Guest guest Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Today 39 news items. Number and subject listed below. Condensed article further below.--British Columbia: 1) East Creek wilds fall to the saws, 2) Maple Thieves--Washington: 3) Fire ecology on state lands --Oregon: 4) BLM plans more old growth logging--California: 5) Crackdown on Tahoe's tree-killing homeowners, 6) Sequoia Monument logging shut down, 7) Bohemian redwoods decimated, 8) More about Redwood logging on the Russian river, 9) San Joaquin's fishery history, 10) Tree villages in Humboldt--Colorado: 11) Vail Valley Forest Health Project--Wisconsin: 12) Total state-wide exemption for logging--Texas: 13) Mystery tree pours water from its trunk--Ohio: 14) Mountain bikers against Mohican park logging --Indiana: 15) Franken tree research--Massachusetts: 16) Save Robinson State Park from logging--New York: 17) Poorly managed logging of Erie County Forest--North Carolina: 18) Federal bill to protect Pisgah National Forest --USA: 19) Wilderness society is a wasteful elitist organization, 20) Non-industrial forest use drives rural economies, 21) Global warming to change viable population requirement, 22) Power line construction exemptions--Canada: 23) Acid rain from Oil sands a threat to forestlands, 24) Boreal fires release mercury, 25) 650 businesses boycott Kimberly-Klark, 26) 26 publications censor forest advocate--Finland: 27) Stora Enso expanding production in Brazil and Russia--Kenya: 28) destruction of Mau forest drying up 12 rivers--Uganda: 29) Illegal land sales in Mayuge --South Africa: 30) Sawlog demand may require imports--Iran: 31) 50,000 hectares of dense forests near city of Baneh--Peru: 32) Save the cloud forests, 33) Shade grown coffee by Kraft / Yuban--Brazil: 34) golden lion tamarin new poster child for Atlantic forests --Japan: 35) only frog that lays its eggs in trees--New Zealand: 36) company's " annus horribilis, " 37) Illegal logging in Waitotara Valley, 38) Marlborough Sound want logging trucks out of town--Australia: 39) forest dieback requires logging moratoriumBritish Columbia:1) I just returned from a week-long trip into the wilderness on the north-east corner of the Island, just north of the Brooks Peninsula. My goal was to return to the ancient rainforest of East Creek to begin shooting a film. East Creek is one of only six watersheds that still remains pristine out of an original 91 on Vancouver Island, the other 85 have been clear-cut logged. East Creek, Carmanah Valley, and three watersheds in Clayoquot Sound are all that remains of the intact ancient rainforest we know so little about. Geographically the primeval rain forest on the shores of East Creek is isolated by rugged mountains, long fjords, a wind-swept coastline with steep, exposed cliffs and thousands of dangerous reefs. The annual rainfall is more than 3,500 millimetres. The rain forest of the Klaskish is at the base of Brooks Peninsula, which held off the glaciers during the last ice age, and is inaccessible by land. The people of the Kwakwala plied these waters for over 10,000 years, moving goods and people between the village sites protected by the many inlets along this rugged coast. The remote and rugged location of this rain forest has protected it from 150 years of industrial logging, until today. As soon as we had crossed a bridge over Klaskish Creek the logging road began a series of steep switchbacks where, according to my topographical map the road into East Creek rises 900 metres over one kilometre. This extreme road winds through clear-cuts on Crown land in what is designated as sensitive management by the B.C. Ministry of Forests. Suddenly the entire road ahead was filled by a fully loaded off-road logging truck roaring towards us with tons of enormous ancient logs, stacked twice as high as the truck. Luckily I was able to pull off where a grader had widened the road. It was truly heartbreaking to see this massive truck drive past us loaded with 1,000-year-old yellow and red cedar from the highlands of the East Creek valley. Unable to drive up the steep logging road we decided to try accessing the ancient rainforest of East Creek by paddling our kayaks to the mouth of the Klaskino Inlet and then along the open coast. http://www.pqbnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=50 & cat=46 & id=711232 & more= 2) Thieves are illegally chopping down highly prized maple trees -- some up to 400 years old -- in the Upper Fraser Valley forests. Their plunder is destined for the highly lucrative musical-instrument industry, which uses the wood to make violins, cellos and guitars, often for the stars. Guitar makers pay up to $200 for a piece measuring as little as 17 by 55 centimetres. Known as curly and quilted maple, the wood has a unique rippling and a blistered pattern valued by rock guitarists from Carlos Santana and Lenny Kravitz to Aerosmith bass player Tom Hamilton, who cough up big bucks for the instruments.Depending on the quality of the curly or quilted pattern, one tree will yield anywhere from a few hundred dollars worth of wood to $50,000. Across the Lower Mainland, about 10 companies specialize in supplying curly and quilted maple. Police say they're seeing a dramatic increase in illegal harvesting of the trees. " Just in the last year, we've had a huge growing trend with illegal harvesting, " says Cpl. Erich Heins of the RCMP's four-member forest-crimes investigation unit. Since October, detachments from Hope to Maple Ridge have been getting calls about illegal harvesting of the Western broadleaf maple on private property, parks land and other Crown land, Heins says. While some of it's taking place at night, brazen thieves are also poaching in broad daylight. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=dd9252f9-f001-4c0c-ab92-bb9b96d47c15 & k=5720 & p=1Washington:3) Scientific studies have shown that decades of forest management that suppresses fires, removes the larger fire and insect resistant trees, and re-stocks overly dense forests with single species trees, have created unhealthy, unnatural conditions in our forests. Before the state works to fix forest health problems, let's make sure we've got the right fix so we don't make forest health problems worse. Washington's mismanaged forests pose significant ecological and public health risks. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has reassembled the Forest Health Strategy Work Group to conduct eight meetings, throughout the state to gather public input regarding the group's proposed legislation. To create good legislation, they need to hear from you. Please attend a hearing and ask the state to form an independent panel of forest ecologists to write a definition of forest health and recommend solutions for Washington's unhealthy forests. It makes a significant impact for citizens to attend public hearings and speak on behalf of forests and wildlife. Often, individuals feel unqualified to speak at public hearings, since they are not "experts" on the issue. It's important to realize, though, that the entire point of public hearings is to give average citizens the chance to say their piece to the government. Andrea Cuccaro to join us: andrea or 206-675-9747 x205. Seatac Public Hearing Thursday, August 31, 6:30 - 9:00 PM Radisson Hotel Gateway SeaTac Airport 18118 International Blvd or the Quick letter action station. http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/Conservationnw/campaign.jsp?campaign_KE Y=5075Oregon:4) The Medford District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has unleashed a triple threat on forests of the Illinois River Valley with the Anderson West, Tennessee Lime and East Fork logging project. As the BLM prepares these logging projects, they are required to look for sensitive plants and animals. Working in cooperation with the Native Ecosystem Survey Team (NEST) the Siskiyou Project has discovered sites inhabited by red tree voles that have not been documented or properly protected. Your help is needed to make sure the BLM follows its own rules and gives sensitive wildlife the protections they deserve. Contact Abbie Jossie, Field Manager with the BLM and tell her to: 1. Verify and accept new Red Tree Vole data for the East Fork, Tennessee Lime and Anderson West timber sales. 