Guest guest Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 --Today for you 35 new articles about earth's trees! (402nd edition) --Audio and Video version of Earth's Tree News: http://forestpolicyresearch.org --To Subscribe / to the world-wide email format send a blank email to: earthtreenews- OR earthtreenews- In this Issue: BC-Canada PNW-USA Index --British Columbia 1) Suzuki: How much is a forest worth? 2) Loggers have to leave less waste behind? 3) Save Cathedral grove again! 4) Donate to save Valahalla mile, 5) New ways to measure how much forest they destroy, 6) Comment for Caribou, 7) Specific failings of claims to saving Caribou, --Canada: 8) Make sure our boreal birds have a summer home to return to, 9) Save Ogoki Forest, 10) African tree workers, 11) Opportunities in the New Brunswick Forest Sector, 12) 10 inches in diameter and 198 years old, 13) Taking credit for an industry give away, 14) Forestry jobs lost in Atlantic Canada won't come back, --Washington: 15) Spencer Beebe's and his Cessna study Salmon habitat --California: 16) Forests aren't absorbing as much carbon dioxide as in the past, 17) Save-the-Redwoods League acquires 216-acres in Humboldt, 18) SPI land Management, 19) SPI's rezone of over 7000 acres, 20) Aftermath of " Lightning Siege, " 21) Un-permitted golf course debacle, 22) Pay to save 1,600 acres on top of Mount Konocti, 23) What's a State Emergency Assessment Team? 24) Buy the right pencils, --Montana: 25) Plum Creek starts explaining latest scam to counties, 26) Restoration promises likely will never be met, --Utah: 27) In the midst of a vicious beetle cycle --Illinois: 28) 400 trees to be lost to Commonwealth Edison --North Carolina: 29) EF! Hippies mourn death of trees! --Massachusetts: 30) New insights into how trees recover from injuries --Maine: 31) Issue stop work order for clearing of trees on Johnson Hill --Hawaii: 32) Koolau Mountain's watershed produces the maority of Oahu's water --USA: 33) Appeals process for healthy forest initiative established, 34) Stop Junk Mail, 35) Bush Family turning public land to private cash, Articles: British Columbia: 1) How much is a forest worth? And how do we calculate that value? Do we simply count the trees and figure out how much we could get for them if we were to cut them down and turn them into logs, lumber, and pulp and paper? That's been the traditional approach, but it hasn't served us well. A forest is much more than the timber it holds. A forest provides habitat for wildlife, recreational opportunities for hikers and hunters, a place for quiet contemplation, and filtration and storage of drinking water. And because forests scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their trees and soils, they are a critical " hedge " against global warming. When we take into account all of the ecological benefits, or services, a forest provides, we have to reevaluate the way we make decisions about how we manage them. Clear-cutting an old-growth forest may provide temporary jobs and profits, as well as two-by-fours to build homes and furniture, but if it also results in the release of carbon stored in the trees and soil, thus contributing to global warming, or if it wipes out the habitat of an animal that is crucial to the natural order, then the short-term gains may not be worthwhile. Two new reports illustrate the idea of taking into account the full suite of values that a forest represents, or its " natural capital " , when making decisions about resource management. Dollars and Sense: The Economic Rationale to Protect the Spotted Owl Habitat in British Columbia and The Real Wealth of the Mackenzie Region: Assessing the Natural Capital Values of a Northern Boreal Ecosystem both argue for a more holistic approach to managing our natural ecosystems. For a long time, we've only considered the immediate market value of resources when making forest-use decisions. In doing so, we've ignored the enormous value of the ecosystem services that are critical to biodiversity, human health, and community well-being. Although it's not easy to put a dollar value on things such as carbon sequestration and storage, water filtration, clean-water availability, and species diversity, it's foolish to leave them out of the equation. For Dollars and Sense, researchers looked not just at the value of timber in old-growth forests in B.C. inhabited by the endangered spotted owl, but also at the value of recreational uses, nontimber forest products, and the role the forests play in storing carbon. They concluded that " in 72 of 81 scenarios, increased forest conservation yields better economic returns than does status quo logging and limited conservation. " The Mackenzie report concludes that the nonmarket value of that region is 11 times greater than the market value. The researchers estimate that the market value, based on gross domestic product, is $41.9 billion a year, while the non-market value, based on 17 ecosystem services, is $483.8 billion. http://www.straight.com/article-162143/will-saving-bc-forest-save-us-money 2) Logging companies are going to be required to leave less waste behind to help build a new bioenergy industry in B.C., Forests Minister Pat Bell said Tuesday. But Bell said Victoria is looking at incentives, not heavy-handed rules, in this latest remaking of regulations for the troubled B.C. forest sector. The province is drafting new regulations that will remove many of the barriers to using the whole log, and once that is done, Bell said he expects companies to leave less waste. He said government, as landlord, is going to have to be involved in ensuring more value is extracted from the forests than is the case today. The motive, he said, is to develop a new bioenergy industry that will transform the way wood is used. The minister's comments come after the province's own fiscal update shows revenues from the industry are expected to plunge 36 per cent this year. In an address at the University of B.C.'s Clean Energy Research Centre, Bell compared the move to full log utilization with the transformation that hit the Interior industry 50 years ago when sawmill waste was used to provide fibre for a newly emerging pulp industry. " We are going to set the right framework to make sure that economics drive that decision and achieve that decision, " Bell said in a later interview. Bell said one of the ways the province can create a better framework is to change the way it charges stumpage on Crown timber. Now, companies are charged the full stumpage rate on any logs they bring out that may be of lesser quality than initially projected. As a result, companies avoid the risk of being billed too much by leaving any questionable wood behind. " Once the tree hits the ground we should be utilizing every single piece of the tree we can use within the economics of it. The damage has been done, the tree's on the ground, let's utilize it, so that speaks to a different way of charging. " http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=c5657d14-42e3-48b\ c-a0d6-f85759b650ae 3) A wonderful old growth forest around a magical lake that is close enough for the general public to visit, which they have been doing for decades. Island Timberlands will log it soon if you don't help stop the destruction. Please check it out, view the slides, take a tour. Labour Day Lake is surrounded by some of the last old growth forest that has not yet been logged in Cathedral Grove. The forested Lake and its waterfalls create the pristine and abundant water supply for the entire Cathedral Grove Watershed, which is also an officially designated drinking watershed, supplying drinking water to the Town of Qualicum Beach and the community of Dashwood. The quantity and quality of our drinking water for the fast growing communities need to be protected for future planned growth and not be squandered for private profit, " Tanner continues. A good business plan for our Provincial Government would be to protect this important public interest by protecting the headwaters and all remaining oldgrowth in the world-famous Cathedral Grove watershed. Early settlers and communities have been working since the mid 