388 - Earth's Tree News

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In this issue:

 

PNW-USA

 

Index:

 

--PNW: 1) Spotted Owl decline continues

--Alaska: 2) Opposing sides agree on Iyouktug timber sale, 3) Peat

Bogs turn into forests,

--Washington: 4) Summer of Seattle street trees, 5) Prison sentence

for ancient tree thief,

--Oregon: 6) Senator Smith is greatest obstacle to Wild Rogue

legislation, 7) State's Vision for Federal Forestlands,

--California: 8) Fires making 'em broke & more money for logging will

solve that? 9) Natural Capital Project, 10) Deal struck in lawsuit so

now UCSC treesitters are on their own, 11) Senator Boxer's plan for

800,000 acres of wilderness, 12) No Democrats willing to show up to

GOP fire and fuels management miasma. 13) The tallest tree in the

world, 14) Seven enviro groups sue SoCal Forest Service planning

process, 15) Treesitters in Humboldt can come down now, 16) More on

HRC taking over Maxxam / PL, 17) Governor makes state better prepared

for fires? 18) Tahoe Citizen's bulldozed by their own planning

commission so big money can sprawl, 19) New Ski runs see forests

destroyed " by hand, "

--Montana: 20) Economist says a crisis will happen if we don't log fed

lands faster, 21) Revisting Cove-Mallard roadless defense,

--Colorado: 22) Draft rule outlaws roadless rule, 23) Ground to the

crown in 30secs,

--New Mexico: 24) Water-starved trees make popping sound that bugs hear

--Wyoming: 25) Judge flagrantly and cavalierly railroads roadless rule

--Illinois: 26) Shawnee NF: latest scam is called the Buttermilk Hill

--Indiana: 27) Trees turn toxic Nitrogen into useful amino acids

--New Hampshire: 28) Judge rejects halt to 2 logging projects in White Mtn NF,

--USA: 29) Smoky Bear campaign will always fail to stop

lightning-caused fires, 30) Salvage Logging and Its Ecological

Consequences, 31) Foreign investors snapping up hundreds of thousands

of acres of timberland, 32) Keeping track of the litigation vortex,

 

 

Articles:

 

PNW:

 

1) The northern spotted owl — an endangered icon that spurred a rescue

effort so sweeping it brought old-growth logging to a virtual

standstill in the Northwest — is now closer than ever to

extinction.Fourteen years after old-growth logging was banned on most

federal lands to protect the owls, their numbers are falling year

after year. While there is disagreement over how bad it could get,

some are contemplating the virtual disappearance of a bird elevated to

sainthood by environmentalists and hung in effigy by loggers. The

situation is particularly bad in Washington, where the rate at which

owls are found at nesting sites has fallen by nearly half since 1994.

Scientists blame the decline largely on the invasion of a tougher owl

and the loss of much habitat to decades of logging. " It's not looking

very good, " said Eric Forsman, of the U.S. Forest Service, a

pre-eminent spotted-owl scientist. " The populations seem to be

gradually going downhill, and it's not clear if or when that's going

to stop. " The decline of the birds is forcing a rethinking of

long-held strategies to save the spotted owl. Ideas under

consideration include the distasteful prospect of shotgunning one owl

species to save another. It could also rekindle the old-growth logging

debate. Since the bird was a chief tool for environmentalists to block

logging, what happens if there are no spotted owls left in a forest?

Back in 1994, few could have foreseen things turning out this way. The

Clinton administration — spurred by lawsuits, the listing of the owl

under the Endangered Species Act, and years of political upheaval over

Northwest logging — set aside 24.5 million acres of federal forestland

as a haven for the owls. The Northwest Forest Plan was supposed to set

the stage for recovery of the football-sized bird, which favors older

forests because it nests in the cavities of big trees, and eats

forest-dwelling creatures such as flying squirrels. But the recovery

hasn't happened.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008109742_spottedowl13m.html

 

Alaska:

 

2) Working together, the U.S. Forest Service, Southeast Alaska

Conservation Council and the Sitka Conservation Society have resolved

the conservation groups' appeal of the proposed Iyouktug timber sale

on Chichagof Island near Hoonah, in the Tongass National Forest. Under

the agreement, the Forest Service will delay offering expensive

helicopter logging sale units, and four units in a roadless area. The

agency will first offer more economical, non-helicopter units designed

for smaller timber operators. The Forest Service also agreed to modify

some units to lessen the impact of logging on fish, bear and deer

habitat. In return, the conservation groups will not challenge the

sale until or unless the delayed units are offered. " We hope the

success from working together on this sale leads to a new, more

collaborative and community-based way of managing theTongass, " said

Russell Heath, SEACC's Executive Director. " The Forest Service gets a

sale out the door, the local mills get access to the timber they need

and the community gets a healthier forest for hunting, fishing and

recreation. " The agreement is a direct result of the groundwork and

relationship building fostered through the Tongass Futures Roundtable,

a 35-member group brought together two years ago by The Nature

Conservancy. That's according to Forrest Cole, Supervisor for the

17-million-acre Tongass. " This resolution indicates that collaborative

work by the Tongass Futures Roundtable is beginning to produce

results, " said Cole. " Working together can make possible the kinds of

benefits that will ultimately lead to better management of resources,

as well as an improved economy for Southeast Alaska communities. " The

deal also includes managing the sale schedule so that only an average

of 2 million board feet (mmbf) is logged each year. Local mills often

cannot compete with outside timber companies for large sales, so the

smaller sale volume is more in line with local needs. " We are a local

business providing jobs in our local community. We feel we can compete

for this sale and process the wood to supply high-value wood products

for the building industry, " said Wes Tyler, owner of Icy Straits

Lumber in Hoonah. The mill currently uses around 1 mmbf per year;

however the mill would like to increase its production.

http://www.sitnews.us/0808news/081908/081908_iyouktug.html

 

3) Here in a 13,700-year-old peat bog, ecologist Ed Berg reaches into

the moss and pulls out more evidence of the drastic changes afoot due

to the Earth's warming climate. Rooting through a handful of mossy

duff, Berg, an ecologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, shows

remains of shrubs and other plants taking hold over the last 30 years

in a patch of ground that has long been too soggy for woody plants to

grow. In other words, the ground is drying out, and the peat bog is

turning into forest. " There has been a big change, " Berg said. Core

samples taken from the bog show moss nearly 22 feet under the ground,

with no sign of trees or shrubs growing here for centuries, Berg said.

In 50 years, the bog could be covered by black spruce trees, he said.

