118 Earth's Tree News

[Guest guest]

Hey tree friends, 43 news items for you. The subject and number ofeach is listed below. The article follows further below:--British Columbia: 1) Save Clayoquot Sound, 2) McLeod Lake tribe get more cutting rights, 3) Government woodlot investigation in Kanaka creek and Blue Mountain,--Washington: 4) Land trade w/ Olympic NP and Quileute tribe,--Oregon: 5) Logging and protests start on the 7th, 6) More Biscuit roadless forest to sold, 7)Thinning scam in the Illinois valley, 8) Governor statement on roadless logging, 9) eco-rebuttal to Governor statement--California: 10) Save Tejon Ranch, 11) Fire Breaks don't work, Splats do,--Idaho: 12) Discover a widening trove of arborglyphs, 13) Blasting log Jams in a wilderness--Montana: 14) Mountain bikers upset Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF plan --Texas: 15) State Park fiscal thieves--New Hampshire: 16) Abandoned towns in White Mountain NF--Kentucky: 17) Daniel Boone NF plans--Virginia: 18) Crow's Nest Peninsula, a rare old forest,--Alabama: 19) Logging biggest industry and log trucks are big hazard,--Florida: 20) 74,000 acres protected so a developer can build a new city, --US Southeast: 21) Pine plantations increase C02 emissions,--USA: 22) Climate change tree atlas 23) Privatizing federal lands, 24) 546 Scientists oppose salvage logging,--Canada: 25) Oilsands destroying the Boreal, 26) No penalty for Golf course tree removals--Lebanon: 27)War destroys Greenery--Russia: 28) Canada pushes shift to wood frame housing--Brazil: 29) Selective logging begets clearcutting,--Latin America: 30) Deforestation continues despite plantation promise,--India: 31) Failure to identify forest to be diverted for Kol Dam--Mongolia: 32) China moves in on Mongolian forest--Cambodia: 33) UN Praise for jailing timber thieves--Japan: 34) End of an era for chopsticks--Philippines: 35) Traveling rainforest exhibit--Malaysia: 36) Resource Minister wants less logging 37) Rainforest Tourism Symposium, 38) illegal logging kingpin denies wrongdoing, --Indonesia: 39) APRIL loggers plants Acacia and Palm on 1/3 of a million hectacres, 40) Logging benefits locals, 41) Farmers busted for growing Cashew trees, 42) Riau province to seize burning forestlands, --New Zealand: 43) Value of plantation pine declines, British Columbia:1) VANCOUVER - A half dozen environmental groups, including Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council, say they are shocked that Clayoquot Sound - designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and a region the groups fought to save - is once again under threat from logging in pristine valleys. First Nations and the BC government quietly announced, on Friday, newly approved plans that allow logging in the remaining pristine valleys of Clayoquot Sound,- the largest and last cluster of intact valleys left on Vancouver Island. " For many of us who fought long and hard to ensure the protection of these forests, this is our worst nightmare, " said Tzeporah Berman, Program Director of ForestEthics and a coordinator of the Clayoquot protests of the early nineties. " We urge governments to reconsider this devastating move. " Clayoquot Sound became an area of international prominence when a government decision to allow logging in the fragile rainforest came under intense scrutiny from major environmental groups and the international marketplace. Debate over the future of the region led to the largest civil disobedience protests in Canada's history with over 10,000 people standing on logging blockades and more than 800 people arrested. A 1999 agreement signed by environmental groups, First Nations and the logging company McMillan Bloedel to voluntarily put the pristine valleys off limits to logging signaled the end of intense campaigns. Despite Plan approvals that open up the potential for logging, environmental groups continue to seek permanent protection of the remaining pristine valleys. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2006/01/c2680.html2) In a brief ceremony today at the Native Friendship Centre in Prince George, the McLeod Lake Band signed an agreement with the Ministry of Forests. The agreement gives the Band access to 175,000 cubic metres of Mountain Pine beetle wood in both the Mackenzie and Prince George Timber Supply Areas. Minister of Forests and Range, Rich Coleman says the five year agreement will not only create new opportunities for the McLeod Band, but it will also help battle the pine beetle infestation. " The agreement signed today enhances our position as a major contributor to the Northern Interior forest economy, " said Chief Alec Chingee. Under Duz Cho Logging, the Band has contracts with Abitibi and Canfor. Chingee says like all logging operations his Band's operations are being hampered by a shortage of trucks. Chingee also says this will help compensate his people for the loss of traditional practices on lands that have been impacted by the beetle. To date, the Ministry of Forests and Range has reached agreements with 108 First Nations, granting access to more than 17.1 million cubic metres of timber and sharing $121.4 million in revenue. Coleman says at least two more such agreements will be signed within the next couple of days, and another 70 applications could be made. http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/3203/3/mcleod+band+signs+deal+for+mountain+pine+beetle+tre