1800's to protect Cathedral Grove. Now the is time to protect what is left. Here's a link for the Moorecroft Video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/moorecroftcamp please forward this link to your contact lists with the message below or one in your own words requesting that supporters take action. The youtube channel is called Moorecroftcamp (all one word) and can be searched for by typing in those key words on youtube. Feel free to embed the video on your website. This video outlines the case to save Camp Moorecroft and reject the proposal to divide and sell the property. If you agree with this video send an email to Peggy Jensen chair of the Nanaimo Comox Presbytery at tuminister and Doug Goodwin the President of the BC Conference of the United Church at dgoodwin and tell them what you think of the proposal to divide and sell Moorecroft. Please CC your email to Carol Bieber, the chair of the Moorecroft Camp Society at jandcbieber and Gail Adrienne of the NAnaimo Area Land Trust at gail 4) Conservation groups are joining forces to raise $1.5 million to purchase more than 60 hectares of private land known as the Valhalla Mile. The land is an environmentally rich stretch of Slocan Lake within the boundaries of Valhalla Provincial Park. The initiative is the latest example of non-profit organizations and environmental groups acquiring ecologically important private lands that fall outside the province's network of parks and protected areas that spans more than 14 per cent of the B.C. land base. The Valhalla property contains mixed forest and 1.7 kilometres -- slightly more than a mile -- of undeveloped shoreline, and is an important corridor for species such as grizzly and black bears, wolverines, cougars and mule deer. Ancient first nations pictographs are located just north of the property, and the shoreline was a Sinixt fishing and gathering site. Neither the B.C. government nor conservation groups had the money to buy the Valhalla Mile when the 49,893-hectare park was created in the Selkirk Mountains of the West Kootenays in 1983. The Land Conservancy of B.C. has now acquired a purchase option from the Slocan Valley landowner, Burkhard Franz, and is working with the Valhalla Foundation for Ecology & Social Justice to raise $1.5 million by December. Valhalla Foundation director Wayne McCrory said in an interview from the community of Hills, northwest of Nelson, that buying the land and folding it into the park will ensure the land is spared from development and protected for recreation and environmental purposes. " It would be a developer's dream, wide open for subdivision, summer homes, lodges, " he warned. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=ee1a636a-0755-4f3a-9cc4-6b\ f60aff2e53 5) For the first time, the allowable annual cut for the tree farm licence that takes in fragile areas of Clayoquot Sound has been set by the area which can be logged, rather than in cubic metres of wood to be cut. " We wanted to try some new approaches to help the general public have a clearer understanding on how an allowable annual cut is done, " deputy chief forester Craig Sutherland said yesterday. The same system was first tried in an adjacent tree farm licence in 2004, and the two Clayoquot TFLs are the only in B.C. working under the area system. In TFL 54, which covers 49,298 hectares near Ucluelet and Tofino, a cut of 320 hectares will be allowed for each of the next five years, Sutherland said. That is probably slightly more timber than was allowed in the previous AAC, which has allowed 75,000 cubic metres to be cut each year since 2000, but it is difficult to compare volume to area, Sutherland said. Cutting in Clayoquot Sound is controlled by the Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices, which mandates partial cutting rather than traditional clearcutting, Sutherland said. In many areas that means leaving 70 per cent of the trees behind, he said. The licence to log in TFL 54 is held by Ma-Mook Natural Resources Ltd., a partnership of the Ahousaht, Hesquiaht, Tla-o-Quiaht, Toquaht and Ucluelet First Nations and Coulson Forest Products Ltd. Recently, groups such as the Friends of Clayoquot Sound protested Ma-Mook plans to log the previously untouched Hesquiat Point Creek, and talks are being held between the company and environmentalists to try and find a compromise. http://forestaction.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/allowable-tree-cut-set-by-area-not-\ volume/ 6) In October of 2007, after years of pressure from citizens like you, the BC government committed to " follow the science " and protect caribou habitat. Now, less than a year later, snowmobiling in caribou habitat threatens the recovery of this endangered species. The BC government is about to decide which habitat areas will be closed to snowmobiling, and government officials need to hear from you. Please, take a moment to write a comment, and make your voice heard. Here are some main points you may want to include in your letter: 1) Internal government recommendations would leave some critical habitat open to snowmobiling. These areas--including habitat around Revelstoke and in the Central Selkirks--need to be closed as recommended by biologists. 2) The BC government must honour their commitment to science-based recovery. 3) We are all in this together. Snowmobile clubs are partners in the recovery process, and they need to support the science as well. Snowmobiles have plenty of space, riders don't need to encroach upon endangered species habitat. -- To ensure your letter makes the greatest possible impact, keep your letter short--between 100 - 250 words, tell your story and why caribou habitat protection matters to you, and always be polite. http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/281/t/2411/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25428 7) Logging companies, snowmobile clubs, heli-ski operations and a coalition of ten environmental groups had negotiated the plan. But in reality, the issues that would make a life-or-death difference to the mountain caribou have not been determined: where would the protection be located? The Government and its " partners " assured the public that the location of the areas to be protected would be available in March. Today, nearly one year since the plan was announced, and five months after the location of the protected areas was due to be finalized, no plan has yet been approved. This makes approximately five years that BC has been working on a plan to save the mountain caribou. All the while, logging has been destroying the habitat of this rare and endangered caribou. However, " stakeholder " input on the draft Government Actions Regulation Orders were completed on August 20. " The plan that is coming is an extinction plan for the mountain caribou, " says VWW's plan reviewer, Craig Pettitt. " From the beginning, the government had said that the plan could protect no more than 1% of the Timber Harvesting Land Base (THLB). This was a farce, because the mountain caribou is already threatened with extinction because of the current level of logging and roads. Continuing to log 99% of the Timber Harvesting Land Base will obviously kill them. But the caribou are not even getting 1%. Only 76,904 hectares, or .67% of the THLB were allocated by government. " The province's most fragile caribou herds will not receive a significant amount of new protection. The plan concentrates the majority of protection in two planning units: the Cariboo and the Central Selkirks. This was an opportunity to make significant improvement in these critical areas. " So far we have been severely disappointed in the Central Selkirk planning area, " says Pettitt. http://pacificfreepress.com/content/view/3026/1/ Canada: 8) Autumn is here, and billions of migratory birds that spent the summer breeding season in Canada's Boreal Forest are now winging their way south to wintering grounds throughout North, Central and South America. Join our allies at Save Our Boreal Birds to make sure our boreal birds have a summer home to return to in the future! This campaign is a joint effort by like-minded conservation groups