136 - Earth’s Tree News

[Guest guest]

Today for you 37 news items about Mama Earth's trees. Location, number

and subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed

further below.--British

Columbia:1) Forest History, 2) More about Cortez, 3) Developer

Blockaded, 4) Cutting prescriptions, 5) Forest Practices Board audits,

6) Get outta town,--Oregon: 7) Problem is Bush not enviro lawsuits, 8) ELF costs a half million,--California: 9) what "net" means to future logging profits, --Idaho: 10) Potlatch to charge for recreation,

--Montana: 11) 10 Truths and Trends in the New American West--Wisconsin: 12) Ash Borer Wars--Minnesota: 13) New "critical habitat" for Canada Lynx--Ohio: 14) Call Before You Cut--Maryland: 15) Cutting fine is worth more than the land

--North Carolina: 16) Duke Forest--Connecticut: 17) American chestnut--Tennessee: 18) Save a 10,000-acre tract of unspoiled forest Greene / Unicoi counties--USA: 19) Losing 6,000 acres of open space each day,

--Canada: 20) Industry Science under one roof now,--UK: 21) Developers have lost their fight to build a housing complex.--European Union: 22) EU emissions trading schemes are ineffective--Sierra Leone: 23) Moratorium on deforestation and indiscriminate sewage disposal

--Kenya: 24) Direct Action: Wangari Mathai 25) Green values have been challenged--Liberia: 26) Liberia passed a new forestry law last night, --Uganda: 27) Resignations protest Palm Oil land grab, 28) Save Mabira Forest, 29) Ibid.

--India: 30) 28 sandalwood trees cut on Law College hill--Japan: 31) Pajero Forest & Local Mountain Restoration Initiative--Vietnam: 32) Deforestation caused by the increasing gap between rich and poor

--Cambodia: 33) China's Casablanca--Indonesia: 34) Greenpeace: Stop forest Conversion--Guam: 35) University awarded a research grant for Fadang Plant--New Zealand: 36) Vines in forest cut, 37) nine rimu and three matai trees

British Columbia:1)

On Cortes Island, where our blockade against MacBlo was ONLY based on

stopping 240 acre clear cuts, where we encouraged our best local logger

to do a selection cut: The newspaper phones me and says " I hear you

guys are blackballed and you can't get a logging truck to take those

trees. " I said, " Oh? " and he said, " Yeah I was at the Chamber lunch and

that's what they said. " And I said, " Oh no, Macmillan Bloedel is an

honourable company, they wouldn't do that. " Of course, not a truck

would come to Cortes, because they were afraid of.... " sabotage! " By

who? Not our people. I think some people ought to pay more attention to

the impact of a very, very corrupt union on the development of the BC

forestry debates and the lack of sustainable forestry or sustainable

logging. At Port Alberni CORE, with the Clayoquot blockade up the road,

where the union had actually held a meeting to discuss whether we all

could come together on reform, the SHARE master walked into the room,

made a motion to the union guys, and it was all over. And the

independent forester Rick Jeffries who was trying to broker a

compromise deal with a move towards eco-logging zones, he just folded

up his plans and went away. What about all the blood sweat and tears

poured into: the eco-forestry movement, the community forest movement,

the calls for tenure reform, the attempts to foster secondary

manufacturing in order to make sustainable forestry economically

sustainable? I swear we're killed by the industry and the unions, not

by " us " enviros? After all, " Who wants a job making 12 bucks an hour in

a cabinet factory - I can make 25 in the woods, " the IWA said at the

Vancouver Island CORE in 1993. I was there. I heard it. " If you support

this you will never work again, " said the majors to the unions and the

independent truckers and loggers. --Delores Broten dbroten2)

Working with community forest initiatives in South America, South East

Asia and around BC, I am struck by the universality of our desire for

community forests. This vision resonates everywhere, both with

left-leaning eco-folk and people from right-leaning industry towns.

Cortes is not alone in wanting the decision-making process about its

public forests to be returned to its community. Through my travels, I

learned about peoples' struggles and successes and came to believe that

Cortes Island had the necessary pieces to allow it to become a

community forest success story. As an island, we are a defined area and

people, giving us a clear land base and associated community. We have

well educated, passionate and extraordinarily engaged community

members. There is broad-based local support for the community forest

vision and a model of native/non-native partnership. We have an

extensive ecosystem-based plan for the island that, when implemented,

will leave a fully functioning forest over time and throughout space.

We have had and especially now continue to have strong political

support, and above all, we have a real love of place. We are not going

away and neither is our vision of a community forest. In the '90s, the

Klahoose First Nation, within whose traditional territory we reside,

led the way in pursuing ecosystem-based forest management both on

Cortes and in its broader territory. Cortes residents, led by the

Cortes Island Forest Committee (CIFC), shared with Klahoose many common

interests and concerns regarding local forest management issues. As a

whole, the Cortes community was not opposed to logging. However, like

people everywhere, we did want the resources – plants, animals and

water – of our forests maintained, as well as access to the economic

opportunities from timber cut in our neighbourhood. We realized that,

in order to make this happen, we needed tenure over the public

forestlands. So the CIFC, along with the Silva Forest Foundation and

Klahoose, embarked on an extensive ecosystem-based analysis and mapping

project of the island. http://www.commonground.ca/iss/0610183/cg183_ecoforestry.shtml3)

NIHO president Rudy Nielsen, whose company is the largest private owner

of recreational land in British Columbia, snapped up several hundred

acres of island property over the last 20 years. The realtor and

outdoor recreation enthusiast lives by his company motto, " Don't wait

to buy land. Buy land and wait. " Nielsen, who has been subdividing

properties for 40 years, says this was the first time he'd ever had a

blockade on his hands. He maintains that he had no idea there was a

problem with his development, until protesters jumped in front of his

machines. Protesters, on the other hand, said they had no idea there

was a hydro line going in that would take out the Hobbit-like forest

canopy, until the trees started to come down. " Waiting until a

feller-buncher is taking down trees is not a good time to talk, " admits

Chris Ashurst, a member of the Tow Hill Management Committee, which

makes recommendations to the Skeen Queen Charlotte regional district,

the body in charge of approving development in the area. (New committee

members were elected in February after a years-long hiatus.) He says

the committee responded to a call for input on the development in May,

after receiving only three days' notice. They worked night and day to

put in their two cents -- one key point was that no part of the canopy

on Tow Hill Road should be cut for any reason. Nielsen says they never

saw the letter and had no idea the committee even existed. Ashurst and

his committee are still investigating how this could be true, but he

suspects the tangled bureaucratic process broke down. Nielsen says he

jumped through hoops for the Ministries of the Environment, Health and

Highways, as well as the Regional District, for five years. " We never

knew there was a Tow Hill regional board, " he says. And apparently no

one told him. http://thetyee.ca/News/2006/10/05/RealEstate/4)

