Guest guest Posted December 22, 2007 Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 Today for you 33 new articles about earth's trees! (271st edition) Subscribe / send blank email to: earthtreenews- Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com --British Columbia: 1) Treesit campaign stops survey crews, 2) Water quality wars, --Oregon: 3) What's wrong with Pyramid Thin? 4) New solutions in forestry, 5) Eubanks on forest management changes, 6) Loggers make excuses for landslides, --California:7) Feinstein to weaken Sierra negotiations, 8) Moonlight fire salvage is huge, --Idaho: 9) Bush to take 6 million acres out of roadless protection --Arizona: 10) Complaining about enviros who enforce forest laws --Missouri: 11) Preciousness of the resources with which we have been entrusted --Indiana: 12) Sprawl outpacing reforestation --New York: 13) Lost Clove Valley saved, 14) More CO2 changes soil physiology, --Georgia: 15) Saving birds means saving trees --West Virginia: 16) New rules for mining on state lands --North Carolina: 17) FS's Forest Environmental Threat Assessment, 18) Helicopters, --USA: 19) Mistletoe is not a tree killer, it's mostly valuable food and habitat --Canada: 20) Enviros forced to sell out as much as possible --Germany: 21) New EU boundaries change forest patrols --Russia: 22) Sakhalin Energy punished for deforestation --Ghana: 23) Pulp mulberry weed invades headwaters reserve --Uganda: 24) I will mobilize the youth to smash tree protectors --Kenya: 25) Shamba system still making a killing --Haiti: 26) Deforestation reaches crisis-level, --Chile: 27) Native Forest Recovery and Forestry Development Act --India: 28) Pallikaranai marshland gets protection, 29) Too many trees lost to roads, --Papau: 30) Save the People and Forests of Papua --Indonesia: 31) 1,500 elite forest rangers by 2009 --South East Asia: 32) Save the Peat Lands --Australia: 33) Such an impressive activist they dropped her charges British Columbia: 1) Friday, Dec 21, a survey crew arrived at the site of the Bear Mountain Interchange in Langford to begin staking out the route for the new highway. By 11 am, around a dozen campers and supporters moved to peacefully block the crew from working. The campers and supporters are there to protect Spencer's Pond, Langford Lake Cave and rare wildlife from destruction. Chants of " the people united will never be defeated! " could be heard through the forest. More supporters and witnesses are needed today, this weekend and next week, including Christmas. It is not likely that people will be arrested today, as they are not breaking any laws. However, we expect that the City of Langford and Bear Mountain Resort will apply for a court ordered injunction to remove the campers. The survey crew appears to be private contractors hired by the city or the resort. The tree sit camp includes six forest defenders on platforms high in the trees, along with many more people camping on the ground . The Spaet Mountain Action Coalition has promised to protect the forest by all peaceful means, including risking arrest by committing civil disobedience. On Thursday, three uniformed RCMP officers accompanied by four plainclothes officers visited the camp and photographed the platforms, the tripod over the cave, and the traverse lines connecting the tree sits high in the forest canopy. For more info: 885-8219. ZoeBlunt 2) On June 11 this year, 72-year-old Keates and other local residents put their bodies on the line and blockaded spur E-100–a service road that Western Forest Products was building to allow logging trucks and equipment to harvest 47.2 hectares of timber. A court-ordered injunction led to the protesters' eventual removal once the Sunshine Coast Regional District had obtained a report it commissioned from Triton Environmental Consultants. According to B.C. Supreme Court documents from July 19 of this year, the report concluded that the proposed logging was " not considered an imminent threat to drinking water quality and cumulative effects are considered negligible " . Despite the onset of logging, Keates and others in his camp were not willing to quit. Acting on the advice of West Coast Environmental Law's staff counsel, Andrew Gage, Sunshine Coast residents complained to the Sunshine Coast Regional District, causing it to make use of a little-known section of the provincial Health Act. " The Health Act says every local government in the province is also the local board of health, " Gage told the Straight by phone. On August 11, the SCRD–now acting as the local board of health–ordered Western Forest Products to stop logging and building roads in the Chapman Creek watershed, asserting that the activities presented a health hazard and that the SCRD was protecting its water supply. However, on October 9, the B.C. Supreme Court shut the door to a potential legal precedent for millions of hectares of Crown and private lands. Justice Bruce Butler ruled that the " conclusion " the SCRD reached–that a health hazard existed due to the forestry activities of Western Forest Products–was " unreasonable " . However, Butler also declared that he found it " somewhat anomalous " that a regional district was unable to have authority over its drinking water. That declaration has vindicated the efforts of Daniel Bouman, who is named in Butler's ruling. Speaking by phone last month, Bouman, executive director of the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association, told the Straight that the SCRD and corespondents Bouman, Keates, Brad Benson, George Smith, Hans Penner, and Ron Neilson plan to appeal the B.C. Supreme Court decision. " We have given notice of appeal, " Bouman said by phone. " The next step will be to petition the B.C. Court of Appeal. " http://www.straight.com/node/125434/print Oregon: 3) Last week we submitted an appeal to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Supervisor asking that all aspects of commercial logging be removed from the Pyramid Thin Project, except for the road maintenance activities. Our appeal is based on the following failures of their decision: 1) Failure to adequately survey for red tree voles as required by 2001 Survey & Manage requirements. 2) Failure to provide adequate snag identification and creation. Management indicator species requiring snags cannot be maintained without adequate habitat. 3) Failure to adequately address sediment impacts to coho salmon spawning habitat. 4) Failure to estimate the number and size of conifer trees proposed for logging in each alternative. 5) Failure to adequately identify Marbled Murrelet habitat as required by Northwest Forest plan. 6) Failure to disclose impacts from temporary road construction on steep slopes. 7) Failure to disclose that untreated fuels on over half of the logged area will increase the potential for severe fire effects. http://www.siskiyou.org 4) We face three intersecting crises, both global and local: 1) Global warming, 2) the Bureau of Land Management's Western Oregon Plan Revision, and 3) declining federal funds for rural counties with Oregon & California Railroad lands — counties with a heavy BLM presence Crisis can be opportunity. Our local part of the answer to all three crises can be the same: O & C counties can be paid to store carbon by preserving standing BLM forests. According to some estimates, deforestation accounts for 20 percent of global carbon emissions. Recent research shows that when forests, especially old forests, are clear-cut, enormous amounts of carbon are oxidized from the soil and duff layers and released to the air as carbon. The BLM's preferred Alternative 2 would triple the amount of logging in O & C counties and multiply by seven times the logging of old growth, greatly adding to Oregon's share of carbon emissions. BLM's draft environmental impact statement for the revision does not even address global warming. Legislation needs to be written and introduced to pay the O & C counties