130 – Earth’s Tree News

[Guest guest]

Today for you 37 news items about Mama Earth's trees. Location, number and subject listed below. Condensed articles listed further below. --Alaska: 1) Drying-dying forest--British Columbia: 2) Valemount Forest Products long term plans, 3) Hemlock market,--Washington: 4) State certification efforts greenwashed, 5) Logging in Wilderness? --Oregon: 6) Medford BLM selling Old Growth, 7) Murrelet to lose protection, 8) flow of small trees for biomass, 9) Roadless logging despite court challenges, --California: 10) Sequoia logging exemption bill--Montana: 11) Roadless management task force--Arizona: 12) Forest Service Fee challenge wins in court!--Colorado: 13) Dead Aspen amid sprawl, 14) Clearcuts to save the forest--Ohio: 14) Tree house requires debarking?--Maine: 15) Micro-burst gets old lady's trees--USA: 16) 80 conservation groups oppose wilderness bills--UK: 17) Golden colors of Fall --South Africa: 18) Arbor week celebration 19) Spring tree planting--Liberia: 20) Restoration of state authority at the decentralized level --Kenya: 21) Save Mau Forest--Ghana: 22) Ghana's Wildlife and the Forest--Uganda: 23) 30,000 to be evicted in Kyalulangira, Kagamba, Kacheera and Dwaniro, 25) Sugar cane corporation builds golf course, now needs more forest land.--Brazil: 26) Tupinikim and Guarani Indians reclaim territory--India: 27) Chandigarh, the greenest city in the country,--Philippines: 28) Forest land use plan (FLUP)--Indonesia: 29) Cloud seeding puts out fires, 30) Save Temenggor--Australia: 30) Forest economics in Victoria, 31) book on the battle to stop rainforest logging, 32) Logging to be a key issue in the next Victorian election, 33) Eco-terror, --World-wide: 34) New World Resources Institute maps, 35) US's international conservation grants, 36) Biggest trees in the world, 37) language itself is being slaughtered.Alaska:1) FAIRBANKS -- Glenn Juday stands next to a white spruce that sprouted from seed two years after Britain ceased hostilities against the colonies in the Revolutionary War, the last time fire swept through the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest. The 221-year-old trees are the monarchs of the northern boreal forest, rising 110 feet, and they have no business surviving on 11 inches of annual rainfall. " That's just ridiculously low, " said Juday, a forest ecologist. What makes the forest possible are cool temperatures. At least they used to be. A favorable combination of snow melt and rainfall that gives trees moisture just when they need it most has been disrupted by warming in recent decades -- more frost-free days, more 70-degree days, less heat loss at night, a potentially lethal combination to trees of the northern boreal forest. While climate warming has been most obvious in Alaska's glaciers and pack ice, it's also threatening to reshape the ecosystem that covers most of America's largest state. Warming may be behind a proliferation of insects that have attacked trees in unprecedented numbers. It's a suspect in forest fires that burned a record 6.6 million acres in 2004. And drought brought on by warming threatens the hardwoods that stand next to the dominant species, the white and black spruce. Juday said that if warming continues to accelerate, insects, fire and drought will change Alaska's forest within decades. " It's not wild talk to claim that, well, maybe it will get too dry for the trees to grow here, " Juday said. " It can and does happen. " James Kruse, a U.S. Forest Service entymologist in the Alaska Regional Forest Health Program in Fairbanks, said Alaska has been an environment of extremes, going back to the Ice Age. " When things happen up here, it tends to happen big, " he said. Juday, a professor of forestry science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, grew up in Indiana but has studied Alaska's forests for 29 years, much of the time at Bonanza Creek, one of 26 sites established by the National Science Foundation for long-term ecological research. " It's much less of an intact forest than it used to be and it's got the decline processes under way that are going to do it in, " Juday said. " A few of the trees will survive, and they'll become really old trees, but it's been hit pretty hard. " http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2006/09/11/news/regional/17bac97812d32299872571e

500210e84.txtBritish Columbia:2) Forestry work continues at Valemount Forest Products even though the mill is shut down. Timber in the Kiwa is being harvested by a Valemount-based contractor and being shipped to Prince George. Forestry planning also continues. The company's long term planning document, called the Forest Stewardship Plan is under review. The stewardship plan is a feature of the government's new results-based code. Adrian VanderZwan, one of three people still working at the mill office, said that the document is very broad. "The Forest Stewardship Plan is very general. It just says that we will abide by the rules set up in the forest planning and practices regulations," he said. "It's not like a forest development plan where you have to be specific." The company's cut is just 75,000 m3 (down from 175,000 m3). The company's operating areas include the Raush Valley, Kiwa Valley, Upper Canoe, south to Albreda, and from Dave Henry to Bull Dog creek. VanderZwan insists that anybody with interests in those areas should get in touch with the mill before the comment and review period is up October 30, 2006. The document is available for viewing at the mill office. The mill already has about just under 300,000 m3 of wood in approved category 'A' cutblocks and cutting permits, or roughly three and a half years at their annual allowable cut. http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8 & oe=UTF-8 & client=firefox-a & rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aoff

icial & q=where+is+Robson+Valley%3F & sa=N & tab=nw3) The wood going into kilns today is still the same hemlock, but the product that comes out is vastly different. Homebuilders can make precision cuts that make kiln-dried hemlock suitable for posts, walls and roofing elements in high-performance post-and-beam homes. Earthquakes won't cause it to fail and typhoons won't blow hemlock roofs off. " We have developed a new method of grading the lumber so we are selecting out for this particular market a very high-strength component of the hemlock forest, " said Prof. Dave Barrett of the University of B.C.'s department of forestry. The improved hemlock surpasses European glued and laminated products in stiffness and bending strength, said Barrett who, along with colleague Frank Lam, worked with forest companies to develop the product. Lam said performance standards are a crucial factor in the plan to retake the Japanese market. " We are competing in a global market in Japan against Scandinavian products and we need to be able to define the performance of these products and demonstrate to the customer that B.C. products are better than the competitors, " said Lam. " And this is one product that is coming on-stream that clearly has performance advantages over other products. " Jeffery said the initial goal of coastal producers is to regain the market share they lost to glue-lam from Scandinavia, Russia and China. The next phase, Jeffery said, is to expand the number of applications for hemlock in traditional Japanese houses and then to provide wider boards for the frame construction houses, a market that Interior producers developed but risk losing as the mountain pine beetle eats its way through Interior pine forests. Japanese are reluctant to buy lumber with the characteristic blue stain caused by microbes on the beetle. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/index.htmlWashington:4) SPOKANE -- The state is doing a good job of managing its forest lands in Eastern Washington and has earned a " green " certification from a national group, Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland says. Money generated by the 2.1 million acres of trust lands is used to build schools and other facilities in the state. But Shawn Cantrell of Seattle Audubon said certification by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Program is nothing to brag about. " We feel very strongly that SFI certification is a very hollow statement, " Cantrell said. The group, promoted by the forest products industry, has low standards and even those are not independently verified, he said. There is plenty of room for improvement in state management of forests, to provide both jobs, school revenues and environmental protection, he said. " We are still not harvesting in a sustainable way, " Cantrell contended. More than 150 million acres of U.S. forests are third-party-certified under the SFI, making it the dominant certification standard in the nation. The DNR manages about 3 million acres of state-owned trust forest, agricultural and range lands and commercial properties that earn income to build schools, universities and other state institutions, and to help fund local services in many counties. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Green_Forests.html5) Plans by Olympic National Park to set fires in designated wilderness to recreate " cultural landscapes " is both illegal and imprudent, according to a joint letter released today by Olympic Park Associates, Wilderness Watch and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The groups contend the park is again violating the Wilderness Act, destroying wildlife habitat and conducting " experimental " techniques which may get out of hand. The Olympic National Park is preparing to conduct controlled burns across 17 acres this month in designated wilderness in order to restores the " historic landscapes " on two old abandoned homesteaders' sites, at Ahlstrom's and Roose's Prairies. The park wants to destroy small trees and other vegetation that have grown up over the past two centuries. The use of helicopters, chainsaws and other mechanization in wilderness, as entailed in the park's fire plan for these sites, is generally prohibited by federal law. Last year, in a suit the same three groups filed, a federal court ruled that a plan by the park to airlift shelters into the backcountry violated the Wilderness Act. The groups charge that the Olympic park leadership is making precisely the same mistake again. " The Wilderness Act does not permit mechanical intervention or habitat alteration for the purpose of perpetuating manmade landscapes, " said George Nickas, executive director of Missoula-based Wilderness Watch. " The intent of this project is antithetical to wilderness. " The vast majority (95%) of the Olympic National Park land area is designated wilderness. Last month, the groups formally critiqued new draft management plans proposed to govern park operations for the next 20 years for shortchanging wilderness values. The groups have also protested the absence of a wilderness management plan for the park. " This is just another attempt to promote the re-creation of historical landscapes at the park; only this time it is under the guise of a fire management plan. " added Sue Gunn, Director of the Washington chapter of PEER, who had previously called for formal discipline of Olympic superintendent William Laitner for wilderness violations confirmed in a recent federal court decision. Oregon:6) On September 21, the Medford BLM will be auctioning off about 25 million board feet across thousands of acres of public forest as the fiscal year comes to a close. The auction includes a large old-growth timber sale, called Chew Choo, which is part of the massive old-growth logging project known as " Westside, " near I-5 and Glendale, Oregon. Throughout the Western United States many public land managers are attempting to address the effects of logging and fire suppression by thinning small trees and brush near homes and communities. But not the Medford BLM. The BLM insists on logging our remaining ancient forests regardless of the consequences. The Westside timber sale, in the Middle Fork Cow Creek watershed, is one of the most aggressive old-growth timber sales of recent memory. The BLM intends to log 3,009 acres of mature and old-growth forests throughout the project area. The proposed logging would require the construction of 5.7 miles of new logging roads to be constructed, and would remove or downgrade 2,700 acres of habitat for the threatened Northern spotted owl. The Middle Cow Creek watershed currently provides important habitat for Oregon Coast coho salmon and other salmonids. Under the Bush Administration, protections for at-risk Coastal coho under the Endangered Species Act have been stripped away and runs have been at or near record lows. In Westside, the BLM is proposing activities like logging, road construction and tractor yarding that it knows will further harm at-risk salmon runs. The BLM acknowledges in its Environmental Assessment that, "Fish habitat within the Planning Area has been altered as a result of past harvest, roads and agricultural practices adjacent to streams. Observations suggest that these altered conditions are currently limiting salmonid production, specifically rearing and spawning habitat." Yet the agency continues to plow ahead with more old-growth logging and more road construction in this sensitive watershed. KS Wild is doing everything in our power to protect the remaining ancient forests, spotted owls and Coastal coho in Cow Creek from the BLM. Visit our website for information on public hikes to Westside and for updates on the forthcoming lawsuit challenging this terrible timber sale. http://www.kswild.org7) A federal proposal would slash the critical habitat in Oregon, Washington and California set aside under the Endangered Species Act for the marbled murrelet, a threatened sea bird, by about 95 percent, to 221,692 acres. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday the bird already is protected by other plans such as the Northwest Forest Plan and state and tribal management plans on the 3.37 million acres that would lose the critical habitat designation. It is studying a proposal to delist the bird altogether. Of the land still listed as critical habitat, 53,640 acres would be newly designated, said agency spokeswoman Joan Jewett. She said the proposed changes would not affect areas open to logging. The Audubon Society of Portland, which worked to get the bird listed, said it fears for the marbled murrelet's future. The proposal opens the possibility of " rangewide extinction of this species within our lifetimes, " said regional conservation director Susan Ash. " We will work to ensure that this does not happen on our watch. " Oregon would retain 82,747 acres of critical habitat. California would keep 112,037 acres and Washington 26,908. She said the Oregon Department of Forestry would be responsible for managing most of the remaining critical habitat in Oregon. Just 1 percent of the land under the new designation would be federal. That is an area in Western Washington that is not covered by the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan, Jewett said. The marbled murrelet is a robin-sized seabird that spends most of its time in the marine environment and nests in Pacific coastal forests. The service will take public comment on the proposal until Nov. 13 and is to issue a decision by Aug. 30, 2007. http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=112428) By employing a system known as CROP (Coordinated Resource Offering Protocol), forestry and energy experts hope to make the market for small-diameter timber in central Oregon more attractive to investors. CROP, through planning with public and private land managers, would seek to identify and inventory a steady, predictable flow of small trees suitable for conversion to biomass. The Working Group will receive a brief update on the progress of this initiative. The 30-member Forest Biomass Working Group was formed by the Oregon Department of Forestry last fall to foster development of a viable biomass industry in the state using previously unmerchantable raw material from the forest that is a byproduct of thinning treatments. It was created in accordance with Senate Bill 1072, a law passed by the 2005 Oregon Legislature that directed the State Forester and the department to " take specific actions to increase the utilization of forest biomass, particularly from federal lands within the state, but also from tribal, state and private forests. " http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=332508 & cp=10996

9) PORTLAND - Two timber sales, named Mike's Gulch and Blackberry, are well underway in a roadless area of the Siskiyou National Forest. Forest spokeswoman Patti Burel says logging began almost a month ago on the first project. Patti Burel: " Mike's Gulch is far along, more than half way through I believe. Blackberry is just starting. Blackberry's located about 11 miles from the coast whereas Mike's Gulch is closer inland, about 35 miles in from the coast. " Burel says logging at Blackberry has moved slowly because helicopters have been diverted for fire fighting. The Forest Service required timber companies to use helicopters to haul out the logs. It says that means the forest remains roadless. Both timber sales are under court challenges from environmental groups but judges haven't made their rulings yet. http://publicbroadcasting.net/opb/news.newsmain?action=article & ARTICLE_ID=966153 & sectionID=1

California:10) This fall, Sequoia National Monument will again become ground zero in the timber wars, with a California congressman proposing legislation to allow commercial logging on areas within its boundaries. Passage of The Giant Sequoia National Monument Transition Act of 2006 (HR 5760) would allow the forest service to proceed with commercial logging projects, ignoring the federal court ruling against such projects, a ruling based on potential harm to the landscape and the rare wildlife that depends on it. Written by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, HR 5760 would perform an ``end run'' around that decision, and defy the legal tenets of the National Environmental Policy Act . When walking among these giants -- sequoias are the largest living things on Earth -- the importance of their protection becomes clear, and the idea of logging seems, at best, undignified. The Sequoia National Monument, like other Sierra forests, is suffering from decades of forest management that has disrupted its natural cycle. Exclusion of fire and past logging practices have been identified as the reasons the forest is in poor shape, and most agree that something must be done to restore this California treasure to a healthy and fire-resilient condition. This latest attempt to circumvent protections, under the justification of reducing the wildfire hazard and keeping the local timber mill running, is not a sensible -- or sustainable -- solution. Scientific evidence has overwhelmingly demonstrated that logging large, fire-resistant trees is a poor method to reduce wildfire risks, and only increases future threats. Logging leaves flammable debris on the forest floor, and loss of overstory canopy encourages the growth of brush and thickets of white fir. Canopy loss increases wind speed and air temperature and decreases the humidity in the forest, making fire conditions worse. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/15506709.htmMontana:11) Wilderness in the North Fork proved to be one of the key sticking issues facing a 12-member task force charged by the Flathead County Commissioners to review a draft revision of the Flathead National Forest Plan. In the end, the task force issued an opinion approving more wilderness in the Bob Marshall and Mission Range if no more wilderness was recommended for the North Fork. Commissioners Gary Hall and Bob Watne signed the task force's recommendation Aug. 30, but commissioner Joe Brenneman remained opposed. " The task force had lengthy discussions regarding wilderness recommendations in the proposed plan, " the task force opinion said. " Wilderness is a divisive issue because some task force members believe that there can never be too much wilderness, and others believe that current wilderness and Park designations in Flathead County is enough and no more is needed. " The task force was initially created in response to Gov. Brian Schweitzer's request for roadless management suggestions from the counties. That job was completed in February. http://www.whitefishpilot.com/articles/2006/09/13/news/news02.txtArizona:12) A mild-mannered, churchgoing, Tucson legal secretary has pulled the legal rug out from under a major Forest Service fee program, and potentially from hundreds of similar programs nationwide. When Chris Wallace decided to fight the two tickets she received last September for going on backcountry hikes on Mt Lemmon without displaying a $5 access pass on her parked car, the Forest Service got more than they bargained for. With the help of California attorney Mary Ellen Barilotti, she challenged whether the Forest Service has legal authority to charge the fee. On September 5, United States Magistrate Judge Charles R. Pyle agreed with Wallace. He dismissed both her tickets because the Mt Lemmon fee does not meet federal requirements. The Court found that: "The legal prohibition on fees for certain activities applies even within a High Impact Recreation Area The Forest Service does not have authority to charge a fee for parking along roads, or for undeveloped, minimally developed or semi-developed sitesThe Forest Service has no authority to charge fees for trails, trailsides, or developed trailheads The agency is prohibited from charging for camping at undeveloped sites." Wallace's case hinged on the restrictions spelled out in the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA), which was passed by Congress as an appropriations rider in December 2004. http://www.westernslopenofee.orgColorado:13) These aspen trees are dead, standing like tall tombs over what lives beneath them on the forest