It seems unusual for an ecologist to advocate the mass clearance by

brute force of large tracts of trees - but that is exactly what Hamish

Kimmins is advocating for certain kinds of forest. I am sitting with

Hamish, a professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), among

trees in the south-east corner of Vancouver Island on Canada's west

coast, discussing sustainable forestry for the BBC World Service One

Planet programme. As I am to discover, " sustainability " is an issue

with many dimensions here. It is warm and dry on the west side, and we

have seen mixed forests including Douglas fir, spruce and cedar. But

the other side of the island, where the Pacific winds make landfall, is

home to a very different ecosystem - much wetter, with forests

dominated by the coastal western hemlock tree. Hamish believes that

different types of forest benefit from different kinds of management.

Some may flourish with selective logging; others need clear-cutting,

however destructive it may seem. " We're an emotional species: we make

the big decisions in life, we fall in love, buy our clothes, choose

where to live, with our eyes and our heart, " he says. " Foresters must

consider aesthetics, spiritual values and how people feel about things.

" But on the other hand, citizens have a responsibility to balance their

emotional response to the forest against a respect for ecology, a

respect for nature, so that we can maintain a wide range of resources

and ecosystem conditions far into the future for future generations. "

Back in the old days, the values that people wanted were timber,

employment and wealth; and that kind of forestry gave the people what

they wanted. " Now society wants many other additional values:

biodiversity, carbon storage, water, protection of nature, aesthetics,

spiritual values; and that means forestry has to change and has to

adopt different methods. " http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5402948.stm5)

The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest practices of

International Forest Products (Interfor), Terminal Forest Products,

Northwest Hardwoods, F.A.B. Logging Co. Ltd., and 9096 Investments Ltd.

in the Sunshine Coast Forest District. The companies' operations are

located throughout the Sunshine Coast Forest District—from north of

Powell River to south of Sechelt on the mainland coast, and various

islands between the mainland and Vancouver Island. Auditors will

examine forest roads (construction, maintenance and deactivation) and

timber harvesting carried out between Sept. 1, 2005 and Oct. 31, 2006,

to assess compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act. The board

randomly carries out periodic independent audits to see if government

and forest companies are complying with the province's forest practices

legislation. The audit area was chosen randomly, and not on the basis

of location or level of performance. The audit work will be carried out

over four weeks, beginning Oct. 10, 2006. Once the fieldwork is done,

the audit report is prepared, and any party that may be adversely

affected by the audit findings will have a chance to respond. The

board's final report and recommendations will then be released to the

public and government. The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent

watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings

and recommendations directly to the public and government. http://www.fpb.gov.bc.ca6)

In an unprecedented effort, residents of Port Alberni including some

former loggers, are preparing to ask their Mayor, Ken McRae to listen

to and support them by telling companies who are actively logging to

"get outta town" and start cutting with a conscience, and with some

consideration. Port Alberni has a rich history of industrial logging

and recent events indicate the local government appears to be

struggling to remain a one industry town, but not if the residents have

any say in the matter. It seems that time has turned backwards recently

with companies like TimberWest and Island Timberlands operating in full

view of the city; logging practises that have residents concerned.

Residents are concerned that a Viewscape logging precedent has been set

by TimberWest, who were fined $30,000 earlier this year for

contaminating drinking water resources for residents. The huge

clear-cut blocks that resulted in the contamination on the Beaufort

Mountain Range are in full view from the City. In turn, Island

Timberlands is currently blasting explosives on Arbutus Ridge that are

reverberating through the homes of residents, the main Mountain in full

view of the city on the canal across from the Harbour Quay, a popular

tourist spot. This same Mountain the company plans to log, is a place

where Eagles Nests have been sighted, yet are not marked on the

company's engineering maps for protection. Although the city is still a

one industry town, progress has been made recently with Big Box

retailers entering the market and a Waterfront Development plan, much

like the waterfront development initiatives in other cities on

Vancouver Island like Nanaimo and Campbell River and these logging

plans do not support efforts to establish these alternative means for

economic growth. http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload & name=News & file=article & sid=5699 & mode=thread∨

der=0 & thold=0Oregon:7)

A government study blamed the Bush administration, not lawsuits by

environmentalists, for adding to the cost of a logging project in which

the government spent $11 million to salvage less than $9 million in

timber from a wildfire. The Government Accountability Office, the

investigative arm of Congress, said the administration's decision to

dramatically increase logging, coupled with the size of the fire and

the complexity of environmental laws, led to delays. Environmental

groups and most Democrats oppose the salvage-logging bill, arguing that

cutting large old trees and planting new ones makes forests more

vulnerable to new fires and less valuable as habitat for fish and

wildlife. They say it is better to allow forests to come back on their

own. New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman, ranking Democrat on the Senate

Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said the GAO report

demonstrated that the Bush administration overreached in its efforts to

log large areas burned by the Biscuit fire. " Taxpayers are going to

have to spend millions more just cleaning up the damage from the

logging than the government made from the timber sales, " Bingaman said.

" At the same time, promises of community fire protection, habitat

restoration and scientific analyses remain unscheduled and

unfulfilled. " http://www.forbes.com/business/businesstech/feeds/ap/2006/10/04/ap3067774.html8)

HILT -- Heavy equipment was vandalized at a logging site near this far

northern Siskiyou County town, and the initials ELF, used by the group

Environmental Liberation Front, were scrawled in the dust on some of

the equipment, sheriff department's officials said. Hilltop Logging,

Inc., of Medford, Ore., estimated repairs could exceed $500,000.

Vandals put dirt and debris in fuel and oil lines, cut belts and fuel

lines, destroyed computer systems, and sawed gear linkages in half,

sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said. Workers were logging

timber on private land west of Hilt, near the Oregon border. Because of

the nature of the vandalism, and the possibility that state lines were

crossed, FBI agents are joining the investigation, Gravenkamp said. http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/33798.html

Associated Oregon Loggers, a Salem-based trade association, has offered

a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction

of those who damaged nine pieces of heavy equipment owned by

Medford-based Hilltop Logging Inc. Vandals had poured dirt and debris

in fuel tanks; cut hoses, hydraulic lines and belts; and ripped out

computer components in log loaders and tree-shearing and de-limbing

machines. Hilltop Logging is owned by Steve and John Avgeris, two

brothers who have been logging in the area for a quarter of a century.