2. Apply full ten-acre buffers to all Red Tree Vole sites (Abbie Jossie, Field Manager Grants Pass Resource Area, Medford District, BLM 2164 NE Spalding Ave Grants Pass, Oregon 97526 phone: 541-471-6652 email: medford_mail ) The East Fork, Anderson West and Tennessee Lime logging projects some of the last native forests in the Illinois River Valley – places that are important for clean water, wildlife, recreation and the quality of life of local residents. In addition to spoiling important community values, these controversial logging projects could increase fire risk for local communities. http://www.siskiyou.org/ecodefense/BLM_iv_logging_map.cfm California: 5) If a tree falls in the forest, and the forest is located in the jurisdiction of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, who gets to pay the fine? The property owner, that's who.According to a story appearing in Friday's Tahoe Daily Tribune, a Tahoe couple is facing a $50,000 fine because 10 trees died on their former property. Tahoe planners found rock salt around the base of a 20-inch tree on their property in August 2004 when they were seeking a permit to remove some trees. The couple's attorney denies they killed the trees, but the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency says it doesn't matter. According to the agency, they are not required to prove someone actually killed the trees, only that the trees died on their property while they owned it. Better take care of those trees at that rate. http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20060823/Opinion/1082300066) SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a Bush administration plan to allow commercial logging in Giant Sequoia National Monument, home to two-thirds of the world's largest trees. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer sided with state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and environmental groups that sued the U.S. Forest Service over plans to log about 3,200 acres of the 328,000-acre preserve, home to 38 Sequoia groves in Central California. " The Forest Service's interest in harvesting timber has trampled the applicable environmental laws, " Breyer wrote, calling the agency's forest management plan " incomprehensible. " In lawsuits filed last year, Lockyer and conservation groups said the agency's plan, issued in January 2004, violated the proclamation signed by President Clinton in 2000 that established the national monument to protect Sequoias, which can grow up to 270 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. The plaintiffs claimed the plan failed to consider its environmental impacts as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, calling it as a scientifically suspect strategy meant to satisfy the timber industry under the guise of wildfire prevention. The plan would have allowed up to 7.5 million board feet of timber - enough to fill 1,500 logging trucks - to be removed each year from the monument in Sierra Nevada, the plaintiffs said. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15334014.htm 7) MONTE RIO - Each summer, when hundreds of Bohemian Club members converge on a stately redwood grove along the Russian River, the festivities kick off with the burning of an effigy called " Care. " The ritual is a way of reminding some of the country's wealthiest and most powerful men to put aside workaday concerns during their annual encampment. " The face of the property is being radically changed, " said former member John Hooper, an avid hiker and apple farm owner who sits on the state's California Tahoe Conservancy and used to be a Sierra Club lobbyist. Hooper believes that the Bohemian Club is turning its 2,700- acre property amid Russian River resorts, summer homes and vineyards into a " tree farm. " Hooper said he quit in late 2004 over the club's logging practices, but not before he was criticized by a club president for " un-Bohemian " conduct because he circulated his complaints among other members. That same year, the club's bid to dramatically increase logging prompted the departure of the club's former forester, Edward Tunheim, who said that heavier cutting may backfire by encouraging the growth of brushy foliage. " You open the canopy, so you get more brush ? and tan oaks and redwoods are going to sprout, " said Tunheim, who was the forester from 1993 until 2004. " It is not a simple situation, and there is no simple answer. " For more than a century, the Bohemian Grove has served as summer camp for the all-male, San Francisco-based club whose membership includes former President George H. W. Bush, former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, actor-director Clint Eastwood, TV journalist Walter Cronkite and musicians Bob Weir and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Now, the club is seeking state permission to double its logging to 1.1 million board feet a year, which would produce enough wood to build about 70 houses.The plan, dubbed the Healthy Forest Initiative by the club, resembles the Bush administration's controversial federal lands policy of the same name. Both call for the commercial harvesting of valuable big trees to help pay the cost of thinning fire-prone forests. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bohemian21aug21,0,3979316.story?coll=la-home-local 8) When I visited the Redwoods, a bed-and-breakfast / coffee shop we stopped in had maybe a dozen Redwoods on its property. The owner/operator/breakfast cook/inheritor-of-the-place had a great plan for making a profit, since business had dropped off (and since business was so lousy, he had plenty of time to tell us his plan). His plan? Cut down some of the Redwoods on his property! I think he said he got about $10,000 for each one, which can go a long way to maintain a loosing-money bed-and-breakfast in the middle of " nowhere. " My recollection is that he wanted to chop down about half a dozen trees -- 60,000 free dollars -- to " clear the place out a bit " and " bring in more light " just like any other home-owner might do to his oaks or his pine trees or whatever. But these had taken 800 to 1000 years to grow, and this out-of-shape, over-weight, heart-attack-on-a-pastry-bun was going to cut them down because, really, he needed the money since the highway or byway or whatever took all his business. " Russell 'Ace' Hoffman " rhoffman 9) A tentative settlement was struck but then fell apart in 2003, leading to the key decision the next year by U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, who has presided over the case since its inception. Karlton ruled that by wiping out the San Joaquin's fishery, the federal government had violated a long-standing — and long-ignored — section of the California Fish and Game Code that required dam owners to release enough water " to keep in good condition any fish that may be planted or exist below the dam. " The river's salmon runs had historically been among the most bountiful on the West Coast. Before farm diversions, logging and mining took their toll in the late 1800s, 200,000 to 300,000 chinook salmon migrated each spring up the San Joaquin and its tributaries. They were so plentiful that settlers were kept awake at night as the fish splashed across sand bars, struggling upstream to their spawning grounds. Ranchers trapped them and fed them to hogs. Even up to the early 1940s, the spring run numbered as many as 57,000. But as Friant's two big canals were built and gulped more and more of the San Joaquin River, the stream shrank to lethally low levels. State fish and game crews mounted desperate efforts to save the fish. In 1948, they set up mesh weirs to catch the salmon, hoisted them in metal boxes into tank trucks and drove the fish upstream, around dry stretches, to gravel beds and pools below the dam. The salmon survived, only to run out of river the next year when the young tried to swim back to the ocean. " The trickle of water soon disappeared in the sand, stranding salmon migrants more than 100 miles from the sea, " recounted George Warner, one of the rescuers, in a 1991 book on California salmon. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-sanjoaquin20aug20,1,2281543,full.story ?ctrack=1 & cset=true 10) The tree-villages in the Freshwater Creek watershed, " Fern Gully, " and the Eel River/Nanning Creek watershed, with the " Spooner " tree, are still ongoing and in need of your help. The timber harvest plan that contains the Fern Gully tree-village will expire in October, which means that Maxxam Corp./Pacific Lumber Co. will most likely be going for it soon. More tree-sitters are needed to defend this area, as well as any support that you can send from afar. The Nanning Creek/Spooner tree-village is also ongoing, and needs your support. The " Spooner " tree is the largest tree that some long- time forest defenders have ever seen, according to reports. Nanning Creek stands just above the Pacific Lumber headquarters and the tiny timber town of Scotia, CA. Visit our website to learn more about these areas, and how you can help! Earth First! http://www.northcoastearthfirst.org Colorado:11) VAIL - The Forest Service recently approved removing dead and dying pine-beetle-infested lodgepole pines on 211 acres of land in Vail. The decree is part of the Vail Valley Forest Health Project, which is trying to alleviate pine-beetle damage in 3,000 acres of forest along Interstate 70 between Vail Pass and Avon, including land in Vail, Eagle-Vail, Minturn, Avon, Beaver Creek and Arrowhead. In addition to clearing unhealthy trees, healthy stands will also be thinned to make them stronger in resisting the pine beetle, said Forest Service spokeswoman Sally Spaulding. The Forest Service also will work on 338 acres of aspen trees, some of which will be cut to stimulate growth of new trees and create a fire break. http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/whiteriver/projects/vail_valley/index.shtmWisconsin:12) Wisconsin law states that no " forestry operation " may be declared a nuisance, nor may any town or county pass a zoning ordinance interfering with forestry operations, if carried out by " generally accepted forestry management practices. " But here's the question: What, exactly, is " generally accepted " and who determines it? This is being covered at a DNR hearing in Fitchburg on Aug. 31. What is proposed is that " generally accepted forestry management practices " be defined as " methods recommended or approved by the department for most effective propagation and improvement of the various timber types common in Wisconsin. " For any independent biologist who values native forests and considers the thousands of noncommercial plants and animals that compose them to be every bit as much " the forest " as a few commercial " timber types, " this proposed law sounds like straightforward tree farming. And that is exactly what it is, because the proposed wording, to become part of Forest Management Guidelines, is exactly as now found in the Forest Tax Law, which is geared specifically to the production of lumber and pulp. What is proposed, therefore, is an industrial recipe for maintaining the North Woods as a vast fiber mill. As this definition is being considered, understand some related facts. The forest products industry enjoys such dominance in government, including the DNR and much of the UW System, that any walls separating them are only theoretical. http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/index.php?ntid=95623 & ntpid=1Texas:13) " I got a mystery tree, " Pope said. " What kind of mystery do I have where water comes out of a tree? " The knotted, towering tree, more than 100 years old, has become the root of scrutiny in her East Side neighborhood. The tree has gurgled water from its trunk for the past three months. Pope, 65, has sought answers from several specialists, calling experts from the Texas Forest Service, the Edwards Aquifer Authority and nurseries for an explanation. After snapping pictures, doing taste tests and conducting preliminary studies, they're still working to give her a definitive answer. Lloyd Pope, 47, said the water was cool, like it came from a faucet. The only damp spot around the tree trunk is where the water lands. The peculiar incident has the Popes wondering if the water has properties not found on tap. Pope said her insurance agent dabbed drops on a spider bite that went away after the application on the welt. Pope said she's soaked her sore ankles in water from the tree and the pain has gone away. Now she wonders, is it a tree that heals or water that blesses? Thursday afternoon Ruiz said a science team member researched the elevation of the area and said that it's unlikely that the water from the tree is from aquifer springflow. " I just want to know if it is a healing tree or blessed water, " she said. " That's God's water. Nobody knows but God. " http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA081106.01A.mysterious_tree.1e37d78.html Ohio:14) A key Ohio mountain bike destination could soon be blemished by widened pipeline corridors and acres of barren well openings, should a Texas-based gas company carry through with a proposed clear cut in November. The timber clearings would damage mature forest and impact 25 miles of freshly built singletrack in Mohican Memorial State Forest, Mohican State Park and Clear Fork Gorge. To ensure the integrity of this important trail system and forest, please take these vital actions: 1) Tell key policymakers you oppose increased deforestation in Mohican Memorial State Forest, Mohican State Park and Clear Fork Gorge Nature Preserve. 2) Ohio citizens should consider signing and circulating the Mohican Protection Group's petition urging park and forest managers to continue to protect the integrity of the Mohican region. More information about the petition can be downloaded here. Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation plans to cut trees around its storage wells and transmission rights-of-way in Mohican Memorial State Forest, Mohican State Park and Clear Fork Gorge. The deforestation is excessive, would compromise important mature forest habitat and damage 25 miles of freshly-built singletrack. The timber clearings are not required by law, and Columbia's plans appear to challenge their existing leasing rights-of-way as established by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Columbia Gas maintains more than 50 natural gas storage wells and more than 13 miles of pipeline in the Mohican Forest. These new cutting standards would deforest eight percent of Mohican's 4,500 acres and cross singletrack at least 16 times. The Mohican/Malabar Bike Club (MMBC) has joined with other concerned citizens to organize a campaign encouraging the Ohio DNR to preserve the trails and forest continuity of the Mohican State Park and State Forest. MMBC successfully partnered with other local stakeholders to secure a grant for the Mohican trail system's construction. Already a popular destination, the trail is nearing completion and on track to become Ohio's longest. Mohican State Park hosts the annual MTB 100 race, part of the National Ultra-Endurance Mountain Bike 100 Series. http://www.imba.com/news/action_alerts/08_06/08_22_mohican_ohio.html Indiana:15) WEST LAFAYETTE -- A tree that can reach 90 feet in six years and be grown as a row crop on fallow farmland could