for being home to large reservoirs of carbon: our older and old-growth forests that absorb and store many tons of carbon every year, as well as providing water and wildlife habitat, and recreation for humans. http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=3761\ 9 & sid=5 & fid=2 & p =print 5) Engineering and managing forests sounded intriguing to Steve Eubanks when he heard about the idea in an Oregon classroom. Now after 37 years in the U.S. Forest Service, Eubanks is more convinced than ever that managing national forests is paramount to their survival. At his Nevada City office the other day, the supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest, who will resign Jan. 3, reflected on forest management and the changes he's seen in forestry through the years. " I was on the Willamette (National Forest in Oregon) at the absolute height of the timber harvest, " Eubanks said. About that time he started working with researchers at an experimental forest on a new concept called ecosystem management. " It looked at the benefits of snags (dead trees) and ecosystem functions and structure, " Eubanks said, instead of just how the forest could produce timber. The Forest Service was once into creating fiber, but " now it's how to reduce fire to protect species and habitat, " Eubanks said. The transition has been challenging. Lawsuits and timber cutting appeals filed years ago to stop logging are now helping to choke forests and create wildfire havens, Eubanks said. Though he is not calling for the return of logging's heyday, he does think thinning stands adds to their health and averts uncontrollable blazes. " The amount of biomass accumulation is a real concern for the ability to manage forests, " Eubanks said. " Couple that with climate change, and it doesn't bode well for the future. " A flight across Nevada County also reveals the vast amount of development the Tahoe National Forest is up against, he said. " You see an increasing amount of development in the forest and that just complicates the fire problem, " Eubanks said. http://www.theunion.com/article/20071219/NEWS/100127477 6) Ted Lorenson, an assistant state forester, recalled a case in Douglas County of a man building a house on debris from a slide the year before. " As far as I know, he's living there now, " Lorenson said. Researchers have also identified a key ingredient in slides that can reduce their force and make them better for fish: wood. Logs and other woody debris slow slides down, so they don't go as fast or as far, according to studies by researchers at Oregon State University and the U.S. Forest Service. " You can think of wood as providing a kind of braking system for debris flows, " said Gordon Grant, a research hydrologist at the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station. " You don't really design for debris flows, you design for providing the right kind of building blocks, " Grant said. " Debris flows are going to happen, but are there management strategies that might provide more optimal patterns? We're just beginning to ask that question. " While landslides may disturb fish in the short term, turning streams muddy and shifting flow, they usually carry long-term benefits for fish, said Gordon Reeves, a biologist at the Forest Service's research station. But when homes or other property are at risk down below, the priority becomes how best to protect them. The trouble, geologists say, is that many Oregonians live in risky locations -- some of them without knowing it. A topographical map of the region near the slide that struck U.S. 30 west of Clatskanie last week shows mounds right where streams exit the hillsides toward the Columbia River. Those mounds, which offer a scenic view of the Columbia, have clusters of homes on them. The trouble is that past debris flows built those mounds -- and the slides could happen again. State and federal agencies in Oregon are now employing a new technology called LIDAR, for Light Detection and Ranging, that uses lasers to gather very precise images of the ground surface. It can see through vegetation to spot landslide hazards that might not be visible otherwise. OSU officials say there is no evidence the logging contributed to the slides. But the railroad crossing, on an adjacent property, created a pond that multiplied the force and volume of the torrent that struck the highway and nearby homes. OSU followed state logging rules and had no obligation to ensure sufficient drainage downstream from its land, state officials said. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/119821112089400.xm\ l & coll=7 California: 7) With a few words discretely tucked into a several-thousand-page bill, lawmakers are urging the Forest Service, tree cutters and tree huggers to work out their differences over timber harvesting. Mediation beats litigation, Congress figures. " The goal of this language is to push the sides together to come up with a solution that works, " Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said Tuesday. The $474 billion spending bill which gained final Senate approval Tuesday includes Feinstein's language directing the Forest Service " to collaborate " with loggers and environmentalists on harvest operations around the Sierra National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument and vicinity. In theory, this encourages negotiated settlements rather than courtroom battles in the perennial conflict over Sierra Nevada logging. In practice, it's not clear what weight, if any, the words will have. " I'm not sure it's going to do any good, " Earthjustice attorney George Torgun said of the congressional language, though " it can help to encourage the parties to negotiate. " The Sierra Club and Sierra Forest Legacy repeatedly have sued the Forest Service over Sierra logging practices. Last year, environmental groups convinced a federal judge to block four proposed timber sales in and around Giant Sequoia National Monument. Environmentalists worry that excessive logging around the 327,769-acre national monument could destroy habitat for the Pacific fisher, an endangered member of the weasel family. " The Forest Service has failed to conduct an adequate and sufficient hard look at significant new information pertaining to the Pacific fisher, " U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled last year. Sierra Forest Products has appealed Breyer's decision. The timber company says stringent logging limits cost jobs. The Forest Service, though it didn't join the appeal, insists that accumulated fuel must be removed to prevent catastrophic forest fires. More recently, environmental groups sued to block the 131,500-acre Kings River logging project proposed for the nearby Sierra National Forest. Feinstein drafted her language encouraging negotiations last summer, apparently prompting environmentalists and the Forest Service to agree to bring in a mediator for the Kings River case. http://www.modbee.com/local/story/156498.html 8) The Moonlight Fire claimed timber on 60,000 acres in late summer, but there's a flip side to the disaster: Sierra Pacific Industries in Quincy has its largest log inventory ever. Seventy million board feet of timber is now at the SPI mill, said Gary Solberg, Quincy's plant manager. SPI's sister plants in Oroville, Burney, Lincoln and other areas are also receiving logs according to species and size. From the outer fence looking in, the log piles appear formidable. From the inside they appear far taller than they really are, and from the air, the true nature of the scene is brought home as logs, lumber and wrapped and ready-to ship lumber fill much of the yard. When the Moonlight Fire started in September, it happened to ignite on SPI land. Still waiting for the news on the cause of the blaze and just who's responsible from CAL FIRE, Solberg said that his company and the Beaty company lost 150 mbf of trees. The good news was that CAL FIRE, the state