Guest guest Posted June 15, 2008 Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 --Today for you 34 new articles about earth's trees! (356th edition) --You can now RSS tree news in a regional format at: http://forestpolicyresearch.org --To Subscribe / to the world-wide email format send a blank email to: earthtreenews- OR earthtreenews- In this issue: USA Index: --Alaska: 1) Bonanza experimental forest, 2) Chugach NF sup. is blind, 3) Tongass Plan, --Washington: 4) Another lost childhood forest, 5) Goldmark blames floods and landslides on Sutherland, 6) Olympic NF still to rebuild road surrounded by wilderness? --Oregon: 7) Campaign to expand Oregon caves monument into larger National Park, --California: 8) Saving a giant redwood on fire, 9) Small lots no longer can be converted to tree farms, 10) Trail Unlimited turns tiny hiking trails into ORV roads, --Idaho: 11) Allowing fire's healing, 12) New Boise NF supervisor, --Montana: 13) They Let fires burn beyond the wilderness, 14) State wants fed's forests, 15) Rey to reveal another back room deal with Plum Creek, 16) Rey-Plum investigation, --Colorado: 17) Last healthy spruce and lodgepole thanks to repeated poisoning, --Arizona: 18) Building a Biomass plant that only has a 3 year supply of wood? --Missouri: 19) More wilderness, less logging! --Minnesota: 20) Buy " home grown " says new marketing campaign --Illinois: 21) Trees get reprieve --Ohio: 22) Emerald ash borer / citizens on their own and without state funds for cutting --New Hampshire: 23) Lawsuit to save 2 White Mountain NF roadless areas fails --Connecticut: 24) Billboard company sued / no more new leases due to overcutting --Pennsylvania: 25) Headwaters of Middle, Tom's & Copper Run, 26) A Tree defender, --Kentucky: 27) University destroys forest to promote " science, " 28) Woolly adelgid, --Tennessee: 29) Oak Ridge Turnpike may not be saved after all --USA: 30) Carbon stats on public and Private lands under cut or no cut scenarios, 31) Latest Plum Creek bribery scandal, 32) National Get Outdoors Day, 33) Hundreds of Millions of Farm Bill Pork for nation's two biggest forest destroyers, 34) Conservation International is not a friend of the forest nor of those who live in their, Alaska: 1) BONANZA CREEK EXPERIMENTAL FOREST, Alaska -- The answer to what's in store for Alaska's trees could be somewhere amid the flora of a two-acre experimental forest. The living laboratory has been the domain of Glenn Juday, a forest ecology professor at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, for three decades. Every seedling here, every fallen log and every tree, some 200 years old, has been mapped and monitored. The rules here, intended to keep the tract as natural as possible, are simple: no leaning on trees, and no urinating. As he walks gingerly through the forest, Juday explains how warming has hurt some of Alaska's trees. Insects are flourishing because they can reproduce faster, and trees stressed by drought are struggling to defend themselves against the onslaught of bugs. As a result, many of Alaska's white spruce trees are growing at half the rate they used to. Ironically, warming also has led to heavier snow in winter, causing more tree branches to snap and creating more openings for insects. " These are really serious effects, and they can result in the death of the forest, " Juday says. Alaska's forests also face another, more immediate threat tied to warming: fires. Juday says warming has paralleled bad fire seasons in Alaska, especially in 2004 and 2005 - the worst and third-worst on record. The fires blackened one-third of northeast Alaska's landscape, an area bigger than any state except Texas. When the smoke cleared, forests had been wiped out from " horizon to horizon, " Juday says. Some fires smoldered into the fall, even under snow. The stress on forests has also accelerated the natural process of trees migrating to remain in their preferred climate. Birds and other animals migrating for the same reason take seeds with them, building forests in their new homes. In Alaska, forests are heading for cooler climes to the north, crowding out Arctic tundra, which is projected to shrink to its smallest size in at least 21,000 years. Now some scientists worry about extinctions. Caribou, which search out the moist lichen and moss found on the tundra, could starve to death as shrubs, a staple for moose, move in. http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=8460415 2) Meade supervises the Chugach National Forest, the second biggest in the country. No one seems to care that he's blind. His eyes are brand new. Thirty years after an accident took his sight, he traded in his damaged and painful originals for deep brown plastic ones with tiny green trees painted on the part hidden under his eyelids. Spectacular scenery that draws tourists for the trip of a lifetime is invisible to Meade. He's been told about it, touches it, listens for it. He hears the rush of a stream and knows how the flow slows as it curves. He cups a newly banded sandpiper in his hand, feeling its heart pound. " I watched a lot of Alaska Geographic or National Geographic and other documentaries, so the things that I see here in Alaska and the way I interpret what other people describe to me is very much in that very accurate photography I clearly remember, " Meade says. His first big job was public affairs officer in Ochoco National Forest in Central Oregon. He moved to Washington, D.C., to craft standards to help people with disabilities use national forests. Before Alaska, he worked in Albuquerque as recreation director for forests and grasslands in the Southwest. But the job Meade really wanted -- the highly coveted post of forest supervisor, the one who sets the vision and shapes the policy -- eluded him. Time after time, he came up second. He wonders if higher-ups hesitated because of his blindness. " How will he understand the complexities? ... How will he know the health and the condition of the forest? When you think about it in a sighted context, people rely on their vision to obtain that knowledge. I obtain it through the eyes of others, through the passion of others, through our ecologists, our biologists, our foresters, " Meade said. He finally got his chance, in Alaska. In 2003, he became supervisor of the Chugach National Forest, overseeing 5.5 million acres of tidal glaciers and river delta, forest and meadow, fish and wildlife. A national forest the size of New Hampshire. Enough coastline to stretch from Anchorage to San Francisco and almost back again. There's no commercial logging, but plenty of hiking and camping, fishing and boating. http://www.adn.com/front/story/429990.html 3) Earlier this year, the Bush administration released a new Tongass Land Management Plan, which puts vast swaths of our nation's largest national forest on the chopping block. The Tongass is the crown jewel of our nation's roadless wildlands. Wild salmon, bears, eagles, and wolves thrive there in its intact watersheds and under its ancient trees. Ignoring widespread public outcry, the Forest Service adopted a management plan that is a throwback to the old days when industrial logging was king in the Tongass. Under this plan, millions of now-pristine roadless acres are at risk. 1) The new plan leaves 2.3 million acres of wild, roadless backcountry areas open to clearcutting and new logging roads. 2) Lying at the heart of the largest intact temperate rainforest on earth, the Tongass is the only national forest where the Forest Service is not abiding by the 2001 Roadless Rule that protects federally-owned wildlands. 3) In 2003, the Bush administration announced that it would " temporarily " exempt the Tongass from the Roadless Rule, but was unable to proceed with new timber sales in roadless areas due to critical defects in the forest plan and timber sales. These defects were exposed through litigation brought by conservation groups and Alaska Native villages. The plan released this January was supposed to correct those defects, but instead reopens pristine areas to logging and road construction. 