Guest guest Posted November 11, 2006 Report Share Posted November 11, 2006 147 - Earth's Tree News Today for you 39 news items about Mama Earth's trees. Location, number and subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed further below.--British Columbia: 1) Caribou habitat loss is not sensible, 2) Powell River Community Forest Corporation, 3) Influential Forester award given to dead guy, 4) McBride Community Forest Corporation, 5) Save Cameron Lake, 6) Prince George's Community Wildfire Protection Plan,--Oregon: 7) Two Forest Service timber sales back from the dead again--California: 8) Interview: RAN, 9) Loggers / enviros protect 25 sq. miles, 10) RIP: Tree defender known as Root, 11) thinning the last large forest untouched by wildfire,--Montana: 12) PacifiCorp's Swan River Nature Trail, 13) Bitterroot seeking comment,--Indiana: 14) State strategic plan says it will dramatically increase logging--North Carolina: 15) Victoria's Secret protest --New York: 16) Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest--Maine: 17) Roxanne Quimby--USA: 18) Good Bye to 3 evil doers of forest destruction, 19) Setting the Agenda,--Canada: 20) NOW magazine stops buying Boreal paper --UK: 21) Helping workers to see peril in the trees--Italy: 22) Greenpeace protest Kimberly-Clark--Kenya: 23) We'll plant a billion trees this year, 24) What makes rain and stores water?--Chile: 25) Many Mapuche people imprisoned in forestry conflict over 10 years --Nepal: 26) Forest and plant surveys,--Thailand: 27) Deforeatation, floods, droughts, restoration--Indonesia: 28) Deaths of around 1,000 orang-utans 29) Tropical Peat equal to 8 years of total emissions, 30) Boom in timber exports, 31) 30 percent flora and fauna is extinct, --Australia: 32) Thousands of American school children say stop logging Tasmania--World-wide: 33) Overview of climate change related to forests, 35) Reduce pressures on tropical forests, 36) Challenging the Forest Stewardship Council, 37) Images of FSC wrong doing,British Columbia:1) What the government is calling a sensible compromise to preserve remaining caribou habitat is being denounced as proof that snowmobiling Socreds are still running things in the bush. The mountain caribou is an ideal poster animal for environmentalists, with oversized feet for deep snow and a winter diet of lichen from the branches of old trees. Unlike the spotted owl, which has only the northern fringe of its natural territory in B.C., nearly the whole world population of mountain caribou is here. When that population was found to have dropped by a third from the count of 2,500 animals done in 2005, it became one of the continent's most intensively studied animals. Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell presented the report as a good-news announcement. In the past four years, the total number of mountain caribou has grown by 69 animals, and with two thirds of their range in parks or protected areas, the northern herds at least seem to be stabilized. Valhalla Wilderness Watch director Colleen McCrory quickly dismissed the government's 60 days for further consultation as " talk and log. " Her fellow director Ann Sherrod questioned the integrity of the science panel. " The panel is hired by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands and its puppet department, the Species At Risk Coordination Office, " Sherrod fumed. " SaRCO is run by a board that includes the ministries responsible for logging, mining and commercial tourism, all of which serve corporations that make big bucks destroying mountain caribou habitat or running them out of their habitat with snowmobiles or helicopters. " The battleground areas are the South Monashee and Southwest Kootenay zones, where large areas would be have to be set aside from logging and recreation to save herds that are nearly gone. http://www.saobserver.net/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=29 & cat=48 & id=768879 & more= 2) Powell River Community Forest Corporation is on a fast track to four year's worth of harvesting Members of the board of directors developing Powell River's community forest will apply for cutting permits for almost the entire five-year tenure period by the end of the year. Verne Kinley, the new president of Powell River Community Forest Corporation, said the company will apply to the provincial government for cutting permits for possibly 13 blocks, or about 100,000 cubic metres, to take advantage of the stumpage reduction the government has offered community forests. Kinley also said the company will hold a public information meeting sometime in November and maps of cutblocks for all the cutting permits the company is going to apply for will be on display at the meeting. " We encourage people to get involved, " he said. " Anything we can do to accommodate an exchange of information we will do. " The City of Powell River was awarded a community forest licence for up to 25,000 cubic metres annually of timber from the Haslam Lake and Lang Creek watershed area, encompassing about 6,500 hectares. Officials from the ministry of forests and range and the city signed the licence in July. The company purchased old forest development plans for the area from Western Forest Products, said Kinley, and hired a local contractor, Shearwater Services Ltd., to plan and layout the blocks to the cutting permit stage. The company hopes to have cutting permit approval by December 15. Then it will advertise for a request for quotes on the timber it plans to log. " We're selling the timber on the stump, similar to what the city did on the airport reserve lands and what BC Timber Sales does, " explained Kinley. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17442318 & BRD=1998 & PAG=461 & dept_id=221589 & rfi=6 3) H.R. MacMillan has been named B.C.'s most influential forester in a poll conducted by the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals. MacMillan, founder of MacMillan Bloedel is best known as a business giant and in later life, for his philanthropic work. But the association poll confirms he was also known for his contributions to forestry. MacMillan was B.C.'s first chief forester and was a key driver behind the establishment of the forest service. " He was very environmentally aware for his time, " she said. MacMillan died in 1976. Brittain said Vladimir Krajina, who developed and mapped the biogeoclimatic zones of B.C., and the Sopron School of Forestry, which came in a unit to the University of B.C. following the 1956 Hungarian revolution, were runners-up. Members of the public were invited to vote for the most influential person. Environmental activists such as Betty Krawczyk and first nations leaders such as forester Chief David Walkem also received votes. " While it was interesting to see all of the nominations, our real goal was to get the people of B.C. thinking about the forests and the people and organizations who care for them, " Brittain said. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/index.html4) In its first year, the McBride Community Forest Corporation paid bills and financed the operation using personal credit cards. By their second year they made $500,000, paid back the village's initial investment of $50,000 and wrote their only shareholder cheques for more than $300,000. According to early forecasts for this year, the community forest could clear $1,000,000 in revenue. "We are in good financial shape," said Ken Starchuck, chair of the community forest board. Starchuck said that the community forest would anticipate expenses for the next year and pay a dividend to the Village of McBride. Starchuck said that operators are taking advantage of good markets for specialty forest products. The amount of pine beetle salvage is low because of high stumpage and depressed markets, but Starchuck said that he and McBride Mayor Mike Frazier continue to press the government to lower the stumpage rate on pine salvage. He said the profit is largely due to the stumpage deal worked out between the province and the community forest. "If we didn't have the stumpage deal, our net revenues might only be a couple hundred thousand dollars," said von der Gönna. The future, said von der Gönna, is fraught with challenges. "Right now we are hard pressed to move pine," he said. However, he also believes it is just a matter of time before people find a use for the glut of pine on the timber market which is pushing prices down. "Through the years, pine has been a weed, aspen has been a weed and then all of the sudden we can use it for something. At some point somebody will figure out what to do with the hemlock," he said. In the meantime he anticipates hardship, adjustment, and a huge restructuring of the northern interior forest industry, but he is confident there will be logging in the Robson Valley ten years from now. Overall, pine accounts for roughly 20% of the harvestable timber valley wide, leaving this area in a much better position than many others. In the short term von der Gönna anticipates higher costs in the coming year. The organization is receiving a 25 year tenure, which requires a raft of plans and studies to be done in preparation. http://www.robsonvalleytimes.com/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=799 & Itemid=46 5) The masking tape tells the story. Stretched diagonally across a map it reveals a near complete absence of land protected from human intrusion on Vancouver Island's east coast. Annette Tanner, chairperson for The Western Canada Wilderness Committee' mid-island chapter uses the illustration before a group of about 15, ranging from toddlers to seniors, gathered to hike into a canyon containing some of the very last remaining old growth forest around. "It's privately owned this side of the masking tape," says Tanner. "Whether it's logged or protected will depend on people like you." She is among a group assembled for what turns out to be a gruelling, yet entirely enchanting jaunt that includes nature guide Gary Murdock, ecologist and watershed advocate Phil Carson and Scott Tanner, ex-Qualicum Beach councillor. On our way we'll encounter perilous and muddy slopes, see uncommon specimens like Douglas Maple and the aforementioned yews, and pass trees tagged and painted with numbers; telltale signs of imminent demise at the hands of loggers. The lush verdant landscape enthralls. The water so clear it's invisible. Before heading up, to our cars, Carson has us gather around thick trunks emblazoned with lurid blue loggers' insignia. He offers some unsparing opinions on what's at stake should these forests be torn down. "This area is a gem by anyone's scale," he says. "It would be the crown jewel of a national park," Carson notes the moss "... which can hold 1,000 times it own weight in moisture," and the roots work to stabilize the soil preventing the flash floods and habitat destruction he says is sure to be the result should logging occur on such an unstable flood plain. Logging companies, he continues, "are treating the land like it's their own personal fiefdom and it's nobody's business. It's everybody's business." The WCWC and others are fighting to have the remaining 1,300 hectares of the grove and public land around Cameron Lake protected to prevent damage to drinking water, wildlife and public values. http://www.pqbnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=50 & cat=46 & id=765876 & more= 6) Prince George - This winter's program will be larger in scale than previous years with priority areas identified for tree removal based on the city's Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The program was planned with major consideration given to reducing forest fire danger and the hazards of dead trees to the public. State of the art, low impact small-scale salvage techniques will be used to carefully remove trees. Winter forestry operations avoid bird nesting season and fire hazards in urban areas from piles of tree debris during tree removal. Snow and frozen ground provide some measure of protection from undue equipment damage to the soil and smaller plant communities. Logs will be processed in local sawmills and debris will be processed or removed from site. Maps showing the planned work areas under each of the three programs will be posted on the city's website. Residents living next to areas planned for work will receive an information package. Residents are reminded that each park is closed during beetle control operations. Residents are asked to avoid these locations when crews are working, as unseen safety hazards exist. http://www.pgfreepress.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=26 & cat=23 & id=766696 & more= Oregon:7) Sometimes the Forest Service gets it, sometimes they don't. Back from the dead like Jason in Friday the 13th is both the South Pyramid (Sweet Home District) and Two Bee (McKenzie District) timber sales located on the Willamette National Forest. Both of these sales date back to 1998-1999. Many of you have hiked to these sales and written letters opposing them. The Cascadia Wildlands Project and Oregon Wild keep appealing them, the Forest Service keeps cancelling them and then re-releasing a beefed up version. Mature and old-growth forests are slated to be logged. Let's make sure this is the last time we have to go through this. Take a moment and send in a comment. It really helps. 1) South Pyramid timber sale: The Sweet Home District of the Willamette National Forest has been planning the South Pyramid timber sale since 1999, which proposes aggressive logging in 189 acres of native forest in the Middle Santiam Watershed. Much of the sale is within designated critical habitat for northern spotted owls and within the 4,100 acre Three Pyramids roadless area. 2) Two Bee timber sale: The latest Two Bee proposal excludes some of the largest and hardest-to-reach areas, but still proposes logging 825 acres of mature forests near Smith, Carmen, and Trailbridge Reservoirs and Sahalie Falls up the renowned McKenzie River watershed.The Forest Service insists on logging native forests instead of focusing on needed restoration of young, managed plantations in the same area. If you love the forests of the McKenzie River, value clean drinking water, quality wildlife habitat and high-quality recreation, please take a moment to tell the Forest Service to make significant changes or drop the Two Bee project once and for all. http://www.cascwild.orgCalifornia:8) Question: There has been a shift in focus of the activities of RAN from forestry to energy. How do you explain this shift, and can you outline the scope of your current energy-oriented campaigns? Answer from Executive Director of Rainforest Action Network, Mike Brune: I would characterize it more as an expansion than a shift in our focus, primarily because we're devoting more resources to our old-growth campaign than we ever have. We have doubled the size of our budget in the last three years, so we've added campaigns. We've done this because the threats to forest health are quite complex—it's not just the logging industry that is a prime determinant of forest health, it's also the oil and gas sector, the mining sector, and certainly the threats posed by climate change affect any type of ecosystem. Over the last five or six years, we have expanded beyond focusing primarily on home improvement retailers, home builders, and logging companies. We added a campaign that focuses on the banking sector, which often finances destructive development rather than productive and sustainable development. We also