agency that works with private landowners on timber sales, was quick to help get a plan approved and SPI's timber crews went to work. Of prime concern is getting the dead and damaged pine off the forest, Solberg said. It deteriorates quickly. It will, however, if properly maintained, last about a year at the mill. SPI is working against the clock to salvage as much pine as the season's weather will allow. Once the storms hit, that just about closes workers out of the woods until next spring when the weather allows them to return. Since the area opened to logging, 300 log trucks a day have left for SPI in Quincy and other mills in the area. Each truck carries an estimated 4 mbf, Solberg said. Looking at a wildland fire on the Tahoe National Forest last year, Solberg said that the Forest Service had those sales approved quickly and the timber was hauled to SPI in near record time. SPI in Quincy hasn't hired any more employees to handle the log surplus, but yard workers are working later into the season, Solberg said. Traditionally, their jobs ended for the season before now. http://www.plumasnews.com/news_story.edi?sid=5793 Idaho: 9) The Bush administration today released documents announcing its intention to remove protections for more than six million acres of roadless areas in the national forests of Idaho. Idaho's roadless backcountry areas are some of the nation's last intact national forests and this proposal would open the door to their development by corporate special interests. Below is a statement from the Heritage Forests Campaign: " Protection of our nation's pristine forests is critical to the preservation of our natural heritage. These wild areas contain watersheds that provide clean drinking water, wildlife habitat and outstanding outdoor recreational opportunities that should be kept safe for generations to come. " Last year, a federal judge struck down the Bush administration's attempt to remove protections for our nation's wild forests. Today, 50 million acres of roadless national forests, in all states except Alaska, are protected from road construction and logging. Now, under the cover of the hectic holiday season, the administration is trying to open the door to new development in the roadless backcountry of Idaho's national forests. " America's conservation organizations are united to defend our last wild forests in Idaho and throughout the nation. We strongly oppose the Bush administration's last ditch efforts to sell out to the timber, oil and gas, and mining industries. If the administration gets its way, our country will lose some of the most peaceful and pristine places within our national forests. For example, releases of highly toxic selenium as a result of the proposed Smoky Canyon mine expansion into the Sage Creek roadless area in southeast Idaho threaten to decimate trout populations in those wild forests. " Last year, the former governor of Idaho, James Risch, made a commitment to protect all but 500,000 acres of roadless forests in Idaho, which was widely hailed as a step in the right direction. Now, it seems as if the Bush administration has taken two steps backward. We should never allow these last intact forests to fall victim to corporate development. " According to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released by the U.S. Forest Service, under the proposal, only one-third (3.2 million acres) of Idaho's 9.3 million acres will be managed in a manner that retains " natural processes and roadless characteristics. " http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,246175.shtml http://www.earthjustice.org/library/references/smoky-canyon-fact-sheet.pdf. Arizona: 10) The latest project calls for thinning more than 8,000 acres -- 13 square miles -- in Schultz Pass and extending east into Doney Park and Timberline. The area includes several hundred acres containing so-called " old growth " ponderosa pines that are generally more than 180 years old and greater than 14 inches in diameter. In most cases, the plan calls for retaining the largest, fire-resistant trees. But to avoid leaving an even-aged " plantation " forest after the thinning, some larger trees will be cut while medium-sized trees will be spared. The northern goshawk lives in the Schultz Pass forest, and it nests in large trees and hunts best under a dense canopy, so an aggressive thinning plan could prove disruptive. But scientists with NAU's Ecological Restoration Institute, who are members of the partnership, believe the goshawk thrived hundreds of years ago when forests in the Southwest were less dense, and it can do so again. They signed off on the thinning plan, as did every other member of the partnership. But two outside environmental groups, the Center for Biological Diversity of Tucson and Forest Guardians of New Mexico, have longstanding objections to the cutting of almost any old-growth tree. They rightly point out that Southwest forests have already lost most of their large trees to logging, and they contend no more can be spared. The goshawk, they add, is not as adaptable as ERI scientists believe. But if aggressive thinning isn't conducted, including in some old-growth stands, there won't be any trees left at all, big or small. And that means no goshawk, either. We learned that locally in the Pumpkin Fire, which scorched stands of unthinned old-growth pines near Kendrick Peak down to bare earth because it reached the crowns. But the two outside groups have persisted in their objections, and rather than risk the delay of an appeal and possible lawsuit, the Coconino National Forest has pulled back the Schultz Pass thinning plan for more consultation. http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2007/11/30/news/opinion/20071130_opinion_22.t\ xt Missouri: 11) Over the weekend, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, who represents Phelps County in the House of Representatives spoke of the forests and the trees in the Ozarks. There are, she noted, an impressive 14.5 million acres of forest land in Missouri. Private, non-industrial owners own about 85 percent of Missouri's forest acreage. State-owned forest accounts for three percent, and federal holdings account for about 12 percent, including one of our region's crown jewels--the Mark Twain National Forest, which is headquartered in Rolla. Some of these acres, like those in the Mark Twain, are parks and preserves and wilderness areas. They are pristine reminder of the beauty of nature in our state.These trees, though they are never cut, bring dollars to our region. Our foliage, whether it is enjoyed from an overlook in the Mark Twain or from the terrace of one of our orchards and wineries, is stunning, Emerson said. Visitors come from miles around to see something they cannot ever view in the city: Gorgeous vistas of miles of endless fall colors. Some of these acres are owned by private entities in the forestry business. They are a sustainable economic engine, contributing $5 billion in economic activity through the forest products industry. From paper to hardwood flooring to furniture to timber to nuts, the Ozarks is home to businesses which use value-added forestry products to bring jobs and revenues into our communities. Most recently, our always-flexible forests have become an energy resource. Small-diameter timber is a highly efficient source material for ethanol which can also be quickly replenished by planting seedlings. By using small-diameter timber products as a cellulosic source of ethanol, we can continue to work toward our goal of using more domestic resources for fuel. We should also look to the men and women who work in the industries that maintain, preserve, grow and cut our timber. All told, the Missouri forest products industry employs some 34,600 individuals and pays $700 million in wages every year. Finally, in Emerson's words, our forests have the power to remind us, at times of the year like this, about the preciousness