Earth’s Tree News 113

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Earth's Tree News 113

Today we have 36 news items from: British Columbia, Oregon, California,

Colorado, Missouri, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, USA, Canada, North

America, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uruguay, Brazil, India, and Bangladesh.British Columbia:1)

Betty Shiver Krawczyk is the Grande Dame of Canadian forest activism.

Since her 70th birthday, Betty has been arrested ten times for her

peaceful defense of the ancient forests and endangered habitats of

British Columbia against industrial destruction and government

complicity. Betty's latest arrest was on 27 June 2006. Two policemen

forcibly removed the 78 year old great grandmother from her protest pup

tent at Eagleridge Bluffs and carried her away. On 7 July 2006 a judge

charged the unrepentant environmental activist with civil disobedience

and sentenced her to confinement in prison until her next hearing on 15

September 2006 in BC's Supreme Court: Great Grandmother's Protests Pose

a Danger to Society Betty joined the Eagleridge Bluffs Coalition in

2005 to help stop the environmental destruction caused by the doubling

in size of the Sea to Sky Highway to accomodate traffic for the so

called " green " 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver - Whistler. Betty was

first arrested for her forest activism together with some 800 other

civilians during the memorable 1993 Clayoquot Sound protest against

MacMillan Bloedel. In 1996 she was jailed for defending the ancient

Douglas firs of Elaho Valley against International Forest Products and

in 2003 she was jailed for blockading a Weyerhaeuser logging road in

the Walbran old growth forest. To demonstrate the injustice of the

injunction process in Canadian courts, Betty has chosen to be

incarcerated on two previous occasions, serving a total time of 2.5

years. Injunctions (SLAPPS) and charges of civil disobedience are

regularly used in Canada to arrest both environmental activists and

indigenous activists. Betty will bring with her to Europe a message

from her First Nations colleagues (right), with whom she has shared

arrest and imprisonment. Books by Betty Krawczyk: Clayoquot: The Sound

of My Heart (1996); and Lock Me Up or Let Me Go: The Protests, Arrest

and Trial of an Environmental Activist and Grandmother (2002). http://www.cathedralgrove.se/text/09-Related-Stories-1.htm2)

VANCOUVER -- Climate change in B.C. is expected to alter the province's

hydroelectricity supply, affect the productivity of lakes, rivers and

the ocean, change ecosystems and increase the risk of forest fires,

pest outbreaks, flooding and extreme weather, according to a new

government report. The report, titled British Columbia's Coastal

Environment: 2006, focuses on the part of the B.C. extending westward

from the Coast Mountains, and includes the marine area within Canada's

322-kilometre limit. Among its grim conclusions:- Five per cent of

" rare and sensitive ecosystems " on eastern Vancouver Island have

disappeared in the last 10 years, and could be gone for good in the

next 20 years. The study focused on 412,000 hectares from north of

Campbell River to Sooke and the Gulf Islands. At the beginning of the

study in 1992, sensitive ecosystems made up 7.9 per cent of the study

area. By 2002, that number had been reduced to 4.5 per cent. The report

attributes most of this loss to logging and clearing, which accounted

for 1,176 lost hectares of sensitive ecosystems. http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/bcce/exec_summary.pdf3)

Many have walked along the top cliffs that parallel a deep canyon

between the upper and lower falls inside the Englishman River Falls

Provincial Park. What most people do not realize is almost all of the

forest around this tiny park has been logged at least once, mostly

twice. Much of the tree farm that remains has been developed into

residential real estate or is privately owned by forest companies who

continue to log the area. The entire forest along the south shore, from

the confluence of the South Englishman to the park, has been laid to

waste by feller bunchers. Today Island Timberlands plans to log the

remnant old growth trees along some of the steepest slopes, not quite

vertical cliffs but close, adjacent and upstream from the park on the

north shore. From the park boundary up to the BC Hydro power lines

where their last logging spree stopped short because, to paraphrase a

company forester, the banks of the river are too steep to log. What

changed? The forest that grows upstream from the park along the north

shore defies the imagination. The slopes are extremely steep and pitted

with deep gullies. There are many stumps left behind from the first

logging operations some 50 to 60 years ago. The trees that grew back

are so tight together that it is hard to see through the slender

trunks. In the areas where there is obvious seepage the trees are

larger and diverse in species. Plant species, seen as indicators of old

growth forests such as Pinedrops, Candystick, Indian-pipe and Pine Sap,

grow in abundance. The river winds between massive rocks and in level

places has built up enough soil to provide life to ancient Pacific yew

trees that grow under the shadows of old growth Douglas firs whose

trunks tower from the depth of this canyon as they reach for sunlight.

A few kilometers downstream a great deal of effort, backed with

taxpayer's money, is being put into restoring the Englishman River,

helping to repair some of the damage inflicted upon the watershed in

the past years. Everyone seems careful not to point the finger at

logging corporations for damaging the watershed in the first place.

Placing logs in the river to rebuild habitat seems almost pointless if

no protection is afforded to the banks of the river today. http://www.pqbnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=50 & cat=46 & id=689998 & more

4)

Logs left rotting on the ground of tree farm licenses and private lands

on Vancouver Island are being blamed for what NDP forest critic Bob

Simpson calls backwards movement of the forest industry. On a trip

through coastal B.C. to gather information on softwood lumber and

forest safety issues, Simpson told the Pictorial Thursday he predicts

an international wake-up call to the forest industry due to

environmental concerns surrounding practices in the woods. " What we're

seeing is a lot of waste is being left on the ground while pulp mills

get squeezed tighter and tighter to find fibre supplies, " he said.

" Catalyst (Paper, Crofton division) is now beginning to feel this.

" It's stemming from super-relaxed utilization standards and government

policy that isn't looking at the big picture. " Simpson is blaming

" two-bit stumpage " that makes it economically viable for companies to

leave lesser grade wood behind instead of finding a use or buyer for

what it cuts. " When stumpage rates were higher, you'd see companies

take as much of any tree and try to find a use for it, " he said. " I

think there needs to be a different system where you'd pay more

stumpage to leave the trees on the ground. " But don't just look at this

from a fibre supply problem perspective. Our forests are fuel-loaded

because of the waste left behind and we're setting ourselves up for a

major fire. " The NDP MLA for Cariboo North believes environmentalists

will wake up to the " strip mining " of the forests and international

outcry could affect B.C. business. http://www.cowichannewsleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=9 & cat=23 & id=690673 & more=

5)

" And so, after years of conflict, just as the University had come to

the edge of taking a momentous step forward, the administration had

pulled back, retrenched and politely engineered its own failure.