floor. And although all around them, woven like a thick green carpet that is about to turn golden, vast currents of lush, healthy aspen still race across the mountains, it is the spindly silhouettes of the dying and the dead that seem to hold sway. Down below, in spunky little Mancos, which U.S. 160 skirts, making it half-town, half-secret, people are noticing what's happening and they hate it. They hate it as much as they love their town, a town that's so " safe and sweet and quiet, I haven't locked a door in 25 years, " Gail Bertram says. There are about 1,000 people in Mancos (which locals call " Mancus - as in spankus, " Bertram says). There are an additional 3,000 in the Mancos Valley, and most don't share blood with the ranching families that settled the valley generations before Mancos was founded in 1894. The drought and modern economics persuaded the ranchers to sell their land. Now, subdivisions are springing up along the valley, and a lot of the people who live in them - those who commute to Durango for work, retirees, snowbirds - don't quite embrace the close-knit, small-town ways that made Mancos a little slice of heaven for so many. But no matter how long they've lived here, a lot of people look up at the gray swaths on the mountains and feel like town librarian Kate Kearns. Which is to say, " unsettled. " The aspen are starting to die in larger, unexplained numbers, almost 9 percent by one estimate http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4983826,00.html

14) The U.S. Forest Service plans to clear-cut several thousand acres of southwestern Colorado aspen in a last-ditch effort to save dying stands of the slender, creamy- barked tree that's synonymous with the state's high country. Clear-cutting large swaths of forest may seem like an unlikely cure. But the idea - which has not been tried before in Colorado - is to remove all the adult aspen trees in an ailing stand to allow thousands of new seedlings to sprout and grow without having to compete against mature aspen for sunlight. " It's a drastic treatment, very similar to an amputation, " said research forester Wayne Shepperd of the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins. " It's something that we're going to try that may or may not work, " Shepperd said. " Like cutting a leg off, if you don't get all the infection, you might still lose the patient. " http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4983824,00.htmlOhio14) Construction on a new tree house for children of all abilities is now officially underway. The tree house will be connected to 12 trees in Mount Airy Forest. On Tuesday, local leaders gathered to officially debark the first three trees. The tree house is special because it's the only one in the Tri-state that is going to be wheelchair accessible. Plans for the tree house first began when 9 On Your Kids Side reporter Michael Flannery approached Mayor Charlie Luken. The city offered a location and upkeep, while donors, viewers, and foundations came up with the $300,000 needed for its construction. Now, you can help name the tree house!! The Cincinnati Parks is inviting children of all ages (1-99) to send in names for the special tree house. Click here to send an e-mail, or gerald.checcoMaine:15) AVON - As Lucille Oliver remembers it, she was sitting in her living room, listening to the five o'clock Lawrence Welk program on the radio when it happened. " I was sitting here. ... All of a sudden, the power went off, and it came like the snap of your fingers, just like a white cotton bedsheet across the window, " Oliver said Monday. She heard a noise like breaking glass, and when she looked to the window all she could see was pine needles and rain. Moments later, it was over, she said. It wasn't until she got up to survey the damage that she saw the trees. At 85, she doesn't go out often, but she could see the damage easily enough from a window. Thirty-five pine and oak trees had been pulled up by the roots and were lying in a row, all facing in one direction, on her back lawn. " I knew all the windows was broken, " she said. " It all happened in very short order - in a split second - and then it cleared right up, " she said. Her son Herbert Oliver of Waterville surveyed the damage Monday. His mother was lucky none of the trees closer to her house came down, he said. " I can't explain what it was, " Lucille Oliver said. " A mini-tornado is what I call it. " The National Weather Service calls it a micro-burst, hydrometeorological technician James Brown said Monday. http://www.sunjournal.com/news/franklin/20060912088.phpUSA:16) A coalition of 80 grassroots environmental organizations today issued an open letter to the conservation community at large, urging their support to stop current legislation that would harm public lands. The groups are asking their colleagues to join them in opposing the legislation. At issue are bills that combine wilderness designation with land and water development provisions. Four bills cited in the moratorium letter include privatization of public lands and critical wildlife habitat through giveaways, sales, and exchanges: (1) White Pine County [Nevada] Conservation, Recreation and Development Act, S. 3772 (2) Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act, HR 3603 (3) Washington County [utah] Growth and Conservation Act, S. 3636, HR5769 (4) Owyhee Initiative Implementation Act, S. 3794 [idaho] Read an in-depth analysis of these four bills on our website. http://westernlands.orgUK17) Gold may be set to reach an all-time high in many parts of Britain this autumn according to experts at the Forestry Commission. Our autumn colours experts believe the long hot spell this summer will affect the richness of colour when trees begin their preparation for winter and reveal their autumn hues. The National Arboretum at Westonbirt, in the Cotswolds, is one place expecting spectacular autumn colours. John Weir, Director of Arboreta, said: " The different chemicals in the leaves control the colours we see. During summer the leaves are packed with chlorophyll, which turns sunlight into sugars - plant food - and this makes the leaves appear green. " However, once the tree shuts down as it prepares for winter, the chlorophyll is withdrawn and other chemicals take over - carotenoids (which give carrots their colour), anthocyanins and tannins which make the leaves appear yellow, red and gold. " Many of these chemicals help protect the leaves from receiving too much energy from sunlight and are the reason colour could be at their best this year. " This is good news as the Forestry Commission gears up its Autumn Colours website (www.forestry.gov.uk/autumn) for the millions of leaf peepers who will visit woodlands across Britain to see the colours at their best. John added: " The National Arboretum at Westonbirt is world-famous as a place to see autumn colours and our collection of trees makes the display astounding. " Among the highlights are our maples. If the conditions are as good as we think then this could be a year to remember. " Westonbirt is not the only place you can go to, though. Our centres in Perthshire, for example, are predicting a stunning display, and places such as the Lake District, Forest of Dean and Northants are hopeful. Our website will help people choose the right time and location from more than 100 places to go, and foresters throughout Britain will mark up the strength of autumn colours on the site, letting people know when they should visit to see the colours at their best. http://www.forestry.gov.uk/newsrele.nsf/AllByUNID/DDFB4AE704A9FD68802571CB003AAD83\