Welcome to Alaska, where the blow of climate change will fall harder

than on any other U.S. state. Records indicate that Alaska has already

experienced the largest regional warming of any U.S. state -- an

average 5 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) since the 1960s and

about 8 degrees Fahrenheit (4.5 degrees Celsius) in the interior of

the state during winter months. " We've got mounds of evidence that an

extremely powerful and unprecedented climate-driven change is

underway, " said Glenn Juday, a forest ecologist at the University of

Alaska in Fairbanks.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN1928279720080819

 

 

Washington:

 

4) The tree, 90 feet high, has been clipped to make way for power

lines. But despite its altered silhouette, arborists and others

consider it an " exceptional " tree worth saving. " The redevelopment of

this and some other (unrelated) blighted properties known as

Sisleyville is our highest priority, " said Jim O'Halloran, chairman of

the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association's land-use committee, referring

to controversial landowner Hugh Sisley. " This particular tree, it

could kill a project we're trying to make happen, " O'Halloran said.

The Roosevelt scenario is the latest twist on Tree City USA's

tree-protection saga. Tree controversies are alive in other areas of

the city as well. At a time that groups ranging from Boy Scouts to the

Seattle Storm are planting trees, many neighborhoods are crying foul

over the threat of felled trees on private, school-district and even

Washington Park Arboretum property. A hearing Monday in King County

Superior Court may determine the fate of 63 trees on Seattle Public

Schools property, where the district hopes to expand Ingraham High

School. Neighbors sued; last week Judge John Erlick barred the

district from cutting the trees until Aug. 27 at the earliest.

Sometime on or before Sept. 5, Maple Leaf residents expect to hear the

outcome of an appeal they filed to block the removal of 40 large trees

at Waldo Woods to make way for 39 luxury condos. The Seattle City

Council, which passed a tree-protection resolution last month, is

awaiting legislation from the Department of Planning and Development

that would strengthen current protections for city trees, particularly

groves such as those targeted at Ingraham High and Waldo Woods.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/375510_tree19.html

 

5) An Eastern Washington judge recently sentenced a citizen to prison

for the destruction and theft of dozens of mature cedars, saying " it

is like stealing a part of the history of our country. " Yet in

Seattle, the mayor, Seattle Public Schools and Camp Fire, conjoined

with developers, are all too eager to raze two of three of our city's

remaining urban forests, to steal our history and the Earth's riches,

in the quest for excessive density and a quick buck. Fir, cedar, pine:

trees that tower, weaving a grove, bringing us the forest. Willow,

ash, birch, elm: trees that bend to the wind, the gusts spinning

branches. Apple, hawthorn, dogwood, plum: bearers of blossoms and

fruit. This is the litany of trees that carry wind through branches

and cradle the nests of birds. These are trees that have come of age,

the trunk's rings telling their years, that in Seattle are

disappearing by human design. City leaders boast of a goal for 30

percent tree canopy, yet strive towards it with the curious strategy

of deforestation, followed by the planting of saplings. In this

scheme, trees and forests are not treasured for their intrinsic value,

for their role as anchors in a chain of habitat. The role a mature

tree plays in stemming climate change is dismissed with a wink and a

nod to the new shoots of saplings — 70 times less effective in their

role in reducing pollution. Little heed is given to the fact that

thoughtless new construction abets the forces of climate change.

Beyond the service trees provide us is the home they make to wildlife.

In the Maple Leaf neighborhood, near Waldo Woods, I watched an eagle

land on the tallest fir. Waldo Woods is one of Seattle's three

remaining urban forests. On land once owned by Camp Fire, and the site

of the former Waldo Hospital, much of the forest is slated for

clearcutting, making way for new town home construction. While the

developer touts that part of the grove will be saved, there is no

mention that 72 trees will be lost, nor concern for the fate of the

remaining trees. Once the interlocked system of roots is broken, the

trees left behind are imperiled by the loss of their collective whole.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/18/11054/

 

Oregon:

 

6) Senator Smith is the single greatest obstacle to seeing Wild Rogue

legislation passed this year. Recall, both the House (DeFazio) and

Senate (Wyden) introduced legislation into Congress in July that would

safeguard 143 miles of the Lower Rogue River's tributaries as Wild and

Scenic. This protection would protect critical cold water streams from

unchecked logging and roading in roadless forest and would also help

aquatic species like wild salmon rebound from historic low levels.

Senator Smith has not endorsed the legislation and his allies in the

Senate are not allowing a hearing on the bill. Please email or call

Senator Smith and tell him to co-sponsor legislation to safeguard the

Wild Rogue. You may email him via his webpage at:

http://gsmith.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home or

call his office at 202.224.3753. The Register Guard wrote an pointed

editorial recently encouraging Senator Smith to co-sponsor the

legislation. That can be found at http://www.cascwild.org/news.html

Thanks for taking action now to Save the Wild Rogue!

 

 

7) The draft guidance document – " Oregon's Vision for Federal

Forestlands " – was developed by the Oregon Board of Forestry's Federal

Forestlands Advisory Committee in response to direction from Gov. Ted

Kulongoski. The governor has called on the Board to create a vision of

how federal forestlands should contribute to the overall

sustainability of Oregon's forests and to work to implement that

vision. In 2005, the Oregon Legislature, through Senate Bill 1072,

also gave direction for greater state involvement in federal forest

planning and management. And working more closely on federal forest

land management is consistent with the Board's strategic plan – the

Forestry Program for Oregon – which promotes sustainable policy

development for all of Oregon's forests. The draft guidance document

is available on this web page as a PDF file for downloading. You may

also request a hard copy be mailed to you by contacting Jeri Chase,

503-945-7201 or jchase. Comments may be submitted via

this website by selecting the " Submit Comments " link below or via

e-mail to the e-mail address below, and must be received no later than

5 p.m. http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/BOARD/FFAC.shtml#Public_Comment_Opportunity

 

 

California:

 

8) In 1997, the state spent a whopping $307 million fighting

wildfires. California has spent almost that much fighting wildfires

this year and there's still months to go before the supposed end of

the fire season. Last year, which was a very active wildfire year in

California, the state spent nearly $1.4 billion fighting wildfires.

And lawmakers wonder why the state budget is $15.2 billion in arrears.

It's an expensive, dangerous situation - and there is no sign that it

will let up. Maybe it's time to review century-old ideas about

wildfire management. There may be a better way or ways to do this. An

American Forest Resource Council study indicates wildfire damage could

be reduced by more than half by simply applying the

underbrush-thinning strategy in public forests that is so successful

in protecting private property. Such a process would not be cheap, but

those up-front costs would likely work out to be only a fraction of

what taxpayers now spend to suppress wildfires. Many experts believe

that an ounce of prevention could save tons of money. There may be

more than money at stake. Scientists reckon that more intelligent

forest management policies, which reduce the number and ferocity of

wildfires, could reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses by 1.6 billion

tons a year nationwide. That would be like taking 85 percent of

vehicles off U.S. highways. Any policy that reduces the number and

size of wildfires, increases our air quality. These are ideas worth

considering, because the strategies we employ now are not working.

