Earth’s Tree News 112

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Today we have for you 40 news items from: British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Indiana, Florida, Maine, USA, Canada, England, Ireland, Romania, Brazil, Pakistan, Indonesia Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia.British Columbia:1) " It was a sad sight, " commented Andy Miller, the Wilderness Committee's spotted owl biologist. " With all these small areas of felled trees dispersed over the hillside I can only hope and pray that the company did not cut down the owl's nest tree, " said Miller. Despite repeated attempts by government endangered species specialists to stop the logging, and protracted court cases by environmentalists, the logging company has doggedly pursued its right to cut because BC has no laws explicitly designed to protect endangered species. The logs that Cattermole Timber felled in a series of mini-clearcuts in the Anderson Valley located north of Hope near the Fraser Canyon, were not removed. They were simply left on the ground. " It appears, " said Miller, " that this covert logging operation was not completed, and that the loggers quickly abandoned the site for unknown reasons. " Miller reported that it looked as if the fallers came in and left by helicopter because each of the four clearcut sites had a heli-pad. There are no roads in this part of the Anderson Valley, which still has some of the old forests that spotted owls need to survive. From across the valley one cannot even tell that tree felling has occurred, possibly eliminating another spotted owl nest. Thanks to the provincial small business logging program, experts have predicted Canada's spotted owl population will be extinct in five years or less. Observers now say there may be no new chicks next year, or any time in the future. This could be the end for Canada's spotted owls. Endangered species have no protection under BC law, and the federal Species at Risk Act only applies to federal land, not provincial forests. The Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) and four other groups, led by Sierra Legal Defense Fund, are pursuing legal action against the province for failing to protect the spotted owl. But it is a faint hope; unless Ottawa invokes the emergency provision of the act, there is no way to compel the province to save the owl's habitat.

http://media.wildernesscommittee.org/news/2006/07/1956.php2) What the Americans are most anxious about is what Coleman refers to as " the wall of wood " coming out of BC's Interior as a result of the mountain pine beetle infestation. That massive stockpile of wood was reduced somewhat with a string of lightning strikes in the worst of the beetle-kill zone of the Central Interior. Nazko, an aboriginal community about 160 kilometres from Quesnel, is perhaps the pine beetle Ground Zero, its forests having gone from green to red to grey. It was chosen by University of Alberta researchers last year as the prime site for a wood-fired electrical generator that would use some of the wood before it rots away. Of course when lightning strikes this dead, dry timber, the flames quickly crown and spread. It's also the home turf of NDP forest critic Bob Simpson, who could be the government's worst nightmare this year despite the struggles of health care. Vindicated on his warnings about the softwood lumber deal, he has also been shown to be correct on BC's lack of progress implementing Gary Filmon's recommendations after the 2003 wildfire season. Simpson says the Nazko area has been logged, but with rules relaxed so that up to 80 per cent of the wood is left as waste. Loggers cut the butt of a dry tree until they get an end clear of cracks, which the new high-speed super-mills can't tolerate. If the resulting log is less than 16 feet, six inches long, it's all left behind. The fuel hazard remains high, and wood that small specialty mills could use is wasted.

http://www.peninsulanewsreview.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=24 & cat=48 & id=688229 & more=3) B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair is calling for a moratorium on raw log exports. " These aren't just logs leaving our province, these are jobs leaving our province, " Sinclair said in response to a report confirming a 1,000% increase in log exports between 1996 and 2005. " Our report shows that 3,300 jobs in the forest sector were lost to log exports in 2005, " Sinclair continued. The report estimates 27 mills closed at a cost of 13,000 jobs between 1997 and 2004. Sinclair said the demand for a moratorium will be province-wide, with forest unions appealing to city councils to take the issue to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, in October. Sinclair shot down the idea that the Mountain Pine Beetle is responsible for the increased exports. " This report makes it clear. In 2005, the majority of logs exported were high value species, douglas fir –55%, hemlock –25%, and cedar –7%. Not beetle-infected pine. "

http://www.pulpandpapercanada.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=57597 & issue=06272006Washington:4) Forests still cover almost a third of the earth's landmass—good news for shade seekers on a hot summer day, especially as 2005 was the warmest year on record in the northern hemisphere. But in the last 200 years, people have cut down some 30 percent of the world's woodlands, according to the World Resources Institute. Can we recoup these vanished forests and save those that remain? As a start, U.S. consumers, who purchase 15 percent of the world's forest products, can jolt retailers into action by demanding lumber from certified well-managed forests. Welcoming visitors to a forest in the Cowlitz and Chehalis watersheds of southern Washington state, Richard Pine of the O'Neill Pine Company says that he manages these 2,000 acres of Douglas fir, Western red cedar and alder in order to meet shareholder expectations while producing sustainable yields. Six years ago, Pine had his third-generation, family-owned timberland operation certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which holds him to strict management practices. These include the preservation of habitat and watersheds through less intensive harvesting, reduction of streamside erosion and avoidance of synthetic pesticides. Pine's cost-benefit analysis includes " placing a substantial value on elements that foresters don't conventionally value, like downed wood and snags, " which shelter wildlife. Although his forests have no old-growth stands, elk, deer and plenty of songbirds inhabit his woods. There's also the new Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities (HFHC) " buy local " label awarded to Pacific Northwest businesses with fair trade policies. " We're trying to hire local people and ensure a reasonable wage with workers' comp both for hirees and for contract workers, " says Pine. Under business as usual, " this forest would have been herbicided and cleared, leaving that 'moonscape effect' denuded of competing vegetation, " Pine says. Instead, his buyers have full assurance under the FSC label that they're getting green, not greenwashed, wood.

