Earth's Tree News 114

[Guest guest]

Today for you we have 39 news items from British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Michigan, Indiana, Massachusetts, Canada, England, Brazil, India, Cambodia, Philipines, Solomon Islands, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia.British Columbia:1) David White 1947-2006: He had vast experience at all levels across the spectrum of efforts being made, and seemed to have worked with everyone who is involved in the BC Peace, Social Justice, Human Rights and Environmental effort. Dave's keen, penetrating analysis and outspokenness quickly pointed out any mediocrity, dead-end's or greenwash that he saw, and he was vociferous in his criticism of current trends towards compromise collaborationism which is draining away the power and credibility of our movement. He was seen at every peace walk, every demonstration, every community meeting as he involved himself at the neighbourhood, municipal, provincial, federal and international levels. Dave was always up at the public questions mike at lectures and meetings, offering his views, pointing out hypocrisy or asking cutting questions that got everybody thinking. One would also run into Dave at the folk fest, films, local meetings, at the cafe, out on the ocean or just walking down the street. He was an ubiquitous figure on the streets of Victoria. Dave was a very, very generous and giving person as well. He would immediately offer his very expensive hi-tech video camera to me without hesitation when he heard that I was heading off to the woods on some kayaking expedition off the west coast. When I expressed concern about the potential for capsize and the ruination of his equipment, he said, " No problem, just do it! " When I returned with hours of shaky footage, he made his house, computers and considerable expertise available, and freely donated literally hundreds of hours to produce our movie, " Beyond the Cutting Edge: A Trip to the Primaeval Forests of East Creek. " There is art in the physical movements used in film editing, and one of my lasting memories of David will be of the beautiful, skilled movement of his hands across the keyboard as he shaped the footage into our movie. Over the past years, Dave became very concerned about the changes in direction which have divided our community. He contributed enormously to raising awareness of the trends towards professional entrenchment, bureaucratization and compromise collaborationism which he believed has seriously disempowered and discredited the BC environmental effort. ingmarz2) " When you have a fibre basket that is highly decadent even small changes in any one of those will impact you, " says former minister of state for forestry operations Roger Harris. " Put all of those things into the equation and you have costs going up and sale prices going down, and in this market that can be catastrophic in nature " Local logging contractor Ken Houlden, one of three partners in Houlden Logging Ltd., says his company is essentially holding on until the second growth in the area is viable to cut. " I really don't know that any of us in the industry are looking towards a hey day in forestry, " Houlden says. " The reality is B.C. used to be the king of the woods but there are so many suppliers now in other countries we just aren't anymore. " Many local operations are being hampered by a number of factors including aging equipment, lack of a skilled workforce and expensive costs when it comes to logging road maintenance. " In 10 to 20 years the whole method of logging in the area will change because we're into the reforested areas - we're back on the valley floor, " Houlden says. " We'll be more like the interior, we will have very uniform size wood. " Right now the stands that are available tend to be old growth stands containing about 20 per cent high grade timber suitable for saw logs or raw log export and the rest is more decadent. While old growth stands tend to be more diverse in terms of the profile of timber, the second growth stands are expected to be more monoculture and filled with easier to extract trees more suitable for sawing, Houlden says. http://www.terracestandard.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=33 & cat=23 & id=691417 & more=

3) Developing the port would also dovetail into creating other industry in the area, industries such as wood pellet production. "It really makes our industrial lands more valuable because we have a low value fibre basket," Harris said. "This port would make pellet production in this part of the world a lot more feasible than it did today." The Kalum forest district has a high percentage of pulp-quality wood that is suitable for pellet production. Terrace businessman Lloyd Hull said the port is an indication that diversifying the industry here is critical to stabilizing the local economy. "It would sure be nice if they put it all together," Hull said. "We definitely have the people here for it, let's hope the north gets a real boost." Harris says the province's interest in supporting the study shows the northwest are an important part of the Asia-Pacific strategy. http://www.northernsentinel.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=16 & cat=43 & id=692057 & more=

4) "The forest is under attack," he said Saturday at Quesnel Airport after a helicopter tour over the region courtesy of Dunkley Lumber. "These trees are dead. The fibre is there and we have to work with the community to get the most value. I wanted to see the devastation first-hand. It's very clear the forest is in deep trouble." Layton spent Saturday and part of Sunday in Quesnel as part of a week-long tour around B.C. Hosted by Cariboo-North MLA Bob Simpson, Layton was joined by Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Jenny Kwan, NDP economic development critic for the official opposition and Quesnel mayor Nate Bello. Layton called on the federal Conservatives to make good on their budget promise of allocating $400 million to forestry to deal with the mountain pine beetle crisis among other things. "I'm calling on the federal government to release those funds," Layton said. "I want MPs to respond to request those funds for the first $100 million to be transferred to provinces…to put pressure on them [Conservatives]." http://www.quesnelobserver.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=27 & cat=59 & id=693010 & more=

5) Dogwood Initiative is a non-profit organization that helps British Columbians exercise local control of resource developments to create healthy and prosperous communities. We believe a community cannot be a healthy one without a healthy environment. We also believe that people have a right to decide how the land they live on is used. So we have a unique mandate – working for a healthy democracy, prosperous communities and environmental sustainability. Dogwood is a small organization that builds strength in forging links between labour, environmentalists, local community groups and First Nations. Together we seek new ways to live in harmony with our environment while taking part in the economic development and democratic processes that secure the long-term sustainability and livability of our local communities. http://www.dogwoodinitiative.org