California has experienced more than 2,000 wildfires this season,

scorching more than 1.2 million acres. Believing that's all there will

be in this fire season is not a reasonable expectation.

http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2008/08/16/opinion/081508a.txt

 

9) " We're in the biggest mass extinction since the dinosaurs, " she

said in her Stanford office, which is covered with photos of her

husband and two children. " People estimate we'll lose half of the

Earth's life forms in our lifetime. " Daily co-founded the

Stanford-based Natural Capital Project in 2006 and now chairs it.

Under her leadership, a team of scientists has created software called

InVEST, which can estimate the worth of, say, a forest full of

pollinating insects vital to nearby crop production. In November, it

will be distributed free. Already the Colombian government plans to

use it to relicense water and land access. Where does it make sense to

convert forests to agricultural production? Where should they be left

alone? Financially strapped countries could find the tool crucial,

advocates say. A poor nation might be tempted to let a rich

corporation develop land because it doesn't know the dollar value of

the natural resources that will be destroyed. " If you put yourself in

the shoes of a poor government, it's hard to turn down the cash deal, "

said Mark Tercek, a former official at investment giant Goldman Sachs

who recently left to head the Nature Conservancy. " It's hard to put a

value on these services. That's what (Daily) is trying to map out. "

This is a new way of saving nature. Until now, the conservation

movement has said people should care about nature for nature's sake -

with charity as the driving economic force to preserve land. And that,

Daily said, has failed. She sees a renaissance in the conservation

movement hinging on investment. Daily is the first biologist to attend

a brainstorming session at Goldman Sachs, where she picked some of

Wall Street's brightest minds about how to create a financial model

for pricing out nature. She has bridged the chasms among academic

disciplines to engage economists, lawyers and businesspeople to try to

forge a new paradigm for the conservation movement. She is only 43,

but has achieved more recognition for her " ecosystem services " work

than many scientists achieve in a lifetime. Most recently she won the

Sophie Prize, one of the environmental world's most esteemed honors.

" She's driven, " said Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich, author of " The

Population Bomb. " " She wants to save the world. " Born in Washington,

D.C., to an ophthalmologist and registered nurse, Daily grew up in San

Rafael on a wooded lot with deer, raccoons and quail and still loves

to " run around in the dirt, " except now it's often in far-off rain

forests. She is, her colleagues and friends say, brilliant but humble.

She makes clear that some of her ideas aren't new.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/18/MNH31227HE.DTL

 

 

10) The recent accord between UC Santa Cruz and a coalition that sued

over the impact of the university's expansion plans has failed to end

a lengthy tree-sit demonstration, which a judge has deemed illegal but

authorities have done little to collapse. " Our presence put pressure

on UCSC to negotiate a deal more binding than anything the university

has agreed to before, but we want more, " tree-sit spokeswoman Jennifer

Charles said in a recent statement. " The university has not changed

its plans to destroy 120 acres of forest and add 4,500 students to

this already overburdened city, so our opposition is still

essential. " Chancellor George R. Blumenthal - UC's chief negotiator

during yearlong talks with the city, county and concerned citizens -

warned that expansion plans will go forward regardless of the protest.

Tree-sitters were not a party to lawsuits dropped as a result of the

settlement.Still, Blumenthal said Friday, " I had hoped that they would

see the agreement as an opportunity to end their tree-sit and declare

a victory. " The resolve of tree sitters to remain in redwood perches

75 feet above Science Hill combined with the university's

determination to build a biomedical facility at the site have put the

two sides on a perilous collision course. Because the trees are slated

to be felled, university officials have long avoided the inevitable

question about how to remove the masked climbers without causing harm.

" They are sitting on the land where we plan - and where we will -

build a biomedical facility, " Blumenthal said Friday. He acknowledged

the difficult task ahead, saying only, " We have some ideas. " After the

tree-sit began last November, the university sued alleged

participants, including Charles, several students and a physics

professor who supported the effort. In March, a Superior Court judge

ordered an end to what he called an illegal occupation of university

property, but activists have continued to flout the ruling, knowing

its enforcement is fraught with liability. In the recent accord over

UCSC's Long Range Development Plan, which calls for growing the

student body to 19,500 by 2020, Blumenthal agreed to pay normal city

fees and bunk more students on campus in an effort to reduce impacts

on water use, traffic and the local rental stock. But Charles said the

city's " capitulation " does not safeguard native vegetation and wild

animals put at risk by new housing for 3,000 students. " The city's

lawsuit was never intended to protect the unique ecosystem of north

campus that UCSC plans on destroying, " Charles wrote. " Those are the

values that have called us into the trees, and those are things that

cannot be quantified or litigated. "

http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_10216040?nclick_check=1

 

11) If California's Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer gets her way,

Congress will vote next month to designate nearly 800,000 acres of

California land – an area larger than Rhode Island – as federally

protected wilderness. The House has already signed off on some of the

land, giving the designation for nearly a half-million acres in six

states. Roughly 60 percent of the land approved by the House is in

California. While few pieces of major legislation are moving in the

current Congress, wilderness bills have been a notable exception, and

it has been one of the most striking changes caused by the Democratic

takeover of Congress last year. By the time the current session ends,

environmentalists say, there's a good chance that an additional 2

million acres of wilderness could be declared off-limits to

development. That would double the amount set aside in the last

two-year congressional session, when Republicans were in the majority.

No other state has as much at stake as California. If approved, it

would be the largest expansion of protected wilderness in the state

since 1994, when Congress preserved more than 7 million acres by

establishing Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks and Mojave

National Preserve. This year's largest proposal for California,

sponsored by Boxer and co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Dianne

Feinstein, would designate more than 470,000 acres in Mono, Inyo and

Los Angeles counties as wilderness, along with 52 miles of Amargosa

River in Death Valley and Owens River's headwaters. It's called the

Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Wild Heritage Act. " It's an

historic opportunity, and I think it hearkens back to the values

people had when the Wilderness Act was first published in 1964, " said

Barbara Hill, executive director of the Oakland-based California

Wilderness Coalition. The Wilderness Act, signed into law by President

Johnson, closes all designated lands to commercial and recreational

development. It defines a wilderness area as " an area where the earth

and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is

a visitor who does not remain. " The land can be used only for such

things as hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, hunting or fishing.

There can be no mining, no energy exploration, no vehicles and no

permanent camps or structures. Opponents say it's elitist to keep

recreational users, including snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles,

off public lands intended to benefit everyone.