es3) The investigation of the 276-hectare BCIT Forest Society woodlot near Kanaka Creek concluded that the woodlot's streamside management, and erosion and sediment control activities are appropriate. The investigation of Blue Mountain Woodlot Limited's 400-hectare woodlot on Blue Mountain concluded that a government-created recreation strategy should be finished to help resolve recreational use conflicts at the woodlot. " Our investigation of the BCIT Forest Society woodlot determined that management meets, and sometimes exceeds, legal requirements for streamside protection. A public concern was whether woodlot activities would protect habitat for Pacific water shrew, a species at risk. The woodlot is not obliged to manage for Pacific water shrew, nonetheless, it currently comes close to what government could require, " said board vice-chair Geoff Battersby. " At Blue Mountain, our investigation found that competing recreational uses and population growth around Maple Ridge are indeed stressing the land, " he said, " and while the woodlot manager has no authority to restrict recreational use on Crown land, the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts can and should work with recreational users to finalize and implement the recreational management plan that was initiated in 2003. " Both woodlots are part of the 4,400-hectare Blue Mountain provincial forest, which has seen a substantial increase in recreational traffic as the population of the Fraser Valley has expanded. This news release and more information about the board are available on the Forest Practices Board Web site at http://www.fpb.gov.bc.caWashington:4) For half a century, the Quileute Indians pleaded with the federal government to add land to their tiny reservation on the Pacific Coast. When their patience waned, they launched a two-pronged, modern-day assault. First, the tribe hired a publicist from the other Washington, who announced that a tsunami might crush the Indians' sea-level school, day care center and senior center. To make the point, Quileute children held a memorial service in January for young people killed a year earlier by the Indonesian tsunami, and the tribe issued a news release describing the "daily menace" the threat of tsunami held for their hamlet, La Push. The park, a tourist destination with old-growth rain forest, jagged peaks and migrating salmon, has a long history of expansion across the Olympic Peninsula. And rarely does the National Park Service return land to its previous owners, said John Calhoun, director of the Olympic Natural Resources Center, which is managed by the University of Washington, in nearby Forks. Like most tribes, the Quileutes, whose tradition says they are descended from wolves after a supernatural transformation, have a long history of negotiation with settlers. The Quileutes have offered to hand ownership of the eight acres to the park, which has already built a parking lot and a restroom on the land at the edge of the popular Rialto Beach. The tribe has also offered permanent access to the parking lot for a Second Beach, to the south, which is admired by photographers for its offshore rock formations and storm-driven driftwood. The beach is federal property, but the parking lot is indisputably on the reservation. The Quileutes closed the parking lot last October to pressure the Park Service, effectively taking Second Beach hostage. The park was forced to close the beach and its trail, and complaints poured in from tourists and residents. The tribe wants Olympic National Park to hand over 750 acres on higher ground. Park officials say their final offer is 274 acres, of which 200 can be used for development, said William G. Laitner, superintendent of the park. "I think the tribe is negotiating in good faith," Mr. Laitner said. "It's time to settle it." http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/us/30beach.html?_r=1 & ref=us & oref=sloginOregon:

5) After years of tireless work by millions of Americans on behalf of Wildlands, August 7th is now the day when logging begins in Mike's Gulch, located in the extraordinary South Kalmiopsis Roadless Area of the Siskiyou-Rogue River National Forest. A massive protest to decry this precedent-setting destruction will take place at the Siskiyou-Rogue River National Forest Service office, 333 W. 8th St. in Medford at noon on August 7th. After the rally, all who choose to are invited to participate in a peaceful act of civil disobedience. We plan to express our discontent with Bush forest policy by staging a peaceful sit-in or simple line-crossing. Details will not likely be worked out until the morning of the 7th but all are welcome to participate on that day. This event is designed for the whole family. Please bring everyone you love. Our message is " Roadless is Priceless. " http://www.o2collective.org6) Another inventoried roadless area timber salvage sale in the 2002 Biscuit fire area will be offered during an oral auction on Friday in Medford. Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest officials say the nearly 8-million-board-foot Blackberry unit containing largely fire-killed Douglas fir trees in the Gold Beach Ranger District is appraised at $317,853. Covering about 274 acres, the unit would be logged by helicopter and would require no new roads, according to forest spokeswoman Patty Burel. " There will be no new road building, temporary or permanent, " she said. " It will retain its roadless characteristics. " But those opposed to the sales say logging will permanently scar the North Kalmiopsis roadless area where the Blackberry and Mike's Gulch, another salvage sale, are located. The Mike's Gulch area was sold in June but has yet to be logged. Salvage opponents say removing the dead timber will harm the environment, and that a new forest is already emerging out of the ashes in the form of new seedlings. " The Bush administration said they would protect roadless forests as state petitions were created, " said Rolf Skar of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project based in Grants Pass. " By putting the North Kalmiopsis Roadless Area on the auction block they're breaking their promise and betraying the public trust. " http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0729/local/stories/blackberry.htm7) GRANTS PASS - Timber sales designated as commercial thinning by the Bureau of Land Management have raised concerns in two rural communities in the Illinois River Valley near the California border. The sales amount to about 4,600 acres, with plans to produce about 10 million board feet of timber. But the sales are adjacent to the communities of Selma and Takilma, which have shown strong opposition to forest policy in the past. "They have a much different style and opinion about forest management than we do," said Vince Randall, BLM timber staff officer, of the members of the vocal environmental community in the towns. Orville Camp, of Selma, has been leading the opposition to BLM timber sale planning. He wants crews to take only dead or dying trees, no matter the size, and leave the forest canopy intact, compared to the BLM's plan to retain 40 percent to 60 percent of the canopy to slow a devastating crown fire. Camp contends many of the 16- to 24-inch trees are part of the last islands of native forest in the Illinois Valley, critical to red tree voles, spotted owls and other species. BLM officials say they also plan to thin 7,000 acres of small trees to reduce fire danger. There will also be work on habitat improvement for fish, wildlife and plants, and recreation enhancement. But the agency said it will not leave behind any logging debris, or slash, that could create more fire hazard. Camp claims the BLM is using fuel hazard reduction as an excuse to cut more timber. http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2006/07/28/news/news07072806.txt8) " I'm disappointed that the Bush Administration has chosen to undertake another salvage logging operation in an inventoried roadless area of the Biscuit Complex. I have repeatedly urged the Bush Administration to refrain from logging in Oregon's two million acres of roadless areas while our lawsuit to protect the Clinton roadless rule moves forward. Also, the Bush Administration should avoid such divisive measures until Oregon communities have an opportunity to weigh in on this important issue regarding our state's natural heritage. The lawsuit filed by Oregon, New Mexico, California and Washington will receive a hearing next week in Federal District Court in San Francisco. I hope to win the lawsuit, and that the court will issue an injunction to prevent the sale in Mike's Gulch. I will also ask the court to enjoin the sale on the Blackberry Inventoried Roadless Area." --Gov. Ted Kulongoski http://www.ktvz.com/story.cfm?nav=oregon & storyID=160849) Cheap Grace: Kulongoski has completely stopped enforcing the (pathetic, inadequate) two trees per acre requirement for private land clearcuts.It's easy to complain about policies you have no control over (federal lands) while encouraging deforestation on lands you do have control over. Mark Robinowitz mark California:10) Please take action today to help preserve southern California's largest and most valuable unprotected natural area, Tejon Ranch. Located between Los Angeles and Bakersfield near the Interstate 5 " Grapevine, " the 271,000-acre Tejon Ranch embodies a diverse, natural California landscape and is home to the critically endangered California condor. From ancient oak groves to forests of Joshua trees and Pinyon pines, Tejon Ranch represents the quintessential California natural landscape. Tejon also contains many Native American cultural and sacred sites and is steeped in California history. The current property owner, Tejon Ranch Company, is aggressively pursuing construction of a series of large-scale developments that would become the cornerstone for unchecked urban sprawl from Los Angeles to Bakersfield to Lancaster. The developments would carve out Tejon's natural heart, jeopardize the California condor, and bring bulldozers, smog and gridlock to one of southern California's last, relatively untouched rural landscapes. To preserve Tejon's natural and cultural heritage for future generations, the Center for Biological Diversity is campaigning for the protection of Tejon Ranch as a new National Park or State Park. Located within 40 miles of the largest population center in the state, Tejon Ranch is an ideal location for a new natural park. Please support the purchase and the creation of a 245,000-acre Tejon National Park or State Park, to be managed for wildlife habitat, landscape connectivity and low impact recreation. Send a letters to decision makers. http://www.savetejonranch.org/11) Jeff Brown runs the Sagehen Field Station in the Tahoe National Forest -- ground zero in a new strategy on how to handle forest fires. U.C. Berkeley researchers are spending hundreds of hours measuring every tree and counting every twig on scientifically chosen plots of land. Gary Roller, U.C. Berkeley researcher: " Take all that data and you can put it in a computer and you can ultimately calculate how many tones per acre is on the ground of dead fuel. " Once they know how much fuel there is, they'll use a three-dimensional laser map to figure out how fire will behave on different types of terrain. The old method of slowing fires was a fire break -- but no more. Warren Alford, Sierra Nevada Forest Protection Campaign: " The traditional idea that you need to have this big bare area of ground to stop a fire has essentially been debunked. " So instead of fire breaks that are bare strips of cleared ground, the new fire strategy calls for " splats " -- that stands for " strategically placed area treatments. " Splats are areas of the forest where small trees are taken out, the ground fuel is burned away in a controlled fire, and the big trees remain. Researcher Gary Roller took us to an area that's already been thinned to resemble a splat. " There are hardly any under-story trees, no seedlings or sapling of any size. There is nice spacing here between the trees, and the crowns are not overlapping. " Researchers believe this thinned out forest is what the Sierra used to look like, not this densely packed forest we're more used to seeing now. http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=assignment_7 & id=4417586Idaho:

12) As anthropologists have spent decades combing the red rock landscape of the Southwest for petroglyphs, the prehistoric scrawlings of American Indians, researchers in the Northwest are just beginning to discover a widening trove of arborglyphs -- 19th and 20th century tree carvings tattooed on the bark of an aspen or cedar by Basque sheepherders. Scholars say the drawings provide a blueprint for Basque immigration patterns across the western United States and unlatch a window into the psyche of the solitary sheepherder. " These give us insight into a group that largely did not leave behind a written word, " said John Bieter, the executive director of the Cenarrusa Center for Basque Studies at Boise State University. Basques hail from a semiautonomous region joining the Pyrenees of northern Spain and a slice of coastal territory in southern France. Their culture and unique language are of mysterious origins, but Basques are believed to be some of the oldest inhabitants of Europe. On the heels of the California Gold Rush in 1850s, Basques who had already emigrated to South America followed the ore's elusive path across the West in what historians call a " secondary migration. " Basques quickly branched out to sheepherding, a common 19th century parallel to many of today's migrant labor options, Bieter said. Soon after, tree etchings began appearing in the alpine hollows of California, then Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming and other western states. Throughout the forest, the legacies of men like Julio Ramon are etched into bark. In an undated inscription from the Crosscut Trail aspen grove in the Boise National Forest, Ramon trumpets a patriotic cheer into the empty wilderness: " Gora ETA. " The political maxim -- roughly " Long Live ETA " -- was the rallying cry of the armed Basque separatist group. It is most common in tree engravings among a second wave of sheepherders who likely lived in Spain under the nationalist dictator Francisco Franco, Bieter said. http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2006/07/30/news/regional/a3c67aa0b46cef46872571ba0