" We've got a good idea who is behind it, " Steve Avgeris said Tuesday

afternoon. " But they (law enforcement authorities) have shushed us up.

We can't talk about it. This whole thing is pretty serious. " The

vandals apparently had master keys to the equipment, he noted. The

initials " ELF " were written in the dirt on several machines that were

damaged. " Our investigators are looking into all kinds of

possibilities, " Gravenkamp said of the sheriff department's continuing

probe. " They (Earth Liberation Front) haven't been ruled out. " http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/1004/local/stories/loggingvandals.htm

California:9)

The issue was funding derived from harvests of Arcata's forestlands,

and how much of it should be used for acquiring, developing and

maintaining City parklands. A 1998 ordinance specifies that 20 percent

of "net timber harvest revenue" go for park-related projects. The

question, though, is what "net" means, and Mark Andre, director of

Environmental Services, outlined three formulae for those assembled to

consider. Present were the City Council, the Forest Management (FMC)

and Parks and Rec committees and various City staffmembers. http://www.arcataeye.com/index.php?module=Pagesetter & tid=2 & topic=3 & func=viewpub & pid=298 & form

at=fullIdaho:10)

Potlatch, based in Spokane, Wash., owns almost 670,000 acres that the

company says draws 200,000 visitor-use days each year from hikers,

birdwatchers, hunters, anglers and trail riders. " They've all used

Potlatch land without a fee and minimal restrictions, " Matt Van Vleet,

public affairs manager for Potlatch's western region, told The

Spokesman-Review of Spokane. But " the future is not going to be like

the past. " Details are expected to be released later this year. Some

ideas being considered include selling annual permits to people who

drive vehicles onto the company's property, selling hunting licenses,

and charging camping fees for high-use areas. Dick McEwan has hunted

game on the company's lands for more than 30 years. " We've gotten kind

of spoiled, we're so accustomed to using their lands, " said McEwan, a

retired forester. " I have fears of where it can lead to. It can lead to

the point where the common people can't get to it, and I hate to see

that happen. " The company's Idaho land contains 5,000 miles of forest

roads, popular with trail riders. Alex Irby is a member of an ATV group

that twice a year has all-day rides through the company's land. He said

most of the group's 100 members will pay the fee to be able to ride

past groves of ancient cedars and old fire lookouts. " Nothing's free

anymore, " Irby said. " We have to respect and protect the land, and pay,

if that's what it costs. " Van Vleet said the fees will help pay to

combat vandalism. But he said the company also expects to make money.

The company owns land in Minnesota and Arkansas as well, where it

brings in more than $1 million annually in user-fee programs. Other

timber companies also charge user fees. Inland Empire Paper Co., began

charging five years ago for access to 115,000 acres in Washington and

Idaho. An annual permit costs $50. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_ID_Potlatch_Land.htmlMontana:11)

A new report titled "You've Come a Long Way, Cowboy: 10 Truths and

Trends in the New American West," released Thursday by the Sonoran

Institute. The institute is prominent in the West, with Montana offices

in places such as Helena and Bozeman, a collection of economists,

demographers, social scientists and community leaders all busy studying

what the West was, what it is, and what it likely will become. 1) What

with the region's sweeping landscapes, it's easy to envision America's

west as isolated metropolitan centers (think Seattle and Denver)

floating like islands amid a sea of untrod emptiness. But that,

according to the report, ignores a "thriving middle ground," small

towns with reasonable access to larger markets. 2) It's hard to escape

the fact that the "service" side of the economy is booming. 3)

Non-labor is dividends, interest, rent, retirement accounts. In the

West, according to the report, non-labor income is 30 percent of all

personal income, and accounts for more than 20 percent of all income

growth in the past 30 years. 4) In counties where more than half the

available jobs require a college degree, real wages have increased 26

percent since 1990. 5) "In the West," the report concludes, "the

presence of public lands in a county is good for the economy."

Economists say personal income has increased substantially faster in

counties where more than 60 percent of the land base is in public

ownership, compared to those with 10 percent or less in public domain.

6) "Today, there are few truly resource-dependent counties left,"

Globalism and competition from beyond the region have changed things

forever, they say, as has the automation that increasingly replaces

jobs. 7) By 2001, a new West had emerged where agriculture and

ag-related employment contributed only 3.7 percent of the jobs, and a

mere 1.5 percent of total personal income. 8) Many communities are

looking to cash in on the building boom, hoping residential property

taxes will swell local coffers. In Montana's fast-growing Gallatin

County commercial land requires just .18 cents in county service for

every incoming tax dollar, .25 cents on agricultural lands, and .07

cents on industrial lands. But for every dollar collected in

residential taxes, the county loses .45 cents. 9) Many are now looking

to the West to supply national "energy independence." 10) High growth

rates (think Bozeman) can degrade quality of life, while no-growth

(think Roundup or Ryegate) can erode standard of living. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/10/06/news/mtregional/news05.txt

Wisconsin:12)

Dane County is one of 17 Wisconsin counties where some ash trees will

be cut down to be tested for infestation by the emerald ash borer. The

destructive wood-boring beetle has left behind millions of dead and

dying ash trees in the Midwest, but has not yet been found in

Wisconsin. State officials hope to find the beetle early if it does

enter the state, so steps can be taken to stop it from spreading.

Unfortunately, testing for the disease - and fighting its spread if

found - involves felling trees. State officials say about 270 trees in

and around Madison will be taken down in the next 12 months. Wisconsin

has about 717 million ash trees in the forested areas of the state,

according to Dick Rideout, head of the Urban Forest Council at the

state Department of Natural Resources. Additionally, as many as 30

percent of the city-planted trees in many municipalities are ash. Early

detection is the best protection against the ash borer, Barta said in a

written statement Sample trees of less than 10 inches in diameter and

in declining health will be targeted. Trees on public land will be

chosen where possible, and some Wisconsin municipalities already have

offered trees. The surveyors plan to cut down 1,420 trees statewide

this year and peel a 12-inch strip of bark, a process known as

girdling, from another 4,480 trees that will be cut down next autumn,

Larson said in an interview today. " Girdling is a method that

intentionally injures the tree bark. When ash trees are girdled, the

tree releases distress chemicals that are believed to attract emerald

ash borers, " Barta said. Counties chosen for testing are close to known

infestations in neighboring states, have high tourist traffic, like

Dane County, or have concentrated timber or firewood operations using

ash. http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories/index.php?ntid=101659 & ntpid=1Minnesota;13)