..6) People in the Comox Valley have organized with the intent of purchasing forested land north of Courtenay in an attempt to protect the land from being logged by TimberWest. If you can assist in any way please notify Jackie at the phone number below. Cheers Chris Hilliar In order to save wildlife habitat we are looking for someone to purchase 7.7 hectares (16 acres) of forested land on the Tsolum River. The land belongs to TimberWest and they have delayed logging it for a month so that we could find buyers who would want the land with the trees on it. The south side of Farnham Road has already been clear-cut. The property is on the north side of Farnham Road just after Farnham Bridge. TimberWest has not given us a price for this property; it has a spur road into it and no services. Time is running out (this is the last week of the month they offered) however I think we may have more time, as they still haven't appraised the property, and then we have fire season coming up. We are looking for people who will treat the land with respect. For more information please phone Jackie Sandiford at 250- 337-5914.California:7) The chainsaws are roaring right outside my window, destroying trees that were young when Abraham Lincoln was in the White House. A snarling bulldozer is ripping the soil, uprooting smaller trees near the creek. It's a sign of " progress. " Three years ago we moved into a house in a forest. We bought an existing home on a double lot in a hilly community filled with homes set among huge trees, small streams, waterfalls, parks and nature trails. Homes were hidden between the cedars, Douglas firs, hemlocks, spruce, beech and maples. Rhododendrons, dogwoods and other flowering trees made spring bright with promise. Summer was a hundred shades of green; fall an impressionist painting. Winters were mild, with snow as an occasional seasoning. Three years later, our community in a forest has become a subdivision with some trees. It all began when an eight-year building moratorium ended -- originally implemented because of an inadequate sewage facility. One of the first signs of what was to come became apparent when the lot next to us, the one that was that not to be built on for many years, was put on the market without our knowledge. We first learned of it when my wife, Alma, saw surveyors in the street and discovered that the lot had been sold to a builder who was putting up houses on speculation. The association had never bothered to tell us that the lot that wasn't to be sold had been sold after all. After a lot of negotiation, we managed to buy it from the builder -- for $6,000 more than he had paid for it the week before. In the beginning, the extent of the destruction was masked. Cleared building sites were still surrounded by trees. The problem was, of course, the trees were on adjoining, as yet uncleared, lots. When the builders moved on to the next lot, often months later because building was in a hopscotch pattern, the trees magically disappeared. Realtors are now happily touting homes on " sunny lots, " meaning most of the trees have been cleared away. A rich diverse forest has been replaced with the monoculture of suburban lawns. The forest teemed with animals and birds -- deer, Douglas squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, jays, juncos, woodpeckers, thrushes, grosbeaks, chickadees, owls. Some of the animals still remain. Squirrels, for example, have always managed to coexist with humans. http://www.swans.com/library/art12/rdeck066.html

8) Legislation that would add wilderness protection to more than 275,000 acres of federal land along California's North Coast cleared a key House committee Wednesday, a crucial step that virtually assures the bill will become law this year. The final deal lops about 25,000 acres of land, almost all of it from the Six Rivers National Forest in Del Norte and Humboldt counties, from the original measure Thompson introduced in the House and that Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein twice moved through the Senate. But the agreement also designates about 75,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management lands in the Cow Mountain area of Mendocino County as a " recreational management area " for off-road vehicles and mountain bikes that was not part of the original bill. The compromise was a last-minute addition to the House panel's agenda. It could come to the floor of the House as soon as next week. That would clear the way for passage by the Senate before Congress ends for the year in early October. In introducing the compromise Wednesday, Pombo told his committee the changes make the bill " more broadly supportable. " Thompson, meanwhile, said the changes don't damage his overall goal of giving the highest level of land protection to the North Coast's most spectacular wild spots. As wilderness, the areas will be closed to all mechanized access except firefighting equipment. Some privately owned property also will remain accessible but only to the landowners. Among the most spectacular areas are coastal lands in the King Range National Conservation Area along California's Lost Coast. Once open to logging and farming, the BLM said the King Range additions will become the " crown jewel " of its wilderness inventory. The original bill also called for wilderness protection for about 30,000 acres in the Cache Creek area in Lake County, a popular whitewater rafting area; a 50,000-acre expansion of the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest; 48,000 acres of additions to Siskiyou National Forest wilderness; and 53,000 acres in the proposed Yuki Wilderness Area of the Mendocino National Forest. Other rivers would be protected under national scenic river designations. Those areas remain in the bill, but exact acreages won't be known until maps are redrawn to reflect the compromise. http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/14279974p-15088410c.html

9) The nonprofit California Climate Action Registry was set up by the state six years ago to encourage corporations and government agencies to track, and ultimately reduce, their emissions. The Forest Protocols program will allow environmentally minded citizens to pay to preserve enough trees to offset their personal carbon emissions. The registry has calculated how much the timber industry loses by allowing trees to grow longer and bigger - past the time they're normally harvested. The industry would then be compensated by other companies that buy carbon credits - or shares of the trees - to offset their carThe Pacific Forest Trust manages the five parcels of timberland owned by the Fred M. van Eck Forest Foundation, and they jointly registered the 2,100-acre property with the state. Negotiations are under way to set the prices for its carbon credits. For instance, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in January asked the California Public Utilities Commission to let it start a program next year where customers could choose to pay about 3 percent more on each monthly bill, with the money earmarked to preserve trees in a registered forest. The utility pumps about 5.3 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year to supply the electricity and natural gas used by a typical household. If the homeowner opted to pay about $4.31 each month to be invested in forests, the trees would store an equivalent amount of carbon. The Conservation Fund, Nature Conservancy and California Coastal Conservancy are working on a similar program for the 23,000-acre Garcia River Forest in southwest Mendocino County, and Collins Pine Co. is considering a plan for its forests, said Diane Wittenberg, president of the state's climate registry. Laurie Wayburn, president of Pacific Forest Trust, said plans are to cut about 2.5 percent of the forest on the Humboldt County properties each year, but that's less than the annual growth rate. The older, larger trees also have greater market value once they are cut, Wayburn said. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15