Knowledge had succumbed to power, " they write. " Excited at the

potential of a reformed campus and, taking the University at its word,

the protesters had let down their guard, and implementation had been

turned over to the very operational department that was to be reformed.

Unfortunately, UVic president David Turpin is unavailable for comment.

His assistant says he is away for all of July and unreachable; call

UVic's public relations office, she adds. But apparently, summer is not

the best time for interviews. It turns out all the best people to talk

with are away, says spokesperson Patty Pitts (herself just back from a

month in Europe). Asked about the book and UVic's record on

sustainability, she says there have been recent shifts in the

facilities management, the department which develops, operates and

maintains campus facilities, to embrace greener ways of doing things.

Changes were made to the campus plan while it was being developed, she

says, that made many of the critics happy. There's now a moratorium on

clearing woods in the campus core, for example, and there are efforts

to protect and restore Garry oak meadows. What's more, she says,

there's now transparency around the decisions to make any major changes

to the campus, such as adding new buildings. Pitts sends over a

computer file of Sustainability Report 2006, the slick 10-page report

to be printed on 30-percent post-consumer recycled fibre that details

what the school is doing. " The concept of sustainability is not new to

the University of Victoria, " says the introduction. " While terms may

evolve, our commitment to responsible resource use, protection of

natural areas and a pedestrian oriented campus has been in place since

the 1960s. " http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=117 & cat=43 & id=688308 & more=

6)

What an oxymoron — Councillor Jack Wilson intends to cut down healthy

trees in the Heritage Forest (the Brown Property) in order to buy a

plaque to acknowledge the individuals that donated so generously to

preserve that special and rare part of nature here in the heart of

Qualicum Beach. Coun. Wilson stated at Monday's council meeting, that

"sale of this fire wood would be used to buy a donor plaque," only

moments after making and passing a motion to place a protective

conservation covenant on the Heritage Forest of Qualicum Beach (the

Brown Property). I was shocked and in total disbelief that Coun. Jack

Wilson, as the chair of the Heritage Forest Commission along with its

members, decided to cut down with chain saws many of the majestic

alders growing in the Brown Property. As a founding member of and

generous donor to the Brown Property Preservation Society I was further

appalled that no member of Qualicum Beach Town Council opposed this

logging massacre of healthy trees in the Brown Property. I am outraged.

How do you feel? Scott Tanner, Qualicum Beach http://www.pqbnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=50 & cat=45 & id=689989 & more=

7)

Mt. Elphinstone's LIFE camp kicked off a summer of forest protection

this week with a full-moon fire circle, work party, tree-climbing

training and a potluck feast. Wild Earthlings helped set up the camp

for Living Intact Forests of Elphinstone in advance of new clearcuts

planned for later this summer. Residents of nearby Roberts Creek, BC

and other Sunshine Coast communities have vowed to blockade the roads

and protect the watershed. We had an amazing inaugural fire circle last

Tuesday night on the full moon on Mount Elphinstone - the sacred

community fire has been reignited! All day long people learned and

practiced how to climb trees. We had a mini forest walk, and then an

abundant potluck feast around the fire circle. People arrived to join

us all evening long as we made beautiful music on our drums, guitar,

and harmonica. It was such a success that we have declared every

Tuesday night fire circle night! Come up in the late afternoon for a

walk around the forest. Bring a dish for the potluck dinner and a drum

or other instrument for the jam - or any conversation topics you want

to bring up. Coming soon... shadow puppet magic! Special for this

week... We have a tree climbing expert with us, so if you want to learn

how to climb or want to practice your skills -- here's your chance.

This week only. Also, there are a few items we need to keep the fire

circle activated. Do you have any extra of these to donate? Contact

LIFE camp: cpec-sunshinecoast8) Some time

ago, while surfing the Internet, I came across an article in the Earth

First! Journal which claimed: "Today is the most critical moment in the

three and a half billion year history of life on Earth. Never

before—not even since the end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years

ago—has there been such an intense period of extinction as we are now

witnessing, such a drastic reduction in the biological diversity of

this planet." The Earth First! article, which started my lament, goes

on to say that the only way the extinction crisis can be abated is to

develop a biocentric paradigm. Biocentrism is the belief that all life

is equal and no single species—including the human—is privileged. We

are all equal in nature's eye. The opposite of biocentrism is

anthropocentrism, which views humankind as the centre of existence.

Rightly or wrongly, most laws, the Imperial system and the general

conduct of society are anthropocentric. I know of two motion pictures

that attempt to present a scientific reason for saving endangered

species: Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home and Medicine Man. In Voyage Home,

a probe from deep space threatens to destroy Earth unless it can

communicate with the long-extinct humpback whale. So Kirk and the gang

travel back in time, beam up some whales and return to the 23rd century

to save the planet. In Medicine Man, Sean Connery plays the reclusive

Dr. Robert Campbell who lives deep in the Amazon rain forest. He

discovers and then loses a cure for cancer. By the end of the film, we

learn than the cure is a chemical compound that is produced as a result

of ants feeding on a flower than grows only in the canopy of the rain

forest. The chemical is produced by the ants metabolizing consumed

flower bits, which are later excreted as the cure for cancer. I also

recall hearing, from another source, that saving a species from

extinction is saying something about us. I agree, but who are we saying

this to, a probe from outer space perhaps, or are we saying this to

ourselves? http://www.abcfp.ca/publications_forms/magazine.aspUS PNW:9)

The 1937 federal law that mandated sustainable timber production from

the 2 million acres of former railroad grant lands specifically says

BLM is to manage those timberlands to benefit economies of rural

communities. The project takes a larger look at impact of the 1994

Clinton Forest Plan that severely reduced logging on BLM timberland and

18 national forests in California, Oregon and Washington. Donoghue and

her colleagues built a computer database that includes 1990 and 2000

U.S. Census data on 1,314 communities. The project is online at

www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/23208. What is clear, she said, is that

rural, resource-based communities are significant parts of all three

Western states. In BLM's Salem District, for example, where one large

metropolitan area gives the district its name, there are 237

identifiable rural communities. That massive number for the BLM Salem

District compares with just 15 identifiable rural communities in the

BLM Lakeview District in sparsely populated Southern Oregon. Donoghue

goes down to U.S. Census tracts, the smallest subunits in the massive

census database, to search for traits that identify communities. Among

the obvious community sustainability numbers are those that come

directly from the official census report on population. In several

communities studied for the BLM, population dropped in the decade that

included the reduction in federal timber harvest. But Donoghue said

there are some things to wonder about in reading those numbers. For

example, in the BLM Roseburg District, which once produced the largest

cut of BLM timber, rural communities had the highest increase in a

community well-being index while having the lowest rate of population

growth. For the decade, population in the three states increased 20

percent, while the rural community growth was 16.3 percent, and 111 of

those communities lost population. http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67 & SubSectionID=782 & ArticleID=26151 & TM=33818.4