St. Louis County officials say they are leery about a proposal by the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate thousands of square miles

of northeastern Minnesota as "critical habitat" for the Canada Lynx,

but it remains uncertain whether the designation will have any

practical effect on the region. At issue is whether or not the

designation could affect logging, road construction, mining, or other

projects across the broad swath of land covered by the proposal— which

includes most non-federal lands east of Hwy. 53. Most federal land is

not included in the designation because lynx conservation rules already

apply there. The new designation sets geographic boundaries for regions

that contain lynx habitat but does not establish any new parks or

refuges for the lynx, nor does it provide federal officials with access

to private or to non-federal public lands. Federal officials, who are

designating critical habitat across five northern states, including

Minnesota, insist the move will barely be noticed. "From our

perspective, it doesn't really change much," said Phil Delphey, who is

overseeing the proposal for the FWS in Minnesota. According to Delphey,

the designation shouldn't limit activities on lands in the region

unless projects involve federal land, funding, or permits and are of

such a large scale as to create a significant loss of lynx habitat

across the five states covered under the designation. "Even relatively

large actions would not be stopped," he said. "The federal agency

involved would have to assess the impact to lynx, but they're already

doing that," he said. http://www.timberjay.com/current.php?article=2654Ohio:14)

The " Call Before You Cut " campaign offers a toll-free number with an

operator to answer questions and provide information about finding an

accredited forester and sustaining the long-term health of forests. " A

lot of landowners don't know what they have, " said Jane Forrest

Redfern, executive director of Rural Action. " Our whole goal is to

inform landowners and encourage them to learn about their woods before

they do a timber harvest. " There are nearly 400,000 forest landowners

in Ohio, up 80,000 in the past 10 years. And there are nearly 8 million

acres of privately owned forest land, according to the Ohio Department

of Natural Resources. U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show that

about 40 percent of woodlot owners in Ohio have harvested their land in

the past five years. But only 18 percent have sought advice from a

professional forester. Redfern said she has heard her share of horror

stories. Landowners hastily hire untrained workers who, without a clear

plan, damage the trees and the value of the land. " It's like taking the

cream of the crop and leaving the sick ones, " she said. To make sure

forests stay healthy for years to come, landowners who plan to harvest

should leave some of the best trees to reproduce, which increases the

value of the land over time as well, she said. Harvesting woodlands is

a big decision for landowners because it can take trees between 80 and

100 years to grow to maturity, said Andy Ware, assistant chief of the

ODNR's Division of Forestry. It's a personal choice for a landowner to

harvest, he said. " We're just saying, 'Plan ahead.' " The program also

has a Web site with a list of certified Ohio master loggers and

suggested timber-sale contract items. Swierz, a professional forester

for more than 20 years, said landowners should remember that timber is

a commodity. " One thing people need to realize is, after all, these are

significant business transactions and should be treated as such, " he

said. http://www.columbusdispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/10/04/20061004-D1-04.html

Maryland:15)

The Montgomery County Planning Board decided Thursday to fine Anthony

Mereos, of Silver Spring, more than $62,000 plus the cost of restoring

the nearly two acres of land cleared of trees in rural Dickerson.

According to the county's report, reforesting the land could cost

between $11,000 and $13,000 per acre, adding more than $20,000 to the

fine. " He has no ability to pay it whatsoever, " attorney Shawn

Whittaker said of his client, who is a storeroom clerk at a Giant

grocery store and has three children. " Right now we're exploring two

options. One is an appeal, one is bankruptcy. " Mereos was found

responsible for the trees despite his contention that he did not cut

them down. But the planning board's report indicates neighbors came

forward with complaints that Mereos was clearing the land, which he

purchased for $65,000 last year. Mereos received approval to build a

single-family home from the county and oral approval from the Maryland

Department of the Environment, according to his attorney. But the

county's Forest Conservation Law requires additional approvals for the

clearing of land larger than 40,000 square feet. Mereos' land is 83,145

square feet. Whittaker said the county is using his client to set a

stern example after some procedural irregularities were found in a

tree-clearing case involving Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. Snyder cut

down trees on his estate last year to improve his view of the Potomac

River. He paid a $37,000 fine to Montgomery County, or 80 cents per

square foot. Mereos' fine breaks down to 75 cents fine per square foot,

plus restoration costs. The money from the fines will go into a forest

conservation fund. Mereos' total fine, which is nearly double Snyder's,

is one of the largest fines in the park and planning department's

history, said Nancy C. Lineman, a spokeswoman for the planning board. http://www.examiner.com/a-328303~Fine_for_clearing_trees_exceeds_property_value.html

North Carolina:16)

For these Dukies and many more people, the 7,046 acre Duke Forest is a

green jewel, premier research terrain that also draws more than 170,000

recreational visits annually. On Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, the forest

celebrates 75 years since its establishment in 1931. The anniversary

will be marked by an evening reception, research symposium, field tour

and scheduled book release, The Duke Forest At 75: A Resource for All

Seasons . "It's not only a treasure for Duke University, but a treasure

nationally," said Boggess, a member of the first master's in forestry

class at Duke in 1938. "Forest land is disappearing. That is prime

land, and if it was up for sale, it would be wiped out in a hurry." In

these woods grow more than 900 plant species and more than 100 tree

varieties – pine stands more than 120 years old and hardwood trees more

than 200 years old. At any given time, more than 50 studies are

underway, research ranging from plant succession and dynamics of

southern forests to the interaction between forest ecosystems and human

activity. Thousands of trees each year, both young and old, are

harvested for paper pulp, oriented strand board, lumber, even telephone

poles. Income from these timber management products supports the

forest's operating expenses. "For most of us," wrote Rachel Frankel in

her Duke senior honors seminar in 1984, "a walk through the Duke Forest

is more than fresh air and tall trees…" In 75 years, hundreds of

studies have been conducted, providing scientists with a record of

ecosystem changes. Perhaps, an account about a forest tour in the 1931

Alumni Register, sums up the forest best: "The members of the exploring

party turned away from the forest, which is so old, and yet so new,

whose life is young, old and middle-aged, with a feeling that perhaps

they had been close to the heart of one of the greatest parts of this

great institution." http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2006/10/dukeforest.htmlConnecticut:17)

At the start of the 20th century, the American chestnut tree towered

over the landscape of eastern North America -- tall, fast-growing,

stately trees that dominated the forest. Their wood, once cut, never

rotted. In autumn, the nuts they dropped fed man, birds and beast. By

1950, a near-fatal fungus from Japan, wiped them out in what's been

called one of the greatest ecological disasters to ever hit the

continent. " They made up 25 percent of the forest,'' said Marshal Case,

president of the American Chestnut Foundation in Burlington, Vt. " They

could grow to 125 feet. Once they got into the sunlight, they just took

off.'' Efforts by groups like the foundation, give rise to hope the

trees can once again grow in the wild. Anyone who owns even a few

shares of Northeast Utilities stock can help. The utility announced

last week it will donate $5 to the American Chestnut Foundation for

every NU shareholder who agrees to receive its annual report and proxy

material electronically, rather than by mail. The program is also good

because it allows people to hear the story of the American chestnut --

a story Case said, more people need to hear. At its peak, the American

chestnut was the dominant tree in the forest from Maine to Georgia,

along the Appalachian Mountains. It grew fast, straight and tall.