053102.htm10) " I believe that the local government should determine where logging occurs so you have compatible uses and don't have conflict between neighbors, and you have sensible and logical land use in the county, " said Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt, who was on the board when the rules passed. Davenport-based Big Creek Lumber Co. disagreed and immediately sued. Meanwhile, the law took effect, but county planners decided not to consider new zoning changes to allow logging until the case was resolved. That left the Joneses with their logging application in limbo for six years. Theirs and about 20 other applications still sit in the Planning Department as county leaders wait for the case to end. If the county's stricter rules stand, many more rezoning applications are expected to be filed. That leaves property owners and loggers questioning if rezoning will ever happen. Loggers estimate supervisors took about half the county's forests, or about 60,000 acres, out of potential timber production when they passed the stricter regulations as it was not zoned for logging. The county Planning Department did not have an estimate on Friday. Cost is also an issue for rezoning applicants, as parties pay thousands of dollars for a management plan and subsequent analysis by the county Planning Department, which charges $136 an hour. Property owners hope the price of redwood will offset the costs. Big Creek pays landowners $800 to $1,000 for a tree about 130 feet tall, with a 30-inch diameter at chest height. Supporters of the new rules, like Jodi Frediani, forestry task force chair with the local chapter of the Sierra Club, blame Big Creek Lumber for stalling the rezoning process. State law requires local government to zone land for logging if certain requirements are met. Those include a parcel size of more than five acres and preparation of a management plan, among other issues. If the lawsuits hadn't been filed, property owners could have rezoned years ago, Frediani said. " They could log their property and they could almost get ready to log it again. " http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/July/16/local/stories/01local.htm

Idaho:11) COEUR D'ALENE — The U.S. Forest Service has drafted a plan that would allow fires to burn freely in northern Idaho this summer — a departure from past years, when firefighters quickly snuffed out blazes in the Bitterroot Mountain backcountry. If lighting sparks blazes on 86,500 acres of the 2.5 million-acre Idaho Panhandle National Forests, the agency will allow those naturally caused wildfires to burn, Mark Grant, fire management officer for the forests, told The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane The largely roadless area is south of the St. Joe River and includes the rugged Mallard-Larkins Pioneer Area. The plan is expected to rejuvenate wildlife habitat in the remote headwaters of the St. Joe River, Wildfires will also thin undergrowth, making the forest less prone to erupt in massive, uncontrollable fires, Grant said. " Sooner or later it's going to burn, " he said. " If you let it burn under conditions that are more favorable, it gives you fuel breaks later on. Those burns act as barriers. " Under the new plan, the agency will allow lightning-caused fire to burn only after fire managers conduct a complicated risk-assessment procedure, Grant said. Within the first eight hours, they will consider such factors as weather, topography and the proximity of dwellings. In the next few years, the Forest Service hopes to expand the policy to include the Scotchman Peaks near Sandpoint and the Salmo-Priest area northwest of Priest Lake, he said. The areas are already designated as recommended wilderness, which means logging and road-building are off-limits. http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/washingtonstate/index.ssf?/base/news-21/115300616277450.x

ml & storylist=orwashingtonMontana:12) Last week's Question of the Week asked whether logging aimed at reducing the build up of fire fuels in the forest should be exempt from the public comment process. Among 441 responses to this unscientific poll, 251 said such logging should not be exempt, and 190 said it should. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., introduced an amendment to a multi-agency budget measure earlier this month that would overturn a 2005 federal court ruling in California that rejected new Forest Service regulations curtailing the normal comment and appeal process in some cases. That amendment has been approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee and awaits action by the full Senate. http://www.helenair.com/articles/2006/07/17/opinions_top/a04071706_01.txt

Colorado:13) Local mountain biker Chris Harrison likens cutting a new mountain biking trail to composing a piece of music, taking involvement in something one loves to a whole new level. Sloan Shoemaker, executive director of Wilderness Workshop, sees the unauthorized creation of trails as bandit behavior that hurts the health of the forest. Brian Hawthorne of the Blue Ribbon Coalition, a national organization that advocates for off-road vehicle use on public lands, said he is tired of federal land managers closing off his favorite off-roading trails. All three have a stake in the White River National Forest's travel management plan, scheduled for initial release to the public on July 27. The document, once amended and approved after a 90-day public comment period, will determine the fate of more than 1,000 miles of unauthorized trails within the White River National Forest. The trails, sometimes called ghost roads, bandit trails or user-created trails, are trails used for recreation that are not officially part of the Forest Service system. Some trails will be folded into the system and will be managed along with the other 4,000 miles of roads and trails that wind their way through the " top recreation forest in the nation, " as claimed by the Forest Service's Web site. " I'd rather see a bunch of good loops than a bunch of dead ends, " Hawthorne said. Harrison, the mountain biker from Carbondale, said mountain biking trails are an amenity for the town and he hopes the Forest Service brings as many into the system as possible. " Closing (the trails) would break a lot of people's hearts, " he said, adding that mountain bikers would simply build more unauthorized trails. http://www.aspendailynews.com/article_1498614) Mancos - Aspen forests in Colorado and throughout the West are fading from the landscape, dying faster and in more places than previously expected and for reasons scientists don't understand. In every Western state, aspen mortality is increasing, U.S. Forest Service ecologists say. In the past two years, large-scale die-off of thousands of acres has been documented for the first time in Colorado by aerial surveys of prime aspen country on the Western Slope. " The aspen is in universal decline in the Intermountain West, " aspen researcher Wayne Shepperd said from the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins. " I haven't seen anything like this before in 37 years in the Forest Service. But it's suddenly very noticeable. " The aspen, the most widely dispersed tree in North America, is abundant on 3.6 million acres in Colorado. In terms of numbers of acres of shimmering white glades in the West, half of them are in Colorado. " The Colorado blue spruce might be the official state tree, but aspen pays the rent, " Shepperd said. " It's really the icon in Colorado. We're going to have some holes in the Western landscape. " http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4067886

15) SUMMIT COUNTY — Sounding nearly euphoric after two days of meetings with Colorado's congressional delegation and top U.S. Forest Service brass, Summit County Commissioner Bill Wallace said High Country residents can expect to see a surge of logging in the next 12 months. "The thought is to avoid a catastrophic fire," Wallace said. Reducing the fire danger in areas where people live close to trees made more flammable by the ravages of pine beetles has become a big issue for the state's elected officials, who, at meetings last week, agreed to work together on new laws. For Northwest Colorado Council of Government's director Gary Severson, the meeting was historic and nearly unprecedented. "I've been doing this for nearly 30 years," Severson said. "I've never seen a meeting like this. As we went around the table, they agreed to form a team. That one knocked my socks off. Wallace said legislation should help loggers. http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20060717/NEWS/60717008Michigan:

16) OSCODA — The closure — combined with the buzzing of chainsaws and hum of wood chippers — generated concern from neighbors and others who wish to preserve the campground as an old growth area. Their worries were fueled by rumors of a secret plan to thin out the Sawmill Point forest to accommodate larger camping trailers and dish antenna reception. One man secretly visited the campground to see for himself, coming away concerned by the number of solid and regal trees which had been tagged by forest service personnel with orange diamonds. The stealth was necessary, he said, because the park closure was by executive order, violation of which could land a spectator in jail or digging deep in the pocket to pay a hefty fine. He was not the only one. People are passionate about Sawmill Point. A downstate couple stole down a trail from Sidtown to watch the action, later calling the newspaper to protest the cutting of a majestic white pine which appeared to be healthy and undamaged, they said. Huron Shores Ranger Charles Andrina unequivocally denied any plan or timber cutting for the purpose of accommodating the modern aspects of camping. The campground was unsafe due to unstable trees following the storm. The act of pruning and removal of damaged trees is also potentially hazardous. The closure was solely to protect the public, he said. Assistant Ranger Nick Smelter proved it, allowing this reporter to tour the campground early Monday afternoon. Scores of trees had been uprooted by the force of the 80 mile per hour wind. Many more snapped like kindling. The evidence was clear. "Unfortunately, some of the largest trees were most susceptible," Smelter explained. "Look up and you'll see why. The canopies of big trees catch more wind." Smelter went to a couple of large trees which had been dropped by the storm on campsites. These would likely have survived the storm had they not been weakened by decades of human destruction, he said. http://www.oscodapress.com/articles/2006/07/19/news/news01.txt

Indiana:17) DNR Director Kyle Hupfer credited the state's crackdown on meth labs with rooting out the planned forest protest. "That we found a potential protest and were able to effortlessly end it before it even got started is a side benefit of our enforcement efforts," Hupfer said in the news release. Conservation police tipped off to a potential methamphetamine lab in Morgan-Monroe State Forest Thursday night found only potential protestors instead. They arrested 29-year-old Bryce W. Martin of Indianapolis on misdemeanor charges of battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. "They were in the process of cuffing this guy and they got into a wrestling match and one officer got a scratch on his eye and a bruise," Department of Natural Resources spokesman Dean Shadley said. "It may not have been intentional." Six others were cited for camping in an unauthorized area. "The arrests broke up the illegal protest activities before they were fully under way," according to a DNR news release. Shadley said the protesters had erected a "freestanding bipod" in a tree using a house door and ropes. A man on the platform climbed down after talking with the officers, Shadley said. Protesters had painted "Stop logging in the Hoosier National Forest" in big letters on a bed sheet found at the scene. "The feds recently announced clear cutting may be coming to the Hoosier National Forest, but I don't know if this is all tied together or not," Shadley s http://www.reporter-times.com/?module=displaystory & story_id=33874 & format=html

Massachusetts:18) During the pre-dawn hours on yesterday morning, two alumni of the private Middlesex School fixed themselves in school-owned trees bordering Lowell Road to protest development in Estabrook Woods, a protected forest that is partially owned by the school. " When your convictions are as strong as ours, you're willing to put your body on the line, " said Rachel Banay, Middlesex Class of 2003, adding that her perch, about 20 feet up in an oak tree, did not provide many chances to move around. " We consider ourselves legitimate stakeholders, but our concerns haven't been taken into account before, " said Banay, 21, via cell phone as the sounds of passing motorists tended to make dialog tough.The construction of two artificial surface fields and an access road suitable for emergency vehicles is tentatively scheduled to begin later this summer. Kathleen Giles, headmaster of Middlesex School, said Monday she was " taken aback " and " surprised " by the protest. " I don't know what they're trying to prove, " she said, " We're already into this project... and we're going to complete it. We're going to proceed along with what we need to do. " Giles said she and the Board of Trustees have had four meetings over the last year with alumni who protest the location of the new athletic fields. She said the school has done its best to accommodate the needs of its alumni, while focusing on the needs of the school. " We're empathetic with their feeling that they want to be heard, but our board had worked on this for 15 years and we really feel we are where we should be, " she said. As her fellow alums sat in trees Monday, Christina Pienta, a Class of 2000 graduate, said the results of talks with the school had been unsatisfactory. " The school is not responding, first of all, to any of this, and is not giving any of us a chance to speak, " she said. " It's kind of sickening that the school would want to cut down such an asset to the community to get playing fields, " said Pienta, a member of Middlesex Graduates for Estabrook. http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=135717

Canada:19) Ontario Provincial Police have charged nine protesters in conjunction with last Thursday's protest which blocked the Trans-Canada Highway. Activists blocked the Highway 17A bypass north of Kenora for the entire day as nearly 100 people protested clear-cutting taking place near Grassy Narrows First Nation, which they said was also having an impact on their rights as aboriginal people. Ontario Provincial Police made arrests over the weekend, charging nine individuals from various communities across the province with mischief. These people were released pending a court date Sept. 18. The protesters erected a 10-metre metal tripod in the middle of the Trans-Canada and suspended a woman from it. Another woman chained herself to the axle of a logging truck and others chained themselves to barrels filled with cement. The full blockade was taken down Thursday night. A provincial police spokesman on Saturday declined to provide reasons for the charges.Protesters provided conflicting descriptions, but claimed that as many as 30 police cars were involved in stopping vehicles outside the reserve, which is located one hour north of Kenora. A press release from Judy da Silva of Grassy Narrows First Nation stated the OPP came to the site of the Grassy Narrows ongoing blockade at Slant Lake to make the arrests. Organizers of the blockade said they were dumbfounded by the arrests. Kim Fry of environmental group Forest Ethics said the protesters reached an agreement with police that if the blockade was removed by Thursday evening, none of the people involved would be arrested. She said she has videotaped proof that police agreed to the arrangement.The da Silva press release stated some of the arrests are of Six Nations Warriors, who were visiting for the Earth Justice Gathering where discussions of the local environment were the focus. In a press release from the Rainforest Action Network and ForestEthics, who were active in staging Thursday's protest, said police were targeting aboriginal people in their arrests. "Instead of dealing with the root issues of neglected native land rights the authorities have decided to criminalize dissent and punish peaceful protesters," said David Sone with the Rainforest Action Network. http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/story.php?id=242395