4) Nearly 6,000 miles of logging roads cut through the Tongass. Built with taxpayer subsidies and inaccessible to passenger cars, the vast majority of these are decaying logging roads that the Forest Service cannot afford to maintain. 5) The few remaining roadless areas of our national forests are some of the only safe harbors for America's wildlife. As global warming threatens to change the landscape dramatically, the Administration should do what we ask of other countries, preserve intact forests for future generations, don't cut them down. Click here to send a letter to Chief Kimbell. http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1158/t/139/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24898 Washington: 4) We moved to a wooden house on two acres of land when I was 5 years old. Part of our property was grass, part of it woods, and another part wetlands. I used to take the video camera, my dog, and a blanket and lie on my back, watching the tops of the trees sway in the wind. I'd hug the trees, smell the trees, and lie on a hammock strung up between two of them. Sometimes I'd sit on our deck reading, looking out at the tall points of trees scraping the sky. I lived out in the country, among the woods and wild animals. It wasn't uncommon to hear a Great Horned Owl cooing in the night, crickets and frogs a cacophony among silent stars. As I grew up, plots of land around us sold, making way for McMansions. A forest at the end of our formerly dead-end street turned into gigantic estates. Flowering fields with one red farmhouse and ancient oaks turned into developments called Iron Woods, or Bauer Woods, even though there was no longer a tree in sight. I'd mourn the loss of these open spaces over the years, marveling at greed and how it transforms the land. My Mom and stepdad split up when I was 20 years old, and he became the master of the land. He remodeled the house, and I remember making him promise never to sell my beautiful trees to a developer. Please don't become like everyone else, I'd beg him. A year or so ago, he broke his promise, and raked in a cool 1 million for the property. Today I learned that my trees are dying. A neighbor called my mother, saying he was sitting by his fire pit, watching with horror as gigantic yellow arms rip trees from the ground. Bulldozers crawl like aliens, massacring my ancient forest. Soon a road will pave the way for more millionares to buy houses crammed together on tiny lots. The pavement will plow through the place where my hammock used to be, right through our old volleyball court, through the brush and 300 year old trees. Today they are dying, and I mourn their loss with silence. I'm sorry, I tell them, I'm sorry for greed. http://kristinhanes.blogspot.com/2008/06/goodbye-trees.html 5) Tour Guide: " Okay, this is the first of our stops for today. " This is where Weyerhaeuser clearcut a steep hillside. Then last December nearly 20 inches of rain fell in a matter of hours triggering a series of mudslides. Huge sections of the hillside simply caved away – sending a wall of mud into the creek below. A Seattle Times photographer in a helicopter captured the aftermath. The photo sparked a debate that continues to this day. Peter Goldmark: " Well this is clearly on Sutherland's watch. " Goldmark, a Democrat, points the finger at Sutherland - his opponent in the lands commissioner race. Peter Goldmark: " It's unacceptable, yes, we must do better. " Goldmark says lax oversight by the Department of Natural Resources allowed logging in too steep an area. He accuses Sutherland of having a cozy relationship with the logging industry. Doug Sutherland: " I'm not cozy with the forest industries. " Sutherland says what happened at Stillman Creek was a 500-year storm that no one could have anticipated. Doug Sutherland: " Try to envision dumping 55 million gallons of water on that hillside and try to imagine what would happen. Well you can see what happened. " Sutherland says DNR is reviewing whether it needs to improve its oversight of logging on private lands. And whether steep slope logging rules need to be rewritten. It's a policy debate that's quickly becoming a political football. Even one of the most vocal scientists on steep-slope logging has given 70 bucks to candidate Goldmark. David Montgomery says reforms are needed. David Montgomery: " If we've known for well over a decade how to identify the steepest, most highest failure probability parts in a landscape like this why are we still clearcutting them? " http://news.opb.org/article/2300-debate-continues-over-steep-slope-logging/ 6) Six and a half years later, the Olympic National Forest (ONF) and Federal Highway Administration have released a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for reconstruction of Forest Service Road (FSR) 2610 along the Dosewallips River. During the scoping process for this project, a large number of organizations, individuals, tribal councils and agencies asked for an alternative that would look at decommissioning the road and turning it into a trail for families and day-hikers. This trail would lead into the Olympic National Park for those who wished to do backpacking and more rigorous hiking and climbing. Unfortunately, the Forest Service paid no attention to its stakeholders and instead bullheadedly refused to consider such an alternative.OFCO and Olympic Park Associates - hopefully with additional allies - plan to challenge this most foolish and environmentally destructive plan. In order to show the Olympic National Forest that we are on the right side of what the public wants, your letters, which can be in the form of e-mails, are absolutely essential. The DEIS is available on the Olympic National Forest Web site at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/olympic/projects-nu/index.shtml . If you would like an electronic copy of the DEIS on a CD-ROM or a paper copy, please contact: Tim Davis at 1835 Black Lake Blvd SW, Suite A, Olympia, Washington, 98512, or phone 360-956-2375. Comments are due by August 12. Mail to Tim Davis at the Olympic National Forest headquarters address above, or by e-mail to: comments-pacificnorthwest-olympic http://olympicforest.org/join.htm Oregon: 7) The Oregon Caves National Monument is a natural wonder that delights over 80,000 people annually. But at only 480 acres it is so small it only shows up as a dot on most maps. KS Wild and conservation allies along with local community development interests are advocating a plan, crafted by the National Park Service, to expand the National Monument ten-fold for two reasons: 1) Extend protection of caves-related natural values – This boundary adjustment would include at least one additional cave, old-growth forests, rare botanical areas and the surface watershed for the Oregon Caves. 2) Expand nature-related recreation – Adjacent public lands are highly scenic and include quality trails and a campground, but few of the Monument's visitors are aware of these recreational resources. http://www.kswild.org/ California: 8) Still rugged at 58, Liebenberg is the most veteran woodsman working in California's most venerable forest during an already devastating fire season, and his privately owned tree service is the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's last line of defense. On Wednesday, he raced to the Bonny Doon fire to help evacuate horses. " When there's something nobody else can do, a tree on fire that nobody else can put out, " says Liebenberg, " they call me. " Billowing black smoke from deep within the tree's spidery network of rot - varicose veins of decay, inside a trunk more than 10 feet in diameter - revealed that the tallest redwood in the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park near Santa Cruz was being consumed from the inside out. As he pumped 500 gallons of water into the knothole, he could hear the tree's innards heave a hissing, reptilian sigh as water met the rising fire. " If you have a lot of water and a lot of heat in a confined area, it will blow the tree to pieces, " he says. " Steam is incredibly powerful. And I'm on the tree. So if it blows, I'm gone. " On the ground, where fire crews gathered to watch Liebenberg work, water poured from the tree's base - blood red from tannic acid, and heated to more than 100 degrees. As Liebenberg held the tree in a wary embrace, what worried him was the possibility that at any moment during the delicate operation, his world could blow up in his face. For 41 years, this third-generation lumberjack has survived while servicing precious, old-growth forests. Liebenberg is revered within Cal Fire for his ability to extinguish trees that often can burn for weeks, sometimes sparking new wildfires. http://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_9560721 9) Finally, after what seems like an eternity, Santa Cruz County increased the minimum parcel size for rezoning to Timber Production (TPZ) from five to forty acres. Done.