Builders used it for homes and barns. Utilities like NU strung their

wires on chestnut poles. Because the tree bloomed in June or July, it

was never damaged by late frosts. In the fall, the trees threw off

nuts. " Squirrels, bears, grouse -- all fed on the chestnuts,'' Case

said. http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1016654Tennessee:18)

JOHNSON CITY — Conservationists who are working to protect a

10,000-acre tract of largely unspoiled forest in Greene and Unicoi

counties from possible development say they hope the property can

become the center of an officially designated National Recreation Area.

David Ramsey, who said he has been working for 10 years to protect the

privately owned Rocky Fork Watershed, told an audience he hopes a

public-private partnership can purchase the property from its current

owners. He spoke during a lightly attended Monday night meeting at East

Tennessee State University. Ramsey said such a partnership could

include private investors, conservation organizations and units of the

state and federal governments. Asked by telephone about state

government involvement in a possible public-private partnership to

acquire the Rocky Fork Tract, state Rep. David Hawk, R-5th, of

Greeneville, said the state legislature last year passed legislation

that created a "Conservation Heritage Trust Fund." Funds from that fund

had been used earlier this year to purchase more than 12,000 acres of

forest land on the Cumberland Plateau for conservation purposes.

However, Hawk was quick to point out that he had not yet made up his

mind on whether to support a purchase of the Rocky Fork Tract,

partially using state funds. Conservationists who want the area

preserved have launched a Web site http://www.saverockyfork.org to get their message out to the public.

http://www.greene.xtn.net/index.php?table=news & template=news.view.r & newsid=134109USA:19)

The United State is losing 6,000 acres of open space each day,

according to a new report by the U.S. Forest Service. The report,

released last week, details the growing threats to the nation's public

lands, as counties with national forests and grasslands are

experiencing some of the highest growth rates in the nation. The report

details a " steady loss of open space " that is outpacing population

growth. From 1982 to 2001, 34 million acres of open space - equivalent

to the state of Illinois - were developed and some 100,000 square miles

are projected to be developed by 2020. For forest land alone, the

United States lost 10 million acres to development from 1982to 1997,

with 26 million additional acres project to be developed by 2030. The

fastest growing areas include the South, Northeast, Rocky Mountain

West, Upper Great Lakes, and Ozarks. The report warns the trends are

worrying in part because it is reducing the ability to manage public

lands to maintain healthy forests and public recreation dwindles. In

addition, it notes that undeveloped forests provide critical ecosystem

services, including wildlife habitat, clean drinking water,

natural-resources-based jobs, and a sustainable output of forest

products. National forests, for example, are the single largest source

of water in the United States, providing water for some 60 million

people. In addition, 57 percent of U.S. forest lands are privately

owned and unprotected from development. Conservationists said the

findings of the report are " sobering. " " The levies around our remaining

open spaces are leaking badly and inundating those places with

development sprawl, " said Tom Gilbert, director of eastern forest

conservation for The Wilderness Society. " We don't have the luxury of

waiting to see what happens. " The report describes cross-boundary

partnerships between multiple levels of government, private interests

and landowners as a promising tool to conserve open space in rural

America. But Gilbert said the " missing ingredient " in such efforts is

federal funding to purchase lands or development rights in threatened

areas. http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2006/2006-10-02-09.aspCanada:20)

Mergers and acquisitions have whittled down the number of companies in

Canada's forestry sector and now it's the researchers' turn to face

consolidation. Canada's three national forest sector research

institutes have announced plans for a merger that will create one

integrated agency headed by Forintek president Ian de la Roche.

Vancouver-based Forintek is to merge with Quebec-based Forest

Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC) and Paprican, also of

Quebec, to create one yet-to-be-named research agency. All three

institutes are public-private partnerships that conduct $75 million a

year in research primarily at labs in Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec

City. De la Roche said in an interview Thursday that collaboration

between all three institutes over issues raised by British Columbia's

mountain pine beetle epidemic was a factor in prompting merger talks.

He also said amalgamation of forest companies into larger entities has

created the need for a larger research institute. " The objective is

that as suppliers of research and development, we want to make sure

that we are in step; that we are building the capacity to meet the much

stronger, growing need we are now seeing in the industry, " de la Roche

said. " It will allow for a critical mass of research concentrated under

one umbrella, positioning this effort in Canada as probably one of the

largest in the world. " Each organization specializes in a specific

industry sector, Forintec in wood products research, FERIC in timber

harvesting, silviculture, road construction and other land-based

issues, and Paprican in pulp and paper research. " The whole idea is if

you look at the industry as a value chain, we are now in a position to

say that at all the key points in the chain, from the resource, how we

harvest and sustain the resource, through optimizing manufacturing,

right through to the marketplace . . . we have the ability to address

all the technological issues, " de la Roche said. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/index.htmlUK:21)

DEVELOPERS have lost their fight to build a housing complex. The plan

to demolish homes and build four blocks of flats was thrown out on

appeal - the decision being warmly welcomed by neighbours. A planning

inspector dismissed appeals by George Wimpey, backing Bracknell Forest

Borough Council's refusal to give permission three times. Neighbour

Carole Doran, who lives in a bungalow next door to the site in Dukes

Ride, Crowthorne, said: " I am particularly pleased with the findings.

They have also picked up on the fact 30 trees would have been taken

down. " I cannot understand that they put in three applications, wasting

time and money, when all along Bracknell Forest have opposed it.