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1161879.html

 

12) They attracted reporters and more than a hundred interested

spectators. What they couldn't land, however, was a single elected

Democrat. Not one member of the party that controls Congress and the

state Legislature was willing to show up and discuss fires and fuel

management. And it's not, the GOP organizers insist, for lack of

inviting. We wouldn't expect Democrats and Republicans to join hands

and do a dance of peace around the giant bonfire that is Trinity

County, but wildland blazes are the summer's most urgent threat to the

homes and lungs of rural Northern Californians. It's criminally

negligent when politicians can't set aside their partisan differences

long enough to sit in the same room and talk for a morning. There are

different philosophies about our forests, but the voices on the

extremes drive out reasoned discussion. Indeed, some are barely in

touch with reality. Many conservatives still long for the good old

logging days and rant, as the soon-to-retire Rep. John Doolittle did

Wednesday, about " liberal zealots. " Well, those days were very good

for the north state economy, but they aren't coming back. The law and

public sentiment have shifted. It's time to adapt. The organizers of a

wildfire forum in Sacramento on Wednesday brought together three

members of the U.S. Congress and half a dozen state lawmakers. They

drew the California fire marshal, the head of the state Fire Safe

Council, Forest Service researchers and officials, and county

supervisors from around the region.

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/aug/15/partisan-divide-stymies-progress-forest-\

policy/

 

13) Named Hyperion, it's a coastal redwood that soars 379 feet, 1.2

inches into the foggy North Coast sky. For comparison, stand on the

corner of Fifth and Howard streets in San Francisco and crane your

neck up at the new 32-story InterContinental Hotel. Put Hyperion next

to it, and it would tower over the high-rise by 40 feet. It was

discovered less than two years ago, and its location was immediately

hushed up. Nature's tallest living skyscraper stands less than a day's

drive from San Francisco, and it's only natural that people are going

to want to go gawk at it. Hartley unfolds a map and waves his hand

over a region that covers half of Redwood National Park. Hyperion is

somewhere in there, he says, but that's as specific as he is going to

get. Nevertheless, he agrees to accompany me to the North Coast to

view some of the previous record holders, and, presumably, to steer me

away should I inadvertently wander too close to the tallest of them

all. By the time we finish, Hartley will have brought me around to his

way of thinking: To obsess about one particular tree is to miss the

point of redwood country. It's the forest that matters. Coastal

redwoods grow only in a narrow, foggy corridor from Big Sur to just

over the Oregon border. They once covered 2 million acres of Northern

California, but today fewer than 100,000 acres of old-growth forest

remain - and that's only because of the intervention of a small group

of enlightened people 90 years ago. On the ground, looking up, it's

almost impossible to grasp how enormous these arboreal titans are. But

I began to get an idea in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, in southern

Humboldt County. There Ruskin introduced me to Dave Stockton, who grew

up in a family of loggers but now runs the park's interpretive

association. He seemed to be on a first-name basis with every tree in

his park. In Founders Grove, just off the Avenue of the Giants,

Stockton led us to a fallen redwood reposing peacefully on the forest

floor like a reclining Buddha. On its side, it was as tall as a house.

It had broken into pieces, the largest of them longer than a city

block. Together they contained a million pounds of lumber. In 1991,

the Dyerville Giant, as it is known, was thought to be the tallest

tree in the world, topping out at 369.2 feet. And then, in a blustery

March storm, it blew over, taking four other redwoods with it like

toppling dominoes. The crash was so deafening that people in Weott,

the nearest town, thought a freight train had derailed. It caused the

needle to jump on a seismograph 10 miles away.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/15/TRT611L3TL.DTL

 

14) The Center for Biological Diversity and six other environmental

groups are suing the U.S. Forest Service, alleging the federal agency

is failing to protect 3.5 million acres of pristine forest lands in

Southern California from development. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in

U.S. District Court in San Francisco, argues that the Forest Service's

2005 land and resource management plan failed to protect forest lands

stretching from Monterey County to the Mexico border. The four forests

are the San Bernardino, Angeles, Cleveland and Los Padres national

forests. " The big concern with the management plan is that it very

much favors commercial development and exploitation versus

conservation and protection of wildlife and plants, " David Hogan,

spokesman for the environmental groups, said Friday in a telephone

interview. " It seems that under the Bush administration, it's been the

policy of the Forest Service to really push for development of public

lands like these national forests at the expense of nature. " The

Forest Service's plan will prompt an influx of road building on forest

land, an increase in off-roading activity and gas and oil exploration,

Hogan said. Forest Service spokesman John Heil said the agency is

aware of the lawsuit, but he couldn't comment due to the pending

litigation. The Southern California forests contain an " impressively

diverse landscape " that includes the Big Sur coastline and the

snow-capped peaks of the San Gabriel,

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_10233025

 

15) Can you believe it! Both current Humboldt County tree-sits are

officially saved and protected. Yesterday I, and other Forest

Defenders, and a crew from National Geographic accompanied Chief

Forester and President of the newly formed Humboldt Redwood Company,

Mike Jani, to Fern Gully Tree Village, Freshwater, CA, and the grove

around the tree known as " Jerry, " that has been a major part of the

struggle. Earlier, activists also hiked Jani in the well known Nanning

Creek Tree Village, headed-up by long time Forest Defender, Amy. " I

promise that none of these trees will be cut in the groves, " earnestly

stated Jani after asked about the protection of the tree-sits. Jani

was extremely amenable and responsive to the succession of questions

asked by the numerous activist present for such an monumental

occasion. Each tree grove will become a class 1 wildlife preserve with

a class 2 wildlife boundary. Which means that no trees can be cut in

the direct grove, they are fully protected. Second-growth trees can,

potentially, be harvested in the class 2 zones " to build up growth and

allow expansion, " Jani explained to us. " I still can't believe it. I'm

in shock, " said a Forest Defender who has been involved for over a

year at the Fern Gully tree-sit. The overwhelming joy and immense

happiness was palpable as the morning fog. Ear-to-ear smiles and

warming-loving hugs were exchanged in excess and activists spoke of

the years of struggle that it took to save these ancient groves. Fern

Gully was a 5 year struggle and Nanning Creek was started around 3

years ago. Without the determination, perseverance, and infinite

resolve of the numerous activists and Forest Defenders involved in the

protection of these groves, they wouldn't have remained standing to

this day; they'd be the patios and jacuzzis of affluent homes in the

hills. You can call me anytime and I'm totally willing for people to

come out to our land in groups of 20 or 30 to review and observe and

research any of our Timber Harvest Plans. If people come onto our

land, we won't call the police but remind them of our policy and

suggest that they get a permit, " Jani responded when asked about

trespassing on now Humboldt Redwood Company land.

http://www.forestdefenders.com/2008/08/13/mike-jani-promises-that-fern-gully-and\

-nanning-creek-

tree-villages-are-saved/ He told KMUD news reporter Cynthia Elkins

that their site visit started at Nanning Creek, where tree-sits have

been up for three years.

http://kmud.org/site001/images/stories/audio/TreesittersHRC.mp3

 

16) MRC Chief Forester Mike Jani spent Wednesday bouncing back and

forth between offices in Scotia to help with the transition. In

addition to closing Scotia's sawmill during the transition to conduct

an inventory of lumber and logs, Jani said MRC is also stopping log

deliveries from the woods to log decks during the transition so his

staff can check out SCOPAC's active timber harvest sites. To implement

its business model for SCOPAC's former 210,000 acres of timberlands,

Jani said areas covered under existing timber harvest plans that are

slated for clear cuts will be changed to select harvest methods or

other practices consistent with MRC's forestry philosophy. Each

harvest site will be looked at individually to determine how it will

be logged by the new company. " We are not going to just cookie-cutter

it, " Jani said. Simultaneously, an old-growth policy will also be put

in place to retain those specified trees when logging resumes.