South Africa:18) Speaking during Arbor Week celebrations in Qunu in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday, Ms Hendricks said Government needed to do more to create jobs and to help uplift people, especially those from rural areas, through trees and forestry. Themed " Plant a Tree - Grow our Future " this year's Arbor Week highlights the value of trees in ensuring sustainable economic development and how trees and forests contribute towards creating a better life for all. " In adopting this theme we are recognising that forests and trees are a very important part of the lives of people in rural areas, and that as the Government we need to do more, " said the Minister. She said expanding forests created employment and business opportunities, as well as actively contributed towards the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa. " However, trees and forests take many years to grow so an investment today will yield rewards for our children - like we nurture our children, we need to nurture our trees and forests to protect them, particularly against damage from fires, " she advised. The Eastern Cape is a region that has been recognised as being of national importance in the future development of the forestry sector. In this regard, the minister called on leaders, government officials and communities to work together in making this potential a reality and a success. http://allafrica.com/stories/200609060727.html19) SPRING was definitely in the air when 2 000 trees were planted to launch the Greening of Greater Lenasia Legacy Project on 9 September. With the scorching sun beating down, community members and learners from Lenasia took part in the Johannesburg City Parks' project aimed to green and beautify the south of Joburg ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. " This project is set to make a huge difference in the landscape of Greater Lensaia " , said mayoral committee member for environment, Prema Naidoo, highlighting that future generations will measure them not only on what they did on Earth, but also on what they did not do. According to executive mayor Amos Masondo, Johannesburg has more trees than any other city in the world and, from a satellite in space, looks like a rain forest. However, its urban forest is not evenly distributed and the south is generally denuded and dusty. With urbanisation and densification of carbon levels contributing towards the dust and denuding, Naidoo said, " We must plant more trees and mature our existing stock to make sure they don't die. " Earlier this year, in the City's budget, an amount of R7,6-million was allocated to City Parks for the greening project. So far the City's agency has already contributed towards 6 000 trees being planted in Soweto on Arbor Day – and now the 2 000 in Lenasia – as part of the City's long-term goal of planting more than 100 000 trees over the next five years. http://www.joburg.org.za/2006/sep/sep11_lenasia.stmLiberia:20) Last Saturday's visit to Pleebo, Maryland County; an inspection tour of logging areas. The meeting with the County Support Team was in line with UNMIL's commitment to support the restoration of state authority at the decentralized level, ensuring coherence between national and county-level policies and actions. " The current Government will introduce serious governance in the logging industry in order to re-establish its control of the forestry sector, regain its sovereignty and see the lifting of the sanctions, " said Mr. Woods, as he gave an overview of the new forestry reform package that has been developed. " Through the new National Forestry Reform Law 2006, the government will ensure that all timber products will have a legal origin, " he added. DSRSG Ryan said that the visit to Maryland was very useful in determining the current situation on the ground. " I am pleased that nothing illegal that we can observe is taking place, " he said. Executive Order No. 1 cancelled all forest concessions of Liberia and established a Forestry Reform Monitoring Committee (FRMC), under the chair and co-chair of the Managing Director of the FDA and the DSRSG for Recovery and Governance. It is charged with the responsibility of developing reform packages for the forest industry of Liberia to make it an efficient, effective, transparent and responsible business entity. http://allafrica.com/stories/200609060526.htmlKenya:21) Though the government has banned logging in most parts of the country's dwindling forests, the same seems not to apply to Mau Forest. The most notorious places where logging takes place are next to Chebang'ang, Embomos, Monges and Kipsoong'on of Bureti district. Nature's Wisdom, a community-based organisation dealing with environmental issues, has pointed an accusing finger at the provincial administration personnel, whom they say sleep on their job as all kinds of people massively rape the forest, that they described as the livelihood of millions of people in Africa. So systematic is the logging that even local primary schools, upon obtaining constituency development funds (CDF), descend on the forest to buy timber for construction. A recent illegal timber harvesting almost turned tragic when two teenage pupils of Chebugen Primary School, who had been send to fetch timber, got lost in the thick forest for two days. When they resurfaced, the matter was neither exposed nor was the school headmaster punished for misusing children who are hardly ten. Ferrying timber manually is both risky and demanding exercise as it is done either at night or early in the morning to avoid "detection". "Logging has been done in the full knowledge of chiefs, DOs and DCs who are either bribed or benefit in one way or the other," says Nature's Wisdom in a report. "As far as Nature's Wisdom is concerned, logging remains banned," adds the statement. http://www.timesnews.co.ke/07sep06/nwsstory/opinion.htmlGhana:22) Speaking on the theme, "Ghana's Wildlife and the Forest", as part of Environment Expo-2005, organised by Earth Service, an environmental non-governmental, organisation (NGO), based in Accra, observed that, Ghana, as a country, which can boast of trained foresters, seems to be harvesting its forest, only on commercial interest, instead of sustaining its for environmental protection, and prioritising less commercial value. "It saddens me to see our forests are varnishing fast and very fast". Prof. Tuffour stressed that, "there's the need to frame-up a new policy on the forestry sector, which will re-define and provide a new vision for both the forest and wildlife conservation". It is believed that, in 1994, Ghana had already experienced its problems in the forest sector, which has more than 40 commercial species, based on diversity of perceptions, when it comes to sustainability. Considering Ghana's 1948 forestry policy-clause (1), Prof Tuffour called for the observation of the international policy provision as a criterion for the protection of the forest, from chain-saw operators, and others. These natural resources, he observed, are easily accessible and exploitable assets, but how these assets were protected and managed, has a significant impact on development, and society's potential for progress. http://www.rainforestportal.