of the resources with which we have been entrusted. We must never use our federal forests to mortgage the future of this great gift to our part of Missouri. http://www.therolladailynews.com/articles/2007/12/18/editorials/edit01.txt Indiana: 12) Southern Indiana's rolling hills are greener now than they were a century ago, but the region's rate of reforestation may be on the verge of being outpaced by suburban sprawl's deforestation, according to a new report by Indiana University Bloomington and University of Minnesota researchers in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. " Land owners in Indiana today are making different decisions about their land than those who lived here in the 1930s, " said IU Bloomington geographer Tom Evans. " But we have seen a flattening out of the reforestation curve, and if things keep going the way they're going, it will eventually be surpassed by deforestation rates tied to suburban growth. " Evans and University of Minnesota geographer Steven Manson apply a modern methodology to land use patterns in Monroe County, Indiana, and southern Yucatan, Mexico. The two researchers argue that some land use models fail to make accurate economic predictions when they overlook diversity in land use preferences at an individual level. Reforestation of abandoned agricultural areas has been the trend in much of the eastern U.S. since the early 20th century. Evans says the reasons for this are many. Some farm owners found themselves unable to sustain long-term production of areas marginal for crops. The urbanization of America has also played a role, as jobs opportunities in cities allow rural commuters to make a living in cities instead of off their land. And as jobs and the people who do them have moved into the cities, the cities have grown to accommodate them. http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/7099.html New York: 13) The Eastern New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of 590 acres of property in the town of Shandakan in Lost Clove Valley. This initial protection project involves the fee acquisition of three parcels of steep forested slopes and Balsam high peak, one of the thirty-five high peaks in the Catskills over 3,500 feet. The project is a co-op with both the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, to one of whom the property will eventually be transferred. Lost Clove/Balsam Mountain consists of steeply sloping, remote forest land that has been carefully maintained by nearly 100 years of thoughtful stewardship by several generations of the same family. This dedicated forest management has resulted in exceptional stands of red oak, sugar maple and old growth hemlock. Says Executive Director Katie Dolan, " Land appraisals in the Catskills have typically undervalued timber because the land is so valuable for residential development. The chapter sought an appraisal on the property that included a valuation of the standing timber as well as the acreage. Without funds from The Nature Conservancy, the owners of this property would likely be forced to sell to a timber company who would very possibly undertake a liquidation harvest rather than a long-term timber investment. In addition, we are pleased to be able to permanently protect one of the fabled thirty-five high peaks in the Catskill Mountains " The property has seen minimal logging over the last hundred years. As such, the forest composition and condition found on the property is of a quality seldom found in the Catskill Mountains. Added Catskills Program Alan White, " A large timber harvest on this property would profoundly change the composition of this forest, leaving it vulnerable to stresses such as climate change, atmospheric pollutants, insects, disease and invasive species. By acquiring this property, the chapter will likely help reduce impact from some of these threats. We are thrilled that we can help preserve this magnificent forest block – few locations in the Catskills have been left undisturbed for such a long period. " http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/newyork/preserves/art13628\ ..html 14) UPTON - A detailed analysis of soil samples taken from a forest ecosystem with artificially elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) reveals distinct changes in the mix of microorganisms living in the soil below trembling aspen. These changes could increase the availability of essential soil nutrients, thereby supporting increased plant growth and the plants' ability to " lock up, " or sequester, excess carbon from the atmosphere. The research will be published online this week in the journal Environmental Microbiology. " These changes in soil biota are evidence for altered interactions between trembling aspen trees and the microorganisms in the surrounding soil, " says Daniel (Niels) van der Lelie, a biologist at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, who led the research. " This supports the idea that greater plant detritus production under elevated CO2 has altered microbial community composition in the soil. Understanding the effect these microbial changes have on ecosystem function, especially via effects on the cycling of essential elements, will be important for evaluating the potential of forests to act as a natural carbon sink in mitigating the effects of rising CO2. " Various studies have demonstrated increased plant growth under elevated CO2, but there is no consensus on many of the secondary effects associated with these plant responses. The goal of this study was to investigate the composition and role of microbial communities, which help to regulate the cycling of carbon and nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom Georgia: 15) Of the 654 avian species native to the continental US, Audubon finds 178 species (and 39 in Hawaii) that are " in need of immediate conservation help. " You can find lists of these species at Audubon's 2007 WatchList page. Since I had observed a Cerulean Warbler (these are so unmistakeable even I can identify them) this past spring, I selected to review that from the above link. This species receives a yellow status flag - declining or rare - rather than the red flag which indicates species " declining rapidly and/or have very small populations or limited ranges, and face major conservation threats. " Cerulean Warblers have declined 4.5% per year since 1966, and would therefore be at about 25% of the population 30 years ago. Cerulean Warblers (according to the Audubon page) are migratory,flocking to the Andes and forests of northern South America, while breeding in the eastern half of the US. As a species requiring two homes, they're in double jeopardy. Their winter grounds are disappearing through coca and coffee bean farming, and their moderately demanding requirements for breeding grounds here are disappearing through urban encroachment. Here they require mature hardwood forests with open understories, and so it's neither surprising that they're having difficulty nor that I happened to spot one. The hollow that runs 1000 feet along SBS creek, with its mature deciduous oaks, tulip poplars, beeches, and its diverse understory, is exactly what they need. That brings us back to my " managment post " of a few days ago, since other parts of the property are *not* exactly what they, and others, need. Surely we can do better. To accomplish this, I needed to first identify the problem, which is a poorly managed area low in plant and animal diversity. I then had to figure out what was suitable modification, which should be gradual and yet not too gradual, and should result in a higher diversity of plants, in particular, and as quickly as possible. How to prepare for it, and then how to achieve it is the key, and it seems to devolve upon opening the area up to sunlight and to remove nonproductive plants. I'm being informed by a vast amount of information on the internets. Let me share it with