http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc.mhtml?i=115 & s=ecoforestryOregon:5) The Medford BLM is proposing to return to the un-sustainable dark ages of old-growth logging. While responsible land managers in many Western States have embraced small-diameter thinning projects that may reduce fire danger while responsibly producing wood fiber, Medford BLM remains mired in the outdated habits of clearcuts and controversy. The Westside timber sale calls for logging ancient forests in the Middle Cow Creek Watershed. Currently the Middle Cow Creek provides habitat for coho and steelhead as well as resident cutthroat and rainbow trout, while Spotted Owls and rare salamanders rely on the remaining ancient forests. The recently released Westside Timber Sale Environmental Assessment calls for massive levels of old-growth logging that has nothing to do with fuels reduction or healthy forests. Westside would log 3,374 acres in the Middle Cow Creek Watershed. 1,515 acres of the logging would occur in old-growth forests that would be logged via "regeneration" (clearcuts that leave only 6-8 trees per acre), all of which are Spotted Owl Suitable Habitat. After "regeneration" the stands would be converted into industrial fiber plantations. Over 10 miles of new logging road would be punched into the Middle Fork Cow Creek watershed to access the proposed logging units. http://www.kswild.org

6) CORVALLIS - A new study has found that the Pacific Northwest, a region famous for its vast forests, should actually have a much greater number and diversity of tree species than it does - many apparently disappeared about 2 million years ago. In an analysis of ecological data obtained from a sophisticated NASA satellite, researchers from the College of Forestry at Oregon State University also found that the overall productivity of forested regions in the United States can be closely correlated to the diversity of species there - insights that may be critically important in determining how forests will respond to climate change. In the study, just published in the journal Remote Sensing of Environment, researchers from OSU, the University of British Columbia and the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey used data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, or MODIS system on NASA's TERRA and AQUA satellites, to determine the gross productivity of forests in about 65 localized " eco-regions " in the U.S. They found that satellite measurements of productivity in most places were an accurate barometer of what was actually observed on the ground, and also that this productivity could be correlated to diversity of species. In one of the more unusual exceptions, however, it appeared that the Pacific Northwest should actually be supporting a much greater number of tree species than it does - the area is dominated by surprisingly few species of conifers and deciduous trees, compared to some parts of Korea and China that have similar climates but many more species. " There's evidence that the Pacific Northwest used to support a much richer genera of trees in the late Pliocene, several million years ago, " Waring said. " But in a colder, drier climate, there was a major die off and localized extinction of many species from which the region still has not recovered. The Pacific Northwest now supports about 60 tree species, but given the current climate we think it should have nearly twice that number. "

http://www.ktvz.com/story.cfm?nav=oregon & storyID=14956California:7) Residents in the Santa Cruz Mountains are angry about a new and supposedly improved logging operation slated for 1,000 acres on the Los Gatos Creek watershed. San Jose Water Company resubmitted its tree-razing plan last month after tinkering with the 400-plus-page document that had thousands of neighbors chopping mad about noisy logging trucks and helicopters disturbing the peace of their forested suburbia. The community group Neighbors Against Irresponsible Logging (NAIL) says those same issues, including potential threats to fire safety and water quality, haven't been resolved by the modified plan that San Jose Water Company claims it " fine-tuned. " In a flier sent to residents, the company says it completed a fire hazard assessment of the land to be logged, plans to reduce the height of debris left on the ground to 12 inches (the state allows for 30), and will implement a voluntary water quality monitoring program. " We are concerned about the health of our lands, and we are taking the necessary steps to protect and preserve them for future generations, " the flier says. But Jodi Frediani, an environmental consultant for NAIL, isn't buying it. She says the plan still targets the largest trees, which create a canopy over the forest and help prevent fires. NAIL member Terry Clark also remains skeptical. " The new plan pays artificial lip service to the problem of fire safety, " she said.

http://www.metroactive.com/metro/07.12.06/fly-0628.html8) With 19th century roadbuilding technology, pickaxes and shovels were the order of the day. But Arcata's mountain bikers didn't just start hacking away. The route has been discussed for months by Forest Management, and was subsequently scouted by committeemembers and Environmental Services officials Mark Andre and Dennis Houghton. Still a theoretical passage, it was up to Darius Damonte to figure out the details. Armed with a chainsaw, Damonte spent over a week blazing the trail, adhering to anti-erosion building techniques while maintaining the jacknife turns mountain bikers were craving. The work attracted the attention of a juvenile mountain lion on at least one occasion. "We were looking for a (trail) line and found a lion," Damonte said. "Yeah, we got out of there pretty quickly. "In sections, the trail follows an old logging skid trail. But it appears the majority of the route hadn't felt human footfalls for a century. "The majority of it is fresh line," Damonte confirmed. Last week, the City workers were joined by California Department of Forestry-administered prison work crews and Eureka's Probation Environmental Preservation Project teens. The bikers rode up on about 200 yards of sculpted, winding trail. That quickly petered out, however, as freshly cut branches and deep tap roots made up the rest of the passage.

http://www.arcataeye.com/index.php?module=Pagesetter & tid=2 & topic=3 & func=viewpub & pid=181 & format=full9) SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday plans to ask the federal government to prohibit roads on 4.4 million acres of national forest land in California, with limited exceptions for thinning trees to reduce fire danger. The goal is to protect areas of the forests that currently are not accessible by roads, Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman said Tuesday. Four states - New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia - have filed petitions like the one California is expected to file Wednesday to protect their forests. An advisory committee set up under the U.S. Department of Agriculture has recommended approving three of those petitions and is considering New Mexico's. That should allay fears that large tracts of national forest land will be opened to industry, Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey said. Governors in Minnesota, New Hampshire, Utah and Wyoming have opted against seeking specific roadless rules for their states, however. States face a Nov. 14 deadline to submit petitions before new roadless-area regulations take effect in 2007. There were no plans to build roads in any of the designated areas in California, which comprise 21 percent of the state's national forest land, said Rey and U.S. Forest Service spokesman Matt Mathes. " I guess what this will do is solidify it in rule-making, " Rey said. He added that future governors " could ask us to go back and reconsider. "