represent a major replacement for fossil fuels. Purdue University researchers are using genetic tools in an effort to design trees that readily and inexpensively can yield the substances needed to produce alternative transportation fuel. The scientists are focused on a compound in cell walls called lignin that contributes to plants' structural strength, but which hinders extraction of cellulose. Cellulose is the sugar-containing component needed to make the alternative fuel ethanol. In 2005 ethanol accounted for only 4 billion gallons of the 140 billion gallons of U.S. transportation fuel used - less than 3 percent. About 13 percent of the nation's corn crop was used for that production. Purdue scientists and experts at the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Energy say corn can only be part of the solution to the problem of replacing fossil fuel. Chapple and Meilan want to genetically modify the hybrid poplar so that lignin will not impede the release of cellulose for degradation into fermentable sugars, which then can be converted to ethanol. The changed lignin also may be useable either in fuel or other products, they said. Currently about 25 percent of the material in plants is the complex molecule lignin, which in its present form could be burned to supply energy for ethanol production, but cannot be transformed into the alternative fuel. Altering lignin's composition or minimizing the amount present in a cell wall could improve access of enzymes. With easier access, enzymes would be able to more efficiently convert cellulose to sugars. Current treatments used for extracting lignin from woody products for pulp and paper production are harsh and pollute the environment, said Meilan, a Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources molecular tree physiologist. http://newswire.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20060823.115045 & time=12%2040%20PDT & ye ar=2006 & public=0Massachusetts:16) AGAWAM - A plan by the state to log trees within John C. Robinson State Park is under fire from a park advocacy group, which claims invasive plants could become established in the cleared acreage, damaging the park's ecology. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation plans to remove an estimated 2,700 trees on 133 acres at the 852-acre state park starting in November. The project aims to increase the age diversity in the forest and to clear away some diseased red pines. Matthew Largess, a certified arborist from Rhode Island, led a walk through the park off North Street yesterday, an event organized by Friends of Robinson State Park, which opposes the state logging plan. The group contends the logging will open up the largely closed canopy of the park, allowing sunlight onto the forest floor, helping the seeds of invasive plants, such as Norway maples and Japanese knotweed, to take root. " It's very hard for invasives to get into mature forests, " Largess said. " The canopy blocks out the light. The older and more mature a forest is, the harder it is for them to get in. " In the areas they log, invasive species will take hold and ruin the (ecological balance). And you can't change it back once it is ruined by invasives, " Largess said. James N. DiMaio, chief forester for the state, acknowledged that the threat of invasive plants is real. " Presently, due to recreation in the park, there are a number of invasive species established there and state foresters have been very concerned. " http://www.masslive.com/chicopeeholyoke/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1156319797137950.xm l & coll=1New York:17) The unplanned and poorly managed logging of the Erie County Forest this year is robbing us blind. It is squandering our money and depriving us and our kids of the opportunity to wander in a truly old woods. We citizens of Erie County have owned 3,000 acres of forest in the Southern Tier since 1923. The trees have matured into a magnificent stand used for skiing, hiking, snowmobiling and nature education. Suddenly, the Parks Department has decided to cash them in for timber. In this reckless grab for cash, it has trashed principals of sustainable logging, the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), economics and public opinion. The Parks Department led the county to expect 2006 lumber revenue of almost $500,000 and delivered only $170,000, from which it neglected to deduct $5,000 of misappropriated Federal Emergency Management Agency money and $37,000 of Housing and Urban Development money. It used that money to subsidize its favorite logger by building lumber roads. ."The Parks Department described these lumber roads as " fire " roads. But the Department of Environmental Conservation calls the forests around here " asbestos woods, " since our climate is too wet for significant forest fires. When the DEC sells timber from the State Forests, the logger pays to build lumber roads. There are no fire roads in Western New York's state forests. The HUD and FEMA money spent on the roads cutting up our forest was stolen from the urban poor and from victims of disasters. The salaries of the Parks Department employees were not taken into account. Nor was the cost to the county of a major portion of our forest's reserve of old-growth - 150- to 180-year-old maple and cherry trees. This debacle left behind ruined trails, steep denuded slopes and barren creek banks; a forest open to erosion and stream pollution. This is a bonanza? The Parks Department scuttled SEQRA with a lie. Instead of describing the logging of thousands of mature trees, it told the DEC that it was going to tend to " the health of the forest." http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060822/1006143.aspNorth Carolina: 18) With the fate of 231 acres of Pisgah National Forest hanging in the balance, a group calling itself "Friends of Grandfather/Blowing Rock Scenic Views" is calling on lawmakers to help it fight a proposed timbering and herbicide project by the U.S. Forest Service. "The bill would designate around 30,000 to 40,000 acres of the Pisgah National Forest along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Blowing Rock as a scenic area," said Lamar Marshall, spokesperson for Friends of Grandfather/Blowing Rock Scenic Views and executive director of Wild South, a conservation organization "dedicated to preserving the integrity of the Appalachian Mountains and the South.It would apply only to public lands currently managed by the U.S. Forest Service and not affect private property or private property rights. "The only difference from the current management would be that the land would be reclassified as 'unsuitable for timber production.' In other words, any future logging would be limited to addressing forest health issues such as wildfire, storm damage or disease." http://www.mountaintimes.com/mtweekly/2006/0824/scenic_designation.php3USA: 19) The Wilderness Society was founded in 1930 by three early heroes of the environmental movement, Aldo Leopold, Benton MacKaye and Robert Marshall. MacKaye and Marshall were both socialists, who believed corporate-owned forest land should be seized by the federal government. Leopold was the father of modern forest ecology and author of Sand County Almanac, the classic book on " land ethics " . Today's Wilderness Society with its cautious political approach and $17 million a year budget bears little resemblance to the lean and radical organizations started by Leopold and Marshall. The Society's board of directors is culled from the elite ranks of corporate American and the social register. In 1994, the board included John Bierworth (former CEO of Grumman International), David Bonderman (CEO of Continental Airlines), Caroline Getty, Christopher Elliman (Rockefeller heir) and Gilman Ordway (heir to 3M fortune). The Society's staff spends most of its time raising and reinvesting money. Indeed, the