added a third campaign that directly addresses climate change by focusing on the U.S. automobile industry. We're about to start a fourth campaign which will address the question of bio-energy and bio-fuels. Tentatively known as our Rainforest Agribusiness campaign, it will address the threats to forests, primarily in tropical areas, posed by soy plantations in South America or palm-oil plantations in Southeast Asia, as well as the threat that the promotion of bio-fuels poses to forests. http://www.forestnewswatch.com/content/view/1466/9) Loggers and environmentalists have more than joined hands on the purchase of 25 square miles of the Big River and Salmon Creek watersheds — they are one and the same. The Conservation Fund, of Arlington, Va., working closely with locals including environmental activists, closed escrow Wednesday, Nov. 1, on a $48.5 million purchase of 16,000 acres owned by the Campbell-Hawthorne Timber Company. The Fund, which borrowed $25 million from the State Water Board to make the purchase and got most of the rest of the money from a plethora of conservation groups, won't be selling the land for a park or declaring it off limits to logging. The Conservation Fund already operates as a logging company in the south county, using revenues produced by the chainsaw to boost the local economy and pay to fix erosion caused by clear-cutting. Net annual logging revenues on the new property were estimated at $3.6 million in an appraisal submitted to the State Water Board. While the purchase does not create a nature sanctuary or public park it does protect the forest from the monoculture of vineyards and from roads and other problems created by private homes, said Chris Kelly, who has spearheaded the efforts for The Conservation Fund. The Conservation Fund last year purchased 24,000 acres of Mendocino County forest land in the Gualala area, where logging is under way. The new purchase makes The Conservation Fund one of the most significant logging operations in the county, with 40,000 acres of holdings. Kelly said logs from the Big River property will be milled in Ukiah or Petaluma. " We will hire local foresters, loggers, equipment operators and the like. We will be opening a local office and be very involved in overseeing the management of the property, " Kelly said. http://www.mendocinobeacon.com/local/ci_463046810) I don't know how many are left there who knew my son Jamie McGuinn, who had the tree name Root. He was a tree sitter in the Mattole for a couple of years until Aradia and the other trees were cut on Gypsy Mounain. I have the sad job of letting you know he was killed in an accident Oct. 5, 2006. I went out to visit him during a training camp at Swimmer's Delight State Park a couple of years ago. During the two weeks I was there I was impressed by the wonderfully dedicated young men and women who risk so much for God's beautiful creation. Root spent the last two years of his life fighting for our earth in the coal fields of West Virginia and here in the mountains of North Carolina that we call home. He had started to school at ABTech in Asheville and was returning to school after coming home to Boone, NC for his Dad's birthday and a demonstration against a corrupt earth-destroying developer when he was hit on his motorcycle and killedinstantly by a logging truck. We miss him terribly and it doesn't seem possible that this happy fun loving force for positive action could actually be gone. He loved to cook, some of you might remember how every night he would cook for the whole camp at the training camp. He was going to culinary school and was really excited about it. I hate to think about the good he could have done if he hadn't been taken so soon, too soon. Well, my thoughts are often with all of you, be safe and keep up the good fight. Much Love, Cinda McGuinn (Photosynthesis) Please send condolences: cindamcguinn11) Crews will soon begin thinning one of the last large stands of timber untouched by wildfire along the eastern front of the Sierra. The North Washoe Project will treat a swath of overgrown forest in the mountains west of Washoe Lake to protect the forest from major fires while restoring health to an ailing ecosystem. This month, crews from Redding, Calif.-based Sierra Pacific Industries are expected to begin road construction and some tree removal, said Dave Loomis, a planner with the U.S. Forest Service's Carson Ranger District. The area to be thinned is one of the last along the east Sierra from Peavine Peak south to Topaz Lake that has not been hit by a major wildfire in recent years, Loomis said. The forest is packed with too many trees of the same age growing too close together, a situation that leaves it vulnerable to drought, insect attack, and catastrophic fire. " It's one of the few areas where we have a large forest remaining, " Loomis said. Sierra Pacific Industries will remove 2.7 million board-feet of small but marketable timber from selected spots from the 5,600-acre area. The idea is to create islands of thinned forest that would slow a fire's spread. " These are like speed bumps, " Loomis said. " When a fire comes along, these are areas where the fire will slow down, drop to the ground and give firefighters a chance to put the fire out. " Sierra Pacific is required under its Forest Service contract to remove about 2,000 tons of limbs, woody debris and other biomass that could be used for energy production, Loomis said. Sierra Pacific plans to truck the biomass material to a cogeneration plant it operates at an otherwise shut down lumber mill in Loyalton, Calif. Commercial logs will be hauled to mills the company operates in Quincy and Camino, Calif. But Stan Raddon, owner of a plant that recycles wood waste in Carson City, is disappointed much of the woody material pulled from the forest apparently won't help fuel a soon-to-be operating power plant at a capital city prison. That facility is still substantially lacking a guaranteed source of wood fuel needed for it to operate. http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061108/NEWS15/611080364/1144 Montana:12) PacifiCorp offered a group of selected community members a tour of its logging operation along the north side of the Swan River Nature Trail on Thursday. Approximately 400 acres of forested land is undergoing fuel reduction. " The goal of this operation is not to generate revenue, that is down the list. This addresses safety, wildlife and aesthetics. " Logging began about three weeks ago, and the completion date for the entire operation is scheduled for April. After the introduction, the group made its way a few hundred yards up the trail. One member commented that it didn't look like anything had actually been done yet, which is what PacifiCorp hopes people will think at the end of the project. Very little thinning will take place near the trail. Most of the logging is taking place well above the trail and out of sight. Due to Montana's Streamside Protection Act, a 50-foot buffer along the Swan River is off-limits to heavy machinery. Very minor activity will take place between the trail and the river. Three spur roads that will provide further access into the forest are planned. Once the operation is complete, the roads, which are cut into the hillside, will be recontoured with trees and shrubs. Although not a definite plan yet, the roads may become an extension of accessible trails along the Nature Trail. Once the group had traveled up the spur road, the extent of the logging operation became apparent. Huge piles of cut logs were stacked along the road, comprised mainly of grand and douglas fir trees. " There are more doug fir trees here now than there ever was, " Hodgeboom said, adding that the densely packed forest makes for a competitive situation as