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15016724.htm10) Louis Blumberg of the Nature Conservancy said when a privately held forest is sold or fragmented, there's a loss of habitat, water quality, biodiversity and other values. Along the North Coast and the foothills of the Sierra, between 30,000 and 40,000 acres of privately owned forests and woodlands are being lost every year to rural housing development, according to figures provided by the state Department of Forestry. Blumberg called it an " alarming and disturbing trend. " Harwood, Blumberg and others said the Buckeye project's conclusions are significant because individual timberland owners hold up to 60 percent of all the state's privately held forests. Traditionally they're logged less intensively and provide the bulk of healthy habitats for fish, plants and wildlife. For years, political battles over state logging practices have focused on large industrial companies, operators such as Pacific Lumber Co., Georgia-Pacific Corp. or Louisiana-Pacific Corp. Together, the trio of big timber companies once owned more than a million acres of commercially operated forests in Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt counties. But in fact, most of the state's privately held timberlands, including the majority along the North Coast, are largely in the hands of individuals and families who typically are " land rich but cash poor. " The pressure to sell becomes particularly intense as one generation works to pass the land onto the next. The report notes that estate taxes are levied at market value, not what the land produces in timber or cattle sales. The final round of Buckeye findings concluded that the current state and federal regulatory climate is pressuring generations of individual timberland owners to " compromise their own conservation ethics, " largely because they typically operate on " razor thin margins of profitability. "

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060712/NEWS/607120329/1033/NEWS0111) It seems to defy logic: San Francisco is, by many accounts, the cradle of the modern environmental movement, a place that probably has more environmental organizations and activists than any other city in the nation. So how did San Francisco become the place where private interests first managed to take control of a national park? When Rep. Nancy Pelosi began peddling her plan to privatize the Presidio back in the 1990s her chief weapon was fear: If the Democrats didn't cut a deal to let the private sector control the fate of the new national park, she argued, the Republicans who ran Congress would simply sell off the land. Then there would be no park at all. That was a highly unlikely scenario - there was a Democrat named Bill Clinton in the White House, and it's hard to imagine him going along with the GOP on the sale of 1,491 acres of parkland in San Francisco (part of his loyal California base). Instead, we've wound up with the worst of all worlds - a park controlled by an unelected, unaccountable federal trust that's dominated by real estate and development interests, that has already handed over big chunks of the park to the private sector (George Lucas and others), and that refuses to abide by any local land-use regulations or ordinances. That's the problem at the heart of the dispute over the plan to build 230 luxury condominiums and apartments on the site of the old Public Health Service Hospital Complex just off Lake Street. Neighbors want a smaller project, one more in sync with the (relatively) low density district. More important, Sup. Jake McGoldrick, who represents the area, wants to see the developer add some affordable housing to the mix. But the Presidio Trust has no interest in affordable housing. For the Bush appointees who run the park, the only thing that matters is the bottom line. Luxury units mean more profit for the developer and more cash for the trust. The needs of San Francisco aren't even part of the equation.

http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=1080 & catid=412) A rugged and serene expanse of forested land that rises majestically above the Napa Valley floor is about to be set aside permanently rather than being turned into the next generation of ridgetop mansions. The Land Trust of Napa County is scheduled Tuesday to acquire 3,045 acres of virtually untrammeled land on Howell Mountain. The Wildlake Ranch has been owned since 1971 by a group of deer hunters who were preparing to sell it on the open market. The acquisition is part of a $25 million project involving the last big chunk of undeveloped land in Napa Valley. Land trust officials, who are also negotiating to buy an adjoining 1,000-acre parcel, hope that the ranchland eventually will be part of the nearby Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. " This is really a beautiful place. ... It's kind of mystical, " said Randy Dunn, a Napa Valley winemaker whose creative vision and $5 million contribution sparked the land trust's acquisition of Wildlake Ranch. " There's just not a lot of property like this around. " In the 1980s and 1990s, Dunn explored the ranch on horseback with his wife and children. More recently, he helped convince hunting club members to let the property go at a fair price. The land trust is acquiring the Wildlake Ranch for $18.75 million, and plans to pour an additional $3.25 million into land stewardship, property management and administrative costs. Trust officials are also negotiating the purchase of an adjoining parcel for about $3 million. " It's been like Mr. Toad's wild ride trying to raise the money, " said John Hoffnagle, executive director of the Land Trust of Napa County. " People told us on January 15 that we were crazy to start a $20 million campaign. We'd never done a capital campaign before. We've been pushing hard. "

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/08/BAG26JS3271.DTL13) Try to imagine the almost unimaginable: the race of Mammoth red trees that dominated temperate-zone forest all the way around the Northern Hemisphere long before the arrival of humankind on Earth; their escaping, somehow, countless millennia of Pleistocene Ice; their eventual survival here and there among the pines and firs in about seventy " groves " in what would become California; in the19th and 20th centuries, the assaults by ax and saw, in the greatest orgy of forest destruction the world has ever known. There are about 32,000 acres-thousands of them logged off-of giant Sequoia occurrence. One-third of them are in Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks. Other " ownerships " (state, county, federal, and private) account for nearly six thousand. But the greatest area of all-a good 49 percent of the worlds native Sequoia grove acreage went into the Giant Sequoia National Forest in 2000 by presidential proclamation as part of the Clinton environmental legacy. So there you have it: final protection for the " noblest forest of the world, " 36 Sequoias groves, big and small, logged and virgin, everything left that wasn't already protected. Time to relax and enjoy the scenery, right? Wrong! Instead of going into the care of the National Park Service, which traditionally manages our national park and monuments, the GSNM was left to the mercy of the Forest Service. The presidential proclamation actually authorized an immediate 50 percent increase in logging " to help the local economy. " Various Sequoia National Monument logging options are touted in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the pages of which weigh four and three quarters pounds. Our work is cut out for us; delay can be deadly. California Congressman George Miller has a bill in hand to transfer the national monument to the National Park Service. We hope for 150 sponsors in the House of Representatives. But we have to ask every one of them. Meanwhile, litigation and media exposure may slow the Forest Service's intensified flouting of the law, yet the abuses continue. The required management plan for the national monument is nonexistent, and logging trucks loaded with " hazard trees " keep rolling out of the monument every working day. With every day that the monument remains under the secretary of agriculture, its precious resources are diminished. If it is to be saved, it must take its rightful place among the natural treasures protected within our national park system. http://www.sequoiaforestkeeper.orgIdaho:

14) HANSEN -- A U.S. Forest Service timber thinning project to remove trees near cabins to protect them from fire in the Sawtooth National Forest has been halted after complaints from cabin owners. Forest Service officials are now meeting with cabin owners before doing any cutting. Cabin owners can flag trees they don't want cut, and foresters say they will consider that when deciding what trees need to be removed. The Forest Service started the project after a 2002 fire threatened cabins before the wind shifted. Scott Nannenga of the Forest Service says if the wind hadn't shifted the cabins would have been lost, and it would have been dangerous for firefighters.

http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-jul1006-forest_thinning.44fe5857.htmlMontana:15) Bozeman – A mammal that embarks on the longest remaining overland migration in the continental United States could vanish from the ecosystem that includes Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, according to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and National Park Service. No, it's not the bison, the grizzly bear, or even the wolf, but the pronghorn antelope, which travels more than 400 miles between fawning grounds and wintering areas. Second only to caribou in the Arctic for long distance migration in the Western Hemisphere, this isolated population and its ancient migration route could disappear because of continued development and human disturbance outside the parks according to the study, which appears in the latest issue of the journal Biology Letters. The study says that pronghorn have used the existing migration route in and out of the Yellowstone ecosystem for at least 6,000 years. Animals travel up to 30 miles a day, clambering over 8,500-foot mountain passes, and moving through bottlenecks now barely wider than a football field due to recent residential development. Increased petroleum extraction could further impact the migration route. Six of eight antelope migration corridors in and out of the Yellowstone ecosystem have already been lost. " It's amazing that this marathon migration persists in a nation of almost 300 million people, " said WCS researcher Joel Berger, the study's lead author. " At the same time, the migration is in real trouble, and needs immediate recognition and protection " According to Berger and his co-authors, Steve Cain and Kim Murray Berger, safeguarding the migration route would be relatively easy, since the antelope population has used the same corridor for so long, unlike other overland migrants, such as caribou, which often change routes from year to year.

http://www.wcs.org/international/northamerica/yellowstone/pronghornmigration16) Since the Blackfoot Challenge's inception in 1993, landowners with a vision for the watershed have put differences aside and worked side by side with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife program to address looming threats to the valley. Over that span, their efforts have protected more than 140,000 acres of private land, restored 38 miles of streams, 2,600 acres of wetlands, 2,300 acres of native grasslands, reduced conflicts between people and grizzly bears by 50 percent and increased fish numbers by more than 500 percent. The Blackfoot Challenge has remained true to its local roots, but it is also recognized nationally for its innovative approach to problem solving. In 2005, representatives from the Blackfoot Challenge were one of 30 different groups to give a presentation at a discussion on cooperative conservation before a number of heavy hitters in Washington, D.C. Neudecker, a biologist with the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program, passionately embraces the philosophy of the Blackfoot Challenge and is quick to point out that as an employee of the Fish and Wildlife Service, "working with people is just as important as working with wildlife." Like much of the West, the Blackfoot watershed's wildlife habitat is largely in private ownership. About 75 percent of the species in the 1.5 million-acre watershed depend on these privately held lands for their survival. The federal government owns 53 percent of the land and the state owns another 7 percent. The remainder is owned by a timber company and about 2,500 ranchers and residential owners. There are now 660 stakeholders in this grass-roots effort, including federal and state government employees, environmental groups, ranchers and other local landowners, and industry. All have an interest in preserving the health and beauty of the watershed, and ensuring it can sustain the ranching, fishing, timber and tourism industries that so many Montanans depend upon.

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/07/10/news/top/news01.txtMinnesota:17) The extreme views expressed by Rod Grams at the Cook Chamber of Commerce meeting explain why he is an unemployed politician. The Wellstone/Oberstar response to the 1999 blowdown was to get millions of dollars appropriated for clean-up and planting. But after Bush got elected his administration sent lots of that money to the west for fire fighting. The Clinton administration, the Sierra Club and the U.S. Forest Service negotiated expedited environmental review of clean-up work right after the blowdown. If anyone objected to a specific project, then it would go through the normal science-based analysis of environmental impacts with public input. But if there was no objection then the project proceeded as fast as loggers were available. The Forest Service had a wilderness ranger inspect each project and post the results on the web for full disclosure. No one filed any objections so no priority projects were delayed. Even the timber industry agreed that salvage logging in the BWCA Wilderness was economically and logistically a bad idea, yet Grams is still sawing this tune. Downed trees have an important ecological purpose and the forest is healing without logging. Conservationists supported the use of prescribed fire to reduce the risk of wildfire leaving the wilderness. This work is proceeding as fast as safety and funding allows. Rod bragged that his entering the race led to Oberstar supporting the ill-named "Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act" on salvage logging, but Jim was a co-sponsor before Rod announced his candidacy. I think this bill is bad policy and would not be as effective as the solution worked out in Minnesota. http://www.timberjay.com/current.php?article=2418

18) Most Minnesotans like to recreate outside, particularly in the summer, and particularly "up north" at a cabin. So just what is so appealing about this time-honored tradition? Well, the lakes, of course, followed closely by the woods that surround them. Lakes are nice, but they are not quite the same without trees around and behind them. Those big pines that we are all so fond of are in very real peril, more so that at any time since the turn of the century. At that time (and perhaps now) such thoughts were considered in the same vein as cries for conservation are now. After all, as our vice president explained to us, conserving energy may be a pious virtue, but is certainly no answer to using less energy. Indeed. Perhaps more Hummers are the answer. Just so with our forests, the answer to saving them is to cut them down faster and faster. Federal, state and county lands nationwide are being logged off to provide more L.L. Bean catalogs and cheap lumber for even bigger houses that are becoming more and more costly to heat once they are built. Why are we doing this? Most of us like our trees standing in a forest, not loaded on a truck headed to a sawmill. And, let's remember, these trees belong to us collectively, not the U.S. Forest Service or the timber masters they serve. The fact is, our national forests are truly wonderous places, and provide millions of Americans with recreational opportunities. It is truly sad that there are others who see them as nothing more than a large tree farm. Even though only roughly 15 percent of our timber harvest comes from national forests, and, recreation typically generates twice the revenue that timber does, this reality is mostly overlooked and ignored when it comes to forest planning. When it comes to seats at the table, environmental groups are treated only slightly better by the Forest Service that by Dick Cheney's "secret" energy task force. And that was not pretty. http://www.timberjay.com/current.php?article=2420