6Oregon:10)

Coos Bay - This was the last officially scheduled meeting concerning

the proposed liquefied natural gas holding facility on the North Spit

of Coos Bay, as well as the LNG tankers such a facility would draw, and

a proposed 223-mile-long, 36-inch gas pipeline, before project

applications are submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

this fall. The pipeline would run from the holding facility to the

California border. FERC, which is responsible for authorizing the site

and construction of onshore LNG facilities, organized the meeting to

elicit input from local residents on specific environmental and safety

issues. On stage were Paul Friedman, FERC project manager; Ross

Reineke, engineer for the Office of Pipeline Safety for the Department

of Transportation; and Capt. Patrick Gerrity, of the U.S. Coast Guard,

Sector Portland. Friedman told audience members that "comments will be

limited to three minutes each, and I'm really going to hold people to

that," because, he said, about 90 people had signed up to speak.

Tuesday night offered a clue as to what was to come, which wasn't 90

well-researched suggestions on how to make the EIS better. Instead,

what came was an outpouring of disapproval: disapproval of the fact

that these projects were proposed for the area; disapproval of the

effects these projects would have on the county; disapproval of the

effects these projects would have on residents; and disapproval of the

fact that FERC, not local government agencies, has the say so about if

proposed projects were built. For hours, the men on stage sat in metal

chairs and listened to disapproving comments, some politely worded,

others shouted, others delivered almost tearfully. At about 11 p.m.,

the meeting came down to one final speaker: Roberta Stewart of Bandon.

The Hales Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Southwestern

Oregon Community College in Coos Bay was filled to capacity. Stewart, a

soft-spoken older woman, approached the microphone, greeted the men,

and said, "When I talked to the man from FERC at the LNG open house at

The Mill a few weeks ago, he said he wasn't interested in my opinions,"

said Stewart. "So I guess I'll talk about some of my opinions now,

then, since I'm not sure I'll never have another chance."http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2006/07/12/news/news01071206.txt

11)

Chris Heffernan spent a rainy afternoon earlier this summer talking

about the environmental value of protecting the Pilcher Creek riparian

area that he and his wife added to their ranch two years ago. The

Heffernans are trying to establish a conservation easement along the

creek. Over the past few years the North Powder rancher has won

numerous awards for timberland and wildlife management. He and his

wife, Donna, have opened their North Slope Ranch to educational tours

showcasing their accomplishments. Two years ago the Heffernans

purchased a neighboring 138-acre parcel of land that includes over a

mile of mature riparian habitat along Pilcher Creek, a tributary of the

Powder River. They borrowed the $250,000 purchase price from a private

lender and went in search of help to pay off the loan and protect the

riparian area. "We took a leap of faith, Heffernan said. With prices

for recreational property skyrocketing in North Powder, that permit

added about $200,000 in value. The Heffernans estimate they could now

sell the property for $500,000. But they don't want to. They want to

establish a conservation easement in the riparian area, void the

dwelling permit, and continue their current sustainable timber harvest

and grazing activities. The U.S. Forest Service, the ODFW, the Oregon

Department of Forestry, OSU Extension, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, the National Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited, the Powder

Valley Watershed and the Nature Conservancy all support the Heffernans'

efforts to protect Pilcher Creek. No one, however, has yet come up with

the one thing the Heffernans need most - money. The lender recently

extended the repayment deadline for another six months. With help from

the ODFW the Heffernans first tried the Landowner Incentive Program,

but most of that money ended up on the west side of the state. Next

they approached the Nature Conservancy, which ultimately decided the

acreage was too small for its program. After that came Ducks Unlimited

and the National Turkey Federation. When both those fell through, the

Heffernans turned to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which applied

for a $250,000 grant from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board to

purchase a conservation easement in the riparian area. "It's been two

years of trying to hit a convoluted moving target," Heffernan said. http://www.mapleridgenews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=46 & cat=23 & id=690573 & more=

12)

Downed logs along Devils' Knob Road will be transported to habitat

restoration areas along Joe Hall Creek. Devils Knob Road begins at the

junction of County Road 1 and Forest Service Road 1610, 4.2 miles south

of Tiller. Travelers may encounter log decks adjacent to the roadway

and moderate log truck traffic along Devils' Knob Road. The Joe Hall

Aquatic Restoration Project aims to improve and restore salmon and

trout habitat by using log placement as a strategy. The restoration

project is a collaboration between the Forest Service, Partnership for

the Umpqua Rivers, and private landowners. The project is funded by

Pacific Power, in cooperation with the Nature Conservancy, Oregon

Watershed Enhancement Board, Payments to Counties, Natural Resource

Conservation Service and local land owners. Information: 825-3133. http://www.oregonnews.com/article/20060713/NEWS/10713008913)

GATES -- Diana Walker and ZoAnne Farmen have been riding their horses

in these Cascade foothills for years, saddling up at home and riding

off into a maze of game trails and century-old logging roads with no

company but the bobcats and coyotes. That changed in June when the

Oregon Department of Forestry opened Santiam Horse Camp and a network

of trails that soon will be discovered by mountain bikers, hikers and

other horseback riders. " Nobody knows about it yet but the club

members, " said Jon Mayer. The club Mayer is referring to is the Silver

Falls Chapter of Oregon Equestrian Trails. The busy-as-beavers bunch

used its local knowledge to recommend the site for the campground and

to lay out the trail system, then rolled up its sleeves to do much of

the grunt work on the 15 miles of trails that are in place. An

additional six miles will be completed by the end of the summer. The

campground is set in a thinned stand of Douglas fir and western hemlock

with a verdant understory of salmonberry, foxglove, Oregon grape, wild

hazelnut, daisies, sword fern, bracken fern, vine maple and bigleaf

maple, all competing for sunlight with the 125-foot second-growth

conifers. Hemlock seedlings and huckleberry grow from rotting

old-growth stumps. Each of the nine campsites has a corral, picnic

table, room to park a 70-foot truck and trailer, and a fire ring with a

cooking grill. " What makes it neat is that there's enough trees and so

much vegetation in there, you don't feel crowded even if there's

someone in the next camp, " Mayer said. " You feel like you're actually

out in the forest. " Historically, people have always ridden in that

area, so there were lots of criss-crossing trails, but they were very

brushed in and primitive, and nobody knew about them but the local

people. Walker called them " informal trails " and remembers that " you

ducked a lot, and you got off pretty often and led your horse through. "

http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/OUTDOORS/607130319/103414)