Overall, MRC officials say they are moving quickly while trying to

minimize disruptions. " Whatever we do, it's all pointed at being an

up-and-running and functioning company in a couple of days, " Jani

said. MRC foresters worked in advance and researched forest practice

rules, which Jani said included discussions with state forestry

agencies. Permits with California Department of Fish and Game and CAL

FIRE will be finalized during the next few days to clear the way for

logging in what has been described by a SCOPAC official as the peak of

the harvest season.

http://eurekareporter.com/article/080730-humboldt-redwood-co-launched

 

17) A spokeswoman for the governor disputed the assertion that the

administration hasn't done enough to contain wildfires. " Under the

governor's leadership, California is better prepared to fight fires

and focuses more on fire prevention than ever before, " said Lisa Page.

Environmental groups say that preventing wildfires is on page two of

the Republican agenda — significantly behind the profit to be had by

timber companies. " When they say we haven't done enough logging and

other clearing, it's an oversimplification of the problem, " said Paul

Mason, Deputy Director of the Sierra Club. " The important thing to

realize is that fire is natural and we can't make it go away —

figuring out how to live with it is the challenge. " Republicans

opposed a 2004 bill by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, that would

have increased the required amount of defensible space around a home

from 30 to 100 feet. " The real punch line here is that it was an

important bill to make things safer, and these people voted against

it, " said Mason. " They're only looking to scapegoat now because they

haven't done anything proactively. " One fire safety bill in the

Legislature, SB1617, by Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, would

charge $50 to homeowners in rural areas that fall in the state's

firefighting responsibilities, which amounts to one-third of

California and includes nearly 1 million homes, with thousands more

being built and planned for fire-prone areas. She projects the $50 fee

would raise $45 million a year for fire protection. Her bill passed

the state Senate and is awaiting consideration in the Assembly. Rural

counties and legislators object that their residents already pay extra

for fire protection and shouldn't be taxed twice as they would under

Kehoe's proposal. Kehoe counters that California needs both her

proposal and the insurance surcharge being negotiated by

Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders. " We can't afford not to fight

fires. Homes and lives are at stake, " she said. " These fires are only

going to become more frequent and more intense. "

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_10195974?nclick_check=1

 

18) The Citizens of Lake Tahoe, a shrinking population no longer have

a voice in the Tahoe Basin as has been evidenced in recent planning

hearings for the Sandy Beach/fractional development. On July 10th the

Placer County Planning Commission denied a request for continuance of

the hearing to a venue change to Lake Tahoe ignoring a petition from

81 Tahoe Vista residents who wanted to be more involved in the

decision making process. On July 23rd the TRPA Governing Board

deferred all planning responsibility for project approval to Placer

County. Despite petitions from hundreds of locals requesting a

reasonable density project none of the agencies charged with

protecting Lake Tahoe seem to care. Decisions were made based on

economics. Economics for the developers and economics What is going on

here now is precedent setting for every community plan on the North

Shore especially for the more transitional areas like Tahoe Vista and

Carnelian Bay and paves the way for a future of high density and

massive developments. Sandy Beach as proposed is almost three times

the mass of Tonopalo, is taller than Tonopalo, has twice the units,

proposes 60% removal of all of the trees on the site upon project

completion and denudes everything else by 95% site grading.

Additionally, this project takes mom and pop motel rooms of 300 square

feet out of existence and converts them to McMansions of

indeterminable size and number of bedrooms with requirements of one

parking spot per residence- .There are not even requirements that

these units be available for nightly rental to tourists. It becomes an

exclusive Wyndham Resort for the very wealthy, where now it is a

campground available for families of any economic position. The

community plan theme for Tahoe Vista specifically states that future

resort development should be of a " low intensity rustic Tahoe design. "

There is nothing rural or rustic about this project. Where is the Lake

in this equation? Where are the agencies chartered to protect it? Why

isn't the community voice being heard? Why does everyone think that

more high density development is the solution to our economic demise,

better lake clarity, and reduction of traffic concerns? An appeal

hearing has been scheduled in front of the Board of Supervisors. Date

still undetermined. Everyone needs to voice their concerns immediately

to: bos Attn: Tahoe Vista Partners/Sandy Beach appeal

for the agencies. jerry

 

 

19) Shuttling guests through a maze of rough work roads in the

bustling Martis Camp development, Northstar-At-Tahoe and Martis Camp

brought club members and guests to the base of Northstar's Lookout

Mountain Saturday to view the new runs and base area of the much

anticipated Martis Camp Express lift. In a move to connect the Martis

Camp community to Northstar resort, the old Lookout Express chairlift

has been extended by 2,306 lineal feet to terminate at a new base

station just inside Martis Camp. In total, the new lift will be 5,128

feet long with a vertical drop of 1,722 feet. The lift will be open to

all Northstar skiers and riders, while Martis Camp club members will

also have access to a private warming hut and shuttle service from

their homes. Tim Beck, Booth Creek's executive vice president of

planning, explained the details of the extended lift, the new runs,

and the low-impact effort taken in their construction. " This has been

a very sensitive project for us, " said Beck referring to the forestry

work on Lookout Mountain. " For all the glading work we've hand cut the

timber and brought the logs out without machinery because we can't

bring heavy equipment into these areas. " Three existing advanced runs

will be extended in the development, in addition to the creation of

one brand new intermediate run to the east of the existing Lookout

Mountain trails. " We tried to create a unique run that was more

sensitive to the land than it looks, " said Beck, discussing the new

ski run, an intermediate called Washoe.

http://www.sierrasun.com/article/20080820/NEWS/514451/-1/OPINION & parentprofile=-\

1

 

Montana:

 