Planning appeal inspector Gyllian Grindley dismissed the appeals

because of the effect of the scheme on the character and appearance of

the area, concluding all three schemes would be obtrusive. She

reported: " The proposal for 27/28 flats here would be simply too much. "

Her report also said the loss of trees,some of which were protected by

preservation orders,would result in a diminution of the pleasant

character and appearance of the locality. Residents, particularly those

at number 133, would be overlooked and disturbed by cars parking at the

back. The appeal had been adjourned from May for Wimpey to discuss with

English Nature ways to find alternative recreation land because the

flats would add to extra visitor pressure at Wildmoor Heath and

Broadmoor Wood, homes to protected species of birds. Wimpey had offered

to pay for an improved car park and access at Gorrick Plantation, off

Nine Mile Ride. Cllr Tina McKenzie-Boyle, Crowthorne Parish Council

vice-chai-woman said: " Crowthorne Village Action Group has worked very

hard on this.We have a symbiotic relation-ship with CVAG and they do

not sabre rattle for nothing. " http://icberkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200berkshireheadlines/tm_headline=residents-win-

the-battle-to-save-30-trees-from-developer-s-digger & method=full & objectid=17875834 & siteid=50102-name_page.htmlEuropean Union:22)

The Kyoto Protocol and the EU emissions trading scheme are ineffective,

unjust, and is particularly detrimental to African interests, a new

book released this week purports to show. 'Carbon Trading: A Critical

Conversation on Climate Change, Privatisation and Power,' published by

Sweden's Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation together with the international

Durban Group for Climate Justice and the UK-based NGO The Corner House,

aims most of its fire at the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto

Protocol. "Carbon trading dispossesses ordinary people in the South of

their lands and futures without resulting in appreciable progress

toward alternative energy systems," said Larry Lohmann of The Corner

House, the book's editor. He said: "Tradable rights to pollute are

handed out to Northern industry to allow them to continue profiting

from business as usual. At the same time, Northern polluters are

encouraged to invest in supposedly carbon-saving projects in the South,

very few of which promote clean energy at all." Noting that many

environmental groups take the view that carbon trading is unavoidable,

the book argues that an alternative package could bring major benefits

to poor parts of the world that lack energy infrastructure and have

been ravaged by environmental degradation. The book recommends that

large-scale public works; the shifting of subsidies to renewable

energy; national regulation of fossil fuel use in developing countries;

green taxes and popular action would prove to be more effective than

carbon trading in reducing emissions and benefiting the environment. http://www.climateimc.org/?q=node/650Sierra Leone:23)

Pursuant to making up for the unprecedented increase in population and

its subsequent adverse effects on the catchments around the Peninsular

that have been occupied illegally, especially in the capital city of

Freetown, a moratorium, sort of, on deforestation and the

indiscriminate sewage disposal has been very robust by authorities

concerned. Deforestation and combustions are among the many

environmentally disastrous man-made activities recorded in the Western

Area over the past fourteen years. Most people, with impunity, embark

on creating new settlements on sloppy and dangerous landscapes

following the mass exodus to Freetown of tens of thousands of

internally displaced persons forced out of their settlements in the

provinces by the decade-long rebel war. One defect I have personally

noticed with most Sierra Leoneans, I am guilty as well to be honest, is

that which I would refer to as " attitudinal problem " . Our general

attitude towards ourselves; the environment and the state is completely

lackadaisical. We just don't give reverence to things that generally

belong to us. We graciously uphold the phenomenon that what belongs to

everybody belongs to nobody. This could be true. But if we were to make

reference to the definition of Democracy, for the purpose of

clarification, we would find out that " it is a government of the

people, by the people, for the people. " With that definition, I see no

justifiable excuse one could give for not careful of what we'd referred

to as " government properties or facilities " but are meant for the

general public. A democratic government is a manifestation of a well

unified body unanimously agreed upon by the masses and coupled with the

fact that individuals are suppose to be watchdogs of the processes and

implementations of laws binding this body. The first step, however, to

this feat is to revisit our individual attitudes for a positive change.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200610040443.htmlKenya:24)

I was outraged. For generations, Karura Forest north of Nairobi had

acted as a break between the winds of the savanna to the south and

those descending from the highlands to the west and north. Its 2,500

acres of natural forest serve as a catchment area for four major

rivers, while its dense undergrowth and canopy are home to many rare

species of flora and fauna. Karura Forest serves as the lung of the

congested metropolis. When, in September 1998, I went to Karura to see

the situation for myself, I discovered that a road had already been dug

and workers were laying down what looked like a drainage system. I

wrote to the Attorney-General on September 28 requesting a halt to any

further construction in, or clearing of, the forest. As usual, the

Government's immediate response was to ignore us. However, we also

alerted the Press, and the Daily Nation hired a helicopter to fly over

the forest and published the photographs on its front pages. The aerial

shots brought home how much of the forest had been cleared and

destroyed. In the days after my letter to the Attorney-General, we

visited Karura Forest on several occasions to raise awareness of the

land grabbing and the destruction under way. On the very first day that

we arrived at what was now a building site in Karura Forest, we saw a

large tractor, housing for the workers, and a group of young men

hanging around. We had our suspicions, but went into the forest anyway.

What we did not know was that the young men intended to attack us. As

we were planting trees, they descended on us with machetes. They

uprooted all the trees we had planted and we were saved from being hurt

only by the arrival of construction workers, who had been instructed to

stop us from planting trees. But we returned several more times and

even established a tree nursery inside the forest. On October 7, the

campaign took on a new dimension. That morning, when we arrived at the

forest, we went straight to the camp where the building site was,

accompanied by 12 opposition MPs. The Press joined us. We again asked

the workers, who were each armed with a panga, to stop destroying the

forest and let us plant trees, but this time they wouldn't listen to

our appeals. It appeared they were ready for battle. In no time, all

hell broke loose. There was a commotion. People were running in all

directions. Luckily, no one was hurt. http://allafrica.com/stories/200610030367.html25)

One of the areas where green values have been challenged most in Kenya

is in the way the Government uses public land. During its years in

power, the past regime had regularly given thousands of acres of forest

or parkland to politically connected people for private use in return

for political support. While the Government was no longer able to

parcel out land as spectacularly as it had tried to do with the Times

Tower complex in Uhuru Park, the practice of " land-grabbing " was still

widespread. In 1997, I had written to the minister of Environment and

Natural Resources to protest at the deforestation of Ngong and South

Western Mau forests, as well as of Karura Forest. Then, in 1998, I

learned of an example of land-grabbing so blatant and extensive that I

knew this would be a fight we could not afford to lose. A vast swath of

Karura Forest that had previously been protected, or gazetted, had been

allotted to private developers. I was outraged. For generations, Karura

Forest north of Nairobi had acted as a break between the winds of the

savanna to the south and those descending from the highlands to the

west and north. Its 2,500 acres of natural forest serve as a catchment

area for four major rivers, while its dense undergrowth and canopy are

home to many rare species of flora and fauna. Karura Forest serves as

the lung of the congested metropolis. When, in September 1998, I went

to Karura to see the situation for myself, I discovered that a road had

already been dug and workers were laying down what looked like a

drainage system. http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39 & newsid=82592

Liberia:26)

Liberia passed a new forestry law last night, opening a new era for the

Liberian forestry sector after a long period of mismanagement and

exploitation of forest resources to fuel conflict. The new legislation

will allow the implementation of Liberia's first-ever forestry policy,

which FAO helped develop with numerous international partners through

the Liberia Forest Initiative. " The new forestry policy aims to

maximize the benefits from the forestry sector to the Liberian people

and put an end to the use of forest resources to fund conflict, " said

Adrian Whiteman, an FAO forestry officer who worked on the project.