membership development, operations and financial staff of the WIlderness Society is three times the size of its conservation staff. Even so, in 1993 the Society shoveled out nearly $2 million in contracts to outside telemarketing companies to do additional fundraising. An analysis of the Society's stock portfolio reveals an unsavory map of strange investments. Fore example, the country's self-proclaimed defender of America's last pristine lands owns thousands of shares of stock in [[Caterpillar],, Cummins Engines, [[John Deere],, [{Eaton]] and Ryder, corporations that build bulldozers, logging trucks, diesel engines, and other heavy equipment used to invade roadless areas. They also own investments in defense and energy companies, such as AMP, Inc., Baltimore Gas & Electric, Consolidated Edison, FPL Group, General Electric, and Loral. The Society occupies sumptuous quarters on 17th Street in DC. The halls, dressed in original prints by Ansel Adams, amplify the man-made connection between nature's grandeur and plutocrats' splendor. According to its annual report, starting in 1997 the Wilderness Society will pay $6 million a year for the DC office--more than one-third its annual budget. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wilderness_Society20) Decades ago, people thought rural communities had to depend almost exclusively on resource extraction industries to power their economies. These industries, famous for their boom and bust instability, have abandoned many rural communities in the American West. As America's demographics and economies change, so too does the economic importance of wildlands. A recently released study shows that non-motorized outdoor recreation, which depends on roadless forests and other wildlands, is giant economic force. The study, conducted by the Florida-based Southwick Associates, found that non-motorized outdoor recreation, like bird-watching, river rafting and backpacking: 1) contributes a staggering $730 billion to the US economy annually 2) support 6.3 million US jobs 3) generates $88 billion of tax revenue for state and federal governments 4) contributes $239 billion to the US economy in retail sales and services 5) adds, on an annual basis, $81 billion to the economies of Oregon, Washington, California, Alaska and Hawaii alone. --Studies have long shown that economic activity from recreation on public lands is growing quickly – though it already supports more jobs than resource extraction like logging and mining. With these economic realities in mind, it is clear that conservation decisions should no longer be thought of choice between jobs and the environment. Instead, we need to understand that lasting economic prosperity can mean choosing sustainable jobs instead of unreliable boom and bust employment cycles. Unfortunately, some land managers in the Bush Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have not updated their management decisions to reflect these new economic facts. The logging of the Babyfoot Lake trail and TJ Howell Memorial Drive last year, as well as the proposed logging of historic trails in the Illinois River Valley this year demonstrate this sad fact. Your help is needed to make sure that public servants managing your public lands make decisions that are right for our forests and our shared economic future. Stay informed and involved! http://www.siskiyou.org21) The National Forest Management Act requires that National Forests keep viable populations of native species. That was always a challenge in the case of wide-ranging species including birds what winter in the endangered forests of the tropic, or even the large mammals whose home ranges take them across the boundary of one National Forest and into another. It's going to be impossible under the new climate. A look ahead indicates that many species that are popularly accept as " native " to this or that National Forest is no longer going to be native there, but will have to shift its range toward -- in this case -- the North Pole in order to survive at all.Glacier National Park's website has been candid about this for some years, saying that climate change may " make a mockery " of attempts to keep native species viable. And the evidence in support of that has been mounting each of those several years. The new climate has rewritten the rules of species conservation. While many species with huge ranges will likely persist under new conditions, there are quite a few species that will only be conserved by keeping the open spaces they'll need as they -- environmental refugees -- attempt to relocate. So any National Forest in the US should be looking south to identify the species whose viability the Forest will have to protect, and will have to start looking north of the Forest for opportunities to keep viable populations of the species that will be running away from home. Lance Olsen lance22) The nation's transmission infrastructure has simply not kept pace with growth over the past 25 years. But the task of building new transmission routes is arduous. Just securing the rights of way for power lines and pipelines across the West's vast tracts of federal, state and private land can take years. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 contains two provisions aimed at removing those roadblocks: Section 368 eases access across federal land for utility companies, and Section 1221 lets the federal government condemn land to clear the way for power lines. Combined, the provisions will make it easier to build thousands of miles of transmission lines to tap into the West's energy boom. http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=16476The $4 billion ski industry " got a wake-up call " in 1998, notes Schendler, when protesters torched Vail. The fact that radical greens would burn a place most people envision as part of an outdoors experience stunned the industry into introspection. Until that point, says Schendler, " there was this perception that the industry must be environmentally friendly because these are all really outdoorsy people... but the reality of it was there was no environmental scrutiny whatsoever. " Two years later, more than 160 resorts signed a nonbinding charter initiated by the National Ski Areas Association that _pledged environmental responsibility. Today, of the 492 ski resorts in the U.S., about 180 participate in the NSAA's Sustainable Slopes. http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2004/08/25/skiing/index.htmlCanada: 23) The internal documents, intended for briefing the new environment minister, caused quite a stir when they landed in the hands of the Canadian press in June, in part because they state, " There is a growing concern about the potential for acid rain impacts in western Canada due to expected increases in acidifying emissions from industrial sources. " Acid rain is caused when the burning of fossil fuels releases SO2 and NOx. Until now, acid rain has not been seen as a problem for western Canada, thanks to low pollution levels and calcium-rich soils that buffer acid precipitation, explains Dean Jeffries, a geochemist at Environment Canada. But urban and industrial growth have made Alberta the top provincial emitter of NOx and SO2, and over the next 10-20 years, these emissions from Alberta's petroleum industry are projected to surpass current levels by 3-5?, says Kerri Timoffee, manager of the acid rain program at Environment Canada. The sheer size of Alberta's oil deposits-the equivalent of 1.7 trillion barrels of oil, second only to Saudi Arabia-has made them an attractive source, despite the difficulties in extracting petroleum from them. Mining the deposits, known as tar sands for their consistency, requires massive amounts of natural gas to heat steam in order to move the tar-like bitumen out of the ground and process it into synthetic crude oil. Production from northern Alberta's tar sands