to let Canada's government know that we must protect the Boreal Forest to keep our continent's bird populations healthy. Join over 50,000 signers from more than 60 countries in this vital petition to Canadian leaders! http://www.saveourborealbirds.org/ 9) " The logs originate from the Ogoki Forest, the single most ecologically valuable area left in Ontario's southern Boreal Forest and the site of growing controversy. These new photos as well as recent government correspondence reveal that Kimberly-Clark is currently purchasing huge quantities of pulp made primarily from whole, old-growth trees from intact areas of Canada's Boreal Forest. " Treehugger reports that Kimberly-Clark has previously claimed that the pulp they use is only the stuff left over from the lumber process. Ogoki Forest, according to the report, wasn't logged industrially until 1998, making it one of the continent's most pristine habitats for wildlife. The pulp from Ogoki Forest is reportedly converted into paper products at Terrace Bay in northern Ontario, Canada. That's not the only place the paper giant has gotten into trouble. Early this year, Kimberly-Clark's Everett mill agreed to pay $125,000 to deal with smoke and diesel pollution in this city. The payout is part of deal for Kimberly-Clark to settle a $235,000 penalty the state Department of Ecology issued over smoke emissions during a fire that smoldered for months last year. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080916/BLOG15/809169989 10) In a fiercely-lit canteen, dozens of forestry workers in oilskin jackets are swallowing eggs and ham. It is a typical work-camp meal in northern Canada. Yet these workers are not typical - most hail from Africa. The loggers are employed by a forestry management company, Amenagement Myr, which is based in a town called Dolbeau-Mistassini, 300km (186 miles) north-west of Quebec City. The company has hired some locals, but none are around. They have all left the camp to spend a long weekend with their families in nearby towns and villages. The Africans who work here do not take weekends off. Montreal, where they have left wives and children behind, is not a weekend destination. Driving there takes almost seven hours. Raymond Bertrand Neabo, 28, worked for a French bank in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, after graduating from university there. After moving to Canada in 2006, he found that prospective employers deemed his business administration degree useless. So he started a second degree from scratch. For him, logging is a well-paying summer job that has, however, forced him to leave his pregnant wife behind in Montreal. " It's very hard work, " he said in French. " You cannot get used to it. It's like winter. " Amenagement Myr initially hired a man from Ivory Coast in the late 1990s. The word quickly spread in the African community that there was money to be made in the bush. Now, the majority of the camp's 90 employees are African-born. Another local forest management company, Foresterie DLM, also primarily employs African immigrants. After moving to Montreal, Thomas Shase, a 25-year-old Nigerian, first started working in telemarketing, phoning resentful people who sometimes told him to " go back to Africa " . http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7600245.stm 11) The recent release of the long-awaited Erdle report on Forest Diversity and Wood Supply and the Roberts Woodbridge report on Investment Opportunities in the New Brunswick Forest Sector provide a wide array of options for consideration that will shape the public forest over the next century. The Erdle report provides a detailed analysis of the outcomes of various forest management alternatives including increasing/decreasing conservation areas, increasing/decreasing planting, increasing/decreasing clear-cut areas, increasing/decreasing herbicide use and the effects these actions have on wood supply, job creation and royalties to government among other things. The report presents 8 options for government to consider but provides no recommendations as to which option is better than any other. The Roberts Woodbridge report outlines the future opportunities for New Brunswick in the manufacturing of forest products. It ranks various product options that New Brunswick should consider when looking at investment opportunities. The report is based on some far-reaching assumptions as to the future of lumber demands and prices and the development of the bio-fuel and bio-products sector. Some of the scenarios and opportunities presented in these two reports are new while others have been proposed in previous reports such as the 2002 Jaakko-Poyry report. New Brunswickers should take this opportunity to tell government how they want their public forest managed and become engaged just as they did during the French immersion consultations. People should not be threatened from voicing their opinions and expressing their values for the forest by inferences that forestry in New Brunswick will become " little more than a cottage industry " if we decide to protect some more area or do things a little different from what we do now. For woodlot owners these reports represent a turning point for the future of our public forests. A decision by government to move forward must include a balanced approach for all players. Too much time and energy has been wasted and too many skilled people have left. http://kingscorecord.canadaeast.com/newswithaview/article/415805 12) Four Canadian boys (for a change) spent a week at Power Bay. They were measuring trees in permanent sample plots along the shoreline of McInnes Lake. In this northern climate, the trees have a different growing pattern compared to boreal forests further south. In some plots they cut trees and take sections back for laboratory analysis. One sample tree was 10 inches in diameter and 198 years old. This research will show the growth rates for trees here. Perhaps sometime in the distant future a company may want to harvest trees here. First there needs to be research, negotiations with the native people, land use planning, road systems, protected areas and a need for the timber. The users on the land today (including us) are not too keen on change. It is so great to have such a huge junk of the boreal forest left as is. One big question is whether to let wild fires burn as they would in nature or to use fire suppression to put them out and keep the timber for logging. The boreal forest needs to be renewed in one of these ways. Another question is whether the trees grow quickly enough to sustain a renewable resource. http://viking-island.blogspot.com/2008/09/forestry-boys-at-power-bay.html 13) " Audacious " goal: 1.5 billion acres of Canadian boreal kept partly wild, partly sustainably developed, despite pressures from uranium, gold and diamond mining and oil and gas booms. What's boreal? The planet's largest land-based carbon storehouse; Canada's boreal is the world's largest remaining undeveloped forest. Boreal, or great northern forest, circles the northern tier of the globe, from Sweden to North America. How'd you get into this work? I was a stringer for my hometown newspaper, and I stumbled on a hazardous-waste-dump story. The editor spiked it in favor of a story on a massage parlor that had just opened up. He said, " Kid, sex sells; nobody wants to read about that damned environmental stuff. " I thought, " I'm in the wrong business. I'm going to law school and figure out how to bust people like this. " I was hired 10 years ago by the Pew Charitable Trusts' Environment Group to do forest conservation. We decided to make the boreal a priority because, of these three, it's the only one in a country with a tradition of conservation, so the most likely to be protected on a scale to preserve the ecosystem and yet allow people to benefit from the natural resources... Is the boreal too far away for most Americans to connect with? You can get in your car to northern British Columbia and be there in a day and a half. By the time you get to Prince George, you'd be on the edge of the boreal. Why a Seattle headquarters? Pew's based in Philly, and there's