Indiana:19) BEDFORD -- Indiana environmental groups are opposing a federal plan that would allow increased logging in the Hoosier National Forest. Protect Our Woods, Heartwood and the Sassafras Audubon Society have filed an appeal of the 15-year plan with the National Forest Service in Washington, arguing that it endangers conservation of the wilderness. " The logging activities proposed by the 2006 forest plan are not conducive to restoring large continuous blocks of forest, " the groups said in a news release. " To the contrary, they are detrimental to that goal, and therefore also to the survival of threatened and endangered species dependent on that habitat such as the Indiana bat. " The plan, released in March, doubles the previous 5-acre limit for clear-cutting for hardwoods. Three public meetings were held on the proposal, and the forest service received comments from 1,500 citizens and environmental groups. " Road building, the noise and dust accompanying logging operations, and the blighted landscapes that result from the logging and burning, are not what visitors looking for quietude and natural beauty expect, " she said. The forest service has 60 days to compile documents responding to issues raised in the appeal, said Hoosier National Forest Planner Judi Perez. During that time, a forester based at the forest service regional office in Milwaukee will negotiate with the groups and the final decision would be up to the head of the agency.

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/9490125/detail.htmlNew Jersey:20) The three scenic waterfalls of Childs Park attract about 30,000 visitors each year, but age and three floods in the last two years have made the rest of the park less than scenic. As a result, the National Park Service is planning about $2 million in upgrades and repairs in the Delaware Water Gap park. Officials hope to begin repairs in 2010, but will first ask for public input at two meetings being held tonight and Wednesday. The 155-acre park lies in Delaware Township and includes a hemlock-forested ravine, a creek and a 1.5-mile unpaved trail with rustic stairs and bridges. It is a prime location for residents to hike, picnic or swim, Leonard said, but since the late 1990s, officials have noticed a need to improve the park. " We've put as much money as we could to maintain the area, but some parts of the park have reached the end of their useful life, " he said. " We need to do something to get it back into good condition. " Several environmental concerns will also be taken into account during the repairs, Leonard said. " The hemlock forest trees have started to decline because of insects and overall use of the site, " he said. " There are quite a few issues to look at. " http://www.njherald.com/302735537748765.php

Florida:21) "I think that almost everyone loves to climb trees and dreams of a treehouse or chance to escape into the treetops. So it seems natural to inspire young kids about science through the notion of climbing trees and discovering what lives up there. We live in a world where children are increasingly exposed to nature through computer screens or electronic games. This is a very scary and dangerous thing, because they are losing touch with their " home " and their perspective on the world around them. I hope that - by building canopy walkways and speaking to children about the excitement of field biology - that I can help both kids and their families to rediscover the excitement of the natural world. I find that kids really relate to the cool aspects of field biology - climbing trees, using hot air balloons for study, discovering new insects, eating insects (sometimes in other cultures!), studying the medicines that come from tropical jungles, learning how to use a blowgun, and all sorts of other elements of my work in tropical rain forests. And kids really care about the environment, and trying to understand it so that we don't spoil it before they grow up." Elmira native Meg Lowman is a scientist, author, educator and internationally recognized rain forest researcher. She has globe-hopped from rain forests in Africa to Australia to Peru, specializing in the study of plant-insect relationships and the ecology of rain-forest canopies (life among the treetops). The Florida resident will return to her hometown to lecture and sign books Sunday at Tanglewood Nature Center and on Monday will kick off the first day of the Meg Lowman Treetops Camp for youth at the nature center.

http://www.stargazettenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060711/LIFE/607110301Maine:22) AUGUSTA - About 200,000 acres near northern Maine's Baxter State Park and along the Machias River chain's frontage will be conserved under agreements announced Tuesday by Gov. John Baldacci and conservation groups. The combination of the land acquisitions and easements are financed with a combination of federal, state and private funds. The largest share of the lands, 195,000 acres, encompasses several parcels abutting or near Baxter State Park's southern and western edges. The purchase of development rights completes the Katahdin Forest Project, keeping the lands open to recreational activities while permitting sustainable logging that keeps paper mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket supplied with timber. The Nature Conservancy is now turning the easement over to the state Conservation Department, along with $500,000 to help pay for the lands' management. The easement, valued at $24 million, is financed with $6.4 million in federal and state grants. The other transaction completes the protection of virtually all of the frontage along the chain of rivers and lakes at the headwaters of the Machias River, an area prized by canoeists. The four parcels encompassing 7,700 acres were purchased by the nonprofit environmental group Conservation Fund last year from International Paper Co. and held until $7 million in public and private funds could be raised. The Machias watershed " offers some of the finest paddling in the eastern United States, and is a critical habitat of the Atlantic salmon, " Baldacci said. The 7,700 acres " will become a key piece of the outdoor recreation economy of Washington County, " said state Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2006/07/11/katahdin_forest_machias_river_areas_to_be_conserved/USA:23) The US Department of Agriculture is accepting public comments between now and July 17, 2006 on a petition that would allow commercial growing and marketing of the first genetically engineered (GE) plum trees. If approved, this would remove all regulatory oversight of this GE variety, a virus-resistant plum tree known as the Honey Sweet Pox Potyvirus Resistant plum. This would open the door to GE varieties of many other related stone fruits, such as peaches, apricots, cherries and almonds, that are susceptible to the same virus. Ironically, this virus is not even found in the US today according to the USDA, and is certainly not a significant agricultural problem here. The USDA admits that this GE plum will contaminate both organic and conventional non-genetically engineered plum orchards if it is approved. Since all commercial plum trees are cultivars that are relatively cross compatible within the same species, Prunus domestica, contamination via GE plum pollen carried by bees and other insects will infiltrate the plum orchards of organic and conventional growers. The proposed buffer zones between GE plums and other plums will not prevent genetic contamination from being spread by pollinating insects. http://www.globaljusticeecology.org