While responsible land managers in many Western States have embraced

small-diameter thinning projects that may reduce ï¬re danger while

responsibly producing wood ï¬ber, the Glendale Resource Area 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 Westside Timber Sale targets 3,374 Acres for logging. The

recently released Westside Timber Sale Environmental Assessment (EA)

calls for massive levels of old-growth logging that has nothing to do

with fuels reduction or healthy forests: 1) Westside would log 3,374

acres in 93 units in the Middle Cow Creek Watershed. 2) 1,515 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 ï¬ber plantations. 3) 1,019 acres of

Spotted Owl Critical Habitat will be downgraded or removed. Critical

Habitat Unit OR-32 is the Rogue-Umpqua Area of Concern which "provides

an essential link in connecting the Western Cascades Province with

southern portions of the Coast Ranges and the northern end of the

Klamath Mountains Province." Request that BLM focus its timber program

on thinning the thousands of acres of ï¬ber plantations that already

exist instead of polarizing our communities by logging our remaining

ancient forests. -- Medford BLM, 3040 Biddle Road, Medford, OR 97504

Medford_MailCalifornia:15) A locally

crafted, congressionally endorsed plan to protect more than 40,000

acres north of Yosemite could be a case study in how a divided Congress

handles wilderness. The striking new plan will let snowmobile

enthusiasts roar around on more than 10,000 acres near Sonora Pass.

Black bears, mountain lions and wintering bald eagles can remain

secluded in the protected wilderness. Pacific Crest Trail hikers can be

comforted knowing development won't impinge on their High Sierra treks.

The underlying deal itself, though, looks durable. In the town of

Bishop, on the Sierra Nevada's eastern side, 73-year-old Dick Noles

considers the wilderness plan a reasonable balance. A hunter and

fisherman who co-chairs Advocates for Access to Public Land, Noles

helped negotiate part of the package. The deal includes continued

snowmobile access to the Leavitt Bowl area east of Sonora Pass. About

7,500 acres of this is considered to be prime snowmobile turf.

Officials in the Mono County town of Bridgeport hope the snowmobile

access will bring more tourists. Conservationists, in turn, consider

the snowmobile access a price worth paying. In the proposed wilderness

area, glacially scarred granite is dotted with blue tarns, and the

horizon is punctuated by spires and peaks. Portions of the 2,650-mile

Pacific Crest Trail pass through. The deal includes adding about 640

acres of the Stanislaus National Forest to the existing Emigrant

Wilderness in order to protect the Pacific Crest Trail. The trail comes

close to Sonora Pass, where environmentalists feared development. The

biggest portion, 39,680 acres, is part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National

Forest and would be added to the existing Hoover Wilderness. The

proposed wilderness addition is also steeped in cultural history. The

Washoe and Northern Paiute Indians lived during past centuries in the

Walker River drainage. http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/14278500p-15087344c.htmlColorado:16)

The rattle of spray paint cans and the roar of chain saws echoed in the

woods this week near Divide. The Colorado Springs Fire Department and

14- to 19-year-olds at the Colorado Association of Conservation

Districts' Camp Rocky were deciding the fate of trees as they thinned

the forest for fire safety. A spot of orange paint marked aspens, pines

and firs for death. Throughout the week at Camp Rocky, 54 teenagers

from across Colorado are learning about forestry management, soil and

water conservation, rangeland science, and fish and wildlife

management. "We're not here to be a baby sitter for the summer," said

Callie Hendrickson, director of the camp. "It's important to us that we

have kids who are here for a purpose." The process of selecting which

trees to cut had its own science. Before picking up saws, campers

debated which cuts would make the forest healthiest. For instance, two

trees too close together might be hurting each other. If one were

killed, the other might do better. Although the campers were kept far

from the firefighters' chain saws, they took down smaller trees with

hand saws and marked trees for cutting with paint and tape. "I'm going

to find me a tree, and I'm going to wrap it with some polka dot tape,"

camper Landon Smith said as he waved the roll of tape at the trees. The staff and teenagers worked to improve the campground's environment. http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1319260 & secid=1

Missouri:17)

Jefferson City — Windermere Baptist Conference Center still could face

a possible contempt of court citation stemming from a June 1 court

order prohibiting sale of timber on current or formerly owned property.

The MBC contends that trees continue to be cut around Windermere

despite a preliminary injunction Judge Brown issued on June 1. That

injunction prohibits the conference center from selling or transferring

property or timber or of incurring further debt secured by real estate

without court approval. Convention witness Don Buford, pastor of

Liberty Baptist Church, Big Spring, testified he visited the conference

center on June 30, where he saw two M.T. Logging workers loading logs.

Both men said trucks and logs they had seen were on part of the 941

acres Windermere had sold to National City Bank as part of a debt

restructuring plan in November 2005. Windermere Development Company

Inc., started and owned by William R. Jester, purchased the acreage

from the bank on Feb. 24. MBC attorneys contend Windermere retained

timber rights when it transferred title of the property to the bank. In

that case, if logging continued after June 1, Windermere could be held

in contempt. Windermere interim executive director Dan Bench testified

on July 6 that he had been unaware that logging had continued on the

development company's land. He said he was not involved in negotiating

timber contracts made early in 2005 and that he had met only once with

Midwest Forestry Consultants owner Carl Houser, who had handled

forestry management details for Windermere. Although the land title did

not spell out timber rights when Windermere sold the property to the

bank, MBC attorneys noted the logging contracts include a

non-transferable clause. If Windermere controls the timber or has

received payment for timber cut since the injunction was granted, the

conference center could be held in contempt. (07-13-06) http://www.wordandway.org/getevent.php?contentID=740Ohio:18)

O'Dell, a member of and a spokesman for the Mohican/Malabar Bike Club,

has been working to develop several of the bike trails at the park.

Eight miles of bike trails are currently available to cyclists, with

the likely addition of eight more within the month after a few

requirements for the trail are met. "Forestry will walk through the

trail as a group and identify any issues," said O'Dell of what needs to

be done before the eight new miles of trail will open. "The signage

will then be put up and we'll be officially open to the public." By the

end of the year, O'Dell hopes to have a total of nearly 30 miles of

bike trails available to mountain bikers. Once this 30-mile loop is

finished, it will possibly be the largest continual mountain bike trail

in Ohio. The park has several miles of multiuse trails. Originally

built as access roads for logging and oil wells, they accommodate

bikers, hikers, walkers and joggers, and are also used as equestrian

trails. However, according to O'Dell, the best mountain bike trails are

ones that are designed specifically for mountain biking. Other trails

do not have a "flow" to them, meaning they are not built to follow the

contour of the land in a way that makes them exciting for the cyclist.