you. http://sparkleberrysprings.com/v-web/b2/index.php?p=1093 West Virginia: 16) Rules being brought forward by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources would toughen public notice, land reclamation requirements for any oil and gas operations in state forests, although not necessarily to the extent that some environmentalists want. The proposed rules are fallout from an incident in the Kanawha State Forest, where a contractor for a gas company leveled a nearly mile-long swath of trees in the forest, a move that generated public outcry from residents who regularly use the woods. The outcry resulted in legislation in the 2007 Legislature aimed at creating new standards for oil and gas drilling in state forests. What ultimately passed was a bill establishing a 60-day public notice requirement for drilling and directing the DNR to come up with new rules regulating drilling in state forests. The proposed rules are seeking a balance between drilling and other uses of forest lands, such as recreation, DNR spokesman Hoy Murphy said. " Extraction is one of those uses, but we have to make sure they don't disturb or conflict with other (users) that use that property, " he said. Among the proposed rules is one that requires drillers to use seed mixtures that are beneficial to wildlife and are not considered " invasive species " that displace native vegetation when they reclaim a site. It is one of few changes that supporters of the rules are displeased with. Dave McMahon, founder of the West Virginia Surface Owners' Rights Organization, would rather have the state require that drillers reclaim a site using native vegetation. The rest of the bill is more to his liking. Another new requirement would prohibit drillers from clearing more trees around a roadbed than is necessary to use the roadbed, a process known as " daylighting. " " They put (a road) in looking like a superhighway, " McMahon said. " It's much wider than it needs to be, and they could have used other techniques. " There are only about 40 oil and gas wells in West Virginia's state forests that Nicholas " Corky " DeMarco, director of the West Virginia Oil & Natural Gas Association, knows about, so drilling in the forests isn't a large part of the industry. But companies and individuals still own the rights to the minerals underneath forest lands. West Virginia and other states traditionally have given drillers the ability to access those minerals even if they don't own the surface above them, asserting that the resources are a type of property. http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory & storyid=32781 North Carolina: 17) The Forest Service's Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (EFETAC) recently launched its forest threats summary viewer, a tool that will provide images, threat distribution maps, additional forestry contact information, and brief descriptions about forest threats throughout the eastern U.S. EFETAC partnered with the University of North Carolina Asheville's National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) to develop the tool, which is available on EFETAC's Web site. " The forest threats summary viewer is an excellent tool for individuals concerned about environmental threats to healthy forests, or how these threats affect trees in their backyard, " says Danny C. Lee, EFETAC Director. " The viewer will make forest research more relevant and useful to forest land managers and homeowners by connecting them with resources to help address their concerns. " The viewer is a user-friendly, Web-based tool searchable by forest threat (e.g., hemlock woolly adelgid) or by State. Threats are categorized by today's familiar forest concerns, including invasive plants, insects and diseases, loss of open space, climate change, and wildland fire. The user is also provided current and credible Web links to other Federal, State, and local resources that offer additional in-depth information. This initial version of the multi-phased tool will be continually updated with environmental threats as well as additional search features. " UNC Asheville is excited to be working with the Forest Service on a project that provides an innovative and dynamic way for people to access information on forest threats, " said Karin Lichtenstein, NEMAC project manager and research associate. " This new collaboration allows students to work directly on applied research projects and create real products for the public that help the environment. " EFETAC and NEMAC joined forces in June 2006 to create user-friendly tools that share the latest research and expertise concerning threats to forest health. These tools will assist forest landowners, managers, policy makers, scientists, and general audiences make sound land management decisions. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Forest_Service_Launches_Web_Based_Forest_Threa\ ts_Viewing_Tool _999.html 18) Green said the additional cost is offset by the accelerated rate of harvest. While logging in a traditional manner yields 30,000 board feet of hardwood a day, a helicopter operation can harvest between 105,000 and 140,000 board feet a day. Green said he contracts for logging rights with individual property owners, then puts the harvested timber up for bid among regional sawmills. In this case, Blue Ridge Lumber Products of Marion was the high bidder, so the logs end up there for milling. " It gets the job done faster and there's a quicker turnover, " Green said. " We get a better price because the mill can get set up for the timber. Instead of getting the inventory over a week, it gets it in one day. " Green said he contracted with Columbia Helicopter Company, which operates a number of different commercial helicopters. They are used not only for commercial harvests, but also in disaster areas when quick clean-up of debris is essential. Green said the Sugar Grove tract was landlocked, which made helicopter logging more viable even though it was a relatively small piece of land. He said even small harvests can be cost-effective if the helicopter is in the region and can move more easily from one job to the next. He has contracted for a few more helicopter harvests in Watauga and Ashe counties, as well as Virginia. Roger Miller, district forest ranger responsible for water quality, said helicopter logging has a lot of potential for the area, but the cost would probably limit its use. He said it can be a better method for maintaining forest health and limits some of the invasive practices that lead to erosion from logging. http://www.wataugademocrat.com/2007/1217/loggingoperation.php USA: 19) Mistletoes have a somewhat bad reputation as 'tree killers', but this is misleading. As it is in the best interests of the mistletoe to have a healthy host, it is not the object of this parasitic plant to kill its host tree. Due to land clearing to make way for agriculture, industry and residential development, fewer host trees are available, resulting in a higher per-tree distribution of mistletoes. Mistletoes (family Loranthaceae) are hemiparasites which rely on host trees for water and mineral nutrients, but perform photosynthesis in their own leaves. Many advanced genera have species that are host-specific and have leaves and a general appearance closely resembling those of the host tree. Host-specificity is a feature of mistletoes of the drier open forests and woodland; those of rainforests are rarely host-specific. A close association has developed between mistletoes and certain small birds which act as pollinating and seed dispersal agents. The Mistletoe Bird (Dichaeum hirundinaceum) feeds on mistletoe berries and insects. The seeds pass rapidly through the bird and, when excreted, adhere by the remains of the sticky pulp to a tree branch. Permanent attachment of the embryo to the branch can occur soon after. http://hvbackyard.blogspot.com/2007/12/42-under-mistletoe.html Canada: 20) Environmentalists think 12 per