no boreal here. There's an enormous, slow, quiet movement of conservation groups to the Northwest. Not just regional but international efforts. It's easier to travel to Asia, the Far North, even South America than from the East Coast, which is so congested ... Plus, funny enough, people really wanted to come to Seattle for meetings. You've knit together a coalition of some industry and environmental groups, First Nations, birders, scientists. Interesting bedfellows? We're a little post-boomer in our approach. It's not " spotted owl vs. timber. " It's " let's work together, how can you benefit from green credentials and credibility? " You're not against trapping? I'm a hunter. I have caribou in my freezer right now. ttp://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2004356030 & zse\ ction_id=2004078393 & slug=footkallick20 & date=20080420 14) SUSSEX - Forestry's future has been on the minds of many here with the release of an Atlantic Provinces Economic Council report which broke the news that forestry jobs already lost in Atlantic Canada likely won't come back. That report and two provincial task force reports on the forestry sector and its future prospects have been released. The message is that the current downturn in the forestry sector reflects a transition rather than a demise, and by making some major changes, the industry can retain a foothold in the region's economy. " It all comes down to a sustainable wood supply, " said Keith. " We're optimistic we'll be able to continue operations. " The mill now depends on wood from private woodlots for about 70 per cent of its wood. It produces lumber, mainly for American markets, as well as wood chips sent to the Saint John pulp and paper mill to produce higher-value materials such as paper and tissue products. The Southern New Brunswick Forest Products Marketing Board represents about 6,000 of the 40,000 woodlot owners in the province, explained board chair John Sabine. Poor wood prices have led to a marked decline in wood harvested in this region since 2005, when producers shipped 266,000 cord. He estimates 500 to 600 forestry jobs have been lost, in this region alone, since then. http://kingscorecord.canadaeast.com/front/article/408789 Washington: 15) Spencer Beebe's Cessna finds a break in the clouds over the Washington Coast Range just big enough to spot a recent landslide. Spencer Beebe: " Here's a stream, a tributary to the Chehalis system, which is full of sediment. There's a landslide on the left, steep slope, with a lot of soil going into the river, you can see it coming all the way off of there. And then, look at that stream bottom. That's all fresh sediment, coming off of these slopes and this logging. Which is not the way to produce salmon, and salmon habitat. " Beebe says landslides can cut off habitat. And timber plantations send fewer nutrients into the streams for salmon, compared with older, complex forests. Spencer Beebe: " I want to be really careful about not being critical of the industry. " You wouldn't hear that concern from the environmental groups that regularly fight timber companies before judges and lawmakers. But Ecotrust is negotiating with timber companies, sometimes over sensitive land transactions. So Spencer Beebe is tactful as he points out a swath of forest. Spencer Beebe: " [There are] different ways of doing things to meet different purposes. This is private, this is managed against some pretty tough state regulatory standards … but it doesn't mean it all works out really well. " Beebe doesn't have a problem with regulations - he has a problem with the idea that regulations will recover salmon on their own. Spencer Beebe: " The regulatory regime has been, has developed largely to prevent bad stuff to happen, and I think the challenge to policy makers is to think about the positive incentives we can give to ranchers, farmers, fishermen, loggers, to increase the range of benefits available to them. " The biggest incentive that forest managers could see in the near future might not come from salmon recovery. Instead, timber companies could get money to let trees stand to help offset global warming. Beebe is optimistic that the world is coming around to Ecotrust's economic approach, seventeen years after its foundation. Spencer Beebe: " In some funny way, we can have it all. We just can't have it all right now, everywhere. " And by " everywhere " Beebe doesn't mean everywhere he can see from his airplane cockpit. He means every place salmon swim - from California to Siberia. In fact, Ecotrust plans to publish a wide-ranging study of salmon populations next year, looking out across the Pacific Ocean. http://news.opb.org/article/3063-ecotrust-looks-economics-save-environment/ California: 16) Forests aren't absorbing as much carbon dioxide as in the past, and fire suppression might be to blame. Fire suppression in forest encourages the growth of smaller trees and, as a result, significantly reduces a forest's overall ability to store carbon, according to a new study by scientists at the University of California at Irvine. The researchers, studying forests in California, found that while the number of trees per acre increased in the sixty year period between 1930 and 1990, carbon storage actually declined about 26 percent. This change in the nature of the forests, with greater numbers of smaller trees at the expense of large trees, seems to have been caused by the assiduous suppression of fires by human intervention, the researchers said. Using detailed records, the scientists, compare forests as they were in the 1930s with forests in the 1990s and found that the " stem density " of the forests had increased, which would seem to enhance a forest's ability to store carbon. In fact, the smaller-tree factor outweighs the denser-forest factor because large trees retain a disproportionate amount of carbon, the researchers concluded. Climate change, or at least the vast increase in carbon dioxide launched into the atmosphere by the combustion of fossil fuels during the industrial era, has focused scientific attention on the ability of plants, especially trees, to take up and store the added CO2. Trees are not the only carbon sinks (the oceans store vast amounts of CO2), but they are often cited as a key indicator in the fight to stabilize the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This study, published last month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, pertains to California only, but Aaron Fellows, one of the study's authors, believes it will apply to other dry conifer (evergreen) forests in the U.S. western region. www.aip.org/pnu 17) Save-the-Redwoods League has acquired 216-acres between Humboldt Redwoods State Park and the King Range National Conservation Area and transferred it to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The property is the latest addition to a project known as Corridor from the Redwoods to the Sea. That is nearly 10,000 acres connecting the lush old-growth redwood forests in the Southern Humboldt County park to the ocean. " In the BLM Arcata Field Office we share Save-the-Redwoods League's vision to connect critical wildlife areas in California, " said Field Manager Lynda Roush. " This land transfer is a significant stepping stone in extending the Corridor from the Redwoods to the Sea. " The acquired land connects habitat and provides protection for threatened species in the area, according to a league press release. Endangered coho salmon and steelhead trout exist in several streams on the property, the league said, and second-growth redwoods and Douglas fir forests protect the Mattole River from soil erosion and improve habitat for aquatic species. The land was bought from a family for about $200,000 with funding from the league and the Resource Legacy Fund Foundation's Preserving Wild California Program, league Executive Director Ruskin Hartley said in a phone interview. Hartley said the league has been working in the Mattole River area since at least 1999, initially buying some property from Eel River Sawmills. He said it's been important since large parcels in the Mattole are becoming more scarce, and