Canada:24) Minaki residents like the view they have, and are fighting to keep it. The Minaki Cottagers Association has filed for a Ministry of Environment environmental assessment of 23 harvest blocks that the 20-year forest management plan has slated to be logged in the next five years. Association leaders told the 100 residents in attendance at a Saturday meeting that harvesting these blocks, which extend to shorelines and property lines, will disrupt the way of life of both residents and tourists alike. "The forest management plan did not have proper or due regard for the social values of our area," said Rick Handlon, a member of the association's steering committee. "If we had not gotten organized, we'd be hearing logging machinery right now," he said. The forest management plan was developed by Weyerhaeuser-Trus Joist, which holds the logging rights in the area, and approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources. The cottagers are threatening legal action if their request is denied, saying that Weyerhaeuser-Trus Joist has been left to regulate itself, abandoning cottage and fishing camp owners. "We have a fox who is looking after the hen house," said Cam Inglis of the association's steering committee. The association's point of concern is with the logging's proximity to their livelihood, longing for days of a "no see, no hear" approach to the industry. They are not looking to stop area logging. "Move the cut back (out of waterway sight lines). It won't eliminate many trees, but it will make a huge difference for the people who use the lake," Gardner said.The Crown Forest Sustainability Act stipulates that Ontario forestry must "have regard to the plant life, animal life, water, soil, air and social and economic values, including recreational values and heritage values, of the management unit." There were Kenora meetings in November that were not advertised to the cottagers who spend most of the year living in other cities. "The consultation process is deeply flawed … not one letter announcing information meetings was put in the Winnipeg Free Press or the Winnipeg Sun, even though most of the cottagers are from Winnipeg," said association member Rita Hildahl. "We're trying to minimally impact people's livelihood," Gardner said.

http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/story.php?id=24090625) Most Yukoners are familiar with the Takhini Burn, a swath of aspen forest that fills the valley floor west of Whitehorse. A major fire swept through the area in 1958, burning away the spruce trees that once dominated the forest there, and aspen has held sway ever since. The Takhini Burn is an unusual forest for this part of the world, looking more like a landscape from northern Alberta than the Yukon. But one forestry researcher thinks that in a warmer world, such aspen parklands might well become a more common sight in the Yukon. For her doctoral degree, Jill Johnstone studied the interactions between fires, forest and climate. Now working on a post-doctoral research fellowship, Johnstone is trying to determine how climate change might affect the boreal forest. " Without climate change, when a forest burns down the expectation is that it eventually will regenerate to what it was before, " says Johnstone, and in this part of the world that is most often spruce. Typically fast-growing species such as aspen and pine are first off the mark after a fire, but eventually give way to slower-growing species like spruce. With time the spruce grow taller than the aspen or pine, which begin to die out in the shade of the taller trees. But if the forest burns more frequently because of climate change, that pattern could change.

http://www.taiga.net/yourYukon/col349.html26) Dear colleagues, I'm writing to make sure you are aware of a comprehensive tool for your conservation toolkit—Sierra Club of Canada's National Forest Strategy database. The database is based on commitments in the National Forest Strategy that the Sierra Club considers key: 1) Ecosystem-based management 2) Rights and Participation of Aboriginal Peoples 3) Tenure Reallocation 4) Harvest Level Determination 5) Carbon Reservoirs 6) Protected Areas 7) Integrated land-use planning. It contains data for all of the indicators, and grades for the majority--the ecosystem-based management theme has both policy and practice grades. It also showcases best practices of industrial and small scale forestry for many of the indicators. The database is the result of research in each province and territory, and extensive research for the best practices section. The most honest plug that I can say for the database is: I use it all the time in my own work, and find it a really useful and accessible storehouse of info. http://www.sierraforestwatch.caEngland:

27) GREENPEACE campaigners have scaled Admiralty Arch to protest against the government's use of what they claim is illegal logged timber. At 6.45am, 14 protesters climbed the central London landmark and unveiled a banner reading " Repeat offender! Blair's trashed another rainforest! " The Mall was shut to traffic for two hours this morning, but the protest on the historic building continues. Greenpeace claimed that plywood hoarding being used for the renovation of the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office was logged illegally in Papua New Guinea, south-east Asia. The Whitehall building is home to the PM's strategy unit. Greenpeace executive director Stephen Tindale, who is one of the protesters on top of Admiralty Arch, said the government's timer procurement policy was " totally ineffectual " . " When it comes to trashing the world's last rainforests Tony Blair is a serial offender, " he said. Logging destroys the homes of thousands of local tribes, who own the land and depend on the rainforest for their survival, as well as species found nowhere else. The Paradise Forest is home to the tree kangaroo, the world's largest butterfly (the Queen Alexandra's birdwing with an 11-inch wingspan) and 3,000 species of orchid. The rainforest - the third largest in the world - will be logged out by 2020, according to a study in the science journal International Forestry Review.

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/display.var.830393.0.greenpeace_climb_admiralty_arch_to_blast_blair.phpIreland:28) In May of this year, Cllr Ciar�n Fallon (GP) successfully tabled an emergency motion at a council meeting stating: "That this council protests the clear tree felling of Ticknock Wood and appeals to Coillte not to carry out further clear felling without consultation with the council." However, when Cllr Fallon probed the matter further he discovered it was the council and not Coillte that did not engage in consultation. "I am disappointed that D�n Laoghaire Rathdown didn't respond to Coillte's submission," he said. "I regard this as an important issue and it is something that we should have been on top of. "What I am complaining about is the complacency in the council towards the amenity value of these hills. I think this whole issue was not on their radar and they didn't think it was important. I think it is very important. I think most people in South Dublin will as well." Cllr Fallon said that because of the "furore" caused over his emergency motion, a group which will assess and monitor the amenity value of the Dublin uplands consisting of officials from Coillte, D�n Laoghaire Rathdown and South Dublin County councils, is to be established. While he welcomed the initiative, Cllr Fallon said he believed that all users of the uplands and not just democratically elected councilors should participate in the group. "I am talking mountain bikers, hill walkers, farmers and anyone who uses the Dublin uplands should be involved in a consultative committee where we can all talk about what we want about this area of land," he added.

