon Brown announced plans for 10 new eco-towns, last year, he won't have expected to receive opposition from Labour party donors and environmentalists. But that's what he's got. Last week the publisher Felix Dennis � a "filthy rich" former donor (as he puts it himself) and originator of the largest individual forestry project in centuries � lodged a fierce protest against one of the proposed new towns, just two miles from his estate in Warwickshire. In many cases, this could be dismissed as nimbyism. Not this time, as I discovered when I visited Dennis. His green credentials are impressive. He showed me his organic cattle, chickens and pigs. And we looked around his home, which features a swimming pool with an island in the middle, banqueting hall, cinema and gym. But the most remarkable fact about Dennis's home is that this is the biggest timber structure built in Britain for 300 years. It's not going to be his largest wooden legacy, however. Dennis plans to plant the biggest continuous forest in Britain on 50,000 acres of his own land. At my request he listed the variety of native trees, including sweet chestnut. "If you've been here for 2,000 years you're native," he joked. Then he recounted with savage relish how neighbours ("in faux-Tudor houses") tend to complain, ineffectually, about having their view cut off as the Forest of Dennis springs up around them. Plainly, nimbies attract no sympathy from Dennis. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3215295.ece 29) Woods are scarce in the UK - only 12% is covered by woodland, compared to the 46% European average. There is no doubt that the paper used in the 80 million letters sent every day across the UK does little to abet this tree shortage. But now the posties are joining the fight against climate change and helping the woodland fight back. Staff at Royal Mail and Parcelfore Worldwide are being invited to sign up to a scheme that offsets their carbon emissions, as well as being given tips on shrinking their carbon footprint. The scheme allows employees to give regular tax-free donations - out of their wages - to the Woodland Trust, a UK charity that plants and cares for trees. In setting up the scheme, Royal Mail asked employees about home energy usage, and car and air travel, allowing them to calculate just how many trees would need to be planted to offset the emissions. It is believed to be the first project of its kind - and the Woodland Trust are encouraging other businesses to follow Royal Mail's lead.A representative for Woodland Trust called the project 'excellent' and thanked Royal Mail for their support. She added that 'Planting trees creates vital habitats for more species than any other, traps pollution, generates oxygen, stabilises soil and forms a stunning part of our landscape.'Head of Sustainability at Royal Mail, Dr. Martin Blake, who thought up the scheme, sees it as more than 'just giving people a way to offset.' 'What we're doing,' said Blake, 'is spreading the word about a sustainable environment.' http://www.fairhome.co.uk/2008/01/21/royal-mail-lead-the-way-in-combatting-clima\ te-change/ Ireland: 30) Coillte has defended its decision to fell part of one of the last woodlands on the shores of Connemara's Lough Corrib. The forestry company has been licensed to remove 440 trees from Annagh wood, location of a children's cemetery and public right of way. The mature woodland is on a peninsula bounded by two bays on the lake's western banks, several miles from Oughterard, Co Galway. Locals expressed concern about the impact on the landscape, following tree felling on Inchagoill island south-west of Cong several years ago. They have questioned why no environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been carried out. The Forest Service stated that Coillte applied for a general felling licence, under the Forestry Act 1946, and it was granted "following consultation with National Parks and Wildlife Service, the county council, the relevant fisheries board and a site inspection by a Forest Service inspector". Coillte also says that every precaution will be taken to ensure that the children's cemetery is not affected by the felling, which will be "115 to 120 meters away at the closest point". The licensed area comprises 3.8 hectares of conifer trees within 11.5 hectares of woodland, the Forest Service says. "The management objective is to convert the woodland from a mixed conifer/broadleaf to mixed broadleaf woodland while retaining some Scots Pine that is the only native conifer tree." The area will be "replanted with a mixture of broadleaf trees", it says, and there is no requirement for an EIA. This is only mandatory for deforestation and conversion where the area is greater than 10 hectares of natural woodland or 70 hectares of conifer forest, the Forest Service says. "Should a particular felling operation require an assessment this can be requested, on a discretionary basis, by the Forest Service," it says, but in practice the consultation allows for approval if the service is "happy that no environmental threat is posed". http://tara-foundation.org/blog/?p=34 Mozambique: 31) Beira � forest fires in Mozambique destroyed 4 million hectares of forest in 2007, according to the minister for coordination of environmental action, Luciano de Castro. Cited in Mozambican newspaper Di�rio de Mo�ambique, published in the city of Beira, the minister said that most of the fires were set deliberately in order to clear land for farming or in order to chase out animals for hunting. The minister noted that these fires had caused huge damage and were a threat to forest resources and wildlife that should be preserved. Castro said that it was necessary to instill in people the idea of protection of natural resources and said he was convinced that the legislation that determined that 20 percent of logging and tourism revenues would revert to local communities was beginning to have some positive effect. http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/news.php?ID=4729 Congo: 32) At home, Nick January offers a vital skill to Hastings County planners who need the most up-to-date digital