the effects on wildlife and streams have been dramatic. http://rare-earth-news.blogspot.com/2008/09/redwoods-league-buys-mattole-land-fo\ r.html 18) " You just start cutting and make a hole, " said Ed Woolery, of Woolery Timber Management. The trees are then dragged to the landing by a skidder, where they are stripped of their branches and cut to size by a log processor. " Different species are cut to different lengths, " said Russ Crook, who was operating the processor on the site. Then a loader arranges the logs onto a logging truck for transportation to the sawmill. " These replace seven or eight men, " Steve Crook said. " You can't find men that want to work that hard anymore, " Crook added about the old logging days. The wood has to come from somewhere. Much of California's production comes from Sierra Pacific Industries — the largest private landowner in the state, owning more than 1.7 million acres in the Sierra Nevada. SPI's preference to clear-cut has made it the target of environmental and conservation groups. SPI argues that California should get its lumber from forests in the state, which are protected by strict rules, rather than importing from places like Canada. " Canada's irresponsibility in their boreal forests doesn't give us the right to do it here, " said Darca Morgan, conservation biologist with the Sierra Forest Legacy, a consortium of environmental groups based in Sacramento. " That argument just doesn't hold weight. The Sierra is where our water comes from. " Much of SPI's land is on a 100-year plan, Tate, of SPI, said. First, they clear-cut the land in 17-acre to 20-acre parcels. The land is replanted, usually with an assortment of four or five mixed-conifer trees set 12 feet apart. After six to eight years, thinning stretches the distance between trees to 19 feet. The remaining trees grow until they're about 35 years old, when they are thinned again to a distance of 27 to 35 feet. The remaining trees grow until they reach about 100 years old, when the parcel will be clear-cut again. " We don't want to see California's logging jobs go elsewhere, " Buswell-Charkow, of ForestEthics, said. " But SPI's practices are completely inadequate. " http://www.forestethics.org/article.php?id=2209 19) Some have questioned the timing of the High Sierra Rural Alliance's challenge of Sierra Pacific Industries rezone of over 7000 acres of land zoned Timber Production to General Forest. Since SPI has not stated its specific intentions for the parcels, the logic goes HSRA's challenge is based on the speculation that development will occur. SPI has stated the rezoned parcels will continue to be managed for timber production. But, the reality of that statement is just as speculative. Once the requirement that the land be managed for timber, which is a requirement of the Timber Production Zone but not the General Forest Zone, is removed how the land will be used is unknown. The fact that SPI will lose generous tax benefits by rezoning, but does not plan on changing the use makes us wonder. The County's Board of Supervisors is not obligated to grant the rezone, especially because there does not seem to be any compelling reason for it, or benefit to the County. The rezone and the policy of rezoning without analysis weaken the goals and policies of the County's General Plan. That the lawsuit is an economic burden on Sierra County has also been used to criticize the HSRA's action. However, the County requires all applicants for land use entitlements indemnify the County against any litigation the County's approval of the project might cause. All costs to the County of the suit will be paid by SPI. It is worth noting that the converse is not true. If the Board denies approval of a project and the applicant sues, the County would have to pay for its own litigation costs. The fundamental question for the Board in a case where a party is requesting a rezone without committing to a specific project is whether or not the County wants to change its original objective for the area in question. By exempting rezones of TPZ to GF from environmental analysis, the Board is adopting a policy which threatens the fundamental goals of the Sierra County General Plan. All TPZ parcels are not created equal. Some are close to established communities possibly making a rezone consistent with the General Plan. Some are remote, making a rezone inconsistent with the General Plan. The attached map shows the location of TPZ parcels in the County (shaded) and the rezoned SPI parcels in red. http://rare-earth-news.blogspot.com/2008/09/sierra-county-rezones-timberland-own\ ed.html 20) Dubbed the " Lightning Siege " by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the event consumed 1.2 million acres of trees, killed 15 people, destroyed 511 structures and cost $85.3 million to put out. It also reignited a debate among scientists and regulators over the climate impacts of large fires and whether the state of California, which is busy writing protocols and creating incentives to reduce carbon emissions, should reward practices that can reduce the size of large fires, such as selective forest thinning. Environmental groups have dominated this debate for years, arguing that forest fires are " natural " and should be allowed to burn if urban centers are not threatened. But new scientific research shows that recent forest fires aren't like the fires of the past. They are often larger and hotter. They are huge generators of carbon dioxide and soot, two types of emissions that are changing the earth's climate. Some research suggests these fires release about 5 percent of total annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, a contribution equal to about one-third of the transportation sector. And as they devastate old-growth forests, ending their potential to store CO2, these mega-fires also liberate large quantities of mercury and create dioxin, both of which pose serious public health problems. While there are few areas of agreement over what to do about this, officials generally agree on one thing: The current programs for fighting these fires are bankrupt. By mid-August, wildfires had burned through the U.S. Forest Service's $1.2 billion annual budget for fighting fires, forcing the agency to scavenge at least $400 million from other programs. It was the fifth time in the last seven years. " We can't walk away from fighting fire, " explained Joe Walsh, the agency's spokesman. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2008/09/17/1 21) Trinitas is a 6,800-yard PGA tournament golf course, including electronic scoreboard, allegedly constructed for private use by the developer's family and friends. This Sierra course was built without any plans or drawings being filed in the public domain, no permits and zero environmental review. Now, a private/public golf course and expanded resort, including $50,000 individual and $75,000 corporate memberships, an overnight lodge and initially 13 exclusive home sites, are being proposed in a revised draft environmental impact report (RDEIR). Trinitas acknowledges that the 116-acre golf course site has been extensively transformed from a contiguous oak woodlands habitat to a picturesque but unnaturally fragmented recreational landscape. By the developer's own admission many old-growth oaks were removed to finance the golf course. The project record indicates that the Trinitas golf course developer moved to Calaveras County in 2001with the express purpose of building the investor-driven golf resort currently proposed. Assisted by delinquent County officials, the usual permits and environmental review weren't required. Neither the applicant nor county should be rewarded for these transgressions. Trinitas' circumstances are unprecedented in the nearly 40-year history of CEQA and the RDEIR is as deceptive as the golf course that spawned it. This project in fact violates the very essence of CEQA. Therefore, the only appropriate project alternative is Alternative 1, no project, removal of the existing Trinitas golf course. http://rare-earth-news.blogspot.com/2008/09/golf-course-bulldozes-through-calave\ ras.html 22) LAKE COUNTY -- Preserving