020fe3b.txt13) Last week's dynamiting of a logjam on the Salmon River in central Idaho's Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness has prompted criticism from groups who say federally protected reserves are no place for high-explosive intrusions on nature. The logjam, the result of a washout from a sudden storm last Sunday, forced 250 whitewater rafters on guided trips to camp upstream for three days until Forest Service officials removed the obstruction. Agency officials analyzed several options, including waiting for spring floods to wash out the logs jammed into the tight Pistol Creek Rapids. They also considered evacuating boaters. While guides and outfitters who earn millions from rafting trips annually say blasting was a " common sense " solution, George Nickas, the Missoula, Mont.-based director of Wilderness Watch, said letting human schedules dictate wilderness management goes against the whole idea of what wilderness is about: protecting an area where man is a visitor, but doesn't remain. His group argues for strict interpretation of the 1964 law that created wilderness areas. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_ID_Logjam_Debate.htmlMontana: 14) While I applaud the spirit of cooperation shown in the Montana Wilderness Association/logging companies' joint proposal for managing the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest, I need to point out that mountain bicyclists stand to lose many popular trails, and our loss is no gain for the national forest. We are a quiet form of human-powered recreation, and science has shown our impacts are similar to hikers'. Under the proposal, 573,000 acres will become recommended wilderness, up from 249,000 in the Preferred Alternative presented by the Forest Service. In this acreage are more than 275 miles of single-track trails that will be closed to bicycles. Here's the rub: Mountain bikers, just like hikers and equestrians, cherish narrow trails and opportunities for solitude. Unfortunately, we stand to be banned from many backcountry areas we've ridden for nearly 20 years without adversely affecting the land. http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/07/29/opinion/letters/53-reader-3.txtTexas:15) " They're not only threatening to close down the railroad, but they're also threatening to close down a lot of state parks, " visitor Travis Shelton said, referring to the recently announced prospect that further budget cuts could shutter as many as 18 low-performing state parks. Years of thin budgets and legislators' siphoning of sporting-goods sales taxes intended for parks have taken a toll statewide that only a large infusion of cash can reverse, parks advocates say. Legislators switched park funding from cigarette taxes to sporting-goods sales taxes in 1993, then capped the amount dedicated to parks at $32 million. More recently, lawmakers have skimmed nearly $12 million of that into the general fund. Despite the flat or declining funding, park revenues rose to $32.2 million last year, and their statewide economic impact is estimated at $1.2 billion annually, according to the Parks and Wildlife Department. The parks issue came to the forefront last autumn when the Parks and Wildlife Commission mulled over the sale of 46,000 acres of rugged wilderness at Big Bend Ranch State Park, which abuts the more famous Big Bend National Park in far West Texas. Public outcry helped persuade commissioners to unanimously reject the proposal and shed light on the agency's financial struggles. Libertarian James Werner said he, unlike the other four candidates, doesn't think more tax money is the answer and instead supports private land trusts to preserve open spaces. " We should not try to wring more blood out of the taxpayer stone, " Werner said. Dabney, a career parks man, said the issue is about money and not politics, and both major parties have held the purse strings since 1992. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4081704.htmlNew Hampshire:16) There are dozens of villages like Thornton Gore in the White Mountain National Forest, abandoned by settlers in favor of homesteads in the West, life in New Hampshire's growing cities or a steady wage in factories to the south. The forest has reclaimed hundreds more neglected sawmills and the sites of countless logging camps, pushing birch tress and frost heaves up through once sturdy and seemingly permanent structures. The families settled around 1800. In the decades that followed, they built a church, several schoolhouses and the mill. By the 1880s, the first farms were sold for timberland. Russard figures the land was beginning to lose its nutrient value after years of being worked, and the generations that left home to fight in the war chose not to return to farming life. Around 1882, the sawmill was converted to produce bobbins for the textile mills to the south. Three years later, the New Hampshire Land Co., a major timber harvester, bought it. By the turn of the century, the company owned all but two parcels in the village, Russard said. Most of the timber barons had little interest in the buildings they would acquire. They also had little need to tear them down. So the homes stood empty until years of weather and overgrowth cracked foundations, opened roofs and caused the walls to collapse. http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060730/REPOSITORY/607300376

Kentucky:17) A U.S. Forest Service reviewing officer has affirmed revised plans for managing the Daniel Boone National Forest, rejecting appeals by forest industry and environmental groups. The Land and Resource Management Plan was released two years ago, and Daniel Boone National Forest officials have been in the process of implementing it since then, pending the outcome of the various appeals. But, with reviewing officer Frederick Norbury having overruled those appeals, the plan now moves ahead essentially unchanged, said Kimberly Feltner, a spokeswoman for the Daniel Boone National Forest in Winchester. " The revised Daniel Boone Forest plan of 2004 basically was upheld on all accounts, " Feltner said yesterday. The plan is intended to guide management decisions for more than 700,000 acres of the national forest over the next 10 to 15 years. The Daniel Boone is scattered over 21 Kentucky counties. The new plan calls for more logging and increased use of controlled, or prescribed, fires. The plan drew criticism almost as soon as the Forest Service rolled it out two years ago. Environmental groups contended that the plan was too friendly to logging, while forestry groups argued it was too restrictive. http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/15151020.htmVirginia:18) In an analysis of vegetation and habitat, the report says the forest blanketing most of the land is unusual. Though it's unknown how much of the original forest remains, trees over 4 feet in diameter are not uncommon. " Virtually the entire Crow's Nest peninsula is forested with a mature stand of mixed hardwoods that is considered one of the finest, if not the finest, example remaining in the coastal plain. " This swath of forest and marsh between Potomac and Accokeek creeks has often been described as an environmental jewel, with connections to important historical events. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service released an environmental assessment of the peninsula in 2000 as part of an unsuccessful effort to create a 7,480-acre national wildlife refuge. The refuge would have included Crow's Nest and several thousand surrounding acres. That study identified rare plant and animal species, noting that over the years landowners for the most part have been passive caretakers because much of the property is carved by deep ravines. Greg Weiler, manager of the Potomac River National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Woodbridge who worked on the report, said earlier this week that the attention showered on Crow's Nest by local, state and federal interests illustrates just how important the land is. " I was very disappointed when the service was unable to follow through and acquire the property, " he said. At one point the tract was No. 1 on the agency's property-acquisition wish list for the region. The peninsula is important for several reasons, he said. " One is the size and acreage. Where else in Northern Virginia are you going to find a 3,000-acre chunk of land that's available? " http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/072006/07302006/209074Alabama:19) Every weekday, 5,000 trucks laden with logs travel Alabama's roads to deliver those logs to the state's 13 paper mills and 200 sawmills. It is big business: Forestry is the state's No. 1 industry, generating $13 billion a year. It is also dangerous business. The state's inspection numbers for log trucks over the past several years show thousands of them are such a hazard they shouldn't be traveling Alabama roads. In 2002, state officials inspected 3,112 log trucks, and 55 percent of those were taken out of service for safety violations. Of the more than 2,700 log trucks inspected in 2003, 71 percent were taken out of service; in 2004, 63 percent of log trucks were removed from the road. http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/11544238796210.xml & coll=2