England:20) Those who go out in the forest will be aware of the moderating impact that the trees have. In the winter months of the year it does not get so cold amongst the trees as it does in the open areas. In the summer months the reverse is true. The blanket of leaves acts as a shield preventing most of the heat of the sun from penetrating the woodland. This takes its toll on the leaves, which are in a very poor state by the end of the year. Nevertheless, it does mean that the temperature within the woodland is cooler and certainly does not reach the extreme levels that occur out in the open. Although in its early days as scrub a wood will be dense and impenetrable if left alone it will steadily grow up and thin itself out so that we can easily move around beneath the canopy. This process can be clearly seen as we walk around our forest.In my 50-plus years of walking around Epping Forest and other woodlands I have seen many strange things but never a hobgoblin or any other kind of evil spirit. I should be interested to hear of any sightings. Visitors have every reason to feel safe in the forest and I would encourage anyone to make the most of the beauty and cool shade offered by the forest's wooded areas, especially during the hot weather we are experiencing. http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/display.var.832719.0.beware_the_forest_monsters.php

Brazil:21) In Amazonas, the state that is the heartland of Amazonia, which is also the most forested and best preserved region in Brazil, the state government has come up with a long menu of positive ways to protect the forest. Making life better for those living there is the most important way forward, Virgilio Viana, the top Amazonas environment official, told me last week. That way, they will be less vulnerable to the predators. So, for the first time, these very poor people have access to credit and tax breaks. And efforts are being made to increase the quality and thus the value of their produce. Health and administrative services are coming to them - by boat - so they don't have to trek into the towns. This is imaginative and promising, but Viana was quick to add that it would probably not be enough to stop the onward march of soya. The power of the little plant is too great, especially if, as happened two years ago, China's soya farmers have a bad harvest. In the end, everybody fighting the loggers, all the way up to President Lula, knows that Brazil can't solve this alone, and should not have to. http://www.newstatesman.com/200607240028

22) It was a headline many took personally: " Vegetarians Are Ruining the Planet. " As we know from the source article for our news blurb -- and from the many readers who wrote in to emphasize this particular point -- about 80 percent of the world's soy goes to feed livestock, much of which is then eaten by non-vegetarians. So yes, meat-eaters, dog-food purchasers, leather-jacket wearers, and other sundry livestock end-users thus are about four-fifths at fault for destroying the soy-deadened parts of the Amazon. But chew on this: inadvertently helping to destroy even 20 percent of these vast Amazonian tracts is still helping to destroy the planet, is it not? Alas, we're all playing a part -- though veggies less so than meat-eaters in this instance (particularly ones who make sure their soy patties and tofu nuggets are certified organic). Anyhow, we are sincerely sorry that the headline offended many of you, dear readers. We thought, in our innocence, that it was such a clearly ridiculous assertion that it would be taken in jest. We've nothing against vegetarians, we swear -- in fact, we've even let some of them infiltrate our ranks. http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/7/19/11540/982523) KFC really does have a secret recipe – want to know what's in it? Freshly sizzling Amazon Rainforest. That's what goes into the soy that KFC's famous chickens are fed. KFC is serving up Amazon destruction by the bucket, and selling it in hundreds of restaurants throughout Europe. But KFC isn't alone. The fast food giant can trace its soy to a single American company: Cargill. Cargill owns an illegal export terminal in Brazil, that is supplied by farms operating on illegally cleared rainforest land. Almost all of the soy passing through this terminal is destined for Europe – and fast food restaurants like KFC and McDonald's. Soy traders encourage farmers to cut down the rainforest and plant massive soy crops. The traders take the soy and ship it to Europe where it is fed to animals like chickens and pigs. The animals are then turned into fast food products. Three major companies – Cargill, ADM, and Bunge - account for 60 percent of the total financing of soy production in Brazil. The Amazon rainforest is not only one of the richest and most biologically diverse regions on the planet, it is also one of the most threatened. In order to protect this ancient treasure, this unsustainable development needs to stop immediately. That's why I went to Brazil last month, to participate in an action against Cargill. Now it's YOUR turn TAKE ACTION Tell KFC to put a lid on its destruction of the Amazon rainforest. http://usactions.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=108 & ref_source=listskfc

24) On the vast expanse of water where the silty Amazon mingles with the coffee-coloured Rio Negro, Amazon Indians and church leaders floated out yesterday to bless the waters and protect them from drought. Such a prospect seems incredible in Manaus, a Brazilian port city where both the Amazon and Rio Negro are more than five miles wide and 300 metres deep. At more than 1,000 miles from the sea, the two streams can be navigated by oceangoing ships and already dwarf every other river in the world in terms of volume. But last year the worst drought in more than a century hit the Amazon basin, drying up tributaries more than a mile wide and prompting Brazil to declare a state of emergency across the entire region. Tens of thousands were cut off as rivers that are the main means of transportation were turned into mudflats and grasslands, leaving boats stranded among millions of rotting fish on the baked mud. The blessing of the rivers came at the start of a conference examining the deterioration of the Amazon basin that brings together religious leaders, politicians and scientists aboard a fleet of boats anchored in Manaus, the Amazon's main city. Ecologist Carlos Rittl said the continued removal of trees was a crucial factor in the drying of a region that has already lost 17% of its forest cover. " The science shows that 50% of the rain comes from the trees recycling the water through evaporation, which creates more rain. If you lose the trees you lose the rainfall. It cannot continue like this, " he said. Ms Da Silva said Brazil was determined to stamp out illegal logging and the destruction of the forest for ranching and growing soya beans. A clampdown over the past year has resulted in 300 people, including corrupt officials, being arrested, while 1,500 businesses have been shut down and 600,000 cubic metres of illegal logs seized. http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1822311,00.html