20) Earlier in the week, a timber industry-friendly economist from the

University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research,

claimed that Montana's timber industry will face tough times unless we

cut down more of our national forests. While this argument is often

trotted out by industry supporters, let's look at the current economic

reality. In case anyone's failed to notice, the overall U.S. economy

is in serious trouble. Specific to the timber industry, the collapse

of the housing market has resulted in a staggering drop in demand for

lumber. Earlier this year, Stimson Timber Company's vice president

told mill workers at their now defunct Bonner mill, " We are in the

midst of one of the worst housing markets of our working lifetimes -

most producers simply cannot sell the lumber they have made. "

Meanwhile, the Western Wood Products Association reported, " we're now

in the steepest two-year decline in lumber consumption ever. It's left

us with way too much lumber on the market for current demand. " Throw

in nearly $5 a gallon for diesel - resulting in a doubling of

transportation costs - and couple that with lumber prices that are

nearly half what they were two years ago, and it's easy to see why

this sector of the economy is struggling. Perhaps these economic

realities are the reason that many national forest and state land

timber sales are going without any bids. Yet, we should still believe

that logging more public land is the answer? The fact of the matter is

that most of Montana's mills were built during a time of (unnaturally)

cheap timber, gas and wholly unsustainable logging practices on public

and private lands. It's simply unrealistic to think that such large,

centralized mills would weather the 21st century's profound economic

realities unscathed. This is especially true given that most of the

Montana timber mills ship their finished products all around the

country, thereby incurring huge transportation costs, as well as

having to deal with the brunt of the housing market collapse that has

- so far - largely missed Montana.

http://www.newwest.net/citjo/article/the_myth_of_the_more_logging_silver_bullet/\

C33/L33/

 

21) Two militant greens standing in the middle of an isolated,

snow-crusted road in a place where a road should never be; bracing

their bodies against a train of logging trucks, snowmobiles, and

Forest Service jeeps groaning at the gate, demanding entry; willingly

subjecting themselves to arrest by Idaho troopers armed with guns,

clubs, and a draconian and sub-constitutional new law. All in a

last-gasp attempt to halt a vastly destructive timber sale in the

heart of the nation's largest roadless area, a timber sale two federal

judges had already found to be a brazen assault on our national

environmental laws. Charged with felony conspiracy to commit a

misdemeanor, Mike Roselle, a founder of Earth First!, and Tom Fullum,

of the Native Forest Network, now face possible five-year prison terms

and $50,000 fines under Idaho's so-called Earth First! Statute - a law

geared to smother popular dissent against the transgressions of

multinational timber companies by slamming the jailhouse door on

anyone bold enough to bodily protest logging on federal lands in the

Potato Atate. The bill was signed into law in 1993 by then-Governor

Cecil Andrus, a noted liberal who called the Cove/ Mallard protesters

" just a bunch of kooks. " The proximate cause of Roselle's and Fullum's

travails, and a new round of logging in the Cove/Mallard Roadless

Area, is an act of organizational cowardice committed by one of the

country's oldest and wealthiest environmental corporations: The

Wilderness Society. This essay is excerpted from Red State Rebels:

Tales of Grassroots Resistance in the Heartland.

http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair08162008.html

 

Colorado:

 

22) A proposed federal rule that would govern Colorado's 4.1 million

acres of roadless national forests opens the door to backcountry

mining, timbering, drilling and other development, environmental

organizations said Tuesday. The draft rule is rushed and " full of

giveaways that could forever change the Colorado backcountry, " said

Joel Webster, roadless initiative manager for the Theodore Roosevelt

Conservation Partnership. In particular, the federal government

" didn't listen " on the need to protect the lands of northwest

Colorado's Roan Plateau, Webster said. Environmental and conservation

organizations have filed suit to halt the drilling plan approved by

the Bureau of Land Management for the plateau. The partnership and

other organizations are organizing opposition to the draft rule during

the public-comment period and are urging Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter to

insist on full protection against development for roadless areas.

Ritter should hold firm, said state Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand

Junction. " Ritter deserves credit for hanging with the deal, " Penry

said. Nonetheless, the federal draft rule contains " common-sense

improvements " to the Colorado proposal, Penry said. " Wildlife habitat

in Colorado is at real risk, " said Eddie Kochman, a member of the

roadless-area task force that put together the Colorado petition for

the treatment of the affected national forests. At a minimum, the

Colorado Division of Wildlife should objectively examine the possible

effects of the draft rule on wildlife and make appropriate

recommendations, Kochman said. The draft rule diverges from the

Colorado petition by making 8,200 acres available for ski areas to

expand and allows lumber to be cut in the name of fire suppression and

cutting insect-damaged timber far from communities and urban areas,

said Dave Petersen, Colorado field director for Trout Unlimited. The

final rule should prohibit ranchers from using motorized vehicles in

areas where they're not now allowed and bar the extension of utility

corridors through roadless areas, Petersen said.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2008/08/19/082008_1b_roadless.\

html

 

23) The ground still crunches beneath footsteps at the scorched site

of the June 2007 " Y Fire. " Pine needles — once green, then red, now

black — cover the remains of an old fireline that snakes through the

torched forest. Grounds foreman John Carmichael said the fire went

from the ground to the crown in about 30 seconds and carried active

flames for five to six hours. " You could see the flames shooting out

above this rise, " said Center Director Julie Watkins, motioning out

the window of her office at the ranch. " That situation made believers

out of people who were not being aggressive. " Watkins deals daily with

the " real difficult " decision to start clear-cutting the property of

dead lodgepole pine, which makes up an overwhelming majority of the

ranch's tree population. " We're on schedule to complete the logging of

areas really key to defensible space, " Watkins said. " And then we get

to start dealing with the trail system. " Snow Mountain Ranch is a

place that relies heavily on return visitors, sometimes across

generations, and the removal of trees has changed one of the most

cathartic experiences of visiting the ranch: a heavily wooded and

tranquil arrival that served as a shift from U.S. Highway 40 to the

ranch. " You transitioned into this special place that their families

have been coming to for years, " Watkins said. " Suddenly, we were

disrupting that memory for them. But from a safety standpoint, we just

had to do it. " On July 11, Leela Nadler, a Colorado State University

student, sat with a group of girls on a footbridge over a small creek

at Snow Mountain Ranch. She's been coming to the ranch for 15 years to

attend the Indian Nepalese Heritage Camp. " When I came here as a kid,

there were trees everywhere, " said Nadler, who was at the camp's

kickoff cookout. " It's really sad. " Across stump fields, several

nearby buildings were visible from the picnic area, but Nadler said

she remembers a time when the trees were so thick you couldn't see any

of them. Paradoxically, Nadler has lost her bearings with the

increased visibility. " I actually have a hard time finding my way

around, " she said. " It's still really nice. It's just sad because it

doesn't look like it used to. I guess I'll get used to it. "

http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/aug/17/dying_forests_increase_wildfire_d\

anger_across_w

est/

 

 

New Mexico:

 

24) It turns out that a tree doesn't have to fall in the forest to

make a sound. Upright trees make plenty of sounds, even though human

ears can't hear them. But few aside from botanists would have known

about the voices of the trees if two guys had not pounded an old meat

thermometer turned ultrasonic microphone into a beetle-infested piñon.