Florida:20) Florida's biggest-ever land purchase, 74,000 acres of wild land bought by the state for over $350 million, comes with a catch -- 17,000 acres of adjoining property will belong to developer Syd Kitson, who plans to build a new city. Some environmental groups applaud the deal: The purchase will preserve as wilderness about 80 percent of the famed Babcock Ranch in the southwest of the state, where gators, turkeys, and wild pigs roam. It will create a corridor for wildlife, including bears and Florida panthers, from Lake Okeechobee nearly to the Gulf of Mexico. Other green groups lament the development stipulation, which clears the way for a new community with 19,500 homes, 6 million square feet of office space, and potential for 50,000 residents. The Sierra Club sued to stop the purchase, worrying that Kitson's city would spur further development, but dropped the lawsuit when Kitson promised to leave the most sensitive parts of the land undeveloped. http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2006/08/01/US Southeast:21) The increasing number of pine plantations in the southern United States could contribute to a rise in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, a new study reports. This is important because carbon dioxide is a key greenhouse gas, one that is linked to global warming. Landowners in the South are turning stands of hardwood and natural pine trees into pine plantations because pine is a more lucrative source of lumber. But pine plantations don't retain carbon as well as hardwood or natural pine forests, said Brent Sohngen, a study co-author and an associate professor of agricultural, environmental and development economics at Ohio State University. " For environmental reasons, policy makers may want to develop policies that encourage the establishment or maintenance of hardwood forests to ensure diversity across the landscape, " Sohngen said. Sohngen examined the issues with Sandra Brown, an ecologist with Winrock International, a non-profit organization based in Arlington, Va. Together, the two developed a statistical model, based on the economic value of the land, to predict how many acres of hardwood and natural pine forests would be converted to pine plantations over the next 30 years. They also calculated what this potential conversion would mean in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. The results appear in a recent issue of the journal Ecological Economics. http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/pinetree.htmUSA: 22) Welcome to the climate change tree atlas. We have presented in the following pages tremendous amount of information including distribution maps and tables for different climate change scenarios, life-history and disturbance attributes, ecological attributes, forest type maps and sorted list of species importance values by state/county for different climate change scenarios, and more for 80 species in the eastern half of the United States. http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/atlas/23) Many know that I have long tracked and reported upon the collapse of Texas' State Park system specifically BECAUSE it serves as the Libertarian's preferred model for bringing about the privatization and commercialization of the National Park System and other public lands.. Most know that the Libertarian quest to privatize extends far beyond parks and public lands. Some fear that at this 11th hour, the Libertarian agenda is all but unstoppable. And if the national economy tanks, as it may well do, I fully expect that public assets such as parks, highways and schools will be happily off-loaded at pennies on the dollar. The latest crisis to befall the Texas system. What I found noteworthy is the desperate effort by park managers to keep selected parts of the system operational. They fear that if these facilities can not be kept open, then the private sector will not be interested in acquiring them. I suggest that they needn't fear. The private sector will snatch up all the assets it wants when the price is right. If the economy tanks, the right price for even the finest public jewels, will be pennies on the dollar. Let's not forget that the US Forest Service is already handing over operational control of most of their developed recreational facilities to anyone willing to maintain them. The FS is delighted to unload these facilities because doing so reduced their deferred maintenance backlog. Those facilities they can not off-load are already starting to be closed and decommissioned. " Scott Silver " <ssilver24) " No substantive evidence supports the idea that fire-adapted forests might be improved by logging after a fire. In fact, many carefully conducted studies have concluded just the opposite, " said Dr. Reed Noss, professor of Conservation Biology for the University of Central Florida. A letter signed by 546 scientists was sent to Senators today warning about the negative impacts of logging after fires and other natural disturbances. The letter, released a day before a hearing in the Senate Agriculture Committee's Forestry Subcommittee on the Walden logging bill, passed by the House of Representatives. The bill, H.R. 4200, would fast-track logging by suspending environmental safeguards and reducing the American public's ability to give input on how their forests are managed. " We are concerned that H.R. 4200 will bind us to land management practices that, perhaps logical in the past, are no longer tenable in the light of recent scientific understanding, " says the scientists' letter. " Neither ecological benefits nor economic efficiency result from post disturbance logging. " http://YubaNet.comCanada:25) The boreal forest seems blissfully unaware of the avalanche of oilsands activity that is about to hit it. But then, an unseen ruffed grouse begins his territorial dance, generating a series of thumps that starts off slowly, then rapidly accelerates. It sounds like the heart of someone who's just had a scare. More than 80 per cent of Albertans live in cities and towns. Many will never venture into the forest that dominates the top half of the province. They will see the economic benefits of the oilsands in the form of new hospitals, roads and schools, built with the help of energy royalties. But if the worst fears of environmentalists come true, and woodland caribou and boreal chickadees disappear from the depths of their forests, many Albertans may not even notice. Most of them wouldn't be affected by contaminated groundwater or acid rain in northern Alberta. So why should they care about how these oilsands projects are developed? In a way, this boreal forest is a kind of housekeeper of the Earth, sweeping carbon dioxide out of the sky and cleansing the water that filters through it. Environmentalists think Albertans appreciate the practical functions of the forest, and that they also have an emotional connection. " My sense is Albertans care very deeply about the quality of their environment, not just in their own backyard but of the entire environmental heritage and legacy of the province, " says Dan Woynillowicz, a senior policy adviser with the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank. http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=c4bc90ed-a36d-4829-a529-55dbf33194f2