25) The scars are unmistakably man made. Hard-edged squares and rectangles,hundreds of acres across, hacked and burned out of the Amazon rainforest. The dark green of the canopy is lacerated with thin red lines - the illegal dirt roads that stitch together these giant clearings. Seen from the air, this fearful symmetry marks out the battle lines of an invasion that has seen the humble soya bean emerge as the greatest threat to the world's most important rainforest. On the ground, what was once a thriving ecosystem supporting at least 300 tree species for every hectare, is now a wasteland. Dead roots and dry grass crunch underfoot and the breeze throws up dust from eroded soil. Three hours' drive outside the city of Santarem in Para state, along dirt trails struck by illegal loggers, you arrive in a vast monoculture inside the Tapajos National Park. Soya fields laden with the dry brown seed pods stretch in every direction. This is Father Edilberto Sena's parish. The fiery local priest has emerged as a fierce critic of the land-grabbers, loggers, ranchers and agrobusiness multinationals pushing further and further into the rainforest. Three years ago, the agrobusiness giant Cargill, the largest privately owned company in the world, opened a soya port in Santarem. And Father Edilberto has set himself on a collision course with the Minnesota multinational that he says represents the worst of rapacious capitalism. Father Edilberto has used the church-funded Radio Rurale de Santarem as a means of fighting back against the incursions of the illegal loggers, ranchers and soya farmers, who in turn supply the grain giants. " We are small and we are fighting multinationals like Cargill - people who are using soya as a commodity. I'm sure there are at least 200,000 listening. Our objective is to educate the people, provide critical and objective news. " Last year, Brazil produced more than 50 million tons of soya across nearly 23 million hectares, an area about the size of the United Kingdom. Soya production remains relatively contained within the Amazon biome, but the decision to locate a major soya port this deep into the basin is inviting a catastrophe, according to conservation groups. In the past three years, nearly 70,000 square kilometres of the Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1181617.ece

26) We Require, That Environmental Impact Studies and Authorization Processes be performed by exempt people or organizations, under the mandate of pertinent legislation, before the already initiated mega-project of cellulose production be allowed to proceed; That government subsidies be distributed among the population and not afforded to these huge transnational cellulose combines, by means of technical support to small- and middle-size producers, programs, and projects supported by legislation aimed towards the furtherance of agroecology, small- and middle-range industry, and the agricultural and cattle-breeding activities; That the National Defense Committee denies the request for land purchasing in Brazilian borderland areas by foreign-owned companies, as required by Brazilian legislature, particularly on areas situated above the Guaranee Water Table, in its condition of an strategic resource for Brazilian hydric safety; That public cash influx be immediately curtailed, to wit, from BNDES to the Poupança Florestal Caixa/RS and that such subsidies be destined to ecologically and socially sound projects, according to the stated targets of mentioned banking stablishment. That all Federal Departments employ their attributions toward the safekeeping of the Pampa area biodiversity by withdrawing permits for the installation of new, or expansion thereof, cellulose combines, namely, Stora Enso, ARACRUZ, and Votorantin, lest we might lose our national and alimentary sovereignty. That precautionary measures be taken toward the removal and prohibition of further implanting of tree monoculture as well as that of chlorine-chemistry-employing industries in such areas that are close to waterheads next to city-captation water supply, as determined by law; That such Federal Departments employ their attributions toward the safekeeping of biodiversity, by allowing no longer the building of new impact-producing power-generating projects such as thermoelectrical and huge hydroelectrical plants. That all state and federal fundings destined to research with genetically-modified trees be otherwise destined to ecologically and socially sound scientific projects; That genetically-modified trees be banned from Brazil; That the true foresting and reforesting be fostered, with the employment of native trees and according to the features of pertinent ecosystems; That public edicts for open presentation of new scientific studies and projects for education and ecology in the Pampa area, the most recently acknowledged national bioma, be opened and released. Sign on at: http://www.defesabiogaucha.org/

India:27) A large number of trees were cut in the Kamat property at Amadi-Keri, Ponda by obtaining the trees felling permission in the name of a deceased person. This has exposed the callous attitude of the forest department in issuing permission without verifying whether the applicant is alive or dead. Some of the Kamat family members obtained the information under the Right to Information Act and found out that the permission were granted in the name of late Narayan Govind Kamat, who passed away on August 15, 1975. The family members has now lodged a complaint against the forest officer, who was responsible for granting permission for tree cutting in the name of the deceased. The department always seeks an affidavit from the applicant before issuing the tree felling permission. In this case, the applicant had sworn-in that he was Narayan Govind Kamat and sought permission for cutting of trees. The copy of the affidavit was circulated to the media by the Kamat family members. http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news & Story_ID=071720

Cambodia:28) Thirty years after Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge tore Cambodia apart, the country is facing a different kind of crisis: rampant deforestation. That's partly due to illegal logging for the timber trade, but it's exacerbated by the charcoal industry. Nine out of ten households in the capital, Phnom Penh, depend on charcoal for cooking fuel – and the chance of that proportion coming down any time soon is slim: for most people, there simply aren't any affordable alternatives. Over two billion people – one third of the world's population – depend on biomass as their main cooking fuel. To all intents and purposes, this means they have to burn wood to eat, literally cutting down trees to prepare breakfast, lunch or supper. Cooking on open fires doesn't just mean deforestation on a massive scale: it means women and children suffering from the ill-effects of filling their lungs with soot and smoke; more carbon spiralling into the atmosphere, and fewer trees to soak it up. Faced with this, local engineers working for French NGO GERES have redesigned the traditional Cambodian stove so that it uses around a quarter less fuel, cooks more cleanly and quickly, and lasts longer, too. It doesn't involve any complex technology, and can be made by the same local potters who've been producing stoves for generations. And each new stove saves one tonne of carbon a year. http://www.greenfutures.org.uk/features/default.asp?id=2541Philippines:

29) Cagayan de Oro City -- The conduct of a massive baseline survey for the sustainable development of Cagayan de Oro City's 3,000-hectare multi-purpose city forest and eco-tourism park will be in full swing starting July 17. The socio-economic survey and physical inventory of the proposed eco-tourism park will likely cover portions of the residual forests in upland barangays Tagpangi, Dansolihon, Taglimao, Pigsag-an, Tuburan and Tumpagon, considered as the city's main remaining watershed area. Members from the different technical working group, led by the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLENRO) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-X) will conduct on-site interviews to determine the socio-economic profile of residents in the covered barangays. The survey will also determine the actual perimeter and boundaries of the entire forest; identify species of plants, trees, herbs, and animals, including potential eco-tourism sites such as caves, falls, among other attractions that are found within the city forest. The gathered data and information will be used as basis for the preparation and formulation of a project proposal of the city government's application for a P100-million financial grant from the European Commission, which will be submitted late this year. The grant, which will be applied for by the city government, is intended to finance the rehabilitation of the multi-purpose city forest through massive reforestation and its sustainable development as an eco-tourism park. http://www.pia.gov.ph/news.asp?fi=p060718.htm & no=16