more and more trees fight for less and less nutrients and water. Hodgeboom said that the operation is intended to promote the growth of the ponderosa pine (Montana's state tree) and the western larch, which are the native species. The forest is currently choked with trees every few feet. The final product will be dominant trees spaced close to 25 feet apart with understory trees and woody shrubs. The wider spacing of trees will allow more rain and snow to hit the ground, rather than landing in the tree crowns and then evaporating. http://bigforkeagle.com/articles/2006/11/08/news/news01.txt13) The Bitterroot National Forest is seeking public comment on a proposed salvage and reforestation project in part of the area burned by the Gash Creek fire this summer. The project would harvest dead and dying trees totaling about 250 acres of the 8,500 acres burned by the fire, or about 3 percent of the total acres burned, said Stevensville District Ranger Dan Ritter. One quarter mile or less of temporary road construction is proposed and the logging could be done using skidders or helicopters. Two areas of road would be widened to create two one-acre helicopter landing areas. Harvesting would occur as soon as practical. The public has 30 days to comment after the notice is published in the Ravalli Republic newspaper, which was expected to happen today, forest officials said. http://www.havredailynews.com/articles/2006/11/10/local_headlines/state.txtIndiana: 14) The Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, STRATEGIC PLAN 2005-07 dramatically increases the number and size of clearcuts in the Indiana State Forests, and increases by 400% the total volume of timber cut from 3.4 million board feet to 17 million board feet. Now the Division of Forestry is seeking to have their logging certified, even though they do not provide adequate notice of proposed actions; meaningful opportunities for public comment; a formal appeal process; or any meaningful assessment of the potential harms associated with the increased logging. These forests should not be logged and the logging should not be certified since it goes against the wishes of the owners of these public lands. Please tell the Forest Stewardship Council logging in the Indiana State Forests should not be certified. Please fill out all blanks in the form and then press the " send comments " button. http://www.heartwood.org/alerts.php?id=83North Carolina:15) A group of UNC students set out last Monday to expose what they say is the real secret behind Victoria's Secret. Members from UNC's Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) gathered at the Streets at Southpoint mall in Durham to stage a dramatic reading of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, hang banners reading " Clear Cuts Aren't Sexy " and hand out pamphlets to protest the store's use of mainly virgin paper to print their catalogs. " I believe the earth's resources are finite, and we are using them too quickly. Victoria's Secret is a huge part of that, and they could do so much less harm, " said participant Ben Scandella. The demonstration is part of a nationwide campaign organized by the San Francisco-based group Forest Ethics. UNC student Jenna Weidig interned with the California group and brought their ideas back with her to UNC. " It is a nice way to spread our message, without the negative association of a protest, " said Weidig. However, the demonstration came to an abrupt end when security guards and mall managers quickly descended. The guards stopped the students and the press from taking any pictures inside the mall, and told the students to stop their demonstration, remove their banners and leave. Mall officials said the students had not asked for permission to protest. They had no official comment. " We just hope we got the word out to a few shoppers. We just want to help spread the information to the consumers, " said Weidig. Although they say Victoria's Secret is a large contributor to the destruction of forests, members of SEAC say the store is not alone. " This is our first one of these. We are not singling out Victoria's Secret; they are not alone in this, " said UNC student Hannah Early. " We as consumers have the ability to make change by how we shop. " The national campaign has also included full-page ads in the New York Times, outdoor advertising and the launch of a Web site, www.victoriasdirtysecret.net. http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A39826New York: 16) But instead of gawking at big-city skyscrapers, the tourists in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, deep in the woods of the Nantahala National Forest, are craning their necks to look at the gigantic trees, some reaching 100 feet tall to scrape the visible limits of the sky. "I've been coming here for 30 years, just for what you see here," said Joel Zachry, sweeping his hand around the grandeur of the forest. Zachry was leading a nature study class in the Joyce Kilmer Forest two weeks ago for the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown. "It's worth the drive," said Zachry, who lives in Tennessee. "It's the oldest virgin forest east of the Mississippi. Some of the trees are 20 feet in diameter. Most are 75 to 125 years old, but some are up to 400 years old." The giant Eastern hemlock and tulip poplar trees dispersed through the forest are so old, so immense and so huggable, if people aren't gawking up at their grandeur, they can be spotted getting their photos taken with arms wrapped around the enormous trunks. Frank Findley, assistant ranger with the Cheoah District of the Nantahala National Forest, said the trees make the forest quite a tourist attraction, luring in some 20,000 visitors a year. The two-mile round-trip figure-eight trail, part of which had been closed because of storm damage since 2004, is set to reopen, with reinforced trails and footbridges, allowing hikers to glide easily through the woodsy wonderland. The forest is named for Joyce Kilmer who wrote the famous poem "Trees" and was a soldier killed during World War I. Its trees have been able to grow so large by being spared from logging. The Forest Service bought the land in 1936, and recognizing the unique nature of this area, set aside the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness to remain in a protected, primitive state. http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061109/SPORTS03/61108063/1019/ENT Maine:17) MILLINOCKET — Roxanne Quimby could be forgiven if she thought she was emulating the likes of Henry David Thoreau, Percival P. Baxter, John D. Rockefeller Jr. and other lovers of Maine's landscape when she started to buy bits of the vast northern woodlands near here to be the core of a new national park. Who knew that when she began using some of the fortune she had earned from her organic personal-care business, Burt's Bees, to buy up woods to preserve, she would be greeted with "Ban Roxanne" T-shirts? Or, that her efforts at preservation — banning snowmobiling, hunting and all-terrain vehicles on 50,000 of her acres — would be taken as an attack on the old-time values of the timberland? "What Roxanne and the others want to do, they want to create a park up here the size of Connecticut and take it out of the heartland of the Maine forest," Eugene Conlogue, the town's manager, said in an interview. "That's a nonstarter for us." Other environmental groups, while sympathetic to the idea of a national park, see it as an unwelcome distraction from their fight to block a proposed 420,000-acre resort development that the Plum Creek Timber Company has unveiled for Moosehead Lake, just west of here. As Brownie Carson, executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said, "You can't pour energy into