more than 1,600 acres on top of Mount Konocti is the focus of a fundraising campaign approved Tuesday by the Lake County Board of Supervisors. Public Services Director Kim Clymire spearheaded efforts to buy the property. After the board approved the purchase of five parcels on the county's centerpiece mountain from Buckingham Peak, L.L.C. and the Fowler Family Trust in August, Clymire asked the board's permission to solicit funds for the $2.5 million the county still needs to raise after making a $100,000 down payment. " People are going to have to step up to the plate - $5, $10, $15, $20 - it all makes a difference. The county opened escrow on the property in August and has until Sept. 31, 2009 to pay the balance of the $2.6 million price tag for the largest piece of the mountaintop land on Wright Peak, Howard Peak and Clark Peak. The land includes 1,512 acres between four contiguous parcels, and neighbors land owned by the Bureau of Land Management. Lamb set up a Web site, http://preservekonocti.com, as a central fundraising point. On Friday, a donation tally at the site said $1,300 had been collected. Cox said Clymire presented that figure to the board Tuesday, adding that he knew at least $500 more had been donated since then. http://rare-earth-news.blogspot.com/2008/09/lake-county-supervisors-ask-communit\ y.html 23) The 10-member State Emergency Assessment Team that studied the Summit Fire area was composed of experts from the California Environmental Protection Agency, the state Department of Water Resources and Cal Fire, among others. It wrapped up its work late last month. Headed by Cal Fire, SEAT teams are called into assess disaster-stricken areas where large swaths of land have been affected. The teams evaluate the soil, vegetation and water resources of the areas. They then determine the dangers facing the region for mudslides and flooding, and investigate fire hazards and threats to wildlife and water resources. When possible, the team's final report also includes recommendations on how to mitigate the effects of the fire damage. These steps can include replanting vegetation, dropping mulch, digging water bars and laying sandbags. The Summit Fire affected areas around the Pajaro River wate rshed, which includes Soquel, Corralitos and Browns creeks. Gone are the forests of knob-cone pines and manzanita trees — low-lying vegetation that held the soil in place around the riverbanks. The danger is that heavy rains will wash enormous amounts of sediment down the creeks, severely impacting wildlife, water resources and wetland areas, team member Julia Dyer said. Dyer works as an environmental scientist for the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, a program of the California Environmental Protection Agency. " It means that anything that relies on the creeks to be healthy will be affected, " she said. http://www.register-pajaronian.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0 & page=72 & story_\ id=5629 24) " Parents don't want their children using pencils which degrade California's landscape, drinking water, or species, and the top companies on our report card show that there's a better way, " says Josh Buswell-Charkow of ForestEthics. " Those big companies that earned 'F's, however, are like the students in the back of the class with pencils in their ears and their heads in the clouds while the rest of the class leaves them behind. " The report card grades pencil makers on the amount of pre- and post-consumer recycled content in their products, whether or not their products are made with lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and whether or not the companies purchase lumber from Sierra Pacific Industries, a company notoriously tone-deaf to concerns about its environmental impacts. PENCIL GRADES REPORT SUMMARY: ForestChoice: A, Greenline Paper Company: A, Green Apple: C, Paper Mate: C, Dixon/Ticonderoga: F, USA Gold: F, The report card features a lively back-to-school design to appeal to students and their parents, and includes a short 'history lesson' about John Muir and the Sierra, as well as suggestions for buying eco-friendly paper. Download the full report here: http://www.forestethics.org/downloads/backtoschool.pdf Montana: 25) The timber company at the center of a dispute between a Montana county and the Forest Service has begun handing the county some documents it has sought from the federal agency. Plum Creek Timber Co. gave Missoula County documents last week detailing the company's negotiations with the Forest Service over development plans in western Montana. Critics of the plans say a road-sharing deal would make it easier for Plum Creek to sell timberland for development. They contend the roads were intended for logging only. The county used the federal Freedom of Information Act in June to request that information from the service after Plum Creek revealed it had been negotiating privately with federal officials for almost two years for shared access easements on forest roads to allow agency and company employees to cross each other's lands. But the agency has not provided all the documents the county has requested. The Forest Service has said the records' large quantity has complicated efforts to assemble them. The county maintains the agency is dragging its feet, holding back key documents. " What we still don't seem to have in detail is the underlying cost-share agreements, " said D. James McCubbin, the deputy county attorney. Those documents would provide details of the agency's and company's plans for sharing timberland management, McCubbin said. Because many of the agreements predate Plum Creek's ownership of those tracts, he said, the Forest Service is the only entity that would have all the agreements. Plum Creek spokeswoman Kathy Budinick said the company is sharing documents as part of its pledge to apply the road-sharing amendment only where it is wanted. " We will not plan to institute the proposed amendment in any counties that don't wish to have it, " she said. Plum Creek's release of the documents is unlikely to affect the Forest Service's response to the county's FOIA request, said George Vargas, the service's acting assistant director for FOIA. The second batch of documents being sought by the county is awaiting final agency clearance and could be released in the coming days, he said. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2008/09/17/20 26) DARBY - " We suspect the restoration work they've outlined in this most recent project won't get done. " Miller said there isn't a legal precedent or environmental law to challenge a project because of past commitments not being honored. " We looked at that carefully, " he said. " We're hopeful that they will do some of the restoration work, but given the current fire budget situation, we think it's unlikely. Yet, we know all the logging and fuel reduction work will get done. " [While all three projects include some commercial timber harvest, none faced an administrative or legal challenge. Bitterroot forest officials are hoping it could mark the beginning of a trend. " We're hoping that as the public becomes more involved and engaged with what we're doing, people will feel comfortable with the work that is being proposed, " said Dave Bull, Bitterroot National Forest supervisor. " Maybe the level of controversy won't be what it used to be. " The Trapper Bunkhouse Land Stewardship Project is the largest of the three projects. To be able to thin nearly 5,800 acres of national forest land just west of Darby, the agency was required to complete an environmental impact statement. The process is expensive and has often served as a red flag for conservation groups concerned about the impacts of timber harvest on federal lands. The last two EIS projects on the Bitterroot National Forest that included commercial timber harvest were tied up for years in federal court. The U.S. Forest Service proposes to thin about half the acreage on the Trapper Bunkhouse project using commercial timber harvest. The remainder of the work will be accomplished through non-commercial thinning and prescriptive fire. The project also includes some other