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=60164Uganda:23) THE National Forestry Authority will evict over 30,000 people in Kyalulangira, Kagamba, Kacheera and Dwaniro sub-counties of Kooki county. NFA claims the people had encroached on gazetted forest reserves. However, the Kagamba sub-county Chairperson, Mr Wilson Kamoli, has written to Kooki MP, Maj. Erasmus Mugumya Magulumaali, to intervene. " The residents have lived here for so many years, that they have nowhere to go, and therefore I ask for your intervention, " the letter reads in part. Magulumaali told Daily Monitor last week that the evictions were intended to cause suffering to the population. " If the government degazatted Mabira Forest and allowed Mehta to grow sugarcanes there, why doesn't it degazatte Kooki forest reserves for these people to continue with their agricultural activities? " he asked. " What they call forest reserves are in actual sense plain grasslands. The NFA should instead advise these people on better farming techniques like planting fruit trees in their gardens. " President Yoweri Museveni recently directed the Ministry of Water and Environment to give away a quarter of Mabira Forest to the Mehta Group of Companies to grow sugarcanes. Mehta are the owners of the Sugar Corporation of Uganda. http://allafrica.com/stories/200609080840.html24) The Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (SCOUL) has spared part of its land as a nine-hole golf course and wants to expand into the Mabira forest reserve, which is a sanctuary for rare species of birds. "It is ridiculous that they want to keep their golf course intact and destroy the forest,'' said a senior forestry official, adding that Mabira is widely seen as a heritage. Mabira harbours a third of the country's bird species, including a rare bird species, Nahan's Francolin, that is only found in Bugoma and Budongo forests in western Uganda. Conservationists insist that Mabira is the only remaining large natural forest on the northern shores of Lake Victoria after encroachers destroyed South Busoga forest. According to NatureUganda, Mabira Forest reserve is the largest block of moist semi-deciduous forest remaining in the central region of Uganda. The reserve is considered to be a secondary forest, in which the distinct vegetation types are sub-climax communities, heavily influenced by humans for prolonged periods of time. Two hundred and two tree species have been recorded, including one (Diphasia angolensis) not known elsewhere in Uganda. Five other tree species growing in this reserve are listed as endangered. A SCOUL insider said the golf course, estimated to occupy 200 acres, is in the vicinity of the estate on one of the edges of the plantation, a kilometre away from the sugar factory. "They should cultivate sugarcane on their own golf course since they would not have to spend too many resources to turn it into a plantation,'' said the forestry official. SCOUL wants 7,100 hectres of Mabira forest reserve to plant sugarcane. However, sources said with efficiency SCOUL has the potential of increasing the productivity of its 11,000-acre land under their estate. http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7 & newsCategoryId=132 & newsId=520149

Brazil:26) During 6 and 7 September, Tupinikim and Guarani Indians cut about 10 hectares of eucalyptus trees in an area that belongs to them traditionally, but has been invaded and explored by the Aracruz Celulose company since the 60ies. With this action, they demand from the FUNAI and the Ministry of Justice a maximum of agility in the publication of the demarcation decree of 11,009 hectares, solving this dispute for land with Aracruz that already lasts more than 35 years. Reacting to the actions of the Indians of the past week, the Presidency of FUNAI, through the head of Office Mr. Raimundo José de Sousa Lopes, promised on the 6th of September to send today the land file of the Tupinikim/Guarani, including the FUNAI report about the challenge (defense) against the land claim presented by Aracruz Celulose, to the Ministry of Justice, so the Minister Márcio Thomaz Bastos issues, without further delay, the land demarcation decree.The Tupinikim and Guarani decided to continue their actions today, continuing the " cleaning " of the eucalyptus trees from the area of 11,009 hectares, eucalyptus that caused so many problems to the indigenous communities. They continue affirming that they want to cut the trees without taking them away reaffirming that the struggle is for land, so that it can get reforestated and once again serve for the well-being of the communities. They promise to maintain the protest actions until the demarcation decree becomes issued.Aracruz Celulose reacted publicly to the actions, affirming as always that it is convinced that the lands belong to them. However, the company used a new argument that surprised all: the company affirmed on television (Jornal Capixaba, 06/09/2006) through its spokesman Gessé Marques that " the Indians are no Indians " , in other words, if they are no Indians, they do not have a right to occupy and demand an indigenous land. Aracruz affirms that they are not from the region, discarding a whole mythology and traditional way of living of the Guarani that moved them to walk until the region of the municipality of Aracruz, still before the invasion of the company in 1967. At that time, the Guarani got impressed by the quantity of native forest still present and its beauty, before the company started its devastation. http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/527216.htmlhttp://www.globaljusticeecology.org

India:27) According to the latest findings of the Forest Department, Chandigarh has become the greenest city in the country. The joint capital of Punjab and Haryana has a forest and tree cover of 35.5 per cent in its 114-sq km area, says the Forest Department. The city, the first planned one in post-independent India, came into being in the early 1950s through the design of French architect Le Corbusier. An agriculturist-bureaucrat, MS Randhawa, is credited with the large variety of trees that were planted when the city was in its infancy. The tree cover saved Chandigarh from becoming an all-concrete jungle, a fate that has overcome many Indian towns. " Watching the city sitting by the window of Hotel Shivalikview's Yangtse Chinese restaurant on the sixth floor gives you a feeling that you are living in a forest. It is so green everywhere. The buildings and houses are hardly visible, " lawyer Guneet Chaudhary said. The Chandigarh administration's Forest and wildlife department and the local municipal corporation's horticulture wing say that over 2.2 million tree saplings of various varieties were planted in the last 15 years. Of these, the forest department alone planted over 1.93 million saplings. " Chandigarh has become a national leader in green cover, " says a forest official. The forest department and other agencies have been distributing free saplings and also selling them at subsidised rates to encourage the spread of green. The forest department alone distributed over 370,000 free tree saplings. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1795224,0006.htmPhilippines:28) The provincial government and five local government units (LGUs) here have allocated some P3.8 million for the formulation of the provincial forest land use plan (FLUP). The FLUP is part of the agreement forged between and among the provincial government, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the implementation of the Philippine Environmental Governance (EcoGov) in this part of the country. The agencies aim to improve forest protection initiatives designed to preserve and rehabilitate the remaining forest cover of the province. The province was the first to declare moratorium on logging activities throughout the Cagayan Valley region after it registered barely 20 percent forest cover as a result of unabated forest tree cutting in the early 80s. The agreement involves the formulation and implementation of FLUP for the upland towns of Kasibu, Kayapa, Aritao, Sta. Fe and Alfonso Castaneda. The plan is expected to help install forest land and watershed resources with local communities specifically for the allocation, utilization and management of their forest lands. The management strategies include an approved management plan, budget, functional organization and established individual property right for the tenure holders. Board Member Merly Talingdan, chair of the provincial board's committee on environment, said the activities and interventions are expected to eliminate illegal logging while encouraging investments in the forestlands and productive development by its occupants.Indonesia:29) Indonesia has put out most of the forest fires in its part of Borneo island after inducing rain with cloud seeding, minimizing the spread of a smoke haze that's threatening air quality in the country and its neighbors. The number of hotspots in the provinces of Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan on Borneo has dropped to fewer than 100 from as many as 600 the previous week, Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban told reporters today. Hotspots are areas about 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) wide with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The haze occurs almost every year during the dry season as farmers on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo clear land by setting fires to trees and bushes. Smoke choked much of Southeast Asia in 1997 and 1998, causing economic losses of almost $9 billion as travelers shunned the region and health-care costs increased. The haze also reduced visibility in the Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. The government has put aside a budget of 1 billion rupiah to 2 billion rupiah ($219,000) for the cloud-seeding program that began in late August, which involves spraying silver iodide particles into storm clouds. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080 & sid=a9pFnWmm7M.w & refer=asia30) KUALA LUMPUR: A rainforest in Perak that could be as old as 130 million years is in danger of being wiped out due to logging and unsustainable development, claim a husband-and-wife documentary-making team. Logging activities in the 300,000ha Belum-Temenggor forest reserve have reached the foot of a mountain range and will threaten the fauna and flora in the forest that is also home to orang asli. Harun Rahman, 41, and Lara Ariffin, 39, made an award-winning documentary entitled Temenggor – Biodiversity In The Face Of Danger after they discovered the forest's destruction by chance. "We were filming a documentary on the forest when we spotted the heavy logging activities in the area," said Lara. That was when she and her husband decided to enlighten Malaysians on the situation. "Floods, poor air quality, water shortage, landslides and global warming are direct effects of the destruction of nature," said Harun. It took the couple two-and-a-half years to complete the documentary which was premiered at the TGV cineplex in KLCC here on Tuesday. The forest reserve has 10 hornbill species in Malaysia and is also the only place in the world where the globally-threatened Plain-pouched Hornbill can be found. Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) president Anthony Sebastian said the society began a six-month public campaign in April to appeal to the Perak and the Federal governments to stop all logging activities in the Belum-Temenggor forest. "We believe the campaign is a success as the Perak Mentri Besar has promised to stop all logging activities in the forest by 2008," said Anthony. To further conserve the area, MNS has appealed for the extension of the Royal Belum State Park to include the Temenggor forest, and also for the Perak government to gazette the reserve as a protected area. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/9/14/nation/15412358 & sec=nation

Australia:31) THE significance of forestry industries to Victoria — especially regional Victoria — is undeniable. They contribute $1.8 billion to the state's economy (about 1 per cent of gross state product) and employ nearly 20,000 workers directly and indirectly along the supply chain. Numerous government reports confirm this socio-economic contribution. In the run-up to the November 25 state election, it is important that all political parties acknowledge the industry's positive role in the economy and develop constructive policies on that basis. There are finally some straws in the wind that suggest the political debate about forestry has reached a level of maturity to allow this. It's time to recognise the progress made and the depth of accountability and scrutiny of the industry. http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/time-to-sort-the-wood-from-the-trees/2006/09/11/1157826875217.html

32) A book on the battle to stop rainforest logging in northern New South Wales 25 years ago has rekindled so much animosity that the factions involved have refused to meet for the book's launch. About 50 people from both sides of the conflict were interviewed for the book Terania Creek: Rainforest Wars. Author Nigel Turvey says conservationists will meet at Terania Creek, north-west of Lismore, this week, but those on the forest industry side will gather at Lismore. " People said they felt they couldn't all meet in one place and feel comfortable and relaxed and celebrate the events that had gone on ... too much animosity, too much long-lived resentment, that's the issue. " http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1738025.htm32) The Wilderness Society and the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) say they want logging to be a key issue in the next Victorian election and have outlined a plan for the protection of forests. The groups will today call on the State Government to ban logging in old-growth forests and forests growing in water catchments. ACF spokesman Don Henry says the Government will also be asked to provide money to help workers who would be affected by the ban. " We're urging the Victorian Government to commit about $136 million to help regional tourism growth and other employment initiatives and other jobs, including jobs for rangers, " he said. " That will ensure there is good job options and good job growth at the same time as we protect forests and water catchments. " Mr Henry says it is important to provide money to help find employment for forestry workers who would lose their jobs under the plan. " If we care about making sure we have these