protection of a single area, even though it's large and hugely important, without risking losses, big losses, in other really important areas of Maine's North Woods forest.I find it pretty ironic, or humorous, that people make a national park out to be such a radical idea," said Ken Spalding, the project coordinator for the moving force behind the park, Restore, a group with offices in Hallowell and in Concord, Mass. "American people love their national parks." In the last six years, more than six million acres of timber company land have changed hands. Timber companies have come and gone like truckers at a roadside stop. "What has happened over the years," Ms. Quimby said, "is that there were very few landowners and they had a very permissive policy toward land use as long as you stayed out of the way of the logging operation. So people had this unrestricted access." "So now that the ownership is changing," she said, "it's becoming quite clear that this is private property. And as a private property owner I don't have to let anybody on it." http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/us/07maine.htmlUSA:18) In a stunning reversal of power, Democrats swept to command in Washington on Tuesday night, capturing control of both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. For the conservation movement, and forest advocates in particular, this shift in power presents a long awaited opportunity to pro-actively protect and restore our national forests. Among the influential GOP incumbents toppled: 1) Representative Richard Pombo lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Jerry McNerney. Pombo, who chaired the powerful House Resources Committee, will go down in history as one of the most vehemently anti-environmental lawmakers in history. An avid private property rights zealot, Pombo was the chief architect of the effort to dismantle two of the most important conservation laws: the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which guarantees the public's " right-to-know " about logging, drilling and mining projects on public lands. As Resources Committee Chair, 2) Representative " Chainsaw " Charles Taylor earned his nickname by authoring the infamous " Logging without Laws rider " in 1995 is responsible for clearcutting thousands of acres of old growth forests by suspending every single natural resource law and slamming shut the door on public oversight. 3) Republican incumbent Conrad Burns is fond of using his influence as chairman of the Interior Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee to overturn court rulings that uphold environmental laws. Most recently Burns threatened to introduce a rider to overturn a California federal judge's decision that reinstated the 2001 Roadless Rule, throwing out the Bush administration's 2005 rule. He also snuck in language to the Senate Interior funding bill that would permanently take away the public's right to comment on and challenge significant logging, mining and drilling projects that could potentially damage publicly owned lands. http://www.americanlands.org/index.php19) When Congress returns to work after the elections, the environment should be high on the list of unfinished business. Much of the work unfortunately requires stopping proposals that would harm national forests and other natural resources. Lawmakers should turn down legislation that would: 1) Allow the timber industry to fell healthy trees remaining after forest fires. 2) Exempt large Forest Service logging projects from the requirements for public comment and environmental impact analysis. 3) Allow oil and gas pipelines to run through national parks and monuments and wildlife refuges. 4) Dismantle wildlife protections under the Endangered Species Act. Congress also should take steps to protect the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the world's largest temperate rain forest, from logging. The forest — home to grizzlies, bald eagles and 800-year-old trees — is not protected by a federal rule that limits logging and road building in pristine areas of national forests. That rule, instituted by former President Clinton, has been under attack by President Bush. A federal court recently reinstated it. Congress should make sure this protection remains in place, with the Tongass added. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/opinion/15955225.htmCanada: 20) The distant voices of native elders in isolated fly-in communities and valiant but underfunded environmental NGOs are the only ones telling us about roads cut for industrial machines that munch whole landscapes and then munch some more. It's tough to talk about the economic shifts that moving away from this approach entails. But there is a new economy that's waiting to be created, just as NOW was waiting to be born 25 years ago. Just as NOW's success has been built on a need that was waiting to be addressed, so will this new economy offer huge opportunities to those who sign up to serve. Twenty-five years of growing as a writer-led independent media organization in a highly monopolized and competitive marketplace have taught us that doing the right thing can also be financially rewarding. If we are smart, we won't have to make crisis-driven choices. Our vision of newsprint's future goes beyond recycled, which is, after all, often a forest once removed. We look forward to working toward the day when agricultural residue becomes a major source of pulp fibre, as it is in China and India. We know it's going to take some time, but the sooner we start, the better for everyone it will be. We're pleased to be the first publication in Canada to commit to an Ancient Forest Friendly policy, but we hope we aren't alone for long. We'll feel prouder when we stand with many others in the paper and publishing field collaborating on how to create a new, profitable and affordable, forest-free future for paper. http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2006-11-09/news_story4.phpUK:21) Helping workers to see peril in the trees - Dr Liggins said the most common accidents include chainsaw injuries, being hit by a moving or falling object, incorrect handling, slipping, tripping and falling. " Behind every one of these statistics is a human life that has been ruined or a family that has lost a loved one, " said Dr Liggins. " Although the risks in forestry cannot be eliminated, they can be managed through taking common- sense measures. " Dr Liggins said that the best people to do this were those involved in the work. " That is why we are running these free events - we want to work in partnership with all the forestry industry to make sure we get things right before an accident happens, " he said. A series of Safety and Health Awareness Days have been developed with the industry, and are being delivered by trainers who have years of experience working in the industry. The Clocaenog event, which is free of charge, is aimed at small forestry contracting firms. The events are unique in that foresters are taken on location, where scenarios are acted out. These are based on situations that have led to serious accidents in the past. Today's event will look at some of the most frequent causes of accidents, and then work through common- sense solutions which could have prevented them from happening in the first place. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/farming/countryside/tm_headline=helping-workers-to-see-peril-in-the-t rees & method=full & objectid=18056523 & siteid=50082-name_page.htmlItaly:22) Turin - Activists from Greenpeace today confronted Kimberly-Clark at its regional headquarters in Turin, Italy demanding that the company " Stop Flushing Ancient Forests Down the Toilet. " While 2 activists suspended a massive banner from the rooftop, 20 others chained themselves to toilet bowls outside the office with trees being 'flushed down' them, symbolizing the company's destruction of Canada's ancient Boreal forest to make toilet paper and other disposable tissue products. Greenpeace is campaigning to get Kimberly-Clark, the world's largest manufacturer of tissue products, to end its destruction of the Boreal Forest. Kimberly-Clark produces some of Canada and Europe's most well known brands of tissue and toilet papers such as Kleenex, Andrex, Scottex, Page and Hackle. Almost one-third of the virgin pulp used to make Kimberly-Clark's European products and one-fifth of its global pulp is from destructive logging operations in Canadian forests, including the Boreal forest. http://kleercut.net/en/italyKenya:23) A Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner called on people around the world to plant 1 billion trees in the next year, saying Wednesday the effort is a way ordinary citizens can fight global warming. Wangari Maathai, who in 2004 became the first black African woman to win a Nobel in any category, urged participants to ensure the trees thrive long after they are planted. " It's one thing to plant a tree, it's another to make it survive, " said Maathai, who founded Kenya's Green Party in 1987 and focused on planting trees to address the wood fuel crisis here. Maathai said the campaign is meant to inspire ordinary citizens to help the environment. " This something that anybody can do, " Maathai said Wednesday at the U.N. conference on climate change, which has drawn delegates from more than 100 countries to Kenya. Scientists blame the past century's 1-degree rise in average global temperatures at least in part on the accumulation of carbon dioxide, methane and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere — byproducts of power plants, automobiles and other fossil fuel burners. Destroying trees through burning contributes to global warming, releasing about 370 million tons of greenhouse gases every year — about 5 percent of the world total — scientists say. Planting trees can offset climate change in part because they absorb carbon dioxide. The tree-planting project, organized by the United Nations Environment Program, shows that " action does not need to be confined to the corridors of the negotiation halls, " said Achem Steiner, UNEP's executive director. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,228198,00.html24) " Trees actually do two processes. They drill water into the ground. They funnel water into underground aquifers where it is stored to supply rivers during drought, " Nick Nuttal, spokesman for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said. " They also hold soil. Where there are no trees, the soil is washed away into rivers causing siltation into the oceans choking coral reefs, " he told IRIN on the sidelines of the 6-17 November conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Nairobi. " The link between deforestation and drought is very significant " . The loss of ground cover due to deforestation resulted in flash floods during heavy rainfall, leading to soil erosion. " That is the start of desertification, " said Beneah Odhiambo, a professor of geography at Moi University in western Kenya. Precipitation Contrary to conventional wisdom, an estimated 62 percent of precipitation occurs over land as a result of evapotranspiration from lakes and wetlands and dense vegetation, particularly forests, which pump ground water into the sky. The moisture then condenses and falls as rain, according to Nuttal. Only about 38 percent of the precipitation is generated over oceans and seas. Africa was characterised by divergent climate conditions ranging from dry to moist. With climate change, this was becoming more pronounced with the frequent occurrence of floods and droughts. " Forests are needed to build in resilience in the natural ecosystem. They are a buffer against extreme floods and droughts, " said Nuttal. The more frequent return of drought and loss of life from floods was an indication that climate change has set in, he added. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/48480f3038a8d51f6ecb36e21d225bd9.htm Chile:25) As a consequence of forestry conflict in Chile, there is tens of people from mapuche organizations and communitys under secrecy in the face of political and judiciary persecution of chilean state, several imprisoned with condemn over 10 years, among them, those who some months ago sustain a hunger strike for more than 60 days demanding their freedom; a young mapuche man requesting political asylum in Argentina (Pascual Pichun); and the cowardly murder of a 17 years old mapuche man, dead by a police man in november 2002, fact that remain absolutly clear; among others fatalitys. And so on, mostly since the previous administration (with Ricardo Lagos as president) the application of special laws as " Interior security of state " and " anti-terrorist law " , and an intelligence operation call " patience " , was used as instrument of represion and persecution against social mapuche protest, all this to protect the principal economics groups of forest industry: Matte (Mininco/CMPC) and Angelini (Arauco - Celco) the most powerfull in Chile and with expantion to other countrys in south América. All this under acusations of self assoult inside the same companys, denounce by some congresists in past occasions. In the face of this situation, is urgent to react from diferent fronts demanding justice and freedom. http://www.globaljusticeecology.orgNepal:26) The intricate pattern of geographical construction stretching vertically from the lowland to the highest ridge of Everest is an interesting feature of the Nepalese landmass. This varied geographical condition provides several preferable habitats for diverse biological components in this country. The current data reveals about 54 per cent of the country's land lying under the vegetation coverage. According to a flashed out data, Nepal now accommodates nearly 6,500 species of diversified flowering plants besides many non-flowering species. The ecological map developed under the joint efforts of French and Nepalese botanists in 1985 indicated the occurrence of 118 ecosystems, 75 vegetation and 35 forest types in the country. Based upon elevation and the category of specific vegetations, Nepal comprises six floral zones like tropical, subtropical, temperate, sub alpine, alpine and nival zones. The subtropical climate prevails at 1000-2000 meter of elevation and is blended with the features of Indian, Southeast Malaysian and Sino Japanese elements. The total floral diversity of this zone comprises 2028 species of flowering plants including 50 endemic species. The most popular trees of this part are Castanopsis, Schima and Alnus. This zone encompasses major portions of Mahabharat and midland regions. The Arun valley of Sankhuwasabha district is represented with scarce Chirpine forest localized mainly within the valley floor only. The moist and deciduous forest is widespread in the temperate region between 2000-3000 meter of elevation. The principal floral components found here are Chestnut and Maple (Acer) trees. Other tree components like, evergreen oaks, rhododendrons, conifers, etc are also distributed over this zone. The current data indicates the occurrence of 2000 species of plants in this zone with a count of 113 endemic species. The sub alpine forest spreads its range at 3000 meter of elevation reaching up to the tree line at 4100 meter. The south-western slope displays remarkable growth of rhododendrons besides silver fir which appears at 3000 meter and little above. About 1650 species of flowering plants are enumerated from sub alpine forest including 180 native species. The