When they did, composer David Dunn and physicist Jim Crutchfield heard

" sounds that went on, uninterrupted, for long periods of time. It was

a constant ultrasound, and it didn't matter where you were, the sound

was there, " Crutchfield says. " It was bizarre. " The cacophony came

from a tree besieged by drought — and from a frenzy of tree-invading

beetles. The duo's investigation began after Crutchfield's New Mexican

piñon pine trees came under attack. " I had to cut down 100 trees on my

lot, " he says, " and I wanted to know what killed them. " It was not the

drought that ultimately destroyed the pines but the invasion of a

specific type of bark beetle and its accompanying fungus.

Crutchfield's neighbors turned to pesticides to thwart the insect

attack, but had no luck. The trees still died. But it was the tree

deaths and the failure of the pesticides that first led Crutchfield,

who models complex chaotic systems at the University of California,

Davis, and Dunn to propose a radical solution to dampen beetle

infestations: They want to play deceptive ultrasound to confuse the

tree-devouring bugs, luring them away from vulnerable forests and

keeping the insects from spreading to new territories. Crutchfield

says the noise could perhaps even stop the beetles from inadvertently

adding so much carbon to the air that humans' contributions to global

warming would become irrelevant. The idea to use ultrasound as a

beetle-defense tactic began percolating in the pair's minds about four

years ago. As Crutchfield's trees were dying, Dunn, who is president

of the Art and Science Laboratory in Santa Fe, N.M., was fabricating a

device to listen to the ultrasonic sounds of nature. The environmental

sound recordist had decided to create a high-frequency recorder while

working at the Detroit Zoo, where he learned that endangered Tanzanian

frogs used ultrasonic calls to find mates. As the pines'

liquid-transporting cells dehydrate, the trees' water columns cave in,

creating ultrasonic pops. Scientists believe that extended periods of

dehydration and drought cause the water cells to implode and give off

the pops, which are near the 100 to 300 kilohertz range. By

comparison, the highest frequency a human can hear is 20 kilohertz.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/35257/title/Pop_chirp_bite_crunch_che\

w

 

Wyoming:

 

25) A ban on " logging, mining and other development on 58.5 million

acres " of national forests has been overturned by a federal judge in

Wyoming, with the judge stating that the original ban " flagrantly and

cavalierly railroaded this country's present environmental laws. " My

guess is he wasn't a fan of said ban. The ban, which is known as the

" roadless rule " as it in part prevents roads from being built on

undeveloped lands in about a third of national forests, was created by

the outgoing Clinton administration in 2001. Judge Clarence A. Brimmer

threw out the rule in 2003, and the Bush administration adopted new

rules for federal lands. These rules necessitated that governors of

states looking to protect their land petition the federal government

to do so, and were struck down in favor of the original rules in 2006

be a different judge. Then THAT ruling was appealed, and Judge Brimmer

came back into the picture to strike down the throwing out of the

rules. And we're back to the 2003 rules. So. Now that we're this far,

this new ruling is going to be appealed by environmental groups, while

the state of Wyoming, which challenged the striking down of the

throwing out, is claiming that these new rules are actually good for

national forests, as he told the Associated Press of the " potential

harm the roadless rule poses to our national forests due to beetle

infestation and forest fires. " Though it seems like the rules we're

using now make it so that states actually have to ask to keep

protected land protected. Which seemingly makes the land, I don't

know, unprotected?

http://blogs.takepart.com/2008/08/13/federal-judge-overturns-ban-on-roads-in-nat\

ional-forests/

 

Illinois:

 

26) This latest scam is called the Buttermilk Hill - Talbott Hollow

Blowdown Project on the Shawnee National Forest in Jackson County,

Illinois. It consists of dropping ping pong balls of incendiary

chemicals from helicopters along with using napalm from drip

torches---I wish I were making this up---to burn 5,650 acres in and

around the Shawnee National Forest. In the best tradition of clear

cutting apologists and tobacco industry biostitutes, the Forest

Service rationalizes this project by saying it is essential for the

health of the forest. However, forest protection advocates like myself

are not buying the old, " We gotta burn it to keep it from burning "

argument---or any of the other distortions of fact and twisting of

logic which the Forest Service is selling. We have studied the science

and walked the land and concluded that this project is just another in

a long line of shameful attempts to benefit bureaucracy at the expense

of the forest and the taxpayers. If you would like to see the full

comments and objections against this project from environmental groups

like Heartwood, RACE (Regional Association of Concerned

Environmentalists), and Friends of Bell Smith Springs, please let me

know and I will send you these large files. Please understand that I

think burning may be useful in maintaining a small forest " glade "

opening and that burning may be entirely appropriate to maintain other

open lands such as praire---but this project is way beyond that.

Natural lightning fires are rare and generally burn 1/2 to 2 acres at

a time---in the rain. That is not even in the same reality as this

5,650 acre proposal. The bottom line is that right now under the Bush

Administration's mis-named " Healthy Forest Initiative " (aka the " No

Tree Left Behind Act " ) there is money available to burn on National

Forests. This Buttermilk Hill - Talbott Hollow Blowdown Project is

just a shameless attempt by the Forest Service to perpetuate their

bureaucracy by feeding at the trough of those public funds. I believe

our tax money can be better spent doing projects which actually

benefit the forest. That is why I really need your help in opposing it

this threat to the forest and this waste of taxpayer money. Even if

you have already submitted a comment on this project---please submit

another: comments-eastern-shawnee -

bellsmithsprings

 

Indiana:

 

27) Researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, US,

have shown that trees can suck up organic nitrogen compounds produced

from pollutants and turn them into useful amino acids. Plants are

already known to use their leaves to absorb inorganic airborne

nitrogen molecules, such as ammonia or nitrogen dioxide, and turn them

into amino acids. A relatively reactive compound called peroxyacetyl

nitrate can be absorbed by leaves, although it''s not clear whether

plants actually use it. " There''s a difference between (nitrogen

species) going into the leaves and that process being useful, " said

Paul Shepson from Purdue University. The organic nitrates in question

are created from the plant''s own chemicals. Many trees emit reactive

molecules known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the most common

of which is called isoprene. These VOCs are so reactive that they

quickly get consumed in the atmosphere, and some react with nitrogen

oxides (NOx) - emitted from combustion engines - to form longer-lived

organic nitrate compounds, more stable than peroxyacetyl nitrate.