All of the new bike trails have been built according to guidlines set

by the International Mountain Bike Association, as well as standards

set by the Division of Forestry. O'Dell said the addition of

bike-specific trails provides a mutual benefit, allowing horsemen to

experience the trails with less likelihood of the horses being spooked

by the faster-moving bicycles. Cyclists will enjoy their experience

more on trails designed specifically for bike traffic. However, the new

mountain bike trails and the horse trails are available to hikers and

runers as well. http://www.mountvernonnews.com/Sports/071306/03.html19)

Buffalo News published an article under the headline "Zoar Valley's

ancient trees protected." Countless readers no doubt breathed a sigh of

relief, happy in the knowledge that WNY's most significant ecosystem

would remain intact. To a few readers, however, namely Albert Brown,

Turiya Mistretta and Roger Tredo—all members of environmental group

Friends of the Ancient Forest (FAF)—the News' declaration was

premature. One week after the article ran, Brown was on the phone with

AV. "[DEC] is leaving the majority of the uplands open for logging, and

that's a whole lot of land." In fact, it's nearly half of the land that

comprises the Zoar Valley State Multiple Use Area—1,404 of its 2,927

acres. While the News was correct that the draft plan would protect the

gorge and put 300-foot-wide buffers along its edges and 200-foot-wide

buffers on trails leading to the gorge, it failed to mention that

almost half the preserve would still be open to "management." When

asked why they raised the age at which trees are considered old-growth,

the DEC's Wayne Cooper responded limply with, "That's what our

department has come up with." When asked why they wanted to log the

uplands, Cooper's response was: "The reason for the management of the

uplands is to create vegetative types that would be native to the area

that would be beneficial to the wildlife." By the end of the meeting,

things had devolved into a feeding frenzy, and Wayne Cooper had become

the DEC's unwilling whipping boy. Those who initially reacted favorably

to the plan changed their minds. Larry Beahan received a round of

applause when he stood up and said, "I said earlier that this was a

good plan, but I'm starting to think that this is too much management."

Several other environmentalists and naturalists expressed to AV some

reasonable reservations about DEC's unit management plan. Julie Broyles

of the Zoar Valley Nature Society—who was quoted supporting the plan in

the Buffalo News article—is now decidedly against management in the

uplands. "Zoar Valley has always belonged in the [state Nature and

Historic Preserve Trust]. Zoar Valley is an ecologically, geologically,

historically, archaelogically important site, and it should be

protected. The splitting of the property I don't think is right. http://artvoice.com/issues/v5n28/news_briefly/not_so_fast20)

A logging operation in East Andover has muddied two brooks and sent

sediment flowing into Highland Lake, endangering its wildlife and water

quality, and the state Department of Environmental Services is taking

enforcement action. The logging has caused either Tilton Brook or the

Maple Street inlet stream to run brown four times since early May. DES

officials said that because the investigation into the situation is

still active, they cannot comment on what measures the department is

taking. But the state Division of Forests and Lands, which regulates

logging, has fined one of the operators $300. Doug Miner, a forest

ranger for Forests and Lands, said his department first got a call

about the problem on May 4. When he went to investigate, he found that

the logger, Richard Lyons Jr., had laid logs across the bed of an

intermittent stream to create a crossing for his skids. " Under normal

weather conditions, that would work fine, " Miner said. Miner issued a

cease-and-desist order to Lost Cloud Forest Management, the company

that had contracted Lyons to do the cutting. He told the company to

place hay bales and silt fencing to catch any further runoff. He also

fined Lost Cloud $300 for not having the proper stream-crossing permit

from DES; Shaun Hathaway, who runs Lost Cloud, paid the fine on

Tuesday, Miner said. After the initial complaint, Miner referred the

case to DES. Because letting soil flow into wetlands qualifies as a

type of illegal filling, the Wetlands Bureau took charge of the case.

Because the brooks affect the quality of a lake, the Lakes Management

and Protection Bureau also got involved. An excess of soil flowing into

any water body is harmful because it clogs the breathing membranes of

fish and other underwater creatures, said Jody Connor, the state

limnology director. " They probably killed off most of the invertebrates

in that stream, because they breathe with gills, " he said. http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060714/REPOSITORY/607140341/1043/N

EWS01New York:21)

) TUPPER LAKE, N.Y. -- Hunting for the few remaining spruce grouse in

the Adirondacks is like looking for a needle eater in a boreal forest.

Among thick stands of black spruce trees, heavy undergrowth and marshy

terrain in the Nature Conservancy's 4,200-acre Spring Pond Bog

Preserve, it's much easier on a summer morning when the bird wears a

radio collar. " There isn't much more than 100 to 150 spruce grouse in

the Adirondacks, " said Glenn Johnson, who accompanied her. He and other

biologists are considering ways to restore their numbers, possibly by

importing birds from Ontario or Maine. " Nobody's done this sort of work

for the spruce grouse, so anything we do is kind of experimental, " said

John Ozard, wildlife biologist for the state Department of

Environmental Conservation. About 90 percent of those left in the

Adirondacks are on privately owned land, he said. " The shrinkage of the

range has been happening at least since the turn of the century and

probably since the 1850s. " The Wildlife Conservation Society is making

an inventory of boreal bird species, including research in the Spring

Pond Bog Preserve, Brown said. Only about 5 percent of the 6-million

acre Adirondack Park contains boreal forests consisting of conifer

swamps, open peat lands and river corridors. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--sprucegrouse0715jul15,0,1332884.stor

y?coll=ny-region-apnewyorkPennsylvania:22)

SCHWENKSVILLE - After riding a chairlift for 420 feet to the top of the

grassy slopes of Spring Mountain, you walk toward a narrow passageway

between boulders. There you climb a ladder to a metal platform that has

been built several feet off the ground around a tree trunk. A cable

runs from the tree above the platform to another platform that is

around another tree trunk 25 yards farther down the mountain. The cable

is about 15 feet off the ground between the platforms, each of which is

manned by a helmet-wearing tour guide. The forest obscures a lot of

what is beyond the next platform, but you can catch brief glimpses of

what looks like people flying through the air under the sun-dappled

canopy of leaves. Then a tour guide takes the metal clip attached to

the harness that is wrapped around you. He fastens the clip to the

cable that runs to the next platform. " Ready to zip! " you holler. " Zip

away! " comes the answer from the tour guide at the next platform. You

lift your feet off the metal platform and your body briefly sways under

the cable. Gravity takes over and you suddenly find yourself hurtling

down the cable through the trees toward the next platform. This will

happen six more times on the cables, called zip lines, as part of the

new canopy tour offered at Spring Mountain, a ski resort that wants to

also be known as a year-round adventure destination near Schwenksville,

Montgomery County. http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/15027607.htm23)