government's policy to conserve high altitude pristine forests and existing valuable resources has led to the establishment of six national parks and two conservation areas in this region. district.http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=6055Thailand:27) It is not an overstatement to say that deforestation by humans is partly to blame for the flood and drought which have alternately struck many parts of the country in recent years. The loss of forest cover has robbed the earth of its natural absorbent to hold excess rain water, thus creating runoffs which quickly fill up natural waterways, overflowing their banks and inundating farmland, villages and towns. But despite the importance of the role of forests in keeping ecological balance, previous governments, including the Thaksin administration, paid scant attention to deforestation. The same also holds true for reforestation. A rehabilitation contingency plan to provide clean water to flood victims and to restore damaged tap water system in flood-ravaged areas, has been approved by the cabinet. Also approved are middle- and long-term plans to deal more effectively with the problem of flooding in the future. The plan calls for rehabilitation of denuded forests and prevention of deforestation, conservation of watershed areas and eviction of encroachers in watershed areas, allocation of water catchment areas and expansion of water storage capacity in reservoirs, an effective early warning system and proper national water resources management. Since the interim government will be in office for just about a year, it cannot be expected to implement all the plans, especially long-term ones. At best, it should be able to undertake short-term measures to address the urgent needs of the flood victims and also to take action on some of the middle-term measures. http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/09Nov2006_news20.phpIndonesia:28) The huge forest fires which have been sweeping Indonesia for months now, have caused the deaths of around 1,000 orang-utans. Hundreds more have been badly hurt. This represents a major blow to a species whose habitat is fast disappearing and which is already teetering on the brink of extinction. A biologist in Borneo sounded the alarm this week about the crisis in the orang-utan population. Every year in the dry season Indonesia is hit by large forest fires. Indonesian farmers traditionally practice slash and burn methods - they set fires when they need new ground to grow crops. But there are other culprits too: palm oil companies looking for cheap ways to expand their plantations, timber thieves and hunters who set up camp and light wood fires deep in the forest. In Borneo alone, tens of thousands of fires are burning across hundreds of thousands of hectares. The fires spread rapidly because of the peaty soil which is bone-dry and enables the fire to travel underground. Dutch biologist Willie Smits works with orang-utans in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. He is the founder of the Borneo Orang-utan Survival Foundation (BOS), the largest primate rescue operation in the world. We need a plane with an infra-red transmitter - like the one they've developed in Delft - in order to chart the underground peat fires. The resulting maps should immediately be cross-referenced with the coordinates and distances from villages and the army should be sent into the interior. They'll need to take money with them to pay the villagers to help put out the fires. And they'll need to be equipped with pumps and drills so they can make holes in the peat and get water to the surface where it can be used for fire fighting. " If thousands of people work together this way, he is certain the fires could be put out in two weeks. He has already made contact with the authorities, discussing the problems and possible solutions with the local governor. http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/indon061108mc29) Indonesia alone holds 60% of all tropical peat, containing some 50 billion tonnes of carbon. This is equivalent to 7-8 years of global fossil fuel emissions. Timber and oil palm plantations are draining the peatlands and also pushing local communities and small-holders into peat areas and rainforests. Once this peat is drained, all this carbon will eventually be released into the atmosphere, unless the peat is subsequently re-flooded and restored. Annual fires, many of them set deliberately by plantation owners, speed up the process. This year's fire season has been one of the worst on record. Wetlands International warned earlier this week that the boom in biofuels is speeding up the destruction, and further that one tonne of palm oil grown on peat is linked to the release of around 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide released from that peat. Due to its low cost, palm oil is set to become the prime feedstock for biodiesel. Biofuelwatch member Andrew Boswell says from Nairobi: "Over 6600 people from 75 countries have emailed governments to call for real action to address the causes of the annual peat and forest fires. So far, there are no signs that delegates have listened. UNFCCC exists to prevent dangerous climate change and to stabilise levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This will be even harder to achieve unless tropical peatlands are protected and restored. http://www.climateark.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia_peatland30) KUCHING - " The price of selangan batu has overtaken meranti, a popular species, " he told reporters after opening Sarawak Forestry's Applied Forest Science Research seminar at Grand Continental Hotel here last Wednesday. Sarawak is now experiencing a boom in timber exports, thanks to the soaring prices of logs and timber products. Sarawak Forestry Corporation's managing director Datuk Cheong Ek Choon said that strong global demand, especially from India, China and Middle Eastern countries, had raised timber prices, The Star reported. " Because of the demand from India, the price of selangan batu, a timber species, has shot up to US$300 per cubic metre. It is a 200 per cent increase compared to five years ago. " Over 33 papers were discussed at the two-day event attended by researchers, academicians and other professionals. Cheong, who is also state forest director, said Sarawak earned nearly RM6 billion a year in foreign exchange in the exports of logs and timber products, like plywood, sawn timber, veneer and mouldings. He said the state had maintained its log production at between 11 and 12 million cubic metres a year, out of which about 9.2 million cubic metres were harvested from permanent forest estates and the remaining from the conversion of state land for plantation and other agricultural purposes. He said that 60 per cent of the logs are reserved for local timber processing mills. http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/wed/nov8b3.htm31) Rachmat Witoelar, the Environment Minister, has said that more than 30 percent of Indonesia's flora and fauna is extinct. Rachmat also said many flora and fauna are threatened with extinction. "Such as Bali mynahs, elephants and tigers," he Rachmat at the celebration of Flora and Fauna Care Day 2006 at the Vice President's office, Jakarta, yesterday (7/11). Rachmat said the extinction of animals and plants indigenous to Indonesia was caused by human acts that ruin the environment. For example excessive forest exploitation, forest fires, illegal logging and illegal hunting. Up until July 2006, 59.3 million hectares out of 127 million hectares of land have been recorded to have been severely damaged. According to Rachmat, barren land causes a decline in the flora and fauna population and ecosystem damage. In