* However, even though this was to be simply a final vote on what was approved 'in concept' in the spring of 2007, it did not occur without more drama. We all owe deep thanks to the staunch forest advocates who were able to take off another afternoon to make sure our Board of Supervisors did what needed to be done. All who spoke were excellent: Kevin Collins, Dennis Davie, Betsy Herbert, Mark Morganthaler, Harold Short, Tim Zorach and me. Even two foresters actually spoke in favor of moving on, even though there was more hand-wringing about the adverse impacts on Big Creek Lumber. Our folks made excellent arguments about the increased fire danger from logging and urged the Board to approve the ordinance change as proposed by staff. A motion to approve the 40 acre minimum parcel size amendment to the County Ordinances governing parcel size for TP rezoning passed unanimously. This was followed by a failed motion to allow a conditional approval of the Jackson rezone application. Of course, the absurdity of the whole thing was that one can still petition the Board to approve a rezone application of less than 40 acres anyway. However, in the future it will be purely discretionary on the part of the Board to approve or not. Jodi Frediani Chair, Forestry Task Force Santa Cruz Group Ventana Chapter, Sierra Club JodiFredi 10) " Trail Unlimited " is one of the 20 or so privatized business units of the USFS. They do horrible things. All of 'em do. Unfortunately we can't blame this on Bush.The Enterprise Teams were created by Gore and their entrepreneurial ways are in keeping with their mission --- which is to get the job done. The FS uses enterprise teams as a way of cutting past red tape and justifying whatever the agency wants to do. The Enterprise Team that's been killing me for the past decade is " Recreation Solutions " http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/recreationsolutions/ Everyone should take occasional looks at the calendar for " Trails Unlimited " to see if this Forest Service " Enterprise Unit " is bulldozing any of your trails into 5-foot wide motorized roads. BLM and USFS trails in Alaska and California are on their current calendar. http://www.trailsunlimited.com/FY05TUPayPeriodCalendar.pdf They are hired to " maintain " trails - which end up as roads. Check out their 5-foot wide mini-bulldozer. http://www.fs.fed.us/trailsunlimited/ Come to the Freeman Creek Giant Sequoia Grove and see the damage they can do to your trails in a short period of time, " Taking Trails Where They Have Never Gone Before " by Categorical Exclusion. Sponsored by: Ben Del Villar Forest Supervisor Stanislaus National Forest. Mr. Ara Marderosian, Executive Director, Sequoia ForestKeeper P.O. Box 2134, Kernville, CA 93238 (760) 376-4434 http://www.sequoiaforestkeeper.org - ara Idaho: 11) One of the vintage fire posters in his Boise office proclaims: " If you're fighting fires, you're not logging. " But last summer, as 600,000 acres of the Boise and Payette national forests burned, Pence argued for cutting the number of firefighters in half and trying to choreograph the conflagration rather than put it out. Pence started working forest fires 40 years ago, but he is on the cutting edge of thinking in the new fire-friendly U.S. Forest Service. A million acres on the Payette and Boise forests have been " treated with fire, " he said, as a result of recent big burns and stepped up prescribed burning. And the best plan for central Idaho's vast swath of timber is to let it burn back every couple of years hence. " My opinion is, we have to manage that area now with fire, " Pence said. Letting fires burn for ecological benefit is now an accepted practice among fire professionals across much of the nation. But for the growing number of people who live near the forest, and for many who use the forests regularly, the result is tough to stomach. When you go camping around Warm Lake this summer you can expect to get some black on your fingers. Skinny, charred pinage looms in vast stands visible from the roads. Some of Valley County's favorite spots are black and, to the casual observer, lifeless. But look closer and you see a moist, green forest floor brimming with new grasses and shrubs. A perfect soil composition for a bumper crop of mushrooms. And new habitat for deer and elk. Even for firefighters and managers who have come to understand the benefits of fire for the forest, Wildland Fire Use (WFU or wufu, as fire bureaucrats like to say) can be a hard sell. " This hit me pretty hard as the district ranger last year, " said Carol McCoy Brown, Cascade district ranger on the Boise National Forest. McCoy Brown had a close-up view of her forest as it burned last summer. http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A314490 12) Cecilia Romero Seesholtz has been on the job for less than two weeks, but already she's grappling with some of the most controversial issues in the West—public lands, wildfire and recreation. As the new supervisor of the Boise National Forest, it's Seesholtz's job to balance demands on the forest, from conservation and recreation to timber and grazing. Fresh off a stint as the deputy forest supervisor on the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon, the 44-year-old is all too aware of the strong feelings people have for public lands. But it's a passion she shares. As a member of the Pueblo Laguna tribe near Albuquerque, N.M., Seesholtz grew up exploring the outdoors with her family. In her 24 years working for the U.S. Forest Service, Seesholtz has worked in forests from Oregon to Arizona to Michigan, and seen the demands on the land grow and change. Q: Why did you want to get into forestry? A: Both my parents were teachers, and during the summer and every single weekend, we were out in the woods. I mean, whether it was camping or fishing or hiking or hunting—we did a lot of hunting—that's where we recreated, on the Gila National Forest. I spent so much time on it, that it was kind of a natural thing to want to be outdoors. Q: What is the Boise National Forest facing? A: I've been spending these last few weeks meeting with different people. I've met with the state forester, I've met with congressional aides, I've met with the Idaho Fish and Game, I've met with the Idaho Conservation League, the Wilderness Society, so I'm getting a sense of the relationships that the forest has with different agencies and different entities, and that's going to give me a real basis to determine then what the issues are. http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A314502 Montana: 13) KALISPELL - Foresters looking to fight fire with fire have started looking beyond the boundaries of designated wilderness areas, and this summer will apply a sort of " let it burn " policy to public lands throughout northwest Montana. They call it " wildland fire use " and this summer it could be used in the North Fork Flathead drainage above Columbia Falls, the Swan Range near Bigfork and the Mission Mountains. It all began back in 1983, when lightning struck deep in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, a tree