& k=6551426) Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville won't be charged for cutting down 150 trees in an environmentally sensitive area after a deal with Halton Region. The agreement with ClubLink Corporation, owner of Glen Abbey and four other Halton courses, will result in reforesting the cut area along Sixteen Mile Creek. ClubLink must also prepare a forest-management plan for Glen Abbey and the other courses —Rattlesnake Point, Greystone, Eagle Ridge and Blue Springs. Under Halton's tree preservation bylaw, the golf club could have faced fines of up to $5,000 per lost tree, upon conviction. The director whose department enforces the bylaw, Jane Clohecy, insisted Glen Abbey wasn't being let off the hook. " We don't look at it that way. It's what we can get in terms of better forest management over the long term, " Clohecy said. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1 & c=Articl

e & cid=1154382610175 & call_pageid=968350130169 & col=969483202845Lebanon:27) Spilled and burning oil, along with forest fires, toxic waste flows and growing garbage heaps have gone from nuisances to threats to people and wildlife, they say, marring a country traditionally known for its clean air and scenic greenery. "In Israel there are planes taking care of forest fires, but in Lebanon these fires are not being extinguished or even noticed because our priorities have shifted from the environment to relief and humanitarian work," said Mounir Abou Ghanem, director general of the Association for Forest Development and Conservation in Beirut. Much of the budget for environmental protection and development has been sacrificed for relief work, he said. The oil spills, he said, will eventually be cleaned up and solid waste will be collected and disposed of when the war is over, but the forests are irreplaceable. "In the end, who cares if a forest is on fire when there are people dying, others are being displaced and their houses or factories are on fire?" he said. Russia:28) Timber-frame housing is not a method Russians are familiar with, says Scott, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is supporting the construction of large numbers of wood-frame housing units, with some developments planned to have 10,000 or more units. One southern relocation initiative alone is expected to need 1.2 million houses. Russia has also recently adopted a slightly modified version of the Canadian Building Code. "This means we can bring over Canadian home designs with no modifications," says Scott. To meet the housing demand, Russia will have to quickly educate huge numbers of tradesmen and professionals. The Russians spent time at CNC and learned about their training process by visiting the College's carpentry and lumber manufacturing programs, as well as the new Brink Building that houses trades programs. http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/3178/3/russians+find+lots+to+learn+in+pgLatin America:29) In a new report, Forestry Sector Outlook Study for Latin America and the Caribbean, FAO says the shift from natural to planted forests for wood supplies in the region is being driven by " increasingly restricted access to natural forests and greater regulation in the management and use of natural resources. " However, despite the fact that the majority of wood supply will come from planted forests, natural forests in Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to shrink from 924 million hectares to 881 million hectares in the next 15 years. The FAO study cites the expansion of agriculture and cattle raising as main causes for deforestation in the region. The FAO has said the Latin America and the Caribbean region has registered the world's highest rate of forest loss over the past 15 years. The FAO said that from 1990-2005, the region's forest area declined from 51 percent to 47 percent of total land area, primarily due to conversion of forestland to agriculture. But on the positive side, the FAO added that greater environmental awareness in the region is expected to boost the expansion of protected areas. Protected areas in Latin America and the Caribbean increased between 1950 and 2000, from 17.5 million hectares to 386 million hectares, reaching close to 23 percent of the world's protected areas. The U.S. Tropical Forest Conservation Act offers eligible developing countries an opportunity to relieve certain official debt owed the United States while generating funds to support local tropical forest conservation activities. http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english & y=2006 & m=August & x=2006080112

20461xeneerg0.694607Brazil:30) A team of scientists, led by Greg Asner of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology at Stanford University, found that 16% of selectively logged rainforests were completely cleared within one year and 32% were totally deforested within four years. The researchers also found high correlation between the presence of roads and deforestation, with virtually no selective logging occurring at distances greater than 15 miles from roads. The findings, published in the July 31, 2006 online early edition of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), come shortly after Brazil announced plans to open up large areas of the Amazon to selective logging. The sustainable logging initiative, which includes the development of a remote sensing system by the Brazilian National Space Research Institute (INPE) and the Brazilian non-governmental organization IMAZON to monitor timber-cutting in the region, could benefit from the latest Carnegie Institution results, say the authors of the study. "While there was no cause and effect relationship between selective logging and clear-cutting for forests within 3 miles of roads, between 3 and 15.5 miles (5-25 km) from roads there was a clear relationship: selective logging blazes the trail for deforestation. Areas with selective logging at these distances are 2 to 4 times more likely to be cleared than intact forests. The link between selective logging and clear-cutting is a one-two punch. Once a forest is selectively logged, it is likely on the path to destruction," said Asner. " The researchers were surprised by the tight relationship between the two land-use activities because different groups are involved—loggers versus ranchers and farmers—and those actors are treated differently by government regulators, " according to a statement from Carnegie. http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0731-amazon.htmlIndia:31) Failure to identify correctly the forest area to be diverted for the Kol Dam project has landed the Forest Department in an awkward situation. The department has not included some thickly-wooded forest areas with standing trees worth over Rs 2.5 crore, which will be submerged due to the construction of the dam, in the diversion plan while seeking the mandatory forest clearance from the Centre. The department has obtained permission for the diversion of 954 hectare of forest land for the project but the area which will be actually submerged is about 100 to 120 hectare more on which 40,000 to 45,000 trees are standing. The faus paux has virtually made the forest clearance granted by the Centre for the project redundant, as trees could not be felled without permission. More importantly, the left out forest areas formed part of the Majathal wild life sanctuary, which provides habitat for a host of species particularly birds like the cheer pheasant. The diversion of protected wild life areas is allowed only if equivalent area is included in the sanctuary. This has not been taken care of in the environment management plan. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060730/himachal.htm#1Mongolia:32) Sino-Forest Corporation, a leading commercial forestry plantation operator in China, announced today that one of its wholly-owned PRC subsidiaries has entered into a long-term Master Agreement with Inner Mongolia Forest and Timber Resources Company Ltd, an equity joint-venture company in the People's Republic of China and Erlianhot Lianhe Forestry Bureau in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to secure a long-term supply of wood fibre while managing a regeneration programme of secondary forests. Commenting on the deal, Sino-Forest Chairman and CEO, Allen Chan said, " This large-scale, long-term wood fibre agreement brings Sino-Forest an important step closer to reaching our strategic goal of 15 to 20 million m3 of annual fibre output in the PRC, compared to our current supply of 8 million m3 per annum. In this case, we will also look to assist the forestry bureau with professional harvesting and regeneration of secondary forests, to ensure that the regenerated areas will function better in terms of fibre production and ecological conservation. It will demonstrate our expertise and reinforce our leading position in sustainable forestry and plantation management in the PRC. " http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104 & STORY=/www/story/07-31-2006/0004406488