30) BUTUAN CITY – Illegal loggers have switched to a new modus operandi in scalping the forests in Caraga with their so-called " stealth-type " operations which was busted just the other day by an anti-illegal logging task force. Regional Executive Director Benjamin T. Tumaliuan said his team caught up with the " stealth-type " illegal logging operation of timber smugglers on the upstream of Agusan River and seized over a million pesos worth of illegally-cut logs of mixed species. The estimated 1,600 pieces of illegally-cut logs were discovered by Forestry Supervisor Leonardo S. Ranara and Forester Greg V. Bayotas in Batohon, Esperanza, Agusan del Sur and Bit-os Monitoring Station in Butuan City. They were hidden and concealed under towed rafted agricultural tree products along Agusan River to avoid detection – thus, called " stealth-type " operation. http://www.tempo.com.ph/news.php?aid=25901Solomon Islands:31) Solomon Islands Central Bank Governor, Rick Hou says better legislation is needed to regulate logging. He says resource owners aren't getting the maximum benefits from logging and the country's dependence on logging is leading to an economic disaster. Last year, Solomon Islands extracted 1.1 million cubic metres of logs, the highest ever for the country. Over the same period, log exports accounted for two thirds of the country's total exports. Mr Hou says at the current rate of harvesting, the country's forests will last for only six years. "There should be laws and regulations strengthened to ensure that we derive maximum benefit out of it. And with this windfall gain we should be investing in other areas." Rick Hou says such areas include helping resource owners to replant trees and improve infrastructure such as roads and buildings. He says he hopes the new government will re-visit a revised Forestry Act to ensure the logging industry is sustainable. http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read & id=2538532) The Solomon Islands Forest Industries Association is blaming governments past and present for the depletion of natural forests. The head of the Association, Kaipua Tohibangu, says the Solomon's problems would have been averted if the government had accepted its proposal for plantation forests more than a decade ago. He says under current government laws and regulations, there are no incentives for foreign logging companies to go into downstream processing of forest products. His comments come after the regional assistance mission special co-ordinator, James Batley, warned that the rate of logging was unsustainble. Now, Mr Tohibangu is calling on RAMSI to do someting to prevent the collapse of the forests industry. http://www.pacificislands.cc/pina/pinadefault2.php?urlpinaid=23327

Indonesia:33) We aim to focus on catching more financial backers. We will go after them with multiple indictments, including charges of money laundering and tax evasion. If they carry out their operations in protected forests, they will also be charged with violating the conservation law. All of this is in an effort to create a deterrent effect. If we fail to end illegal logging this year, efforts to revive our forestry industry will not succeed. One of the reasons the industry is dying is because wood products made from illegal timber are too cheap. Recent reports released by environmental groups said the increasing illegal logging is driven by growing timber consumption in the United States, United Kingdom, and China. They also said some of our neighboring countries laundered illegally cut timber from Indonesia. What has the government done to address these issues? These facts show that the market is unbalanced. At present, the global demand for timber has reached 300 million cubic meters a year. Countries that sell popular kinds of timber such as Merbau and Meranti cannot meet the demand. This drives illegal logging. The other problem is that there has been a double standard in the international timber trade. Many importing countries apply strict regulations on wood products from Indonesia, but not from other countries like China and Malaysia, even though some of the timber exported by these countries might have been illegally harvested in Indonesia. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp

34) Sabo village chief Yakob Rahman recently expressed concern about the welfare of his people, two-thirds of whom live in poverty. Some are evacuees from a natural disaster on Mount Colo, Una Una island, in 1983, and the others are new arrivals. According to Yakob, who teaches the Koran, residents were looking forward to a transmigration program offered by the government due to high poverty rate in the village. They were hoping that the program would pave the way for a better future. Ecologically, the prospective transmigration site is deemed unsuitable as it borders Mount Lumut forest reserve and the upper reaches of the river which is a catchment area. It also lies between Balingara river to the south and Balanggala river to the north. Campaign director of environmental group Merah Putih Foundation, Badri Djawara, said that five villages stretching along the coast of Tomini Bay could be submerged if the rivers suddenly burst their banks due to the impact of illegal logging, with Sabo and Padauloyo villages likely to bear the brunt of flooding. The Sabo transmigration program is a development project using the cacao plantation cooperative scheme, which would utilize 2,463.5 hectares of the 5,000 hectares reserved for the transmigration site. However, it has not yet been approved by the forestry ministry. A study in 2004 indicated that 1,300 ha of the 2,463.5 ha could hold as many as 600 transmigrant families, and a survey in 2005 indicated that the remaining 1,156.5 ha could accommodate another 400 families. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp

35) With a dozen agencies supervising the capital's land management and at least four cities ecologically affected by its changing face, Jakarta needs an interregional body to manage the city's open green spaces, urban planning experts say. " It is a complicated matter concerning various perspectives, " the head of research and public policy analysis at environmental group Walhi Jakarta, M. Hasbi Azis, said last week. " We need a special body to facilitate talks on how to plan and manage our open green space, " he added.Currently, some 7,250 hectares (9 percent) of Jakarta's open green space is separately managed by the city spatial planning agency, the city parks agency, the cemetery agency, the transportation agency and several other institutions. Ecologically, the management of open space in Greater Jakarta has an effect on all of Jakarta's municipalities and surrounding cities. As defined in the 2000-2010 Jakarta spatial plan, open green space is an area dominated by green foliage and dedicated to the preservation of unique habitats, agriculture and the environment. Jakarta plans to increase the percentage of open green space to 13.94 percent of its total area by 2010, a smaller target than the 26 percent stated in the city's 1985-2005 spatial plan. " There is still not a clear definition of (open green space), " a representative of the city spatial planning agency said during a recent discussion hosted by Walhi Jakarta. While the parks agency defines green space by foliage, the forestry agency defines it by standing logs while the cemetery agency only looks at square meters, he said. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20060717.C01 & irec=0