http://www.dublinpeople.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=1387 & Itemid=49Romania:29) Four college students have developed a network of wireless sensors to monitor forests in Romania for poaching, flooding, and fires. The application sends out alerts based on data about the humidity, sound, temperature, and carbon monoxide levels. The students, from Politehnica University of Bucharest, built the application with Microsoft products as part of the company's Windows Embedded Student ChallengE. The app won the $8,000 prize. The Romanian team was one of 30 from around the world that made last month's finals. The application focuses on saving the forests of Romania, where illegal logging accounts for about 40% of the trees cut down, says Christian Pop, a 22-year-old third-year computer science student at the university who led the team. That can contribute to flash floods and landslides. The application works under low power requirements, establishing a wireless network and routing protocol that connects the battery-powered sensors to a central server. From there, alerts are sent to PDAs if the application recognizes the sound of a chain saw cutting down a tree, for example. The data also becomes available on a Web site where anyone can monitor Romania's forest conditions. People monitoring the system could conceivably react to the sound of chain saws operating in an area where logging isn't allowed, or alert authorities of a fire if carbon dioxide and temperature levels spike in an area. " We used Microsoft's eBox as the central unit, the brain of the system, and the sensors are the ears and the nose, " Pop says.

http://www.informationweek.com/industries/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=190301069 & articleID=190301069 & sa_type= & section=industries & subSection=News+By+Vertical+Industry

Brazil:30) Brazil can boost agricultural land by nearly 50 percent from 62 million hectares to 92 million in 2022 without resorting to deforestation, a former agriculture minister told reporters on Monday. Ex-minister Roberto Rodrigues said a substantial part of the new land would come from land now used by cattle. Cattle rearing is using less land and new technology now being used by agriculturalists can transform cattle breeding land into arable land quickly, he added. With 220 million hectares of land used to feed cattle, Brazil is the world's largest meat exporter, sending 2 billion tons (around 25 percent of total production) of meat a year to 56 nations. Brazil also leads the world in the production of soya, coffee, sugar, oranges and ethanol, Rodrigues said, adding a massive increase of arable land would allow the nation to become a gigantic supplier of food and biological fuel. Producing more grain to make biodiesel and more sugar cane to make ethanol would allow the nation to free itself from dependence on petrol, Rodrigues added.

http://english.people.com.cn/200607/11/eng20060711_281964.html31) While the Brazilian government has tried to take credit for the drop in deforestation, analysts say the slowing is more likely due to lower commodity prices, giving farmers less incentive to clear forest land. The recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Mato Grosso do Sul, has also probably had an impact on forest clearing for cattle grazing. Nevertheless, the establishment of the newly protected areas is an important step in conserving the vast Amazon rainforest. A 2006 study. conducted by researchers at the Woods Hole Research Center and the Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazonia, found that parks reduced deforestation significantly relative to unprotected areas. Still, Brazil's parks are woefully under staffed with only one forest ranger for every 650 square miles of protected area according to environmental group Vitoria Amazonica. http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0710-brazil.html

Pakistan:32) The standing committee has taken serious notice of massive deforestation caused by New Murree project. The committee will meet here today under its chairman senator Muhammad Ali Brohi and it will review the implementation pace of Rs 2 billion project on supply of safe drinking water. The ministry of environment will present its report on it. The committee has called officials of forest department and directed them to bring up with the strategy how to overcome deforestation being caused by the New Murree project. The meeting will also be briefed about the steps taken by the ministry of environment to curb pollution being caused by the industries in various cities of the country.

http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=99873Indonesia:33) Scientists trying to photograph wild tigers deep in the Indonesian jungle captured a glimpse of another endangered species instead — the Sumatran ground cuckoo.An Indonesian and British surveying team released rare images of the short, brown fowl, which is marked with black and green plumes. The images were captured with a sensor-triggered camera. The bird, apparently startled by the flash, is seen gazing into the lens with spread wings. The July spotting, near Kerinci Seblat National Park in central-west Sumarta, was the third known recording of the bird since 1916, a statement said. The bird's scientific name is Carpococcyx viridis. " We've photographed rhinoceros hornbills and great argus pheasants before but when we found that we'd photographed a Sumatran ground cuckoo, we couldn't believe it, " said field leader Yoan Dinata of Fauna and Flora International Indonesia. The Sumatran rain forests contain some of the world's richest biodiversity but they are also among the world's most threatened forests, due mainly to illegal logginge that supports the pulp and paper industry, and expansion of palm oil plantations. The island is home to a host of species beyond tigers and birds, including orangutans, the Sumatran rhino, the Sumatran elephant, the clouded leopard, and the Malayan tapir. It is also home to the world's largest flower, Rafflesia arnoldii.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/07/11/cuckoo_ani.html?category=animals & guid=2006071110003034) A new WWF monitoring report reveals that Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) continues to threaten forests in Indonesia that are important to both wildlife and people, despite earlier commitments and pledges made by the company to its buyers. According to the report, the company has been responsible for some 80,000ha of natural forest loss every year, equivalent to roughly one-half of the Indonesia province of Riau's annual forest loss since 2002. As of 2005, the company controlled nearly one-fifth, or 520,000ha, of the natural forests left on Riau's mainland. All these forests are under threat, as are any additional forests that APP acquires in its quest to fill its wood supply gap and expand pulp production. "We estimate that around 450,000ha of natural forests have been cleared over the past five years to supply APP's pulp mill in Riau, " said Nazir Foead, WWF-Indonesia's Director of Policy & Corporate Engagement. " APP's failure to commit to the protection of high conservation value forests means that hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests will go the same route."