maps. Overseas, he'll use the same skill to help a Canadian wildlife group preserve populations of some of the world's most unique and endangered species. The 44-year-old Belleville resident is about to embark on a month-long journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo to help the Canadian Ape Alliance track wildlife in one of the most bio-diverse, yet uncharted, areas of the world. His job will be to help locals take information they've gathered from field research and organize it electronically. And for January, it's the perfect opportunity to mix his rare, and relatively new profession as a geographic information systems (GIS) co-ordinator with his passion for primates. "When I left college I wanted to integrate the two," he said. "It was virtually impossible at first. But then I found this organization in 2000." January, a married father of two, grew up in Toronto and originally studied primate conservation at the University of Toronto. The subject led him to do volunteer work with several groups dedicated to preserving African wildlife, including the Jane Goodall Institute. Later, he enrolled in a GIS applications program at Fleming College in Lindsay. The course used what was then new, ground-breaking technology to teach students how to make digital maps, taking information from several different sources and combining them to make one accurate source. He became one of the course's first graduates in 1992. "When I was there, no one had heard of GIS," January said. http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=867106&auth=Stephen+Petrick Mexico: 33) Rainforest2Reef , an NGO that operates in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and is working to protect the forests of the Selva Maya, or Mayan Jungle. In just seven years, Rainforest2Reef has signed agreements to permanently protect more than 300,000 acres of prime jaguar habitat in the Southwestern Buffer Zone of the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve through conservation lease agreements with the ejidos, or local communal management groups. Slash and burn agriculture and real estate development are currently the biggest threats to the Selva Maya. If planned development projects are carried out, experts predict that more than 750,000 acres of the Selva Maya will be lost and roughly 225 million tons of carbon will be released into the atmosphere in the next 30 years. By preventing logging and burning of these forests, Rainforest2Reef has prevented millions of tons of carbon stored in these trees from entering the atmosphere. Rainforest2Reef is currently in the process of quantifying and verifying the carbon stored in the rainforest to sell carbon offsets using the most rigorous standards available to evaluate land-based carbon mitigation projects: with the Environmental Resources Trust and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance. Rainforest2Reef http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/landbased_carbo.php Guyana: 34) Several logging companies are being collectively fined $275 million for breaches in the Guyana Forestry Commission's (GFC) regulations based on the findings of a late 2007 audit that revealed delinquencies regarding requisite forest inventories and operation plans. Fines were imposed on A. Mazaharally and Sons Limited, Barakat Timbers Limited, Barama Company Limited, Caribbean Re-sources Limited, Demerara Timbers Limited, Guyana Sawmills Limited, Kurunduni Logging and Development Company, Nagasar Sawh Limited, Vergenoegen Sawmills, Willems Timber and Trading Company and Wood Associated Industries Limited as well as the Ituni Small Loggers Association, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said yesterday. Briefing the media on the achievements in the forest sector during last year, he noted that the GFC in the past has made it explicitly clear to forest concessionaries that it would be rigidly enforcing its guidelines requiring the submission of Annual Operation Plans and a 100 per cent inventory of the blocks to be harvested in the calendar year. The minister said that in the latter part of 2007, a GFC audit identified that several concessionaires were guilty of harvesting in blocks that were not approved for harvesting by the GFC. Barama had already been fined $96.4M for a number of breaches and a further $50M for other breaches in third-party concessions. According to the minister, the GFC is in discussion with these companies and all of the fines are expected to be paid by mid-year. He said that in keeping with the GFC guidelines, all forest concessions in excess of 8097.166 hectares (20,000 acres) must have in place an approved five-year Forest Management Plan (FMP). In addition, concessionaires must submit by November 30, an Annual Operational Plan (AOP) for the following year of operations. http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=56537349 India: 35) BANGALORE: Jaji Timmiah is livid when asked if tribal people living inside forests are a threat to the ecology. "We were the ones who nurtured forests. We did not cut down trees to build big houses and lay railway lines," said Ms. Timmiah, the first woman from a tribal community to become the vice-president of a zilla panchayat, who was at the seminar on land rights for women. From the marginalised Jenu Kuruba community, she was elected from Neralakuppe in Hunsur taluk. "There was a time when we could gather pots full of honey. Now we have to search for days to track down one honeycomb. Medicinal plants and fruits that were once bountiful are now so scarce," she said. She said tribal people who had been pulled out of forests and rehabilitated were in a pathetic condition now. "During my tenure in zilla panchayat, I visited many settlements of people who were brought out of the Nagarhole forest. All of them are in a pathetic situation," said Ms. Timmiah, who has fought the issue of the land rights of tribal people for over 20 years. Having served her full term, she is now an activist. http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/22/stories/2008012260810400.htm

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