Shepson''s team studied how seedlings of the trembling aspen, a

widespread North American native and an isoprene emitter, reacted to

an analogue of these compounds called 1-nitroxy-3-methyl butane. This

compound had been radiolabelled with a specific stable nitrogen

isotope - nitrogen-15 - which makes up less than half a per cent of

Earth''s nitrogen. The team then mushed up the leaves and measured how

much nitrogen-15 was in them.The researchers tracked two amino acids:

glutamate, the first amino acid the tree makes from absorbed nitrogen

compounds, and aspartate, which is formed further downstream in the

biochemical process. In test leaves, both amino acids contained low

but significant levels of the nitrogen isotope, whereas those in

control leaves contained almost none. The team also measured how fast

the labelled organic nitrate was taken up, and found that it was

absorbed at up to half the rate of NO2, and one tenth the rate of

peroxyacetyl nitrates.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/trees-can-suck-up-pollutants-to-t\

urn-them-into-

useful-amino-acids_10085877.html

 

New Hampshire:

 

28) CONCORD — A federal judge has rejected an attempt by environmental

groups to put a halt to two logging projects in New Hampshire's White

Mountain National Forest while they prepare an appeal. The Sierra

Club, Wilderness Society and Center for Biological Diversity are

working to appeal U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe's order in

June, which rejected their arguments that the plan wasn't reviewed

adequately by the U.S. Forest Service and others. On Friday, McAuliffe

ruled that the mere existence of potential environmental harm doesn't

necessarily mean that the projects will result in " irreparable

injury. " The environmental groups claim the Forest Service violated

several federal laws as it reviewed two timber cutting options, the

Than Forest Resource Management Project and the Batchelder Brook

Vegetation Management Project.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080815/NEWS/80815060/\

-1/rss95

 

USA:

 

29) " You have no idea how many times I've hear someone whisper, 'You

know, if someone would just put out their campfire, this guy would be

out of work' " said veteran firefighter Al Coffeehammer. " People don't

realize that lighting, dry conditions, or firefly overpopulation all

cause forest fires. Firemen are treated like they're just here to

clean up after someone's dumb mistakes because of the message Smoky

has passed. " Following the admission, Smoky Bear was placed on

indefinite suspension from his post as official mascot of wildfire

prevention. At this point, it seems unlikely that he will return.

Frontrunners to replace Smoky in future advertisements are the noble

desert armadillo, the spotted owl, and Puck from the original Real

World. Despite being a huge asshole, Puck has never burned anything

down. Now that the slogan that they have used for the past sixty years

is out the window, the United States Forest Service is seeking a new

slogan as well. The Forest Service hopes to create a new, more edgy

slogan that will reach a new generation of Americans that never

related to the rather mild mannered Smoky.

http://www.smthop.com/comments.asp?NewsNum=1107 & comment=true

 

30) " Salvage Logging and Its Ecological Consequences " is a must-read

volume for policymakers, students, academics, practitioners, and

professionals involved in all aspects of forest management, natural

resource planning, and forest conservation. " Salvage Logging and Its

Ecological Consequences " brings together three leading experts on

forest ecology to explore a wide range of issues surrounding the

practice of salvage logging. They gather and synthesize the latest

research and information about its economic and ecological costs and

benefits, and consider the impacts of salvage logging on ecosystem

processes and biodiversity. The book examines: 1) what salvage logging

is and why it is controversial, 2) natural and human disturbance

regimes in forested ecosystems, 3) differences between salvage

harvesting and traditional timber harvesting, 4) scientifically

documented ecological impacts of salvage operations, 5) the importance

of land management objectives in determining appropriate

post-disturbance interventions, 6) Brief case studies from around the

world highlight a variety of projects, including operations that have

followed wildfires, storms, volcanic eruptions, and insect

infestations. 7) In the final chapter, the authors discuss policy

management implications and offer prescriptions for mitigating the

impacts of future salvage harvesting efforts.

http://www.islandpress.org

 

 

31) Foreign investors are snapping up hundreds of thousands of acres

of timberland in Georgia and other states. Individual and corporate

investors — mostly from Canada and Europe — owned more than 810,000

acres of agricultural land in Georgia as of February 2007, the U.S.

Department of Agriculture reported this month. That's an increase from

about 720,000 acres a year earlier and 615,000 in February 2005.

Georgia ranked ninth in the nation among states. Nationwide,

foreign-held agricultural land jumped from 15.9 million acres in 2006

to 20.4 million acres last year, after a decade that saw virtually no

change in the numbers, according to the USDA.

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/08/18/story1.html

 

32) You need a scoreboard to keep track of the litigation vortex that

has tied up conservation of national forest roadless areas for the

better part of a decade. The latest salvo was a ruling August 12 by

U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer, who tossed out the Clinton

roadless rule, which was reinstated in 2006 after Judge Elizabeth

LaPorte tossed out the Bush roadless rule, which was adopted in 2005

after a 2003 Brimmer ruling tossed out the Clinton rule, which was

adopted in 2001. Got all that? In the national forests, all roads lead

to the courthouse. The good news is that the uncertainty created by

the litigious interregnum has resulted in the Forest Service approving

few new roads in the 58 million acres of roadless areas. It's good

news because the national forest system has too many roads as it is.

Roads cost money to build and maintain, they damage fish and wildlife

habitat, and they degrade watersheds that supply clean drinking water

for 60 million people. Legislation offers the certainty and political

buy-in that is not possible with administrative rules that can be

erased by executive fiat or sued out of existence. The Wilderness Act

offers a useful precedent. In 1939, some national forest roadless

areas were given a degree of administrative protection through the

Forest Service's " U " regulations. In part, it was a Forest Service

strategy to fend off what the forest rangers perceived as land grabs

by the rival National Park Service. But the visionaries who brought us

the Wilderness Act, led by Benton MacKaye and Howard Zahniser, knew

full well the vulnerabilities of administrative regulations. So began

the 17-year battle for legislation, culminating in 1964, to create

what we now know as the National Wilderness Preservation System. The

Wilderness Act provides that Congress may designate as wilderness any

federal lands that meet the law's qualifying criteria. However,

neither the " U " regulations nor the initial wilderness designations in

the Wilderness Act protected all of the roadless areas in the national

forest system. Old wilderness hands with long memories will recall the

stream of court battles that attended the Forest Service's Roadless

Area Review and Evaluations (RARE) during the 1970s and early 1980s.

The result of the bickering and dickering was the cascade of 1984

wilderness bills that the Democratic Congress and the Reagan

administration worked out. The bills were developed state by state,

codifying locally negotiated compromises. A quarter-century later, the

future of remaining roadless areas is clouded by lawsuits.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/republican/roadless-forest\

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