cent of public land should be protected, which means prohibiting all industrial activity, from logging and mining to hydroelectric projects and roads. Environmentalists accepted the forest industry's maximum of eight per cent, but conditional to reaching it by the end of 2008. That would be a gargantuan undertaking, but one the minority Charest government has to respect to pull off this revision of the forestry act without a messy public backlash. Another piece to this puzzle is a commitment to diversification undertaken by the province in its " common spaces " program. Diversification means creating multi-use forest areas. The idea is that ecotourism, kayaking and canoeing, white-water rafting, even tree-top climbing, will bring in tourists and create jobs other than in logging. Ecotourism recycles a territory year after year, whereas logging, in reality, is a one-time use. UPDATE: Quebec's Minister of Natural Resources Claude Béchard brought a province-wide forestry conference to a ringing close by announcing the end of the province's 25-year-old forestry regime. Everyone was caught by surprise at Laval University in Quebec City last week, not the least of whom were the municipal leaders of dozens of West Quebec towns that rely on forestry as their single most important economic activity. " Everything is on the table, " remarked the minister. " The present regime no longer exists. " The conference brought the forestry industry, unions and environmentalists together, and forged a position they could all support. It launched a year-long debate on restructuring the forest industry, a debate which will conclude at the end of 2008 with a new Law of the Forests. The present law is a complex one. It allocates wood volumes and geographical zones of the public forest to individual mills, and contains rules on the transfer of that wood between mills and companies. The province treats the public forest as a common good to be utilized by the entire province and not one linked only to the communities within the forest. The communities naturally see their concerns as primary. They are rural and isolated, usually one-industry towns with no other source of revenue available to them for economic diversification. Every forestry town in the Outaouais falls into this category. http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/opinion/story.html?id=22cdabe9-bb5b-437\ 4-9a3e-80431ee c1fa9 Germany: 21) Just beyond the new red and blue border post in Vysne Nemecke marking the frontier between Slovakia and Ukraine, the Pannonian plain runs along the Carpathian Mountains, and one of Europe's largest remaining old-growth forests. As of Friday, those forests and mountains mark the European Union's exterior boundary following the entry of Slovakia and eight other countries into the passport-free Schengen zone. The frontier is now being watched by people like colonel Jan Ivanis and his border guards, equipped with shimmering new quad bikes and off-road trucks. " This is where Europe begins, " he says. " We realise that our border is now the border of all the Schengen states. " This heavily forested corner of Europe has long been a haven for smugglers and illegal migrants, seeking access to some of the world's wealthiest economies. In past years it was relatively easy to walk through the forest from Ukraine. But, thanks to European Union funding, the 92km border now bristles with patrols, thermal sensors and more than 250 cameras. This new surveillance technology has helped the Slovaks gain control of the border. In 2003, the year before Slovakia joined the EU, guards caught 5,300 illegal migrants. This year they have caught 1,400 – mostly from the poor former Soviet republic of Moldova, and some from China, Vietnam, India and Pakistan. North of Vysne Nemecke, on the other side of the forest, lies the Polish border city of Przemysl, where Poland's imminent entry into the Schengen zone is viewed with trepidation by both Poles and Ukrainians who make a living by trading across the border. They fear the visas, which will be more expensive and harder to obtain for the Schengen area, will make it difficult for Ukranians to cross the border for work. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/magistrate-so-impressed-by-woman-in-the-t\ ree-that-holl y-gets-offlightly/2007/12/21/1198175340714.html Russia: 22) The Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) has brought an action against the Sakhalin Energy Company to the sum of about 390 million roubles for the cutting of trees during the implementation of the Sakhalin-2 project, Oleg Mitvol, Rosprirodnadzor chief, told Itar-Tass. " The damage was inflicted during the laying of the pipeline, " Mitvol specified. He said the company had an opportunity to voluntarily compensate for the damage. " If this is not done, the compensation will be claimed according to the procedure, established by the law, " he warned. Previously Minister of Natural Resources Yuri Trutnev told journalists that the company, which is in charge of the building, would bear responsibility for the violations. The Ministry of Natural Resources made a serious claim in 2006 on facts of the violation of the nature conservation legislation to the Sakhalin Energy Company, which is the operator of the Sakhalin-2 project. It was created by the British-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell and the Mitsui and Mitsubishi Companies of Japan. Russian Gazprom joined the implementation of the project in December 2006. It acquired 50 per cent of Sakhalin Energy shares plus one share for 7.5 billion dollars. Gazprom officials said they were going to tackle all ecological problems jointly with other shareholders. Ian Craig, Executive Director of Sakhalin Energy, said last October that their company would complete all operations for the improvement of ecological defects in Sakhalin-2 project within a year. http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12195167 & PageNum=0 Ghana: 23) The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has warned of a serious threat to our land areas, particularly in the River Afram Headwaters Forest Reserve, as a result of the invasion of a foreign plant, called pulp mulberry, which is fast taking over the forest reserve. The pulp mulberry, scientifically known as Broussonetia papyrifera, which was introduced into the country in 1969 by an Indian expatriate, Dr. Kadamby, upon the recommendation of the Forest Research Institute of Ghana, as part of a programme to identify tree species for the local production of industrial fiber, has been identified to be counterproductive to the activities of farming communities, where these are found. According to Mr. Ebenezer Owusu-Sekyere, the plant site Co-ordinator of the River Afram Headwaters Forest Reserve, and a research fellow at the CSIR, the plant currently covers an area conservatively estimated at 180 kilometres square, and stretches from Pra-Anum Forest Reserve at Amentia, in the Eastern Region, through Kumasi, in the Ashanti and to Sunyani, in the Brong Ahafo. It is reportedly causing a nuisance to farmers at Bibiani, Goaso and Gambia Number 1 and 2 in the Western and Brong Ahafo regions respectively. Explaining the characteristics of the plant, and its effects on the country's forest reserves, at a workshop funded by the United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP), and the Global Environmental Fund (GEF), on the theme " Removing barriers to Invasive plant management in Africa, " Mr. Owusu-Sekyere said the plant, an evasive weed, which regenerates quickly and spreads easily, as a result of its mode of dispersal, has been known to be responsible for the lower yields of food crop farms in the communities. He indicated that the pulp mulberry exhibits aggressive growth, and quickly invades and disturbs lands, displacing native plants and threatening the ecological system of the forest. http://allafrica.com/stories/200712200400.html