& EDATE=Cambodia:33) The World Bank on Friday praised the Cambodian government for its prosecutions of 11 people in illegal logging case. " The World Bank is encouraged that the government of Cambodia has successfully prosecuted the illegal logging cases recently presented in the Phnom Penh municipal court, " the statement of the World Bank Cambodia said. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court handed out sentences of between five and seven years Thursday to 11 policemen and forestry officials for their involvement in a massive illegal logging operation in Ratanakiri province's Virachey National Park in 2004. It is estimated that the deforestation of 5,016 hectares of forest land could cost Cambodia over 15 million U.S. dollars. " The undeniable evidence proves they really were accomplices and received bribes when they were on duty, " Ke Sokhan told the courtroom. Yin Kim Sean, the Environment Ministry's secretary of state, said that the ministry will continue to work with the court to punish those thought most responsible for the logging operation. http://english.people.com.cn/200607/29/eng20060729_287813.htmlJapan:34) The average Japanese goes through 200 sets of chopsticks a year. China provides all but three percent of those 25 billion sets of waribashi. It has been four months since China imposed a tax on wooden chopsticks because of concerns about deforestation. That and rising production costs prompted Chinese exporters to raise chopstick prices by about 30 percent. This is causing indigestion in Japan, where most restaurant meals are eaten with disposable chopsticks from China. But when patrons sit down to eat, they find not the traditional disposable wooden chopsticks, but plastic ones. Japanese have long cherished their disposable wooden chopsticks, known as " waribashi " , and take credit for inventing them 130 years ago. Until a few decades ago, the waribashi was decidedly a Japanese product. Gradually imports from China, where there were more trees and cheaper labor, knocked domestic utensils off the table here. Now, at thousands of restaurants across Japan waribashi are vanishing completely - the result of higher costs. China imposed a five percent tax on disposable chopsticks, in an effort to save trees, and manufacturers raised prices to cope with higher labor and shipping costs. Tabloid newspapers in Japan have been warning that disposable wooden chopsticks may soon become as precious as the silver ones used by ancient Chinese emperors, with reports that China may end waribashi exports entirely. http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200607/200607310041.htmlPhilippines:35) The story invites us to join a young boy in his quests for the ultimate ruler of the forest. His journey not only leads him to the forest king, but also more importantly teaches him that all living things, great or small, are interconnected in the web of life. When a part of the web is destroyed, such as trees, we all suffer the consequences. Verses of the story are placed strategically depending on the section presented in the exhibition, so visitors literally walk through the story. IN THE year 2000, Museo Pambata Foundation Inc. conceptualized and developed " The Philippine Rain Forest Traveling Exhibit " to educate children and adults on the importance of rain forests, the effects of the destruction on us, and inspire a new generation of responsible citizens who will take care of them. It had traveled to 15 different cities and provinces in the Philippines because we believe that this environmental issue should be a national concern. Following the Museo Pambata philosophy of " hands-on discovery " learning, the traveling exhibits are used to get a crucial message across: Save our rain forests and trees before it's too late. The exhibition is an inter play between fantasy and reality as it opens up like a big children's storybook. It takes the flow of " Are you the Forest King? " , a story written by Penny Velasco. Large print photographs of forest trees and landscape, complemented with chirping sound of birds, crickets, and swaying of leaves and branches, and larger-than-life animal models interspersed throughout the exhibit. http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/cag/2006/07/30/life/a.journey.through.the.rain.forest.html

Malaysia:36) State Governments relying on logging as a major source of income should look instead to eco-tourism and other industries to fill their coffers. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid wants logging to be scaled down. "This is important because even with sustainable logging activities the environment and habitat of animals will be affected, " he told reporters after opening the three-day Tropical Rainforest Tourism Symposium 2006 in Banding, some 45km from here, today. Azmi suggested that States which have been blessed with large tracts of forest should instead focus on the tourism section as successfully proven in Sabah and Sarawak. "We cannot wait forever and continue to earn from logging. For how long do they want to depend on it?" he asked. Azmi also hoped that the States would come up with proposals on how they plan to reduce logging before phasing them out. http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Saturday/NewsBreak/20060729182156/Article/index_html