burst into flame, and firefighters did absolutely nothing. Instead, they watched as the flames crept slowly up-mountain, eventually burning across 230 acres. It was, by forest officials' own admission, a " huge moment, " coming as it did on the heels of seven decades of aggressive fire suppression. Following the big burns of 1910 - when more than 3 million acres burned in Montana and Idaho - forest policy was to quench every flame by midmorning the day after a lightning storm. But by the early 1980s, foresters had realized a whole host of problems with that policy. For instance, all that timber they saved from burning was piling up, creating a huge fuel stockpile. Far from being biological deserts, scientists were learning that burned-over forestland was home to tremendous life. Western tanagers thrived in low-severity burns. Juncos nested in somewhat hotter burns, and birds such as the black-backed woodpecker, mountain bluebird and olive-sided flycatcher actually liked their forest well-done. They came to feast on beetles, some of which have evolved infrared detectors in their thorax, and some with smoke sniffers in their antennae. Lodgepole pine relied on fire's heat to open their serotinous cones and release tree seed. Western larch hate the shade, and grew faster once the overstory was burned away. Seeds from red-stemmed ceanothus - dormant for centuries - germinated only after a good fire. Spirea, fireweed, arnica, pine grass, Bicknell's geranium, even certain toads, all boomed in the burn. It was time, forest managers concluded, to make a distinction between fire that ate homes and private property, and fire that had for millennia been a part of Western woods. The one was certainly foe, but the other, it seems, was friend. Since that first 230 acres burned in the Bob back in 1983, tens of thousands of acres have been monitored rather than attacked after the lightning struck. But most all of those acres have been within designated wilderness areas, places where nature is left to her own devices. Now, however, wildland fire use is spreading onto other forestlands. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/06/10/news/local/znews03.txt 14) Brian Schweitzer says that creating healthier forests, possibly by having the state take over management of some federal timberland, is the best way to combat the infestation of bark beetles in the West. In a speech, Schweitzer suggested that instead of spending $50 million to $200 million annually to fight wildfires, the state should budget $75 million each year for treating its forests before they're burned or killed by beetles. The governor made the comments at the University of Montana during a conference to discuss the beetle infestation. " We propose the federal government manage like we do after a fire n complete timber sales in six to eight months after a fire, " he said. " When we have dead or dying trees, we harvest them, but our neighbor doesn't do a dang thing, in their checkerboard fashion. " Schweitzer said leaders could propose a plan to manage 10 percent of federal timberland. Montanans have been trying to discourage mountain pine beetles, Douglas fir beetles, and western spruce budworms from overwhelming trees. Across the western United States, mountain pine beetles destroyed more than 2.9 million acres of forest in 2005. In Montana alone, the most recent numbers from 2006 show that 2.4 million trees across 750,000 acres were killed by the beetles. Ken Gibson, an entomologist with the Forest Service in Missoula, said thinning forests and replacing them with various tree species, sizes and ages can reduce the chance of a beetle attack. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/06/08/bnews/br29.txt 15) Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey says he will answer this week to Montana counties concerned about his closed-door talks with Plum Creek Timber Co., and his controversial road easement amendment could be signed soon thereafter. " I am moving purposefully to bring this to a conclusion in the next couple weeks, " Rey said Thursday. " I expect it will be decided shortly after I revisit with the counties. " Rey was in Missoula County earlier this spring, placed in the hot seat by local officials worried his deal with Plum Creek might saddle taxpayers with the costs of providing urban services to new forest-fringe neighborhoods. Plum Creek has for decades held road easements with the U.S. Forest Service, negotiated so the public and private foresters could cross each other's lands for timber harvest. Traditionally, those easements have been considered narrow in scope - allowing access only for log hauling. But Plum Creek now argues the access is unlimited, and could be used for residential development. Since 1999, the lumber company has been restructured as a real estate investment trust, and real estate sales of former timberland are an increasingly important part of Plum Creek's bottom line. Rey, a former timber lobbyist himself, has adopted Plum Creek's reading of the easements, and has worked with the company to craft a " clarification " to the old access documents, allowing unhindered right of way. The move could greatly increase the value of Plum Creek's 1.2 million Montana acres, some of which taxpayers are attempting to purchase for conservation. Counties became concerned when they learned of the deal, saying increased subdivision in the wildland-urban interface would cut off recreational access, increase taxpayer costs in terms of providing services far from town, drive up wildland firefighting costs and, perhaps, leave local governments paying the bills for future forest road upkeep. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/06/09/news/local/news02.txt 16) The controversial closed-door talks between Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey and Plum Creek Timber Co. could soon come under scrutiny by a government oversight panel, to determine whether those negotiations should have been conducted in public. " We need to get another set of eyes on this, to take a look at what happened and what should have happened, " said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. Tester, who met with Rey on Wednesday, said he had not yet decided which third party should review the issue, but that a full oversight investigation might be appropriate. " The issue here is openness of government, " he said. Rey said Thursday that he and the senator have not talked specifically about a possible oversight review, and the undersecretary declined to speculate on what form such an investigation might take. Tester also said that Rey had agreed during their meeting to delay making any further decisions on the deal with Plum Creek until the undersecretary first supplies critical information about the plan. That information has been sought not only by the senator, but also by western Montana counties worried that Rey's talks with Plum Creek could cost taxpayers. At issue are logging road easements that cross U.S. Forest Service and company lands. For years, Plum Creek and the agency have shared access across one another's property. Historically, the scope of those road easements has been thought narrow - for timber hauling only. But Plum Creek - and now Rey - have recently asserted that the easements are much broader, and allow access for all uses, including residential development. The company and Rey have hammered out a preliminary easement amendment that would make their position official. And that has local officials concerned, because since 1999 the timber company has been reorganized as a real estate investment trust, with profits relying more and more on residential development sales. As more homes are built in the forest fringe, county officials say more taxpayer money must go toward providing services far from town. Wildland firefighting costs go up, road building and maintenance costs go up, emergency services costs go up. At the same time, public access to forest lands goes down, and the timber base is lost to local mills. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/06/13/news/local/news02.txt Colorado: 17) The healthy spruce and lodgepole pine trees atop the Steamboat ski area represent the last stand for Andy Cadenhead. As the forests turn reddish-brown all around him - the result of an unprecedented outbreak of bark-burrowing beetles - the " high-value " land at the ski area remains green because of the extraordinary efforts by U.S. Forest Service agents like Cadenhead and ski-resort crews. " Our effort was to keep the spruce beetles there, " he said, pointing to a thickly forested area east of the resort, " and not here. " " We've done a number of things to do that, " he said. " This has taken a considerable investment of time and money, on the order of several hundred thousand dollars, but this is probably the closest thing we've had to a success story. " In addition to the traditional means of cutting down dying trees and spraying healthy ones with insecticides, officials in Steamboat are trying experimental tactics to repel the beetles, and their efforts have kept the mountaintop green, so far. Such small successes punctuate what otherwise has been widespread failure to stem the outbreak of the bark beetles, which already have decimated evergreen forests in a large swath of the West, from British Columbia, Canada, to Chihuahua, Mexico, and ultimately will leave millions of acres of dead trees in their path. " People have their own images of what this change might be, but I think that, almost without fail, people are surprised at how much bigger this thing is than what they expect, " Cadenhead said. " We're talking about a dramatically changed landscape. " Like a rash spreading across the mountains, beetles are reaching spots previously immune to the outbreak, crossing the Continental Divide to the Front Range, reaching high-elevation forests and even infiltrating remote areas such as the Black Forest northeast of Colorado Springs. " We're still seeing the expansion of the mountain pine beetle, " said Joe Duda, forest-management supervisor for the Colorado State Forest Service. http://estesparkian.blogspot.com/2008/06/fyi-ep.html Arizona: 18) A skidder pulls trees salvaged from the Rodeo-Chediski Fire near Overgaard. The trees will be ground and hauled to the Snowflake White Mountain Power Biomass Plant and used as fuel. A power plant that burns scrap wood from forests near Snowflake announced Tuesday it has begun sending electricity to Arizona Public Service Co. and Salt River Project. Connected to the power grid in April, the Snowflake White Mountain Biomass Power Plant is in full commercial operation, sending enough electricity for 6,000 or more homes. Both APS and SRP have long-term contracts to buy power from the plant. None of the companies would disclose the cost of electricity. The plant owner, Tempe-based Renegy Holdings Inc., reports the contracts should bring $16 million annually in revenue. Based on the plant's 24-megawatt capacity, that revenue calculates to 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour if the plant is expected to run at 90 percent capacity, and 9.5 cents per kilowatt-hour at 80 percent. That is slightly more than what the utilities pay for most electricity from nuclear, coal and natural-gas power plants, but less than the going rate for solar-thermal power plants. The biomass plant is part of the legacy of the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski Fire that scorched 469,000 acres of woodland. That fire inspired SkyMall founder Robert Worsley to form Renegy and build the power plant. Renegy has two years of wood-chip fuel piled outside the plant, some gathered from areas burned by Rodeo-Chediski and some from healthy forests trimmed to prevent another fire. At least 75 percent of the plant's energy will come from forest-thinning, and the rest from the adjacent Catalyst Paper Corp. mill, formerly the Abitibi-Consolidated mill. http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2008/06/11/20080611biz-biomass0611.ht\ ml Missouri: 19) We have seven wilderness areas in Missouri, and all but one are on national forest lands. The Forest Service has routinely opposed the creation of these areas, mostly because it receives little or no revenue from such areas and because revenue-generating activities cannot take place. The Missouri Wilderness Coalition has submitted a plan that Congress create several more wilderness areas in this state. One of those proposed is right across Cedar Creek in Callaway County. Known for years as the Smith Creek Sensitive Area - sort of a pre- " wilderness " designation - the Forest Service has taken a hands-off approach. Except for a couple of trails that accommodate hikers, bikers and equestrians and a rather rustic - and not often used - canoe, kayak and raft access area next to Rutherford Bridge, the requirements of the Wilderness Act have been observed. Indeed, human use is not much in evidence. There was, in times long gone, quite a bit of activity in the Smith Creek area. Some old, abandoned roads attest to this, along with some fields now becoming overgrown with cedar and other pioneer trees. There are also several foundations of log cabins and evidence of earthen dams that were used to create small ponds below springs and seeps. The lands of what is now the Cedar Creek Unit of the Mark Twain National Forests were acquired by the public shortly before and during World War II - primarily for taxes. Some has been donated since, but much of the area is what it was before: abandoned farming lands. In fact, most of the land is not wooded. Only about 5,000 acres out of a total of 15,000 are covered in trees. Now the Forest Service has a plan to cut down most of those. Not only that, but the agency proposes to do so by the most extreme measures: The Forest Service refers to clear-cutting as " even-aged management, " in that every tree that grows after every tree and sapling is whacked down will be of the same age. A " shelterwood " and " seedtree " cuttings are merely two-staged clear cuts. Leave a few trees per acre, then after a thicket of small trees is rooted, cut down the big trees that had been previously spared. Cedar Creek is only now recovering from past decades of coal mining and acid runoff. Millions of dollars in state and federal money have been expended in the recovery effort of native fishes and other aquatic life. But if silt and sediment cover their spawning and egg-laying areas, all of that money will have been spent in vain. http://www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Jun/20080613Comm002.asp Minnesota: 20) The report includes an introduction to True North Woods - a group marketing effort, supported in part by Blandin Foundation, to promote certified local, green, quality products from " cold-forged forests of Northern Minnesota. " Members in the True North Woods collective branding effort make a wide range of " Minnesota grown " wood and forest products, from building and construction materials to gift and specialty items. The report concludes that opportunities exist to maximize the economic, social and environmental benefits of green building efforts by using locally-sourced forest products. Buying and building with Minnesota-grown is good economic development, AND good for the forest! http://www.truenorthwoods.com/ Illinois: 21) Glen Ellyn officials have put a controversial plan on hold that originally called for the cutting down of some 340 trees in a village park. The Village Board voted unanimously this week to reject all bids for a storm-water project in Ackerman Park, 800 St. Charles Rd. The project to create a storm-water detention basin is now back to square one, officials said. Initially, the project by the village and the Park District called for the construction of the basin and two soccer fields in the park, requiring 340 trees to be cut down. But after residents complained, the Park District voted at a meeting June 3 to eliminate the plan for the soccer fields—a decision that saved 300 of the trees. Then at a meeting Monday, the storm-water plan was put on hold, saving—at least for now—the remaining 40 trees. That delighted residents who oppose the cutting of trees. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-glen-ellyn-trees_web_11jun11,0,4489\ 020.story Ohio: 22) Over the last five years, Ohio has changed its approach in dealing with a troublesome beetle from China. Starting in 2003, Ohio used federal funds to cut down and grind up every ash tree within a half-mile of infestations of the emerald ash borer. That was designed to block the spread of the greenish bug from northwest Ohio. But those efforts came to a crashing halt in early 2006. Little federal money was available to combat the pest and experts found that the bug had already spread across much of Ohio.Today its presence has been confirmed in 35 of Ohio's 88 counties, including Medina, Portage, Cuyahoga, Lorain and Mahoning. The Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Ohio Emerald Ash Borer Task Force and the Ohio State University Emerald Ash Borer Outreach Team are now saying the state must manage the invasive pest, which threatens millions of ash trees. That's going to create big issues for communities and landowners across Ohio, said Dan Herms, an entomologist at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster and Ohio State University Extension. ''Yes, there's been a big shift in the world of [the emerald ash borer],'' he said. '' . . . We have to confront reality in the future: We're on our own in dealing with infestations. The bottom line is that the emerald ash borer is now everyone's problem. That's a big change.'' Ohio's program has shifted to education, outreach and management, he said. He said Ohio communities and landowners could end up paying in excess of $3 billion over the next 10 years to remove dead, unsafe ash trees. That's equal to $261 for every Ohioan. http://www.ohio.com/news/19639169.html New Hampshire: 23) A federal judge has turned aside a challenge by the Sierra Club and Wilderness Society to block logging on two roadless areas in the White Mountain National Forest. U.S. District Court Judge Steven J. McAuliffe ruled Friday that the U.S. Forest Service correctly applied federal law when it designated 929 acres in the Than Project and 380 acres in the Batchelder Brook Vegetation Project for logging. The Forest Service has backed the cutting of 6 million board feet and 3 million board fee, respectively, in the areas. Last year the two environmental organizations sued, claiming the Forest Service did not consider the best available science when it permitted the logging. The Society for the Protection of the New Hampshire Forests, the Appalachian Club, the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association, the Audubon Society and others filed papers in support of the Forest Service. In his 57-page ruling, McAuliffe said: " As the Supreme Court has observed, in cases like this, which involve highly scientific and-or technical issues, resolving these issues requires a high level of technical expertise (which) is properly left to the informed discretion of the responsible federal agencies. " He said the Forest Service took a " hard look " at the effects of logging on the areas. In a statement issued yesterday, the Forest Service said it will " continue to work with all concerned stakeholders to implement projects that accomplish the goals and objectives of the long-term Forest Plan. " http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=National+Forest+logging+to+be+a\ llowed & article Id=50e69556-ee5a-45f0-a7e8-7b3207870979 Connecticut: 24) The billboard industry has taken a few hits this year. It started with Gov. M. Jodi Rell's announcement that she will not renew the leases of billboards located on state property. (and) Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today announced a lawsuit against a billboard company that illegally cleared 83 mature trees on state property along Interstate 84 in order to maximize visibility of its billboard. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Department of Transportation (DOT), names Lamar Advertising of Hartford and related companies, and Long Hill Tree and Lawn Care Service, Inc. of East Hartford Lamar, through Long Hill, cleared the 83 trees from state-owned property, decimating a vital buffer between nearby residences and I-84, and natural aesthetic beauty along a public highway -- damage that will take several years to repair, Blumenthal said. Blumenthal's lawsuit seeks money damages for the restoration of property. " Here's a billboard-sized warning: destroying precious environmental resources and defying state law means strong legal sanction, " Blumenthal said. " This billboard company violated clear law when it clear cut 83 mature trees on state property. Lamar's unconscionable disregard decimated a vital buffer between nearby homes and a major interstate highway. Repairing this needless environmental and aesthetic harm will require years and resources. " State Rep. Selim Noujaim, R-Waterbury, said, " The trees that were clear cut were more than 85 years old and had been planted by the family's grandfather. They formed a barrier that dampened highway noise and helped protect topsoil from erosion. The trees were cut down mercilessly, and branches and stumps were left on the ground. The entire area looked as if it had been hit by a tornado. The company responsible for this unauthorized and malicious act failed to adhere to the terms of the permit it received from the state Department of Transportation and cut down the trees without permission from the property owners. Justice must be done to compensate both the families and to repair the damage to the environment. " http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/environment/billboard_company_cuts_down_ta.php http://www.stamfordplus.com/stm/information/nws1/publish/News_1/Billboard_compan\ y_being_sued_fo r_clear_cutting_trees_on_state_property_along_I-842586.shtml Pennsylvania: 25) As I walked through the wild landscape, I experienced first hand the importance of Tree Farm No. 1. The forest protects the headwaters of Middle Creek, Tom's Creek and Copper Run, all of which supply pristine water to Adams County. There are plenty of recreational opportunities with its vast network of trails, fields, and meandering creeks. Because of its diversity of species and proximity to the central Appalachian Mountains, Tree Farm No. 1 is a top global priority for protection. Historically, it is the first licensed Pennsylvania tree farm and the largest unprotected privately owned woodland parcel in Adams County. I am the land conservation coordinator for the Land Conservancy of Adams County. I am also a concerned citizen for the natural forested resources in our state. Recently, I toured Tree Farm No. 1 (formerly owned by Glatfelter Pulp Wood Co.) with representatives from The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, and Hamiltonban Township. Tree Farm No. 1 is 2,582 acres, recently purchased by The Conservation Fund with " bridge financing. " The Conservation Fund will own the property until funds are raised for its transfer to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to become a permanent part of Michaux State Forest. The additional acreage will complement the existing protected areas of Michaux and Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve. http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_9528310 26) Arborist Stephen Redding, of Salford, has been crushed by a tractor, been frozen in a blizzard, and nearly drowned in the Delaware River. He has been flung through a car's windshield, broken his neck in another car crash, been attacked by a swarm of hundreds of yellow jackets and been struck by lightning. Redding has somehow survived these near-death experiences, and has not only lived to tell the tale, but has also explained the philosophy that grew out of what he calls his " edge experiences. " " We can't be well if the world's not well, " Redding said. As a protector of trees around the area, Redding has engaged in a number of hunger strikes to protect the noble giants that helped pull him out of despondency. His longest strike took place in 1987, lasted for 53 days and left him 100 pounds lighter. Redding was protesting the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant's use of the Point Pleasant Pumping Station, and the destruction of the virgin white oaks in Forest Park, Chalfont. After 30 days he began to slip in and out of consciousness, and then in and out of reality, Redding said. These experiences, like his others, brought him closer to the realization that what we see is not necessarily the only world that is out there. http://www.soudertonindependent.