http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=75640Malaysia:35) Malaysian logging company Interhill has dismantled a road blockade mounted in Sarawak by members of the Penan tribe to prevent the company cutting down their forest. Government officials have told another Penan community that their road blockade will be dismantled on Sunday. Workers from Interhill Logging Sdn. Bhd., a Malaysian timber company based in Miri, dismantled a Penan logging road blockade near Ba Abang in the Middle Baram region of Sarawak on 5 July. Penan sources report that an unknown number of policemen were brought to the area, supported by the Federal Reserve Unit, a specially organized police unit trained to quell riots and disperse 'unlawful assemblies'. The police are searching the area for the Penan who set up the blockade on 16 June. In a separate development, the Penan of Long Benali report that the government official in charge of the area has announced that another road blockade further up the Baram river will be dismantled on Sunday 9 July. This blockade was set up by the Penan in February 2004 to mark their community boundary, and to prevent the bulldozers of the Miri-based logging giant Samling from encroaching further into their territory. According to the Penan, Samling intends to build a road up to the Kelabit community of Long Lellang to exploit one of the last remaining primary rainforest areas of Sarawak. 'Please support us and stay strongly behind us. Ask the police not to use force against us on our land. We, the Penan communities, will keep on the struggle for our forest for ever.

http://www.survivalfrance.org/news.php?id=174336) Forty years on, much of the environmental damage caused to Vietnam by American forces during the Vietnam War has still not been repaired, according to a new study. In particular, the effects of the massive amounts of chemical defoliants sprayed from the air to destroy the jungle hiding places of the Vietcong guerrillas are still being felt, says the study, the first comprehensive account of Vietnam's natural history written in English. Between 1961 and 1971, more than 20 million gallons of herbicides, the most notorious being " Agent Orange " , were sprayed by the US to defoliate forests, clear growth along the borders of military sites and eliminate enemy crops. Some of the herbicides also contained dioxins - compounds potentially harmful to people and wildlife - while one, " Agent Blue " - used mainly for crop destruction - was made up mainly of an organic arsenic compound. Repeated applications of the chemicals " sometimes eradicated all vegetation " , according to the study - Vietnam: A Natural History - and the environment has still not recovered in many places. Weedy plant species such as alang-alang (also known as cogon or American grass) often invaded cleared areas, killing other plants and preventing normal regeneration of the forest. " In many areas, these weeds continue to dominate the landscape decades after the defoliants were sprayed, " says the study. As the spray was often concentrated along strategic waterways, it is believed to have had a long-term impact on wetlands and riverside vegetation. Scientists are finding that dioxins still surface in freshwater animals. The study adds: " In addition to effects on individuals, the defoliants undoubtedly modified species distribution patterns through habitat degradation and loss, particularly in wetland systems. " Direct attempts to eradicate Vietnam's forests were not the only military activities to affect its environment. The estimated 14 million tons of bombs or cluster-bombs dropped on to northern and southern Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia left an estimated 10 to 15 million large bomb craters. Most remarkably of all, in the past 15 years a whole suite of species hitherto unknown to science has been discovered in Vietnam, deep in jungles where scientific access had been made impossible by the war. They include the saola, a large hoofed mammal of an entirely new genus - an antelope-like wild ox which is the world's largest land-dwelling animal discovered since 1937.

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060709/NEWS/607090380/1002/NEWS01New Zealand:37) "Forestry is one of New Zealand's largest export industries, directly employing some 25,000 people. However, the development of the industry is being hindered in many markets by tariffs which escalate as more value is added to the raw material," he says. "Raw logs and sawn timber attract low or zero tariffs. Tariffs on wood panels, designer furniture, kitset homes and paper products are as high as 40 per cent. "Mr Sutton saw the potential to create much more wealth from forest products in New Zealand and the negotiation of better access for radiata into China was one of his big successes.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0607/S00155.htm38) New Zealand's Kyoto liabilities have deteriorated by a further $500 million, official papers show. National's Environment spokesman Nick Smith says the just-released papers show that the estimated rate of deforestation is six times last year's forecast. "The Government last May estimated this deforestation problem at 6.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions. They set a cap at 21 million tonnes but now these papers show a current estimate of 40 million tonnes. "This 33 million tonnes of additional carbon deforestation amounts to an increased liability to the taxpayer at $15/tonne of a further $500 million. "These appalling numbers are being driven by Labour's disastrous forestry policies. For the first time in 30 years, New Zealand's forest areas declined in 2005, and these latest estimates show officials expect this to continue.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0607/S00144.htmAustralia:39) FORESTRY Tasmania has destroyed a wedge-tailed eagle nest while logging. The Forest Practices Authority had been notified of the " inadvertently harvested " tree, said FT general manager operations Kim Creak in a statement last night. The nest was in the Salmon River area of Tasmania's North-West. " Despite stringent processes which include significant investment in aerial and on-the-ground searches, this particular nest has not been safeguarded, " Mr Creak said. He said the nest was " old " and not presently in use. Mr Creak said it was estimated 457 breeding pairs were in Tasmania and 445 nests have been identified. The shy Tasmanian wedge-tailed subspecies often move between nests over the years. Several reports show that eagles may be facing extinction. Wilderness Society Tasmanian forest campaigner Vica Bayley said the destruction made a mockery of FT's threatened species management. " Despite the best intentions, so-called stringent processes and incredibly expensive aerial searches, logging still destroys key nesting habitat, " he said.

http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19710149%255E3462,00.html40) A LEAKED document confirms conservationists' worst fears about Gunns's proposed $1.2billion pulp mill, revealing it will initially rely on native forests for up to 80 per cent of its pulp wood resource. The Wilderness Society yesterday released parts of a leaked draft of the project's integrated impact statement, claiming it showed that the company and the Tasmanian Government had misled the public in promising that the mill would take its wood from plantation trees. An early draft dated February says the company expects the mill, planned for Bell Bay in the state's north, to initially take only 20 per cent of its pulp wood from plantations. Native forest timber would decline from 80 per cent of the mill's resource after 2009, dropping to about 20 per cent after 2017 and remaining at that level. Wilderness Society campaign co-ordinator Geoff Law said the leaked impact statement made a lie of claims the mill would be plantation-based and instead proved it would " lock in " the destruction of 2000sqkm of native forests. " This is probably worse than our worst fears because of the sharp rate of destruction of native forests in the first 10 years, " Mr Law said. It would mean the destruction of native forests including on the slopes of Blue Tier and Ben Lomond and the Dazzler Range, he said. This would most likely lead to local extinctions of wedge-tailed eagles, spotted-tailed quolls and freshwater crayfish.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19750159-30417,00.html