37) Viewing logging, even the purportedly sustainable type, as a legitimate right of state governments to generate revenue is a hopelessly outmoded way of managing the beautiful assets that Nature has endowed us with. Azmi's statement at the opening of The Tropical Rainforest Tourism Symposium in Banding, Perak reflects a nationwide concern at the highly precarious state of our forests. However, since control of forest resources falls under state jurisdiction, it is the chief executive of each state who must take responsibility for safeguarding this irreplaceable natural treasure for all posterity. If ever the officials who control these resources need reminding, the ecological, socio-economic, aesthetic and spiritual value of the pristine forests - which are older than those of the Amazon and Congo, having existed for over 130 million years when dinosaurs roamed the Earth - are irreplaceably destroyed once the timber is extracted. This is because logging disturbs the delicate ecological balance of the forest, creating a disastrous effect on the inextricably interdependent web of life that the habitat sustains. Left intact, they contribute to the well-being of all humanity into the misty future. http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=1493638) A Malaysian logging company accused of illegally stripping PNG's rainforests, has in turn accused green groups of mounting an international slander campaign against it. Rimbunan Hijau, the largest logging company operating in PNG, has long been accused of colluding with PNG political leaders to illegally harvest rainforest timber to the detriment of local landowners. The news agecny AAP says RH commissioned an Australian consulting firm ITS Global to investigate. RH managing director, James Lau, said at the launch in Port Moresby of ITS Global's latest report, that claims by Greenpeace and other groups that logging companies in PNG were operating illegally were shown to be false. The reports indicated the forestry industry in PNG played a key role in providing jobs, government revenue and infrastructure such as roads, schools and health posts in PNG. In March, the US-based forestry watchdog, Forest Trends, said most forestry operations in PNG were illegal and ecologically and economically unsustainable. It said corrupt connections between logging companies and PNG's political elite must be broken and forestry laws adhered to. But PNG's Forestry Minister Patrick Pruaitch said a false case had been made against commercial forestry which operated " in full compliance with PNG laws and regulations " . http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/bulletins/rnzi/200607311053/a86a547

Indonesia:39) Drying tropical timber was stacked in piles between thick tree stumps--as if it were a heap of bones. The place looked like a field that had been hit by a bomb. It was actually a logging site in Riau Province in central Sumatra, Indonesia. The trees were cut down by chain saws at the site 150 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital, Pekanbaru. The site is owned by leading paper and pulp maker Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings, Ltd. (APRIL). The site was busy, with trucks coming and going, and boats sailing down a channel that runs along a collection area where logs 60 centimeters to 80 centimeters in diameter are stacked in long lines. After passing through the logging site, a splendid view of an acacia plantation came into sight. A 34-year-old logging worker said he and his coworkers were told to cut down all the trees, adding that they plant acacia trees after clearing a site. The worker then demonstrated his skills by easily cutting down a tree 70 centimeters in diameter in the natural forest. Headquartered in Singapore, APRIL began its operations in 1995 in the last days of the regime of former Indonesian President Suharto. The company has since expanded logging and planting operations in its plantation areas and holds the timber rights on 330,000 hectares of land, which is 1.5 times larger than the total area of Tokyo. APRIL's chief executive officer, A. J. Devanesan, said the company does not use tress that are felled illegally. He added the company has not touched forests that should be preserved. Trees that are legally cut down are turned into paper and pulp at a large factory in the province. Most products manufactured at the factory are intended for export. Last year, 102,000 tons were shipped to Japan. The 40,000-hectare national park is surrounded by plantations operated by APRIL and other companies, as well as fields of oil palm trees planted by villagers in a deforested area. Elephants that previously lived on leaves and fruits do not like acacia trees, they seek food such as the fresh leaves of oil palm trees. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/world/20060730TDY03002.htm40) A LANDOWNER from the Wawoi Guavi logging area in Western province said it is through the logging operations that the people now have schools, health centres, roads and employment opportunities. In the past, all these were lacking, Solomon Kosa said at the launch of a report entitled The Economic Importance of the Forestry Industry to Papua New Guinea at Airways Hotel in Port Moresby last Friday. "The road that has been built by the logging company enabled me to travel for the first time to Port Moresby in 1992 with 18 other landowners. "And it is because of the logging operations that you now see me dressed like this," Mr Kosa, who was quite immaculate in his blue shirt and jeans, said. He appealed to the Government to help the forest industry provide basic services to the rural areas. He said although he was speaking only for his community, he was confident that logging companies had also brought badly-needed services to the areas where they were operating. http://www.thenational.com.pg/073106/nation2.htm41) He was found to have violated the 1999 Law on Forestry by crossing into the conservation area to grow cashew trees. " Muhidin is innocent. He and his friends are victims of policy inconsistencies between the central government and the local administration, " Alamudin, a member of the Dompu farmers' advocacy team, said at a seminar on the abuse of local communities in forestry management. Muhidin's initiative to farm the land was motivated by a Dompu administration bylaw that allows locals to cultivate about 750 hectares of the forest in a joint forestry management program. Without giving a clear reason, the administration changed its policy at the end of last year and arrested Muhidin, along with 80 other farmers in the area, for cultivating land in the forest. Up to 65 million people live in and around a total of 50 million hectares of conservation forests in Indonesia. " I think the government deliberately leaves the problem unresolved, so it can blame locals for chopping down the woods and living in conservation forests, " activist Abusaid Pelu of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060731.H05 & irec=442) Alarmed by the international haze spread by burning forests, the Riau provincial administration is moving to seize land that has been cleared by burning. The move is an effort to make it easier for authorities to track the financiers who are behind the burning of thousands of hectares of forests to be turned into plantations. Thick and hazardous smoke from forest fires has reportedly traveled as far as neighboring Singapore and Malaysia. Riau Governor Rusli Zainal said the forest burning had destroyed some 3,000 hectares of forests, including a conservation area. " We will set up police lines in the affected areas to aid the investigations, " he said, as quoted by Antara news agency Monday. He said his officials would first carry out air surveillance and take pictures of the burned forests. Forestry Ministry data shows that last week, Sumatra Island recorded almost 2,000 hot spots, of which half were in Riau. Another 1,000 were seen in Kalimantan. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20060801.A07 & irec=6New Zealand:43) " New Zealand radiata pine faces strong competition from Russian logs in our traditional markets, particularly South Korea, Japan and China, " the report said. In South Korea – the largest importer of New Zealand logs – NZ exporters had lost market share to Canadian and Russian exporters, though the price of Russian logs had lifted in recent months. Declining numbers of building permits being issue in Australia indicated a slowing residential market. " We expect this to reduce demand for New Zealand exports of lumber and panels over the short to medium term, " the economists said. " New Zealand panel, pulp and paper exports will face competition from US and South American products as production capacity increases in these regions " . http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3751080a13,00.html