" The Liberian Forestry Development Authority is now in a position to

regain authority and control over the forest resources. " Forest

resources in Liberia are important to its economy and amount to 47

percent of its land. In the late 1990s, their contribution to the gross

domestic product amounted to about 20 percent and accounted for over 50

percent of the country's export earnings. http://allafrica.com/stories/200610050564.htmlUganda:27)

TWO out of seven National Forestry Authority board members have

resigned after refusing to respect the Cabinet 's directive that Bidco

Palm Oil takes over Kalangala forests. The resignations have been

followed by that of the forest conservation organisation's legal

counsel, Ms Georgina Kugonza. Mr George Egaddu and Ms Jane Anywar

Adong, have written to the Minister of Water and Environment, Ms Maria

Mutagamba, confirming their resignation. The forests implied include;

Mugoye, Banga and Towa natural central forest reserves. The government

has in the past battled to degazette the reserves, but was overpowered

by outrage from civil society organisations. It then resorted to

issuing a 90-year-old land permit to Bidco. In 2003, the government

signed an agreement with Bidco for the development of palm oil in

Uganda. Under the agreement, the Government was supposed to provide

land for oil palm production in areas where such production was

possible. These areas included Bugala Islands, Kalangala, Bundibugyo

and others along Lake Victoria shores. The government was to provide

Bidco with 10,000 hectares of land in Bugala , and 20,000 hectares more

on the mainland for the nucleus estate within one year of signing the

agreement and actual onset of Bidco activities. http://allafrica.com/stories/200610040152.html28)

I am new here. I have joined this list to look for international voice

in saving Mabira Forest. This is one of the biggest natural forests in

Uganda, acting as a water catchment area for the llake Victoria basin.

Lake Victoria is the largest fresh water lake in the whole world and

the source of river nile one of the longest river in the whole world.

About 7000 acres of this forest have been given out to Sugar

Corporation of Uganda Ltd to plant Sugar cane. Amidst protest by local

environmental activists, parliamentarians, Ngos, Uganda forest

Authourity etc. The President of the Republic of Uganda has turned a

deaf ear to all these appeals. This forest is a source of many rivers,

livelyhood of the surrounding Communities, a home to many bird specis

and animals, a boost tpo eco-tourism etc. Sugar Corporation of Uganda

(Scoul) is a group of Indian Investors. Can you post this message the

prominent peace activists you know, can you write a letter of protest

to your senator or member of parliament to reverse this. You check the

artcle in our local papers here today from http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news10033.php

or See the photos at www.monitor.co.ug to read many articles written to

this effect Insert Mabira Forest in search option of the above website

or www.newvision.co.ug My names are Amooti Kihumuro a local Ugandan

Peace Activist. For security reason i cannot give all my details. If

theres a volunteer who can put a website on mabira forest for all the

environmental crusaders to get the details on Mabira Forest i can

volunteer to give all information and pictures. Yours, Mr. Kihumuro

Amooti Environmental Activist Uganda save_mabiraforest29)

ONLY a few weeks after President Museveni gave out part of Mabira

forest as farmland to the Mehta Group, a section close to the natural

forest has been mowed down and burnt for charcoal. A highly placed

source at the National Forestry Authority disclosed that the Sugar

Corporation of Uganda Limited [scoul] is behind the cut-trees-for

charcoal venture, a claim the firm strongly denies. The cleared site is

on a hill neighbouring Najjembe Sub County headquarters in Mukono

District and close to a well-protected part of Mabira central forest

reserve. Daily Monitor has learnt that three hectares [7.5 acres] of

fine nurtured Measopsis eminii locally known as Musizi trees have been

chopped and burnt into charcoal since August. On August 8, Daily

Monitor broke the story, under its land bonanza insights, which

disclosed that Mr Museveni had decided to allocate 7,100 hectares of

Mabira forest reserve to Scoul. The reserve is 52 kilometres from

Kampala on the Kampala-Jinja highway and covers 29,964 hectares of

tropical moist forest. It is one of the largest forest areas in the

catchments of Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga. Mr Museveni has come under

criticism from civil society organisations over the giveaway but it is

not yet clear whether Scoul has actually formalized ownership. However,

while Scoul had beseeched the government for the Mabira land so that it

could expand sugarcane production from the current 50,000 tonnes to

100,000 tonnes, the company's alleged 'cut-trees-for-charcoal'

undertaking casts a dark cloud over its planned increase in sugar

production. Daily Monitor visited the site last week and found hordes

of trees cut down. There were piles of neatly bound charcoal as well.

The source said, " the land used to be privately owned and was sold to

Scoul. " http://allafrica.com/stories/200610021439.htmlIndia:30)

Enviroment-conscious citizens from the Pune Tree Watch and the Akhil

Law College Road Pravasi Sangh have alleged that the Pune Municipal

Corporation workers cut down at least 28 sandalwood trees on the Law

College hill on Wednesday. The workers, who were clearing the area for

the construction of the Balbharati-Paud Road, had cut some 80 trees

before they were stopped by the activists. The hill, which is not under

the forest department, is, however, contiguous with the Bhamburda Van

Vihar which is under the department. According to the Forest

(Conservation) Act (FCA) 1980, prior permission of the Central

Government's Ministry of Environment and Forests is required for

''diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes''. Moreover,

felling rare tree species like sandalwood requires clearance from the

forest department. The PMC had not sought the clearance. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=203910Japan:31)