forest restoration work that conservation groups like the Friends of the Bitterroot support, but they're worried the agency won't have the funding to make it happen. The Friends of the Bitterroot also reviewed the Haacke-Claremont Vegetation Management Project that would treat fuels and harvest timber on 1,396 acres in the Sapphire Mountains. " It seemed like a fairly good project, " Miller said. " Contrary to what many people believe, there are a lot of projects that go forward without being legally challenged. We want to see good restoration work. We think there is more opportunity for common ground. " http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/09/14/news/mtregional/news08.txt Utah: 27) Utah is in the midst of a vicious beetle cycle: Climate change is being blamed for causing a boom in the bark beetle population. Bark beetles are killing trees. Dead trees become fuel for wildfires, which experts say cause more global warming. In some areas, the beetle population is considered to have reached outbreak proportions, with the potential to devastate entire forests. In Dixie National Forest, hundreds of thousands of acres have been wiped out by the wood-boring insect, according to Colleen Keyes, forest-health program manager for Utah's Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. In August, the National Wildlife Federation released a study that said global warming is increasing the wildfire risk in the West, which leads to an unsafe accumulation of fuel loads that also are ideal breeding grounds for the beetles. Once the insects take over in a forest, they add to its volume of fuel for wildfires, which contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Old forests need proper management, including thinning forests and removing older trees, to reduce their susceptibility to bark-beetle outbreaks, Keyes said. Last February, environmentalists sued the U.S. Forest Service to stop it from carrying out a logging project in the Dixie National Forest, which the agency said was aimed at combating bark-beetle infestation. But the environmental group blamed the outbreak on a Forest Service-prescribed burn in 2002 that went out of control (Stephen Speckman, Salt Lake Deseret Morning News, Sept. 8). – RB http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2008/09/10/6/ Illinois: 28) The posh western suburb named for the majestic bur oak may lose more than 400 trees, including about 70 bur oaks, if Commonwealth Edison moves forward with a plan to clear-cut a two-mile swath of vegetation growing along their towering electrical lines. ComEd officials were expected to begin chopping down trees this week, but they put off the decision while they talk with village officials. The village, which doesn't want the trees cut, has been battling with ComEd for months and has hired an attorney to look into the matter. " It's going to look like someone took a God-sized buzz saw and cut right through the heart of the village, " said Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso. " We are not going to allow it. We will bring out the police, if we must, to stop them. " ComEd officials had told the village in April that the trees, many near backyards and along parkways, will come down. ComEd said the company would replace downed trees by planting new ones that don't grow as tall. Normally ComEd just trims trees on a four-year cycle (two years for fast-growing trees), but officials said some of the trees were dangerously close to power lines that supply 25,000 customers in the region with electricity. ComEd spokesman Joe Trost said electrical lines tend to sag on hot and humid days or when a lot of voltage is running through them, thus the lines in Burr Ridge may touch a tree. Plus, he said, more national standards have been put into place after a downed tree caused a major power outage on the East Coast in 2003. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-burr-ridge-trees-both-12-sep12,0,19\ 6.story North Carolina: Video: Hippies mourn death of trees! The headline pretty much explains the full story. An extreme eco-conservation group named Earth First mourns trees somewhere in North Carolina. I believe what they're doing is noble and courageous and it is a shame we mock these people who truly care about our planet and its longevity. It is why I sacrificed a pack of 11 x 17 printing paper through the shredder in their honour. http://smackoftheday.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/hippies-mourn-the-death-of-trees/ Massachusetts: 30) New insights into how trees recover from injuries may provide future benefits to the forestry industry and provide scientists the knowledge needed to develop trees that can withstand shifts in climate. With funding from the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), scientists in Massachusetts mapped out the process that trees undergo in order to repair surface damage. The key is wood grain, the neat, parallel packaging of the many tiny hollow tubes and cells that make up the wood itself. Since these tubes conduct water from roots to leaves, the maintenance of a continuous grain pattern is critical to the survival of the tree. Grain pattern has also evolved to make the tree strong and durable. When a tree is injured, these cells regenerate in a pattern that appears to " flow " around the wound, producing the characteristic knots on the plant's surface. The question that has plagued plant scientists is how these cells reorient in order to flow around the wound. If the cells point into the wound, the tubing hits a dead end, effectively cutting off the supply of water and nutrients to the tree. " When the tree is injured, the cells have a sophisticated decision to make, " said Eric Kramer, associate professor of physics at Bard College at Simon's Rock, MA. " By diverging around the wounded area, the cells can continually supply nutrients and water to other parts of the tree. " Kramer and colleague Jennifer Normanly at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, discovered that the hormone auxin plays an essential role in the coordination, growth, and reorientation of cells as the tree heals. Auxin is a plant hormone responsible for cell growth and development. The scientists discovered that an auxin gradient develops around the wound. The gradient develops because auxin moves down the trunk of the tree. So, the concentration of auxin is high above the wound and low below the wound. The auxin gradient triggers the reorientation of wood-forming cells. Thus, the water and nutrient conducting tubes of newly formed wood divert around the wound. http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/impact/2008/nri/09161_tree_scabs.html Maine: 31) The large swath of land cleared of trees up on Johnson Hill in Bremen may not be classified as clear cutting under the Maine Forest Service law book, but it has stirred up residents and the local conservation committee all the same. Among the many concerns voiced to the Bremen Board of Selectmen on Thurs., Sept. 4 was that the loosened soil would wash down into Broad Cove and McCurdy Pond. " It looks as though their (the owners) intent is to have a subdivision, " said Parker Renelt, a Bremen citizen, who went on to describe the wide, hard-packed road that carves up to the highest point in town and the thorough work of a local logging company. " Huge clearings are devoid of any vegetation. " The Bremen Conservation Committee was supported by several of the town's residents and the Medomak Valley Land Trust when they asked the Board to issue a stop work order for the clearing of trees on Johnson Hill. Gordon Libby Forest Products, Inc. of Waldoboro has been working on the 265.5-acre property owned by Thomas and Ellen Kaplan-Maxfield of Medford, Mass., according to a committee memorandum presented to the Board. Liz Petruska, Executive Director of the Medomak Valley Land Trust, said that her organization has made attempts to purchase the property before the cutting began. She said during a subsequent telephone interview that the MVLT has been working with the commission and the Pemaquid Watershed Association for several years on this