About 90 years ago, some of Bethlehem's leaders looked north toward the

spring-fed creeks and woodlands at the foothills of the Pocono

Mountains as an abundant source of water for generations to come. The

city water authority began buying parcels there and now ranks as the

largest property owner in the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed. But by the

late 1990s, the cost of acquiring the land and maintaining two

reservoirs caught up with the authority. Faced with more than $100

million in debt, the authority looked to its landholdings for another

type of income: a logging operation that could produce $5 million a

year. Before a single tree could be felled, however, Bethlehem found

that the lush green canopy of its land masks a sick forest with the

same symptoms that threaten nearly half of Pennsylvania's 17 million

acres of woodland. This beech-dominated understory will, if not

checked, also mature into a forest lacking the diversity to maintain

the complex web of life — no oak trees would mean no acorns, which

would mean fewer squirrels for hawks and owls to prey upon. ''The state

is over 60 percent forested,'' said Richard Bowden, professor of

environmental science at Allegheny College in Meadville, Crawford

County. Penn's Woods covered 95 percent of the colony when it was

settled, but after a logging boom that began in the mid-19th century,

that dipped to 30 percent by 1907. The forest grew back with a

vengeance and held steady for decades. Bowden calls that a success

story, but he said the next generation of trees faces just as serious a

threat as the logging industry once posed: hungry deer who feed on the

oak, ash and cherry saplings while ignoring the ''weeds of the

forest.'' State statistics chronicle that the forests are maturing and

fewer younger trees are growing to take their places. In 1955, the

Bureau of Forestry reported the saplings — the future of the forest —

accounted for 23 percent of the forest; in 2002, they accounted for 10

percent. Conversely, large trees — hardwoods with a diameter of 9

inches or more and softwoods a diameter of 11 inches plus — made up 28

percent of the forests in 1955 and 58 percent in 2002. Within the past

year, authority contractors have prepared the land for the timber sale,

spraying herbicides to kill ferns and opening up the forest floor to

sunlight. The authority also has opened up its land to deer hunting to

thin the herd that could kill off the young trees. And when the logging

is done, the authority will build an 8-foot-tall fence around the stand

to keep out deer. http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_4forestjul16,0,4754299.story?page=224)

The state plans to remove about 2,700 trees from Robinson State Park in

Agawam this fall. The logging operation will involve only 133 acres of

the 852-acre park, about 20 trees per acre. This is called a light

harvest by industry experts. For the Friends of Robinson State Park, it

is a chainsaw massacre. David A. Richard, an Amherst-based forester for

the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, said the activist

group is barking up the wrong tree. " There's so much misinformation out

there right now. What we're doing here isn't any different than what we

do in most states. It's not a big deal. " Kathie Breuninger, a member of

the group, thinks Robinson State Park should be spared. " It is a big

deal. It's a beautiful park, and it's a very narrow park in an urban

area. Bringing in experts, we're finding out how more and more special

it is. " The project is a big deal ... for the long-term health of the

forest in Robinson State Park. Robinson State Park is popular with

hikers, bikers and birders. Most of its 852 acres is a canopied forest

of large trees that are at least 80 years old. The state is the

custodian of the forest, and it is being a responsible custodian with

its plan to remove about 2,700 trees. The plan outlined to citizens of

Agawam in May is not a logging operation; it is a forestry management

plan. Some of the trees to be cut are diseased. The removal of healthy

trees will promote age diversity and contribute to the forest's

long-term health. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation

is not in the timber business. It is tending to the needs of the state

parks and forests under its care. State officials postponed the project

until November after they learned that Robinson State Park is home to

the Eastern box turtle and the arrow clubtail dragonfly - two species

listed in the " special concern " category under the Massachusetts

Endangered Species Act. The frozen ground will also provide protection

for American Indian artifacts found near one site. That should

demonstrate that the state cares as much for Robinson State Park as the

citizens of Agawam. http://www.masslive.com/editorials/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1152863419161640.xml & co

ll=1USA: 25)

Certain logging projects and other smaller-scale U.S. Forest Service

activities would be exempt from a long-held public comment and appeals

process under a provision inserted into a spending bill and approved

recently by a key Senate committee. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., added

the amendment to a multi-agency budget measure that sailed through the

Senate Appropriations Committee last month. No date has been set for a

full vote in the Senate; spending bills before the House of

Representatives do not contain the rider. The move to steer the new

forest policy through Congress is the latest in a back-and-forth

between environmentalists who demand public comment on timber, mining

and other Forest Service projects -- no matter the size -- and

defenders of the Bush administration's push to fast-track certain

priorities, namely forest-thinning to combat wildfires. The Burns

amendment would overturn a 2005 ruling by a federal judge in California

that thwarted Forest Service regulations written in 2003. That rule

change would have repealed public comment on so-called " categorical

exemptions " -- smaller scale projects the Forest Service says do not

require lengthy environmental analysis. For instance, the measure would

allow bypassing public comment on proposed burn projects up to 4,500

acres and fuel-reduction logging projects up to 1,000 acres. The

comment and appeals process lasts up to 90 days, and in some cases

more. Environmentalists hailed the California ruling as a rebuke of the

president's Healthy Forests initiative, but are now grousing that Bush

allies are again seeking to bypass the National Environmental Policy

Act. Marty Hayden, legislative policy director for Earthjustice in

Washington, D.C., said the Burns amendment effectively censors from

public view any project deemed harmless by forest supervisors. " If

you're a logging company, lots of things look harmless, " he said. " But

if you are a trout fisherman, a logging project might look more

harmful. What Senator Burns is saying is the trout fisherman doesn't

have the right to know. " http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/07/15/news/regional/6e48c4f250b2cf61872571aa0

08101e0.txt26)

Imagine: " The flooring was made from trees we cut down before we built

our house, " the homeowner proudly tells her guests. " Top that for

cachet! " she adds to herself. Our catty homeowner is correct. Flooring

made from the trees on your building site or from trees that your city

had to remove is unusual. But not because such wood is rare. To the

contrary, the number of hardwood trees cut every year by municipalities

and private homeowners is huge. If the logs were sawn into boards

instead of being mulched or tossed into a landfill, the volume, in

board feet, would be equal to about two-thirds the amount of hardwood

lumber produced annually in the United States, according to Stephen

Bratkovich, a forest products specialist with the U.S. Department of

Agriculture's Forest Service in St. Paul, Minn. I set out to find out

why such a vast wood source has not been tapped. After interviews with

forest product specialists, urban foresters, urban timber experts,

owners of private tree services, commercial timber sawmill owners,

palett makers, recyclers, municipal administrators and sawyers (people

who saw logs into boards), the answer was clear, if disheartening.