addition, forest damage causes a decrease in superior agricultural varieties including rice. Therefore, he called on regional leaders to also protect flora and fauna from extinction. Vice President Jusuf Kalla, on the occasion said that there should be love among humans, plants and animals. "They need each other," said the Vice President. http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2006/11/08/brk,20061108-87293,uk.html Australia:32) Thousands of American school children have called on timber company Gunns Limited to stop logging high-value Tasmanian forests. More than 4000 letters and pictures will be presented to the logging giant ahead of its annual shareholder meeting in Launceston today. American singer-songwriter Dana Lyons - famous for his song Cows with Guns - will present the letters as part of a global tour to promote protection for the world's temperate rainforests. American conservation group Rainforest Action Network said today's letter delivery added to a growing international movement against the destruction of old-growth forests. Gunns chief executive John Gay said he was appalled by the letters. " How could (American) children know about the forestry operations in Tasmania, " he said on ABC radio. http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,23636,20727669-31037,00.htmlWorld-wide: 33) Naturally, environmental groups are keen to stress the causes of climate change as well as the effects. High on their list of culprits are foreign investors ploughing money into unsustainable industries. The transport, energy, mining, timber and agriculture sectors are among those singled out for either increasing greenhouse gas emissions or reducing carbon-capturing forests. "These industries should look to reduce their climate change liabilities because sooner or later they will have to pick up the bill," argues Giulio Volpi, climate change co-ordinator for environment group WWF in Latin America. Some of those costs are already being realised, he says. The south of Brazil, for example, is experiencing its worst drought in two decades. The cost to soya farmers in terms of lost production is reckoned to be about $1.8 billion. The agricultural sector in general, meanwhile, will have to readjust to changing rainfall and temperature patterns or face dwindling harvests. Not all is doom and gloom. Recent studies suggest that deforestation in the Amazon is slowing. Co-operation between the Brazilian government, the World Bank, the German Development Bank and civil society groups recently resulted in the setting up of a protection zone in the Amazon of 20 million hectares. If the prognostics are right, however, it will require real innovation to turn the tide. One place to look for such inspiration is the handful of successful carbon-reduction projects being sponsored through the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=462935) Katherine Sierra, vice president of sustainable development at the World Bank, stated that "now is the time to reduce pressures on tropical forests through a comprehensive framework that integrates sustainable forest management into the global strategy for mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity." As if it wasn't enough that deforestation threatens 800,000 people who live in or around vulnerable forests or woodlands, endangers the majority of the worlds remaining terrestrial biodiversity, and degrades and destroys the valuable ecosystems that provide a myriad of essential environmental services, deforestation is a major source of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases contributing to our changing climate. Today tropical deforestation accounts for approximately 20% of total global emissions of carbon dioxide (3.8 B tons per year), almost twice as much as does global road transportation. Since the 1950's, 5% of tropical forests have been lost per decade. In just the past five years, over 50 million hectares of tropical forest (about the size of France) have been lost. At the UN Climate Conference in Montreal last year (2005) Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea brought forward a proposal, on behalf of the Rainforest Nations, to address the issue of emissions from deforestation. The proposal, calling for positive financial incentives for developing countries that voluntarily reduce their emissions from deforestation, initiated a two-year process of dialogue and information gathering. The Nairobi negotiations, marking the halfway point in this process, will be crucial in determining the nature of the final outcomes at the next Conference of Parties. http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/67636) A new website launched today raises urgent questions about the world's most widely adopted timber certification scheme, the Forest Stewardship Council. The site contains information on a number of certificates issued by the FSC where areas of forest are being badly managed or destroyed, or where other important wildlife habitats, such as wetlands, are also being damaged. While these examples may or may not be typical of all FSC-certified operations, they demonstrate that something is seriously wrong with the FSC's certification system. The launch of the site follows shortly after 75 environmental and human rights organisations world-wide, including WWF and Greenpeace, wrote to the Forest Stewardship Council expressing concern about the FSC's inability to ensure 'quality control' over its certificates, and calling for urgent reforms. Amongst the examples of highly questionable FSC certificates are: 1) a logging company in Cameroon had been documented by Greenpeace as being involved in illegal rainforest logging shortly before it was certified by the FSC; 2) in Ireland, the national forestry company, Coillte, has been certified by the FSC despite protests by local environmental groups that the company has been responsible for major environmental damage, including the destruction of wildlife habitats and pesticide poisoning. 3) a Panamanian forestry company certified by the FSC has been revealed to have been a major financial scam, with links to the Mafia. 4) an FSC-certified logging operation in the forests of Laos has been found to be operating in breach of both FSC standards and the Lao forestry law. 5) in Uruguay, FSC-certified monoculture tree plantations have led to wetlands and farmers' wells drying out. Work in the plantations is dangerous and working conditions are dreadful. http://www.fsc-watch.org/37) One of the problems with the FSC is that the public is almost always reliant on the FSC certifiers' own reports to understand what is going on in any certfied area of forest - and, as we know, the certifiers have a vested economic interest in telling us the best and maybe, well, glossing over the worst. But in the interests of greater transparency, FSC-Watch can now bring you, thanks to GoogleEarth, a satellite's view of some of the operations of FSC's biggest certified company, Tembec, in Quebec, Canada (see below). Some people might be surprised that something certified by FSC as an 'environmentally acceptable' forestry operation actually appears to be a vast area of clear-felled forest and logging roads. FSC-Watch invites its readers to say whether this looks like 'saved' forest or 'deleted' forest. Tembec's total certified area now extends to over 7 million hectares. FSC-Watch aims to provide more GoogleEarth images of FSC certified ex-forests. http://www.fsc watch.org/archives/2006/11/10/Saved_or_deleted__FSC_certified_forest_destruction_visible_from_space Download the file here: http://www.fsc-watch.org/docs/0FSC_Certified_forest_destruction__Quebec.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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