property to reach a conservation agreement. " We haven't come to an agreement that meets everyone's needs, " Petruska said. " We were looking at conservation options. Traditionally, those options include land easements or fee acquisition. We work only with willing land owners. " Petruska emphasized that these conservation groups have been working together to find a solution. Commission members and town citizens, concerned about the wide open space left after the harvesting of trees, found that issuing a stop work order would be the next best solution until their inquiries have been answered. " We would like you (Board), as assessors, to check and see if they (owners) are following the tree growth plan, " said commission member, Dianne O'Connor. http://www.mainelincolncountynews.com/index.cfm?ID=33619 Hawaii: 32) KOOLAU MOUNTAINS, OAHU - It takes 25 years to produce just one glass of drinking water. The Koolau Mountain's watershed, that forms Oahu's windward coast, produces the majority of the drinking water on the island. In this Earth and Sea Project report, KHNL follow a partnership involved with preserving the delicate plant balance in Hawaii's native forests. This is what a healthy forest looks like. " You look at our native forest and you'll see many different types of species co-existing together to create a multi-canopied diverse ecosystem, " said Miranda Smith, a Watershed Partnership coordinator. Miranda Smith takes an active role in maintaining a healthy balance between indigenous and invasive plants. " We're just continuing the belief that by protecting the forest we are protecting our drinking water and other resources that are associated with that, " said Smith. " Water here on Oahu travels less than 23 miles from where it falls to our homes, so really the land in our backyard affects the drinking water that is available to us. " In an aerial tour from Chopper 8, we see a forest taken over by invasive albizia trees. " When you look at invasive species in the summit areas you'll see a large blanket of one type of species, one canopy level, " Smith said. " If you take a closer look you don't see the diversity that you would normally see in a native forest in Hawaii or anywhere else really. We're walking through a large patch of strawberry guava you look to our left, look to our right you can see nothing else. " That's why the Koolau Mountains Watershed Partnership was formed. Landowners work with water managers to protect and maintain healthy native Hawaiian forests. Healthy forests produce a sustainable water source for generations to come. " The rains always follow the forest and there are islands and certain ecosystems that are no longer forests and the rain doesn't fall there anymore. " http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8987894 USA: 33) The Forest Service issued a final rule today establishing an appeals process for hazardous fuels reduction projects under the 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act. The law gave the Forest Service and Interior Department expanded authority to streamline procedures for thinning 20 million acres to reduce the threat of wildfires. Used on more than 200,000 acres nationwide thus far, the bill permits expedited environmental assessments for proposed treatments and limits the number of possible alternatives. The Bush administration said the law would limit litigation against needed logging projects, but opponents contend the interim rule places unnecessary restrictions on appeals. Under the final rule, only authorized hazardous fuel reduction projects that have been analyzed in an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement are subject to objection, and only those who originally commented on the environmental evaluations may file an objection. Because of the comment requirements, a project is not subject to objections if there are no comments on it. The agency has been operating under the interim rule for four years, in part to evaluate the comment process before finalizing the rule. " The experience was a big factor, along with the comments, " Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh said. " They didn't want to rush the decision and have to go back again. " While the service has gained from the experience, lawmakers have been critical of the law itself. While the law authorizes $760 million annually for hazardous fuels reduction, the Bush administration and Congress have allocated less than $300 million each year, while wildfires continue to grow in frequency and strength. The final rule takes effect in 30 days. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2008/09/17/19 34) As if it weren't bad enough that junk mail invades our privacy and clogs our mailboxes, it also claims 100 million trees a year--significantly contributing to climate change. That's right. The Junk Mail Effect equals the emissions of nine millions cars, the total emissions of seven U.S. states combined, or the emissions equal to heating nearly 13 million homes for the winter. Want more info? Grab a copy of our report, Climate Change Enclosed: Junk Mail's Impact on Global Warming, and be sure to join the 64,000 people calling for a Do Not Mail Registry in the U.S. http://donotmail.org/article.php?id=92 35) The Bush family, most notably former President George H. W. Bush, is reaping windfall profits from the transfer of title of public federal and state lands to private hands. The elder Bush, according to our sources, has a vested financial interest in land title companies that specialize in the transfer of public lands to private interests. The revelations represent the first evidence that the elder Bush has benefited from the transfer of public lands to private hands in a giant scheme to defraud federal and state governments, as well as the American taxpayers and Native Americans. The land-grabbing scheme primarily involves the transfer of federal lands, including Native American lands and national forest system lands, in the Rocky Mountain West, state lands in Texas, and both federal and state lands in California, Mississippi, and Florida to private entities. The scheme is also at the center of the scandal surrounding jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff who conspired to privatize federal lands and assets around the country to benefit his corporate clients. In 2004, under pressure from Abramoff and the White House, Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Jim Gibbons (R-NV) shepherded the passage of the Western Shoshone Distribution Act, which was quickly signed by President George W. Bush. The act settled federal violations of the Ruby Valley Treaty of 1863 with the Shoshones and compensated them a mere $135 million for 24 million acres of Shoshone land illegally seized by the federal government in Nevada, California, Utah, and Idaho. The Shoshones cried foul, saying their land is rich in gold reserves. Gibbons, who is now governor of Nevada, instantly moved legislation to privatize the former Shoshone lands. Reid, Gibbons, and Senator John Ensign (R-NV), all received lucrative cash contributions to their campaigns from Abramoff clients. Bush White House official Jennifer Farley urged passage of the bill claiming that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were personally interested in its enactment, further adding that the legislation was considered " hot. " Cheney paid a visit to Nevada as the Senate voted to pass the bill. The Washington Post reported that Farley and Karl Rove were recipients of sporting event tickets from Abramoff's assistant Kevin Ring, arrested and jailed this past week for his involvement in the Abramoff bribery scandal. Farley termed tickets as " fruit " in her conversations with Ring. Abramoff, already serving a prison sentence for a guilty verdict from a Florida case, received an additional four years in prison last week for his role in the scandal, which has tainted a number of Republicans in Congress, as well as senior members of the Bush administration. http://www.infowars.com/?p=4591 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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