Urban timber cannot be supplied in the quantities and quality demanded

by the high-volume, low-margin, commercial hardwood industry. To the

average suburbanite, all trees look attractive, but a commercial logger

sees things differently. A job that entails only three or four trees --

a large number for a private homeowner or municipality -- will not

interest him. To justify the expense of bringing in a crew and large

tree-cutting equipment, a commercial logger wants at least 50 trees.

And he wants to take out the 50 trees in one day, not spend an entire

day on one tree because of the time-consuming logistics that confront

an urban tree service crew. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071400673.htmlCanada:

27)

" The clear-cutting of the land is an attack on our people, " said

Roberta Keesick, a Grassy Narrows blockader, grandmother and trapper.

" The land is the basis of who we are. Our culture is a land-based

culture, and the destruction of the land is the destruction of our

culture. Weyerhaeuser and the McGuinty government don't want us on the

land, they want us out of the way so they can take the resources. We

can't allow them to carry on with this cultural genocide. " http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2006/13/c9751.html

In Ontario, Canada, an indigenous community called the Grassy Narrows

First Nation are being subjected to human rights abuses. Logging

companies Weyerhaeuser and Abitibi are clear-cut logging their land

without the community's consent and converting the wood into Xerox copy

paper and building products for the U.S. housing industry. This

exploitation is robbing the community of economic opportunities, and

destroying their way of life. Fortunately, the Grassy Narrows Community

is taking a stand. On December 2nd, 2002, Grassy Narrows established a

blockade on a logging road in their territory, sparking the longest

standing and highest profile indigenous logging blockade in Canadian

history. Three years later, logging is still taking place on remote

sections of their land where the community does not have the resources

to block all of the logging roads in their territory. Weyerhaeuser and

Abitibi refuse to stop the logging, leave the land and respect the

community's right to self-determiniation within their traditional

territory. Please sign the petition to pledge your support to the

Grassy Narrows First Nation's struggle to stop Weyerhaeuser and Abitibi

from logging without their consent on their land, and secure the right

to self-determination within their traditional territory. http://www.FreeGrassy.org28)

A sensitive instrument installed in the Canadian Arctic to monitor

fallout from modern nuclear tests has detected small amounts of

radioactive cesium produced by bomb tests decades ago. The material,

hich during the Cold War was spread across northern latitudes by

high-altitude winds, is still being redistributed far and wide by

forest fires, researchers say. Scientists use a worldwide network of

sensors to ensure compliance with the 1996 Comprehensive

Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. While some devices are on the lookout for the

telltale seismic vibrations generated by nuclear tests, others sniff

the air for radioactive fallout. The researchers aren't sure how the

radioactive element makes its way from fallout-tainted soil into the

atmosphere. Cesium, a chemical relative of potassium, is readily taken

up by plants, so ash derived from wood and leaves could contain traces

of the element. Another possibility is that because cesium has a

boiling point of 670?C, some of the radioactive atoms may be vaporized

from the ground by fires and then condense on airborne ash and soot,

says Wotawa. http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20010714/bob11.asp).North America:: 29)

The Impact of Magazine and Dimensional Lumber Production on Greenhouse

Gas Emissions: A Case Study - a greenhouse gas life cycle analysis of

two magazine chains (In Style and Time) and a dimensional lumber chain

(lumber used for construction, remodeling and do-it-yourself projects).

The study was commissioned by Canfor Corporation, The Home Depot, Stora

Enso in North America, and Time Inc. to better understand the sources

of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) for each product chain and then to

use the information to identify potential opportunities to reduce net

GHG emissions across the product chains. Dr. Stith T. Gower of the

Department of Forest Ecology & Management at the University of

Wisconsin at Madison prepared the study. " This is a pathbreaking study

because the participating companies provided actual data from their own

production chains, " according to Anthony Janetos, Vice President of The

Heinz Center, who served as a scientific advisor for the study. http://www.heinzctr.org/Press_Releases/carbon_study.shtmlNigeria:30)

Ebonyi state government has directed that all illegal occupants of

forest lands and those encroaching on the forest reserves in the state

should be ejected. The government also directed that all illegal

structures and appurtenances should be seized based on the original

survey plan of the forest. Some of the staff of the forest department,

who were indicted for negligence, and dereliction of duty should be

sanctioned accordingly. Henceforth, all recommendations for approval to

harvest trees must emanate from the appropriate authorities, in the

ministry of housing and environment, the commissioner said. Under the

new forestry policy, urgent steps would be taken to delineate the

boundaries of the Okpoto east forest reserve in Ishielu East which is

partly inhabited by the Igwebuike people, Abia said. According to him,

Ebonyi state has a total of 12 forests and one game reserve located

across the three senatorial zones of the state. Namely, Ishielu,

Iloanwu, Ohatekwe and Agbajaunuhu forest as well as Abakaliki fuel wood

plantation in the north. In the central, are Okpoto, Nwode, and Egu

Nwachi forest while the Ebonyi South has Akanto, Ovum Ozziza, Unwana

Uroro forest and Afikpo fuel wood plantation, all covering a total land

area of 1,552 hectares. http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=07/16/2006 & qrTitle=Ebonyi%20ejects%20illegal

%20occupants%20of%20forest%20reserves & qrColumn=SOUTH%20EASTCameroon:31)

In Cameroon, the big issues that pose a threat to climate change are

deforestation, such as equatorial rainforest wild bush-burning and poor

farming techniques. The reason why most Cameroonians still do this is

ignorance. They do not have enough information about climate change.

Over the past two years, the northern parts of the Cameroon have been

facing drought problems. This is due to the fact that the Sahara desert

has advanced south into north Cameroon, an outcome of deforestation.

Much really needs to be done. For me, the main step in heading towards

a global reduction in carbon emissions is informing the population of

Africa. Let websites on climate change be made known to them,

conferences and programmes be organised and broadcasting stations like

the BBC to produce more programmes on the impact of climate change.

