014OEC’s This Week in Trees
This is a reminder that OEC’s This Week in Trees is alive and well and
fast becoming a primary resource for a new world-wide forest activist
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34 news items / stories from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon,
California, USA, Montana, Minnesota, South Dakota, New York, Pennsylvania,
England, Kenya, Boliva, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, China, Malaysia, and
Indonesia
British Columbia:
1) Huu-ay-aht First Nation is locked in a giant battle with forest company
Brascan and the British Columbia government. The Huu-ay-aht First Nation,
whose traditional territory surrounds the village of Bamfield on the west
coast of Vancouver Island, contains some of the richest forestlands on the
British Columbian coast. For the past month, the 580-member First Nation
has been fighting for a role in forest management it claims is rightfully
its own. According to Chief Councillor Robert Dennis, litigation was
launched as soon as Canadian company Brascan purchased forest products
giant Weyerhaeuser’s assets in the coastal forest region, as forestry
agreements negotiated over many years with the First Nation ”were thrown
out the window.” The court confirmed Huu-ay-aht’s interests in the land
and urged negotiated accommodation agreements. Despite the court’s
decision, logging continued unabated. Huu-ay-aht Ha’wiih (Chiefs) and 30
supporters blocked access to the provincial Ministry of Forests office in
nearby Port Alberni during the morning of July 6, which eventually
attracted the attention of British Columbia’s Minister of Aboriginal
Affairs, Tom Christensen, who promised to meet with Huu-ay-aht on the
condition they do not embark on illegal activities. According to Dennis,
numerous provincial and federal court decisions confirm the existence and
importance of Aboriginal title and rights in forestlands, and Huu-ay-aht
want their rights accommodated through revenue sharing agreements.
”Approximately 13,000 truckloads left our territory last year. They
pillage our resources to meet their needs; our priority is to replenish
our salmon stocks, restore our rivers and stabilize the clearcuts on the
hillsides that ruin salmon habitat,” he said. ”We’re not against logging
and employment. We’re against irresponsible management and we will start
to protect what we believe needs protecting.”
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411301
2) On the north shore of Cowichan Lake, Youbou, founded in 1913, struggles
to survive promoting itself as a retirement and recreational destination.
Across the lake, Caycuse is an emaciated ghost of the community that
thrived from 1927 to 1998. It’s famous — or infamous — as the place
where in 1959 loggers proudly cut down a Douglas fir that was 1,266 years
old. Just to put that tree in context, it took root before most of the
countries which now define Europe did. Britain was a gaggle of nations
with names like Hwicce, Powys, Mercia and Bernicia.
I thought about that fallen tree — and the exhausted resource communities
of the Cowichan Valley, which once produced enough timber each year to
build 25,000 houses — when I pulled over to examine a big sign near Paldi
Road. It boldly proclaims the Cowichan Valley Demonstration Forest, set up
under something called a Green Gold Grant paid for by federal and
provincial taxpayers to show off enlightened forest stewardship. Well,
former forest ministry science and technical officer Michael Copland says
the public is about to get an education in stewardship values, all right.
He says the province has licensed clearcutting rights to the demonstration
forest — which he says the government now tells him was never official,
anyway — including the research stand where he spent $25,000 in
provincial funds designing, surveying, mapping, gathering and analyzing
data for a study. Irreplaceable data will be lost when the logging goes
ahead, he says. Copland says his study compared yields from long-term
sequential thinning of a timber stand (cutting selectively five times over
150 years) to short
rotation clearcutting every 37.5 years over the same period (the strategy
favored by government and forest companies whose investors demand
quarterly results.) What he found, he says, is that sequential thinning
not only increased the volume of wood, it dramatically increased quality
and value. However, when Copland asked permission to publish his findings
as a scientific paper and use the study as the basis for further research
toward a PhD in forestry, he says he was told by ministry officials he
could not publish and that all his research belonged to the ministry.
First, we betrayed our duty to the primeval forest and the creatures which
rely on it, then we betrayed the forest workers and their communities, now
we’re betraying even the vision of science-based sustainable stewardship
and multiple use. What’s left to betray? mailto:shume@islandnet.com © The
Vancouver Sun 2005
3) Revenue Branch in Victoria has introduced an amendment to the interior
appraisal manual, effective August 1, that would see the price paid to the
Crown for salvage wood increase by roughly 85%. Local small scale
salvagers are angry. The proposed changes fly in the face of commitments
that the BC Liberal Party made in their party platform: “A Proven Plan For
A Golden Decade.” The plan actually commits to expanding small scale
salvage program and creating new stumpage arrangements for community
forests. Marc von der Gönna, general manager of the McBride Community
Forest, and other players in the small scale salvage industry went to
Clearwater last Thursday to meet with district and regional staff from
tenures and revenue to discuss the situation. While he said that the
forest district and the wider forest region understand his concerns, he
said that the real power to make changes lies with revenue branch in
Victoria. “The proposed changes work for major licensees. That is 95% or
more of the volume of timber, but there are some casualties along the
way,” he said. “We are the mosquito and we can see the windshield coming
August 1.” “What are they thinking?” she asks. “I think it is absolutely
absurd. We are shocked at what has happened.” She said that when their
license was advertised, the stumpage rate was $3 per cubic metre. Now she
expects it is going to be in the mid-20s plus the admin fee. Ainsley
Jackman is the forester for C. Baggett Logging. C. Baggett Logging holds
one of the valley’s small scale salvage licenses. “It is ridiculously high
and it seems to me that small scale salvagers will be paying the highest
stumpage of anyone in the valley,” she said. Licensees like McBride Forest
Industries and Northwest Specialty Lumber will actually see the price they
pay for salvage drop to $9 per cubic metre.