Uganda: 24) Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni on Friday revived a controversial plan to hand over a swathe of rainforest to a local company to be destroyed and replaced with a sugarcane plantation. In an address to his party published in newspapers, Museveni called those who oppose his plan to give 7,100 hectares or about a quarter of Mabira Forest reserve to the private Mehta group's sugar estate " criminals and charlatans. " Uganda's government scrapped the original plan in October after a public outcry and violent street protests in which three people died, including an ethnic Indian man who was stoned to death by rioters. Mehta is owned by an ethnic Indian Ugandan family. " Mehta wants to expand his factory ... in the under-utilised part of Mabira ... criminals and charlatans kicked up lies and caused death. We suppressed the thugs, " Museveni said. Critics said destroying part of Mabira would threaten rare species of birds and monkeys, dry up a watershed for streams that feed Lake Victoria and remove a buffer against pollution of the lake from Uganda's two biggest industrial towns, nearby. " This issue should be resolved, " Museveni said. " If we do not industrialize, where shall we get employment for the youth? I will mobilize the youth to smash ... these cliques obstructing the future of the country. " http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/27949 Kenya: 25) Shamba (Kiswahili word for farm) system is a form of farming where the landless are encouraged to cultivate crops on previously cleared forest land on condition they tend their crops alongside tree seedlings. After three years of cultivation, the trees should be big enough to discourage crop production. At this point, the farmer moves out of the plot, but is eligible for another forest plot to be cleared as the cultivated land becomes part of forest reserve. Among the leading anti-shamba system voices is Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai. But proponents of the system argue that it is the only way that the State can ease pressure on its forests, which are already on rapid decline. Almost 80 per cent of the country's land falls within the arid and semi-arid category, leaving only 20 per cent for agriculture, forests and nature reserves. The FAO Forest Resources Assessment of 1990 classified Kenya among the countries with very low forest cover, of less than two per cent of the total land area. The minister's announcement may have been overshadowed by the election mood, but one can safely bet that it will generate enough heat when collective consciousness of the public is restored after elections. The shamba system was inherited from the resident-shamba system introduced by the colonial government almost 90 years ago. This entailed inviting landless families to the forests where villages were built and members of the forest dwellers, who did not work for the Forestry Department, were allowed to clear and cultivate plots in portions of the primeval forests. The Forestry Department would after a few years establish seedling plantations that were taken care of by the forest dwellers alongside their crops. The Government, therefore, obtained free labour on its plantations, while the forest dwellers were able to grow food for subsistence. The forest dwellers were not allowed to grow cash crops or keep cattle or goats to avoid the destruction of the young plantations. Each family was allowed a maximum of 15 sheep and chicken. http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39 & newsid\ =113054 Haiti: 26) Deforestation in Haiti, where trees and bushes are routinely felled for cooking fuel, is at crisis level, with just two-percent plant cover now, the UN warned Thursday. " There is a real urgency, and measures need to be taken ... plant cover is down to about two percent, " UN Development Program official in Haiti, Joel Boutroue, said. Most people in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, live on less than two dollars a day, and they use wood for fires to cook. The result has been widespread deforestation and erosion. Boutroue pressed the Haitian government and international groups to act quickly to foster re-forestation and runoff control programs, without which he said he feared Haiti could sink even further into poverty. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6yePGmYb16ARY4a-BZpOCs-eWxg Chile: 27) Environmental groups in Chile are pleased by the approval of the Native Forest Recovery and Forestry Development Act, which took 15 years to make its way through Congress. But they have not forgotten the unaddressed pending issues. " We are happy, " Flavia Liberona, coordinator of the Native Forest Network, which has grouped more than 30 environmental and social organisations since 2004, told IPS. " The approval of this law is a watershed, the end of a stage. Now the government will design the regulations, with the commitment to continue working on three other important aspects. " These pending aspects are the drafting of a complementary bill on the replacement of native sclerophyllous dry forest, which was left out of the new law because of the lack of consensus on the issue, the establishment of an expanded system of nature reserves, and institutional reforms in the forestry sector. According to Liberona, who is also the head of the Terram Foundation, another local environmental organisation, the government promised to present initiatives to address these aspects within 270 days after the bill is signed into law. The Corporación Nacional Forestal, the government's national forestry agency, reports that Chile has more than 15 million hectares of forest, 13.4 million of which are made up of native species. The bill was introduced to Congress in April 1992, under the government of Patricio Aylwin (1990-1994). After 15 years of fruitless negotiations, Under Secretary of Agriculture María Cecilia Leiva created a forestry panel made up of representatives of the executive and legislative branches, the business community and environmental organisations that reached agreement on a shortened version of the forestry law. The law left out the touchiest issues, such as the replacement of dry forest in central Chile with avocado and orange plantations and other non-native species of trees. On Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved the report by the mixed committee of deputies and senators set up to negotiate the last remaining differences. On Wednesday, the bill was passed unanimously by the Senate, and it is now awaiting Bachelet's signature. One of the key aspects of the law is the creation of a fund aimed at conservation of native forests. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40564 India: 28) CHENNAI: The Pallikaranai marshland is likely to become a natural bird park soon. The wildlife wing of the Forest Department has sent a proposal to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to convert the place into a bird watching area. A senior official of the department said the proposal seeking nearly Rs. 8 crore was sent to the Ministry, which, in principle, agreed to allocate the amount. The declared area would be fenced, a watchtower set up, weeds cleared and the waterbody cleaned. The first task would be to fence the 317 hectares of marshland, which is a reserved forest. Wading birds from the area had moved towards the periphery and were found scattered. At present, grey pelicans, an endangered species, had come in a sizeable number to the marshland, they said. The CMDA planned to declare the northern portion of the marshland a 'no development zone.' http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/19/stories/2007121959740200.htm 29) BANGALORE: At the end of the road-widening project, 10,000 trees would have been axed. Is it worth it? After 85 roads are widened, this exercise will be redundant, as more and more vehicles will come onto to the roads in