great old-growth forests to hand on to our kids, and if we really want to look after our water catchments this is a good investment, " he said. " It's good bang for the buck, and importantly this is not just a conservation package. " It's a package asking for investments in regional communities to deliver jobs as well. " http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1734873.htm33) Tasmanian police may be close to an arrest over the vandalism of an expensive logging machine in the state's south. They say they are pursuing strong lines of inquiry into the theft of a log dragging " skidder " near Geeveston. It was driven 12 kilometres from a coup before being dumped in a river. Police are also investigating an arson attack on a skidder at Lefroy, east of George Town in the state's north-east. Ferdie Kroon, from the Tasmanian Forest Contractors Association, will not speculate who is behind the vandalism. " [it is] more for the police to determine who's doing it and what their rationale is for doing it, " he said. " My concern is that these characters are causing some significant problems and they need to understand they can and will be found and prosecuted. " http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1737075.htmWorld-wide:34) Leaders of government, business and environment groups now have the most advanced set of tools available to manage the world's final frontier of untouched northern forests with today's release of new map-based tools detailing forests in Alaska, Canada, and Russia. " Government, industry and the public all have a responsibility to manage the forest frontier responsibly. Today we are releasing the tools needed to live up to that responsibility. Ignorance can no longer be claimed as an excuse, " said Jonathan Lash, president, World Resources Institute (WRI). Discussing his home country in particular, Peter Lee, executive director, Global Forest Watch Canada, said, " It is high time for everybody to realize that Canada is not an endless sea of virgin forest anymore. Almost half of the forest is either logged or fragmented. " WRI and its partners in Global Forest Watch are releasing three sets of electronic maps here today during a conference of the Taiga Rescue Network titled " The Global Importance of the Boreal Forest: Migratory Birds and the Paper Industry. " The maps and reports can be found at www.wri.org and are titled: 1) Mapping Undisturbed Landscapes in Alaska. 2) Canada's Large Intact Forest Landscapes and Canada's Forest Landscape Fragments. 3) Mapping High Conservation Value Forests of Primorsky Kray, Russian Far East -- The maps trace the frontier of industrial influence across the forests of Canada and Alaska, and in the tiger habitats of the Russian Far East. A research consortium of non-governmental organizations has examined thousands of satellite images and other data, searching for signs of human influence. The results have been verified in the field and in low-level aircraft photography. For instance, in Alaska, a considerable extent of the forest landscape remains essentially untouched - unlike most of the lower 48 U.S. states that have experienced significant transformations. Alaska boasts the highest degree of forest intactness (85 percent) of any U.S. state. http://www.wri.org35) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will award more than $3.5 million in international conservation grants to 54 countries to help conserve imperiled wildlife throughout the world, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Thursday. The amount is half the $7 million that was awarded under this program in 2005. Matching funds and in-kind contributions from nearly 100 partners, including American and international not-for-profit organizations and foreign governments, will raise the total to nearly $9 million. Kempthorne said, " These grants, coupled with the contributions of our partners, will make a huge difference in conserving habitat and reducing the threats of species around the globe. " Grants of nearly $2 million will be made under the Great Ape Conservation Fund, with matching funds of more than $2.3 from 20 partners, that will promote the conservation of chimpanzees and gorillas in Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Rwanda, and gibbons in Vietnam and Bangladesh, and orangutans in Sumatra and Indonesia. Grant support for Cameroon, the Congo, Gabon and Rwanda will help improve law enforcement designed to protect gorillas, aid in research, and promote a system to reintroduce gorillas to their natural habitat in the Congo and Rwanda. Gorillas remain severely endangered throughout all of their range and have suffered from intense poaching, a loss of habitat and catastrophic disease outbreaks. Under the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund, the Service is awarding grants to promote a program in Malaysia to reduce domestic trade in tiger parts. The Bengal tiger of Bangladesh will get help, along with the Indian rhinoceros in Nepal, where poachers are a continuing threat. Service grants under the Elephant Conservation Funds will support efforts to promote elephant conservation ranging from the establishment of anti-poaching programs to educational initiatives. Projects in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Argentina, Belize, Nicaragua and Chile will help conservation work to protect the jaguar and puma in Belize, the tapir in Brazil and the iguana on Andros Island in the Caribbean. A grant to Russia will provide assistance to 32 nature reserves and parks, including help in improving law enforcement and working conditions for employees. Species that will benefit include the critically endangered saiga antelope, and the Far Eastern leopard, along with the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, cranes, storks and some rare plants. http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2006/2006-09-01-09.asp36) Record trees 1) Tallest living tree: Hyperion (coast redwood), 378.1 feet, Redwood National Park 2) Tallest recorded tree: Unnamed eucalyptus, 500-plus feet, recorded in 1872 in Australia 3) Most massive living tree: General Sherman (giant sequoia), estimated weight four million pounds, Sequoia National Park 4) Largest tree canopy: A great banyan in Calcutta's Indian Botanical Garden covers three acres. 5) Oldest living tree: Methuselah (Bristlecone pine), estimated 4,650 years old, California's White Mountains http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/07/MNGQRL0TDV1.DTL37) Even language itself is being slaughtered, when, as Arundhati Roy notes (The Algebra of Infinite Justice, 2002), it is being systematically employed to mask intent and to create a breeding ground for exploitation in the space between what is said and what is done. The space of lies. It is in this space that a new kind of imperialistic war of scorched-earth destruction is being fought. The battleground is mind-space: the aim of conquest is human consciousness itself. Without a moral compass, neither individual nor society can navigate the storms of life. Unless we can find the Pole Star of Truth, we are in big trouble, with the very survival of civilization in jeopardy. Even now, having created a world gone mad with the violence of its greed, can we say we are civilized? Are we humane? http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/knaebel4.html