could triple to >3 million barrels/d by 2015, according to Canada's National Energy Board. Preliminary studies hint that acidification already may be under way. According to a new report for the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, ~7% of soils in Manitoba and ~2% of soils in Saskatchewan exceed the safe threshold for acid pollution of sulfur and nitrogen. At a Saskatchewan site 200 km downwind of the tar sands, the mean level of acid in precipitation increased in the past 12 years, sliding from pH 5.3 to 4.1, says Paul James, the director of environmental monitoring for Saskatchewan Environment. Normal rainfall has a pH of 5.6. http://pubs.acs.org//journals/esthag-w/2006/aug/science/jp_acidrain.html 24) " When peat lands burn, they can release a huge amount of mercury that overwhelms regional atmospheric emissions. our study is new in that it looks to the soil record to tell us what happens when peat soil burns, soil that has been like a sponge for mercury for a long time. " Normal atmospheric conditions naturally carry the mercury emitted from burning fossil fuel and other industry northward, where it eventually settles on land or water surfaces. The cold, wet soils of the boreal forest region in Alaska and northern Canada have been efficient in retaining, or sequestering, mercury. " When we walk across the surface of a peat land, we are standing on many thousands of years of peat accumulation, " Turetsky said. " This type of wetland is actually doing us a service. Peat lands have been storing mercury from the atmosphere since well before and during the Industrial Revolution, locking it in peat where it's not causing any biological harm, away from the food web. " In addition to industrial activity, climate change also appears to be disrupting the mercury cycle. Increasingly, northern wetlands are drying out. Forest fires are burning more frequently, more intensely, and later in the season, which Turetsky believes will make peat lands more vulnerable to fire. In May, Turetsky co-authored with Eric Kasischke of the University of Maryland another Geophysical Research Letters paper that documented recent changes in North American fires and proposed that more frequent summer droughts and severe fire weather have increased burn areas. " We are suggesting that environmental mercury is just like a thermometer. Levels will rise in the atmosphere with climate change, but due to increasing fire activity in the north and not solely due to warming, said Jennifer Harden, soil scientist at the U. S. Geological Survey and a co-author of the study. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Boreal_Fires_Release_Increased_Mercury_Into_Atmosphere_999.h tml25) In an ad in the National Edition of the New York Times newspaper, Greenpeace announced that more than 650 businesses in North America and from around the world are refusing to use tissue products manufactured by the Kimberly-Clark Corporation and made from ancient forests. The businesses are calling on the company to use more recycled fiber and pulp from sustainable logging operations in its products including Kleenex brand facial tissue. The company is causing the destruction of North America's largest ancient forest, the Boreal, which is home to endangered species and is essential in combating global warming pollution. The businesses took the pledge to not purchase Kimberly-Clark tissue products as part of the Forest Friendly 500 Initiative. The initiative's goal of reaching 500 businesses was surpassed in June and forms part of the growing concern amongst consumers and customers about forest destruction. Using a Forest Friendly Action Kit, dozens of volunteers hit the streets of cities and towns across North America and around the world to urge local businesses to stand up to forest destruction and recruit them to join the ranks of the Forest Friendly 500. The initiative is ongoing and new businesses are being added to the list everyday. http://www.forestfriendly500.org26) Twenty-six major publications including Rolling Stone, Time, Entertainment Weekly, refused to run an advertisement critical of Victoria's Secret for its role in destroying Endangered Forests. Many publications refused to identify the reason, but those that did respond revealed an unwillingness to offend major corporate advertiser. The ad had been accepted and run by The New York Times and other publications. " We know we're not dealing with issues of acceptability here. We're dealing with censorship...It raises a very disturbing question: If these supposedly objective publications are willing to censor an environmental group out of deference to an advertiser, how much can we really trust the rest of their content? " , said Todd Paglia of ForestEthics. http://forestethics.org/article.php?id=1556Finland:27) The Finnish forest products company Stora Enso is expanding production through acquisitions and additional investment in the Brazilian paper and Russian sawmill industries. Stora Enso has reached an agreement to acquire a Brazilian coated paper business from the US-based International Paper. The deal comprises a paper mill producing coated mechanical paper and a sawmill at Arapoti, in the state of Paraná, as well as approximately 50,000 hectares of land in Parana, including some 30,000 hectares of forest plantations. The estimated value of the acquisition is EUR 324 million, with about half of the value attributable to the paper business, and the balance to the sawmill and plantations. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2006, subject to customary closing conditions. http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Stora+Enso+investing+in+Brazilian+paper+and+Russian+sawmill +industries/1135221168780Kenya:28) The destruction of Mau forest yesterday dominated talks at a meeting on water. Participants at the World Water Week Conference accused politicians in Kenya and Tanzania of doing little to save the threatened ecosystem, which is the source of 12 rivers. Lack of political will was to blame for the destruction of the forest, said Mrs Doris Ombara Okundi, a project officer at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). " Government-led excision, logging and charcoal burning are to blame for the wanton destruction of the ecosystem, " said Mrs Okundi, who was accompanied by her husband, Rangwe MP Philip Okundi. More than 10,000 people were settled in the forest, which destroyed its fragile ecosystem, said Mrs Okundi. Participants accused the Government of failing to solve the controversial settlement of squatters in the forest, who they said were partly to blame for the forest's destruction. If not checked, the destruction of the forest would result in the death of the thriving tourism sector in both Kenya and Tanzania, warned Mrs Okundi. She said, the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem earned Kenya more than Sh800 million annually, and the figure was higher for Tanzania. http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1 & newsid=79793Uganda: 29) Residents of Bukuku village, Kityerera Sub County in Mayuge District have destroyed a five-hectare tree plantation in South Busoga Forest Reserve. They became violent on Tuesday morning after police arrested a colleague, Mr Iddi Mwandha on Monday. Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura ordered his arrest for alleged extortion from the public. He has allgedly been selling plots of land in the reserve to unsuspecting buyers. According to National Forestry Authority publicist Gaster Kiyingi, the IGP visited the area after a directive from President Yoweri Museveni. The latter wanted law and order enhanced in the reserve, after residents threatened the lives of NFA staff. The NFA's main remit is to manage gazetted forest reserves. This particular reserve was gazetted in 1948. Mr Kiyingi told Sunday Monitor that Kayihura camped in the area to assess the situation in Malongo and Kityerera Sub Counties before meeting residents. Commercial tree plantations have been established to boost the timber supply. " He added that 9,000 hectares of the forest reserve had been allocated for pine tree plantations. " These residents have been claiming to own land in the forest reserve for years. They are not just protesting the arrest, they want the land, " said Forest supervisor Carol Kunihira. http://allafrica.com/stories/200608210527.htmlSouth Africa:30) During the hearing, South African saw-miller Yorkcor said the merger would lessen competition in the market by effectively imposing a monopoly on round-wood. The competition authorities concurred, given that the merged entity would produce about 51% of local softwood sawlogs. Sawlog demand was reportedly rising strongly on the back of building-sector activity, which had led to concerns about prices and security of supply. Timber is also a significant component in the construction of low-income houses, in particular. There was also a concern that South Africa's forestry industry might mot meet domestic demand for softwood, which could force the country resort to imports for the first time since the Second World War. "As a result of those concerns, the Department of Public Enterprises, in consultation with other State departments, is now reviewing the future role of SAFCOL (the state-owned forest management company) and its wholly-owned subsidiary KLF," the DPE statement read. http://www.miningweekly.co.za/min/news/today/?show=92401Iran: 31) Thousands of tourists are annually attracted to 50,000 hectares of dense forests near the provincial border city of Baneh, where a variety of edible plants and medicinal herbs grow. More than 400 floral species and 75 forest trees have been identified in the area, most of which are known for edible, medicinal and industrial properties. The beautiful city of Baneh is annually visited by thousands of tourists who upon arrival usually get attracted to the border markets. The border city of Baneh is situated 270 kms to the northwest of Sanandaj at the beginning of the asphalt road leading to the city of Mahabad. Up to the 13th century AH, the original name of the city was " Beh Ruj " , meaning " sunny " . The present name of the city, Baneh, has been derived from " ban " , meaning " roof " due to the heights and mountains of the city and area. Baneh river, Ahmadabad and Pirmorad fountains, Arbaba and Hamam-Khadri heights are among the city's charming natural attractions. http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-235/0608247535185316.htmPeru:32) These are the cloud forests of Peru. Clouds born of moisture rising from the Amazon River Basin sustain a great variety of trees, which in turn support ferns, mosses, bromeliads and orchids that struggle to lay down roots on any bare patch of bark. It's these epiphytes (``epi'' means ``on top of,'' and ``phyte'' means ``plant''), plus the wet humus soil, the thick understory of plants and the immersion in clouds, that distinguish cloud forests from other types. Miles Silman, a biologist from Wake Forest University, and other scientists are attempting to catalog and understand the plant and animal life in Andean cloud forests before it's too late. Oil companies, having found petroleum and natural gas in the surrounding lands, are cutting roads and pipelines that scientists say are damaging some plant populations. Also, local farmers and ranchers clear cloud forest to expand their operations and harvest firewood. Most significant, the cloud forests here are threatened by climate change. In other parts of the world, warmer temperatures in the past century have pushed native species toward the geographic poles or altered their seasonal growth and migration. In North America, for example, the ranges of the blue-winged warbler and other songbirds have shifted north; barn swallows and other birds are migrating earlier in the spring than they once did; and plants are blooming sooner. But cloud forests may be particularly vulnerable to climate change. Of 25 biodiversity hot spots worldwide that conservation groups say deserve special protection, the tropical Andes is the richest by far. The region has almost twice as many plant species and four times as many endemic plants -- native species found nowhere else in the world -- as the next place on the list, the forests between central Mexico and the Panama Canal. http://planetsave.com/ps_mambo/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=7685 & Itemid=70 33) On a verdant Andean hillside 1,700m above sea level, Carlos Mario Roman points out four hectares where his father, a coffee farmer, raised coca, a traditional stimulant and the raw material for cocaine. The crop is a common cause of deforestation on the slopes of the Andes. Mr Roman has pulled out the coca plants and planted native trees to give shade to coffee plants. In another area he has sown coffee in the glade of a natural wood. He has also planted numerous fruit trees on his 20-hectare farm - not to harvest, he says, but to bring back the birds that had left because of deforestation. Mr Roman's story is typical of the 8,500 farmers in Cocla, a local agricultural co-operative and Peru's top organic coffee producer. He says he has improved his working practices to meet the guidelines for Rainforest Alliance, a coffee certification system. Cocla is also Fairtrade-certified, but Rainforest Alliance, a US-based certifier, differs from Fairtrade: it sets more rigorous environmental standards but does not guarantee a price to the farmer. Instead, the certification allows Cocla to sell coffee at a small premium above the market price. Rainforest Alliance pulled off a coup in 2003 by signing up Kraft, the world's second-biggest food company. In 2004, Kraft bought 5m pounds of certified coffee, in 2005 13m pounds and this year is on track to buy more than 20m pounds. In April this year Kraft launched its first big certified product in the US. Yuban ground coffee now uses 30 per cent Rainforest Alliance coffee across its entire range. http://www.ftd.de/karriere_management/business_english/106525.htmlBrazil:34) Environmental groups have enlisted one of the world's most distinctive and rare mammals, the golden lion tamarin, in their campaign to prevent irreversible climate change damaging the planet.The orange-maned tamarins, whose name derives from their resemblance to antique Chinese drawings of lions, are on the brink of extinction because their habitat, Brazil's unique Atlantic rainforest, has been all but eradicated. Barely 4 per cent is left. The destruction of the coastal forest has received scant attention compared to the threat to the Amazon rainforest. But campaigners say that what has happened along Brazil's seaboard is not merely a warning of what could happen in the Amazon basin if policies do not change: it has already changed rainfall patterns. International alarm at environmental degradation in Brazil is often not reflected among Brazilians themselves. Some 130 million people, or 70 percent of the population, live in the area once covered by the Atlantic forest, yet few are aware of it. The UK chapters of the Earthwatch Institute and WWF, formerly the World Wide Fund for Nature, are among groups seeking to change local attitudes. Tamarins are playing a lead role in heightening awareness among Brazilians. Not only can the rare animals attract eco-tourists, but restoring their habitat revives a forest which is more biologically diverse than any other in the world, including the Amazon. One patch of Atlantic rainforest contains more species than the whole of England. " I've been coming here for three years, " said Aline Soares, 12. " We need plants to maintain nature, so that we can breathe. " Unless millions of Brazilians her age get the same message, global warming may not be avoided, said a conservationist listening in. " Ninety per cent of the hardwoods felled in the Amazon are used in Brazil, " she said. " We ourselves have to solve this problem. " http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1220482.eceJapan:35) This is the only frog in Japan that lays its eggs in trees. After a week, the eggs hatch and when it next rains, the tadpoles squirm through the foam and drop into the water below. With the inevitable loss of suitable habitat, frogs may lay their foam masses on buildings. This frog has been accorded " special natural monument " status in Japan, meaning that it is one of the animals considered essential for the understanding of Japanese natural history and culture -- it's a bit like the frog equivalent of cherry blossom. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20060823at.htmlNew Zealand:36) Chairman Ross Black said the board recognised it was a " totally unsatisfactory " return on investment but considered the result to be the best possible, given trading conditions and the unique challenges faced by Timberlands. Increasing internal costs, rising domestic and international freight costs, the high value of the New Zealand dollar and a shortage of mature trees all contributed to the company's " annus horribilis " . A timber shortage caused by recurring wind-throw losses from the plantation forests and irregular planting silviculture programmes in the 1980s forced it to reduce the 2006 harvest by a quarter and to import pine logs from other West Coast and Nelson forest suppliers to meet commitments to sawmills. Mr Black said it had been a tough year for Timberlands and the forestry industry generally. Timberlands was in a bind but it was not one of its own making. A two to three-year gap in plantings when the Government scrapped the New Zealand Forest Service in the late 1980s meant there was now a shortage of suitable trees. That problem was exacerbated by several serious incidents of wind-throw in recent years. Timberlands forests are thinly spread over 350km, providing a broad front that is open to all the elements, including tornados, and are more susceptible to wind-throw than neat, planned blocks elsewhere. Problems mount when one area is flattened by winds because it exposes more of the forest to additional wind-throw. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3772881a13,00.html37) The logs - equivalent to 100 cubic metres of timber - were taken from a 3000ha property in the Waitotara Valley in southern Taranaki. " It appears to us that these logs have been harvested and milled illegally, " Rob Miller, manager of MAF's indigenous forestry unit (IFU), told NZPA last night. " In our view, that's an offence under the Forest Act. " He said the IFU came across the operation during a routine inspection, and the contractors did not have the necessary approvals for sustainable harvesting of native trees. The contractor involved, Steve Harris, told TVNZ last night he was able to cut the trees and chainsaw slabs of timber under a provision in forestry laws which said timber could be legally taken for firewood or other uses as long as it was not put through a sawmill. But Mr Miller said there was no " loophole " in the Forest Act. " They're milling logs to produce sawn timber, using a modified chainsaw - that still constitutes a milling operation. " Because there was an intent to produce sawn timber, the operation was legally a mill which required the correct approvals for sustainable harvesting. Mr Miller said high prices being paid for some native timbers were making it attractive for landowners or other parties to try to help themselves to logs or do things without going through the proper channels. Harvesting of native timber from private land is permitted under the Forests Act provided it is done in line with an approved sustainable forest management plan or permit. The IFU had been clamping down on illegal harvesting in both the North and South Islands over recent months, and in some cases people had faced criminal charges in court. Mr Miller said the nation's remaining native forest was a scarce resource, and rimu was a highly sought-after species, which took over 200 years to mature. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3773066a7693,00.html38) Residents of a Marlborough Sounds town want logging trucks off their main road before someone is killed. Two years ago, the local council and forestry companies agreed that logs would be carried out of Port Underwood around to Picton on barges, with up to 10 truck loads a day of logs going to Picton by road. But residents say up to 30 logging trucks travel along the only road in and out of Port Underwood each day. That is despite engineering reports which conclude the road is unsuitable for such heavy traffic use. " They cannot physically negotiate the majority of the corners without crossing the centre line and impeding other traffic. We take kids to and from school each day so they are constantly being put at risk, " says resident Jon Humphrey. Tamati Smith of Tasman Forest Management says it would be " considerably dearer for us to truck the wood from or forest around to the barge site and then barge it out. " But not using the water means the road gets a hammering. Residents are threatening a road block if the trucks do not stop. " It will take a fatality, before something happens and that's a sad state of the way things are, " says Humphrey. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/819984Australia:39) Northern Rivers environment groups have called for an urgent public review of forest dieback, which they say is spreading at an alarming rate through local forests. North East Forest Alliance co-ordinator and director of the Rainforest Information Centre, Ruth Rosenhek, said the NSW Government needed to place an immediate moratorium on logging of all public forests affected by or at risk of dieback. "If the government doesn't take action now it may well prejudice the long-term survival of the forests themselves," she said. Ms Rosenhek's call follows a tour of the Ewingar State Forest by representatives from the Nimbin Environment Centre, the Rainforest Information Centre, the North East Forest Alliance, concerned locals and representatives of Forests NSW. The environmentalists were alarmed by what they saw. "Forest dieback, or tree decline, involves the death of large numbers of trees across the landscape," Ms Rosenhek explained. "The tour of recently logged forests in Ewingar State Forest confirmed that dieback is now spreading rapidly. It was particularly distressing to see that dieback had now spread to previously healthy forests and buffers." This form of dieback is known as Bell Miner Associated Dieback and is caused by attacks on trees by sap-sucking insects called psyllids. Ruth says the psyllids thrive in disturbed environments, such as logged areas. Bell birds then increase in number, feeding on the sugary substance the psyllids coat themselves with, and stop other species eating the insects. Ms Rosenhek said dieback had major implications for the environment and the economy. "It is extremely dangerous and potentially irreversible, and it seems that intensive logging of state forests is contributing to its spread. Therefore, we are astonished that the NSW Government still seems to have its head firmly buried in the sand on this issue," she said. "The timber quotas Forests NSW must meet mean these forests are being disturbed beyond their recovery capacity. And stressed trees attract the psyllids," said Ms Richards. "If harvesting doesn't stop in these at-risk forests our children will inherit seas of lantana with the occasional dead tree where once were forests."http://www.echonews.com/index.php?page=View%20Article & article=8322 & issue=142 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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