Let's act now and give our children a better tomorrow. Nfor Leonard

Njamnshi, 18, Cameroon http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/mortarboard/2006/07/think_global_act_local_1.htmlUruguay:

32)

The International Court of Justice has ruled that Uruguay can continue

building two pulp mills which Argentina argues will pose a pollution

threat. The judges' decision means construction can proceed while they

consider the overall case for or against the mills. The dispute has

strained ties between the two normally friendly neighbours. Argentina

says the mills could pollute their border river but Uruguay says they

will generate jobs and be under strict environmental control. Judges at

the International Court of Justice in The Hague voted 14-1 in Uruguay's

favour. The Uruguayan ambassador to The Hague, Carlos Mora, said he was

very pleased with the outcome. But the news was greeted in silence by

those opposed to the project in the Argentine town of Gualeguaychu, on

the other side of the river to the mills. They had gathered in a local

theatre in the early morning to hear the outcome, and vowed to continue

their protest. It is the latest chapter in a long-simmering row that

has provoked months of protests in both countries. A great deal of

damage has already been done between two historically friendly

governments and peoples, the BBC's South America correspondent Daniel

Schweimler says. The Argentine government wanted construction stopped

to allow further environmental studies to be conducted. Uruguay argued

that the mills would adhere to the strictest rules and would bring

badly needed jobs to the border area. The court ruled that the

construction of the mills posed no serious threat to the environment

and could continue while the judges evaluate the potential risks of the

pulp plants once they begin operation. The circumstances did not

require a provisional measure ordering the suspension of the mills'

construction, the president of the court, Rosalyn Higgins, said. The

mills are being built on the Uruguayan side of the River Uruguay that

separates the two neighbors. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/5175420.stmBrazil:33)

For decades now the green movement has been tying itself in knots about

this part of the world. The forest which covers Amazonia, 60 per cent

of the land area of one of the world largest countries is, we are told

a resource for humanity. Indeed the great Amazon itself is a resource

for humanity. Doesn't it contain a fifth of all the world's fresh

water? After all it is the world's greatest river, twelve times as big

as the Mississippi as it flows past what is left of New Orleans and

sixteen times as voluminous as the Nile as it flows past the rather

more durable Pyramids. Amazonia contains about a fifth of all plant,

animal and insect species on the planet, half the bird species, the

largest parrots, rodents and ants, not to speak of the longest snakes.

And, greens of the world argue, ignorant Brazilians are allowing the

Amazonian forests to be cut down mercilessly while the great river is

polluted by the effluents of mercury which are released from the gold

diggings upriver. These must be saved from its feckless inhabitants.

Taken into care. Internationalised. Rescued. Saved for future

generations the world over. Now. Immediately. There is no time to lose.

Yet the argument, so often rehearsed in the Western media and pressure

groups, is bizarre. One of the reasons why it is bizarre lies in the

fact that the green discourse about Amazonia rarely devotes much time

to the human inhabitants of the region as it does to the flora and

fauna. A report just published by Venessa Fleischfresser, a leading

Brazilian academic at the Federal University of Paran, shows that a

better focus on the human problems of the region who are so often

ignored in the green discourse could reverse the ecological damage that

is being caused. She has found that those areas of Amazonia where the

land is being cleared with the greatest abandon are those where slavery

is most in commonly practiced. Now the region has a long and shameful

record of slavery. The first Jesuit missionaries, who sought to

evangelise the Indians, held out against their being enslaved by the

Portuguese conquistadores and landowners. http://www.counterpunch.com/oshaughnessy07142006.htmlIndia: 34)

SHIMOGA: Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) asked the forest

department to withdraw 960 hectares in Shimoga district given for

industrial plantation and take up afforestation there instead. The PCCF

had issued this instruction based on a recommendation from a special

investigative team he had formed to go into the allegations about

destruction of forests in Shimoga district under the industrial

plantation programme. In April, when the natural forest was totally

burnt in Humcha area to facilitate industrial plantation,

environmentalists headed by Anatha Hegde Ashisara staged a protest and

appealed to the PCCF to investigate the allegations of forest

destruction in detail. Based on the written complaint by organisations

like the Vriksha Laksha Andolana, the PCCF had ordered an inquiry by a

special team of officials from Bangalore. This team submitted its

report to the PCCF, confirming that the allegations made by the

environmentalists were true, according to a press release by VLA. The

team had reportedly pointed out that the natural forest was burnt and

destroyed to grow monoculture plants in Humcha area. Trees planted in

the area belonged to single variety. This would never help regeneration

of already destroyed natural forest. Local varieties cannot be grown

even after harvesting plantation, the team had reportedly observed. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEK20060715020704 & Page=K & Title=Southern+News+-+Ka

rnataka & Topic=035)

Kolkata - In a grand kick-off to the Forest Week, chief minister

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee planted two saplings - one each of mango and

jaam - at the Citizens' Park today. Bhattacharjee also promised

Kolkatans six more parks in the city. Bhattacharjee urged the common

masses, NGOs as well as the forest department to form a united front

against indiscriminate cutting of trees. "We should all step forward to

plant more trees," said Bhattachrjee. At least 50,000 saplings will be

planted all across the city to mark the Forest Week. These include

saplings of Bokul, Radhachura, Mahogany and Dalim. Moreover, around 20

lakh seedlings will be distributed all over the state. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=193019Bangladesh:36)

Unsurprisingly, in Bangladesh trees are being felled for fuel in the

households and brick fields and also to meet the growing need of

croplands for feeding the burgeoning population. But other than this

type of extinction, there is another deadly culprit at work that is

slowly denuding the forests of the Sunderbans, Cox's Bazar, Sylhet and

in northern parts of Bangladesh much beyond our knowledge. The disease

called " the dying forest syndrome " which in the Sunderbans is known as

" top dying disease " strikes selectively but with deadly effect. In

parts of Africa, Europe and most notably in the Sunderbans in

Bangladesh, the dying forest syndrome causing death of trees has come

up as a big environmental disaster. The epidemic of dying trees which

has struck the forest resources of the world appears to be quite

mysterious. But the most convincing evidence points to air pollution,

specially sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen spewed in the air by

the ton from electrical generating stations, industrial boilers,

smelting plants and automobiles located thousands of miles away. One

school of thought points out, by itself sulfur dioxide can sap the

vitality of the tree;.so can oxides of nitrogen. But the real problem

seems to begin when two gases work in combination in the atmosphere.

Hurled into the air by tall smokestacks, the substances mix with water

vapour to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid known as acid rain and in

the presence of sunlight turn into oxidants such as ozone. When these

new chemical mixtures fall to earth as snow or rain or float into

forests as wind or fog, they can be far more lethal than the

ingredients that went into them. Airborne pollution settles first on

the highest treetops of the forest crown, which acts as a natural

windbreak. Acid precipitation filters down to the soil, eats away at

the root system and eventually leaches out key nutrients such as

calcium and potassium and mobilises toxic metals like aluminum. Once on

a leaf or needle, acid rain disrupts the operation of the stomata, the

tiny openings that permit a tree to " breathe. " The process of

photosynthesis is thrown off balance, and subtle changes take place in

the internal chemistry of the tree that result in discolouration and

premature aging. Finally acid rain washes away vital nutrients from the

leaves and needles so that the tree slowly starves to death, its

respiratory, circulatory and digestive systems being crippled. http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/07/14/d607141801101.htm