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19763188 & BRD=1306 & PAG=4\ 61 & dept_id=1878 22 & rfi=6 Kentucky: 27) A large machine called a " feller-buncher " was moving through the woods Friday, cutting trees at the base and placing them in piles so they could be dragged to the staging area and trucked away. The project is expected to affect about 800 acres of the 10,000-acre main block of the University of Kentucky-owned forest in Eastern Kentucky. That's about 200 fewer acres than originally planned, but the change won't satisfy opponents. Logging has begun in Robinson Forest. Word that the controversial project was under way brought immediate condemnation Friday from environmentalists, who were caught off guard. Crews began widening an old logging road last week, taking out some trees along the way. An opening was created as a staging area, and the controversial research project -- designed to learn how to better protect streams from logging -- began in earnest Wednesday. A statement released Friday from a coalition of environmental groups said they had been unaware that UK was proceeding with the project. The statement from graduate student Garrett Graddy named Kentucky Heartwood, the Kentucky Resources Council, the Sierra Club, the Kentucky Waterways Alliance and others. It said the groups " are disappointed and frankly outraged with the decision to proceed with an alarmingly short-sighted study whose negative ecological and educational effects far outweigh its alleged merits. " University officials say the logging is a research project that will help them learn how to protect streams when trees are cut on private land in the region. That will be done by varying the numbers of trees left along streams and monitoring water quality to tell how much silt washes into the streams. An important part of the project, Barton said, is areas where some protection will be given to ephemeral streams that only carry water after rains. Currently, the rules allow all trees to be removed from such areas. The research will leave trees along some of those streams. Various kinds of bridges or pipe bundles also will be tried in areas where heavy equipment crosses streams. Emma Witt, a UK graduate student, was in the forest Friday setting up a water-quality monitor below such a crossing. In areas away from streams, about 10 mature trees will be left on each acre. There will be no logging in two watersheds, which will act as controls. http://www.kentucky.com/254/story/433597.html 28) The hemlock woolly adelgid was first detected in Kentucky in 2006. Since then it has been confirmed in 10 counties -- Pike, Letcher, Leslie, Harlan, Bell, Clay and Whitley, with isolated cases in Powell, Oldham and Grayson. Kentucky's primary hemlock forests are in the southeastern part of the state, but scattered hemlocks may be found elsewhere. Although not a valuable commercial species, the eastern hemlock has great value to the forest ecosystem and its loss could adversely impact many fish, wildlife and plant species. A new organization called " Save Kentucky's Hemlocks " has been formed by a team of multiresource agencies to enlist volunteers to help survey, report and treat adelgid infestations. To learn more, call Alice Mandt of the Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission at (502) 573-2886 or Brammer at (502) 564-4496. Byron Crawford's column appears on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at (502) 582-4791 or bcrawford. Comment on this column, and read previous columns, at www.courier-journal.com/byron. Tennessee: 29) OAK RIDGE — Trees that local residents had lobbied to save along Oak Ridge Turnpike will now be removed, City Manager Jim O'Connor said Wednesday. " They're going to come down, " O'Connor said. That announcement followed a Wednesday morning meeting that included city staff members, Tennessee Department of Transportation officials and Greenways Oak Ridge representatives. The 55 trees, mostly maples, are along a short stretch of roadway in front of Rolling Hills Apartments, just west of Illinois Avenue. They're inside a construction zone set up as part of a two-year project to widen 4.2 miles of state Route 95, also known as Oak Ridge Turnpike, from Illinois Avenue to near Westover Drive. State officials had at one time agreed to try to save the trees. But since then, the officials have apparently had concerns with the trees and their root systems, and how they might be impacted by road construction and utility relocation. A report recently issued by Knoxville arborist Jim Cortese, of Cortese Tree Specialists Inc., recommended the trees be removed. O'Connor said the state will now allocate $25,000 to $30,000 to the city to work on landscaping along the corridor. The money was initially slated to help preserve the trees. Dan Robbins, Greenways Oak Ridge chairman, had lobbied to save the trees, and, in a telephone message Tuesday, he said there is no reason to cut them down now. " My position is that the commissioners promised us that they would design the Turnpike widening to save the trees, " Robbins said. " If they haven't designed it adequately not to damage the root systems, then the problem is with the design, not with the trees, and they should repair that design so that it does saves the trees. " http://www.oakridger.com/news/x513605990/Turnpike-trees-coming-down USA: 30) Scientists and policy makers have long recognized the role that forests can play in countering the atmospheric buildup of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas (GHG). In the United States, terrestrial carbon sequestration in private and public forests offsets approximately 11% of all GHG emissions from all sectors of the economy on an annual basis. Although much of the attention on forest carbon sequestration strategy in the United States has been on the role of private lands, public forests in the United States represent approximately 20% of the U.S. timberland area and also hold a significantly large share (30%) of the U.S. timber volume. With such a large standing timber inventory, these forested lands have considerable impact on the U.S. forest carbon balance. To help decision makers understand the carbon implications of potential changes in public timberland management, we compared a baseline timber harvest scenario with two alternative harvest scenarios and estimated annual carbon stock changes associated with each. Our analysis found that a ''no timber harvest'' scenario eliminating harvests on public lands would result in an annual increase of 17–29 million metric tonnes of carbon (MMTC) per year between 2010 and 2050—as much as a 43% increase over current sequestration levels on public timberlands and would offset up to 1.5% of total U.S. GHG emissions. In contrast, moving to a more intense harvesting policy similar to that which prevailed in the 1980s may result in annual carbon losses of 27–35 MMTC per year between 2010 and 2050. These losses would represent a significant decline (50–80%) in anticipated carbon sequestration associated with the existing timber harvest policies. If carbon sequestration were valued in the marketplace as part of a GHG offset program, the economic value of sequestered carbon on public lands could be substantial relative to timber harvest revenues. http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foreco 31) Jodi Peterson's