future. How far will we go to expand the roads? The end result will be a phenomenal increase in microclimate. Who will take the responsibility for it? Have you taken a consensus from the public for chopping decades-old trees which gave Bangalore the tag of 'air-conditioned city'? These were some of the uncomfortable questions posed to government officials at a public consultation on 'Road Widening Schemes of Bengaluru: Impacts and Alternatives' on Thursday. Senior officials of BBMP, town planning and police departments were invited by Environment Support Group, CIVIC Bangalore and Alternative Law Forum under the banner Hasiru Usiru to take up the issue of depleting green cover. Opening the debate, P S S Thomas of PAC said it was important to take public opinion before starting projects which have a major impact on residents. Leo Saldhana of Environment Support Group came down on the BBMP for its tree-cutting spree without any rationale and not seeking approval from the forest department in the guise of executing emergency works. " It was only after our protests in 2005 that there was some order. However, there has been no fruitful outcome as tree cutting is still rampant, " he said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bangalore/Greens_see_red_over_felling_of_tree\ s/articleshow/2 639318.cms Papua: 30) The province of Papua is the largest of all the provinces in Indonesia. Incredibly, more than 75% of it is still covered by dense tropical forest making it an amazing an interesting place to visit and also a target for those wishing to destroy these forests for profit. Recently there was a film produced to expose the deforestation of this Indonesian treasure. Papua holds one of the largest areas of forest in the Asia Pacific region. It is also both a home and the grounds for a livelihood for some of the world's most culturally diverse indigenous peoples. Yet Papua's forest and people have been facing severe threats from exploitative and unsustainable legal and illegal logging and there are plans for millions of hectares oil palm plantations. For a long time, the threats to Papua's forest and people have never been told to the world because of the central government's policy of banning foreign journalists from visiting the Papua province. Despite the government's policy, the world can today watch Papua's deforestation and the impact this has via secret filmings. A unique film compilation on Papua's deforestation was launched in the last week of November 2007, by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), which investigates and exposes environmental and wildlife crimes, and the Jakarta-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Telapak. The film contains four stories about deforestation and its impacts in Papua's regencies of Fak-fak, Sorong, Manokwari, Bintuni and Mappi. The film reveals previously unseen stories of timber, oil palm and agar wood companies and horizontal conflicts. It shows environmental damage and the loss of traditional land rights and livelihoods. In some cases these problems are linked to intimidation and deception against the indigenous Papuans. The five short films, launched under the collective banner " Save the People and Forests of Papua " , were entirely conceived, shot and edited by NGO filmmakers from Papua working in collaboration with local communities adversely affected by destructive logging and oil palm plantations. You can see the damage being done to Papua's rainforests — which the indigenous Papuans rely on almost entirely for food and shelter — through uncontrolled logging and palm oil plantations. http://www.indonesialogue.com/destinations/exposing-deforestation-in-papua.html Indonesia: 31) JAKARTA: The forestry ministry plans to have 1,500 elite forest rangers by 2009 to protect forests from illegal logging. Forestry Minister MS Kaban said his office would also procure speed boats and firearms and train rangers on how to use them. He spoke at the inauguration ceremony of 300 rangers in Sukabumi, West Java on Wednesday. He said " floating ranger stations " would also be set up. Currently there are nearly 900 elite forest rangers divided into 11 brigades. National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said Thursday that illegal logging activities had significantly decreased in recent years. Logging syndicates had long benefited at the expense of the country's public wealth and the fight against them wasn't over, he assured. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20071221.H07 & irec=6 South East Asia: 32) Natural peatland accumulates huge stores of carbon dioxide as a result of centuries of tree growth. When this land is deforested to grow oil palms and pulpwood, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere thereby contributing to climate change. Even worse, when peatland is deforested and then left bare and unmanaged, the denuded land is susceptible to both fire and flooding. Tropical peatlands are not only rich repositories of vegetation and an important part of the global carbon cycle, they are also extremely important for biodiversity as they contain many rare species of animals and fish including orang utans, Sumatran tigers and blackwater fish. Peat swamp forest is the only land in Southeast Asia that is not yet fully developed but the increasing demand for pulp and palm oil for biofuels is accelerating their conversion into plantations. Oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia now cover 420 000 ha and 2 800 000 ha respectively. Ironically, many experts believe that the oil palm plantations will release up to 30 times more carbon dioxide than the fossil fuels that they are supposed to replace. It has been estimated that producing 1 tonne of palm oil will cause carbon dioxide emissions of between 15 and 70 tonnes over each 25-year planting lifecycle due to forest clearance, fires drainage and peat decomposition. Australia: 33) Holly Creenaune's appearance last week in a Melbourne court, after her arrest on January 17 last year in the Goongerah Forest logging coupe in East Gippsland, moved one of Victoria's most senior magistrates to exercise a rarely used discretionary power. A CV tendered by Creenaune's lawyer, Vanessa Bleyer, alerted Ms Popovic to the fact that she had a unique offender before her. Deputy Chief Magistrate Jelena Popovic dismissed charges of obstructing a road and obstructing an officer (Creenaune having pleaded guilty), rejected an application for Creenaune to pay $1900 compensation, and described her as a " remarkable young woman " . I don't know that I'll ever meet anyone again with the same passion, drive and ability, and I suspect that it won't be the last time I hear the name, " she said. " Next time I'll know how to pronounce it. " It was a CV that might motivate some, or put others to shame. Creenaune, 23, Victorian-born but now living in Sydney, started a school conservation club when she was 12. As a teenager she worked for Rotary in a Brazil orphanage, and later she co-ordinated 2000 young people for Australia's largest environmental sustainability conference. She was the recipient this year of the University of Technology Sydney human rights award, presented by Justice Michael Kirby of the High Court. It denoted Creenaune's commitment to a range of social justice and human rights organisations and activities, including indigenous rights, climate change and environmental justice. Now in her final year of a law and journalism degree, Creenaune said that her parents, both teachers, were not " greenies or lefties " or even activists. " What they fostered in me as teachers was to use critical thinking skills, to read a newspaper and look beyond and take a critical eye to issues, " she said. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/magistrate-so-impressed-by-woman-in-the-t\ ree-that-holl y-gets-offlightly/2007/12/21/1198175340714.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.