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation announced that it is taking the launch of

new Pajero (also known as Shogun and Montero in other regions) as an

opportunity to start an initiative; " Pajero Forest & Local Mountain

Restoration Initiative " , which aims at conserving and cultivating

Japan's forests and woodlands the condition of which is deteriorating

on a wide scale. The Initiative will be based in the town of

Hayakawa-cho that lies in the foothills of the Southern Japanese Alps

in Yamanashi Prefecture. Mitsubishi Motors, Hayakawa-cho and the

Suzurishima District have reached agreement on promoting the Initiative

with the cooperation of the OISCA Japan Foundation and Yamanashi

Prefecture. The Prefecture is currently calling for companies'

participation in " Corporate Forestry Promotion Venture " . The parties

will name the three-hectare area of mountain forest " The Pajero

Forest " . The project will extend for a period of at last seven years,

during which time the parties will plant trees, clear undergrowth, thin

out trees and otherwise maintain and care for the forest. Mitsubishi

Motors will provide human support in the form of volunteer employee

groups and will also invite owners of Mitsubishi cars to participate in

the activity as it plans and holds events that make " The Pajero Forest "

a centre for education and learning about environmental protection. http://www.easier.com/view/News/Motoring/Mitsubishi/article-73021.html

Vietnam:32)

While recognizing Vietnam's efforts in implementing international

commitments on environmental preservation and sustainable forestry, the

organization warned of the dangers of deforestation caused by the

increasing gap between rich and poor. Vietnam needs to improve human

resource training technology to help locals better process wood

products to raise incomes and thus living standards in forested areas,

FAO added. The event was organized by FAO, Netherlands Development

Organization, Vietnamese Department of Forestry, International Tropical

Timber Organization, Tropical Forest Trust, Regional Community Forestry

Training Center, Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission and World Wide Fund

for Nature. In 2003, the 12th World Forestry Congress attended by over

4,000 participants from 140 countries had called for reconciling

poverty alleviation with the need to promote sustainable management of

forest resources. http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/?catid=3 & newsid=20783Cambodia: PHNOM

PENH - The Cambodian capital is becoming China's Casablanca. While

China's giant state corporations have recently dropped billions of

dollars in oilfields and mines across Africa and South America,

low-profile, family-run Chinese firms have come to dominate approved

investment in Cambodia. China topped Cambodia's investment charts in

2005 with projects worth US$448 million and is on pace to repeat that

feat this year with Sino-Hydropower Corp's $280 million

193-megawatt. Chinese-owned logging concerns such as Wuzhishan LS Group

face detailed accusations of reckless - and in some cases illegal -

cutting from groups like Global Witness, a global environmental

watchdog that has on occasion openly clashed with Hun Sen. Still, they

say, Cambodian officials have failed to pursue the case, despite

Cambodia's clear forestry laws. Questions of undue influence, political

or otherwise, will grow if CNOOC's tentative interest in offshore and

onshore Cambodian oilfields results in unusually generous concessions.

Time will tell if Cambodia today is a glimpse of tomorrow's world, a

place where China's investors loom large, and its political influence

runs deep. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HJ06Ae01.htmlIndonesia: Greenpeace

demanded that the government investigate companies that clear land by

burning the forest, and hold them liable for the damage. They also hung

a large banner in front of the ministry that read " Stop Forest

Conversion " , calling on Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban (photo) to

preserve the remaining Indonesian forests rather than allowing them to

be turned into agricultural and pulp projects. " The government should

put in place a permanent mechanism to build capacity to assess

vulnerability, develop regional climate models and design adaptation

strategies that consider the vulnerability of local communities and

indigenous species, " it said in a statement. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20061006.A80 & irec=10

Guam:The

University of Guam was awarded a research grant from the National

Science Foundation to continue research on one of Guam's most important

forest trees, the fadang plant. Guam fadang plants belong to a group of

plants called cyads, which grew and reproduced long before flowering

plants began to colonize the earth. In research completed last year,

UOG Professor Thomas Marler along with Dr. Irene Terry observed that

known pollinating insects on island do not pollinate the fadang plants

on Guam. Their research may give insights into the earliest years of

how the world's plants began to use insects to facilitate seed

production. http://www.uog.edu http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061003/NEWS01/61003008/1002

New Zealand:36)

" The forest isn't just made up of tall trees...the forest is made up of

what's on the ground, what's climbing up the trees and what's living in

the branches, " says DOC spokesperson Vivienne McGlynn. The Department

of Conservation has been forced to police a Manawatu nature reserve

where vandals are destroying native rata. Up to 50 rata have been

hacked by vandals this week, some vines are around 100-years-old. As

vines cannot re-sprout from the cut edges, they die, and their

destruction affects the whole forest ecosystem. DOC staff believe the

rata killers may have mistakenly assumed that the vines were strangling

trees. " They're designed to live with other trees, they're not bad, "

says DOC spokesperson Jo Greig. Prior to the attacks, DOC and children

from a local school had spent their time writing the descriptions of

the plants and trees on the track where the rata are located. If the

vandals stopped to read the signs they may never have started chopping.

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/84434537)

Palmerston North company Tiritea Sawmilling has applied for a land use

consent through MDC to fell nine rimu and three matai trees, around 75

tonnes of timber in total. The company has met resistance through

submissions by the Department of Conservation and Horizons Regional

Council. MDC planning officer Bill Jamieson's report to the hearing

committee also recommended the consent be declined. The Ngarimu Bush,

situated on private property, was listed as a Protected Natural Area by

DOC in 1995, although this does not give DOC the power to veto any

resource consents given by the MDC. All four parties met yesterday to

discuss the possible effects of removing the trees before the hearing

committee, comprised of councillors Matt Bell, John Gregory, John

Salmon and Mervyn Craw, makes a decision. The sawmill has already

completed felling between 250 and 300 tonnes of gum and macrocarpa at

the property and had been granted a Sustainable Forest Management

Permit from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) to fell .

Tiritea Sawmilling owner Frank Oliver told the committee the proposal

was to selectively log 5.5 percent of the Ngarimu Bush. He said money

from the logging would go toward the replanting of native trees,

fencing to keep stock off the land and pest and weed management. ``At

the moment the forest is a mess,'' he told the committee. He said there

were ``quite a few pests there'' and since fencing had been broken

stock were able to graze on the bush and caused pugging. MAF staff had

spent a day at the site with Tiritea representatives to inspect it

before granting the permit. Horizons environmental scientist Fleur

Maseyk said in recent years the Ngarimu Bush had dropped to less than

20 percent of its original level of vegetation cover. DOC environmental

planner Julian Watts estimates the figure is closer to 10 percent.

``And 20 percent is the point where you get concerned,'' he said.

Horizons senior consents planner Shane McGhie warned selective logging

``would in no way protect or enhance Ngarimu Bush'' as required by the

Manawatu District Plan. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/manawatustandard/0,2106,3819163a6502,00.html