article " Easing into development " in the June 9th HCN describes plans by Plum Creek Timber Company to transform itself into a real estate company. Plum Creek owns 8 million US acres and already makes about 25% of its revenue from land sales. Plum Creek's land sale plans are only the tip of the iceberg. Across the West big timber companies are developing real estate divisions. And this is nothing new; Weyerhaeuser and other companies pioneered this transition beginning back in the 1990s in Washington State. By 2004 concern about loss of forestland to development in the US prompted the Society of American Foresters to issue a policy statement on the subject. Here's an excerpt from the statement: " Recognizing that conversion of forest land to other land uses results from numerous decisions by landowners, real estate developers, and government officials, SAF encourages state and local governments to, where necessary, adopt land use policies that respect the rights and responsibilities of forest owners, while recognizing the importance of forest lands to the citizens of our local communities and states, and to the nation as a whole. SAF urges policy makers at all levels of government to recognize the essential role of forests in providing watershed and water quality protection, wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation opportunities, and the forest products that contribute to our social and economic well-being. " While timber companies subdividing land for residential development is not new, what is new is that local governments around the West – traditionally compliant with the desires of big timber and other large corporations - are now questioning these land subdivision sales. Some local jurisdictions are even considering action to prevent the subdivisions. Jodi Peterson's article reports on the questions and concerns being raised by Missoula County officials about Plum Creek's subdivision and land sale plans in Montana. Along the Northcoast of California, Humboldt County went so far as to place a building moratorium on land zoned for timber production. http://blog.hcn.org/goat/2008/06/13/subdividing-the-wests-forests/ 32) In an effort to reconnect kids with nature and attract new diverse communities to outdoor activities, the U.S. Forest Service has partnered with state, local and federal land management agencies to celebrate 'National Get Outdoors Day' on June 14. More than 45 locations nationwide are providing a variety of free recreational events designed to introduce children and new segments of the American public to the great outdoors while fostering a deeper appreciation for natural resources. " We want every child in America to have the opportunity to experience the great outdoors, whether it is in a remote mountain wilderness or a city park, " said Forest Service Chief Abigail Kimbell. " More so now than at any other time in history, our children are experiencing a disconnection from nature. Our hope is to reverse that trend while instilling a curiosity about nature and a deeper appreciation of precious natural resources. " National Get Outdoors Day is co-sponsored by the Forest Service and the American Recreation Coalition. The new annual event has been designated to better engage urban and multicultural youth in nature-based activities and to attract first time visitors to public lands. A listing of all national site locations is attached. More information on National Get Outdoors Day and Kids in the Woods can be found at: http://www.nationalgetoutdoorsday.org and www.fs.fed.us/kidsclimatechange 33) A few weeks ago, Congress passed HR 2419, the " Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, " aka the Farm Bill. Deep within this 682-page pig were two impressive, and impressively stupid, pork slabs for corporate America: $182 million in tax breaks for Weyerhaeuser; $500 million for Plum Creek – buried there by Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat, who proudly announced the funding May 23 alongside Plum Creek CEO Rick Holley. As I wrote two columns ago, the " timber industry " (Weyerhaeuser is the last holdout) is dead. Changing tax laws now won't " save " Weyco or keep it from breaking up into a Real Estate Investment Trust. As for Plum Creek's present … hasn't the company already scored enough goodies from Congress? First, the shutdown of federal timber harvest not only reduced the once-wonderful United States Forest Service to an empty husk and killed off most of Plum Creek's Northwest sawmilling competition, also raised the value of Plum Creek's wood – an outcome worth millions to its bottom line. Second, when environmentalists began litigating over the bull trout in 1992, Plum Creek as the largest private owner of bull trout habitat found itself at serious risk of shutdown, an economic and political disaster not just for the company, but for Montana. In a political tour de force, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt offered Plum Creek a lifeline in the form of " safe harbor " provisions contained in what is now the Native Fish Habitat Conservation Plan. Work began in earnest in 1998, and the NFHCP was approved in November 2000… Environmental groups, including Trout Unlimited and Pacific Rivers Council, opposed the NFHCP, sued to stop it, but failed. An unhappy Bruce Farling of Trout Unlimited complained that Plum Creek got " 30 years of insulation from lawsuits with this document. " Third is federal REIT law, that has enabled every major integrated timber company (except one) to disintegrate, literally tossing millions of acres of forests through a gigantic loophole … profitably. In short, faced with the legal and economic environment Congress created, Plum Creek, like all timber bigs, has cut … and now they're running. http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/our_forest_legacy/3849/ 34) Colin Powell says that its work is " amazing " . In 2001, it received what the media dubbed the biggest ever grant to an environmental organization - US $261 million spread over 10 years. Its website proclaims: " A passionate few can make the difference in the world. " In interviews, its president, Russell Mittermeier, confesses to a lifelong Tarzan fixation. Its vice-chair is the actor who played Indiana Jones. The organization is Conservation International (CI). Founded in 1987, headquartered in Washington, DC, its stated mission is " to conserve the Earth's living natural heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. " It operates in over thirty countries, in the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific. But like Harrison Ford, it does a lot of acting, applying copious layers ofgreen make-up. Perhaps CI draws inspiration from its Hollywood heroes. Remember how the white actors got all the best lines, how the " natives " were not quite human, frequently savage and dangerous, sometimes simply incidental and irrelevant? Unfortunately, for many Indigenous Peoples affected by CI's brand of " conservation " , this is no movie set. CI's interest in protecting " hotspots " of endangered biodiversity has particular implications for many Indigenous Peoples who have endured and resisted waves of colonial dispossession, genocide and ecocide, including the appropriation of traditional knowledge and the flora and fauna which they have protected for many generations. CI claims to work with local communities on conservation-based alternatives to logging and other environmentally-destructive activities - ecotourism and small enterprises to grow and market coffee, exotic foods, chemicals and medicines from the rainforest. Playing the role of an environmental NGO, CI participates in the plunder of the global South. Meanwhile, it willingly collaborates with, and fails to condemn, some of the world's most ecologically destructive corporations and institutions devastating the planet. http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2003-10/10choudry.cfm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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