36) With much of the forest in Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan denuded, Papua stands as a last frontier of Indonesia's remaining pristine forests. The world's second-largest island still contains an extensive area of ancient forests, with trees aged hundreds of years home to many plant and animal species that have yet to be identified. Environmentalists activists refer to the jungle in Papua as " Paradise Forests " . However, they are under serious threat from illegal logging, carried out by international syndicates eyeing Papua's endemic merbau tree, one of the world's most valuable sources of timber in terms of quality and price. The Jakarta Post's Tb. Arie Rukmantara has written three articles that examine the complex issues behind the illicit felling and rampant smuggling of merbau timber from Papua to China, the smuggling routes and what the law has to say in dealing with these issues. A fourth is published on today's page 9, containing an excerpt of an exclusive interview with Forestry Minister Malem S. Kaban about what he would like to do to address the problems. When European explorers first " discovered " the island of Papua and named it Nueva Guinea (New Guinea) in the early 16th century, they quickly realized that the world's second-largest island after Greenland boasted forests of abundant natural wealth. Historical archives of Papua's natural history compiled by the government in 1962 say an early study by European botanists found trees reaching 100 meters high in some places with webs of branches up to 45 meters long. Trees covered almost all the island's land mass, home to thousands of unique plant and animal species. Much more recently, a group of Conservation International scientists discovered a host of new species deep in the forests surrounding the remote Papuan mountain of Foja, which they said was " the closest place to the Garden of Eden you are going to find on Earth. " http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp

Malaysia:37) KOTA KINABALU - Don't worry – that is Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman's message to all those concerned about logging of two forest reserves bequeathed as Malaysia's biodiversity gift to the world. "As far as I am concerned, and as my Forestry director has stated, we guarantee that it won't damage the environment," he said when asked if the state intended to re-negotiate the permits given to log Malua and Ulu Segama reserves. Brushing aside fears that the two reserves could be destroyed before logging came to a halt at the end of next year, Musa said reduced impact logging (RIL) techniques would be enforced. RIL, he noted, was done at the Deramakot forest reserve, which proved that logging and wildlife, like the orang utan, could co-exist. "I think it (logging in Malua and Ulu Segama) poses no problem," he told reporters after opening the Palm Oil Industry Cluster (Sabah) Sdn Bhd office here. The Malua and Ulu Segama reserves encircle the Danum Valley conservation area which together with Kinabalu Park and the Maliau Basin will eventually become part of a one million hectare conservation zone in Sabah. In March, Musa had announced that logging would cease in the reserves by the end of next year. The state-owned Yayasan Sabah, through subsidiary Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd, is going ahead with its plan to allow contractors to log the remaining 30% of the Malua and Ulu Segama reserves, which covers a total of 236,825ha. The other 70% has already been logged. Environmentalists are upset that the state wanted to continue logging in the reserves, which have a high concentration of endangered wildlife. 38) KOTA KINABALU - The Federal government will give Sabah a RM2-million grant over 10 years to develop forest plantation and the Sabah Timber Industries Association (STIA) attributed this to the great made efforts by the Chief Minister, Datuk Musa Aman and Datuk Anifah Aman, the Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities. STIA president Datuk James Hwong said the grant is timely and could spur the industry to greater heights. The STIA is very confident to contribute its part to ensure the forest industry remained as strong as ever. Speaking at the Lumber Night 2006 here, Hwong said timber is not a sunset industry as yet because last year, some RM3.9billion worth of timber products were exported, contributing to RM462 million in timber royalties to the State government. He said it is still an important industry and that everyone should start to invest in sustainable forest and tree-planting. Hwong said due credit must be given to the chief minister who has vast experience in logging and saw-milling and he was confident that the chief minister will formulate a perfect solution to restore the industry to its heydays. http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/tue/jul18b2.htm

39) The Malua reserve has over 800 orangutans while Ulu Segama is home to about 3,000 of the primates. "If any wildlife is affected by the logging, certain mitigating measures should be taken such as creating forest corridors or even relocating the animals," said Dr Edwin. Former state Tourism, Culture and Environment permanent secretary Datuk Wilfred Lingham said that although the Government had the right to allow the logging, there must be strict supervision. "There should be no logging along steep slopes and riverbanks," he said. Malaysian Nature Society executive director Dr Loh Chi Leong said the forest reserves had been logged before and were not considered pristine areas. However, since the forest reserves were bordering the Danum Valley and the Maliu Basin, they served as an important buffer zone and a link between the two. "The state should clarify what logging rights they have agreed to and the reduced impact logging regiment carried out. Those in the timber industry said that EIA reports were required for all logging operations. However, they believe the EIA could be circumvented by dividing the concession area into small blocks of less than 20ha. Meanwhile, a Chief Minister's Department spokesperson said Yayasan Sabah director Tan Sri Khalil Jamalul and Forestry Department director Sam Mannan would hold a press conference on the planned logging today. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/7/17/nation/14858112 & sec=nation

Australia:40) GUNNS Ltd will continue to export old-growth woodchips from Triabunna and Burnie but is adamant that no old-growth woodchips will be used in its $1.45 billion pulp mill. Project manager Les Baker says even the sawmill residues to be used in a biofuel plant at the Long Reach site will not use wood from old-growth trees. The biofuel plant generates electricity from wood waste and is used to dry pulp. Mr Baker said yesterday Gunns would take the measures to ensure it retained a certificate under the Australian Forestry Standard. " There is chain-of-custody certification and we can track every tonne of wood to this mill and there will be no old-growth wood used in this mill, " he said. Mr Baker said old-growth woodchip exports would be retained to support the company's sawmilling industry in the state. Mr Baker defended Gunns' boast that there would not be " additional intensification of forestry operations " despite a predicted increase to nearly seven million tonnes of woodchip harvest by 2017. " Gunns has been very wise in investing in plantations and growing trees so we are able to increase the sustainable yield of forest resources in this state, " he said. The increased yield would come from private land. Mr Eastment said the Gunns statement meant " no extra trees would be removed from native forests on crown land " . Plantation wood has a higher fibre yield. http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19825198%255E3462,00.html