http://www.robsonvalleytimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id
=147&Itemid=46
4) The British Columbia forest industry’s spectacular growth era is
probably over. West Fraser Timber reported second quarter earnings down 43
per cent this week, compared to 2004, and other public companies are
expected to report similar declines as they release results in the coming
days. A growing supply of lumber and a cooling U.S. housing market are
cited as the culprits. — although analysts said the B.C. forest sector
remains one of the world’s best performers…”Lumber, however, is getting
back down into the territory where some small, independent, high cost
mills might hurt at some of the current prices. We are still a long way
off from the mainstream hurting, though.” Taylor suggested that lumber
buyers, now flush with supply from both North American and offshore
operations, are beginning to scale down the volume of their orders. He
said they’ve become confident enough to order two-week, rather than
two-month supplies, and exercising downward pressure on prices.
mailto:ssimpson@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
Washington state:
5) A bill to permanently protect a 20-mile stretch of the upper White
Salmon River system is headed for President Bush’s desk. On Tuesday, the
U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Maria
Cantwell, D-Wash., that adds the river section to the National Wild and
Scenic Rivers System. Earlier this month the U.S. House passed identical
legislation introduced by Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver. “White Salmon
supporters and outdoor recreationists will have something to celebrate in
just a few days,” Cantwell said in a statement. “Preserving this popular
recreational destination will be a boon for the local economy and a
service for future generations to enjoy.” Forest Service found the upper
White Salmon eligible for inclusion in the Wild and Scenic Rivers System
based on its free-flowing condition and its scenic, hydrologic, geologic
and wildlife values. Both the House and Senate bills would protect the
White Salmon from its headwaters on the flank of Mount Adams to the
boundary of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest north of Trout Lake, a
total of 13.4 miles, as well as 6.6 miles of Cascade Creek, a White Salmon
tributary. The river in that upper reach flows entirely through national
forest land; the uppermost section is within the Mount Adams Wilderness.
http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/07272005news2901.cfm
6) Phil Thomas has cleared, graded and repaired national forest roads for
30 years, but now he’s been eliminated. With him, so will the dirt and
gravel roads Americans rely on to reach their favorite forest hunting
spot, trail or campsite. National forests including the Gifford Pinchot,
where Thomas maintains roads among the mountains northeast of Portland,
can no longer afford spaghetti-like road networks built with money that
rolled in during the timber boom days. It’s also happening in the Mount
Hood and other national forests, erasing access to remote haunts by
returning lands to their wild state — an irony under a White House that
favors industrial access to public lands. The Bush administration last
year stoked controversy by dropping formal protections for undeveloped,
roadless lands. But fading Forest Service budgets under the same
administration are quietly letting roaded lands become roadless ones.
“Right now it’s just disaster control, let’s put it that way,” said
Thomas, 65, taking a break from reshaping a road with his grader. National
forest roads in Oregon and Washington measure twice as long as the entire
interstate highway system. Forest managers are reducing maintenance across
thousands of miles, and, nationwide, only 30 percent of passenger car
roads will be maintained to current standards this year. Result: Roads
will wash out, grow over and disappear in the next few years. “We are
creating de facto roadless areas,” said Ron Freeman, public services staff
officer for the Gifford Pinchot. “Things are going back to nature . . .
you can’t stop things from growing.”
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/11225
44675215390.xml&coll=7
7) Forest_Defenders the time is has come. the time is now. we must stand
together and do what we can to stop deforestation. it is such a big
problem. and you and i can make a difference. it only takes a few to stand
up to get things changed. why is it important? the forests of Earth, give
us life. they are the richest and most unique ecosystems there are. they
provide water, air, food for most living creatures. it is the cornerstone
to eco balance. if we lose our forests and rainforests, we die. they are
not ours to rape and pillage. they belong to all living creatures. we are
not the center of the universe. be a smart and educated and compassionate
consumer. ask where your wood and paper products come from. do not buy
wood or paper that comes from old growth forests or rainforests or
endangered trees!! its up to you to put pressure on the big corporate
rapists. help get the word out. tell everyone. sign the petitions. get up
and help at the peaceful protests. be a volunteer. give money when
possible. post bulletins. spread the word!
http://tribes.tribe.net/forest_defenders?r=10535
Oregon:
8) On July 23, legendary activist 72 year old Joan Norman was killed in a
head on car collision on Highway 199 near the California border. Joan is
dearly loved and revered by many. When asked how she got into
environmental activism, Joan tells how her Grandson was responsible: “He
said “Grandma, it’s so beautiful and amazing in the forest, you have to
come with me so I can show you”. So, I went with him. It was hard for my
old bones and joints. He was so excited to be showing me this pure,
beautiful world he had found. Excited that someone in his family would go
with him. It was hard to go up the steep paths, but I did. And what he
showed me was just so amazing. I saw it the first time through the eyes of
a child. We should all go into the forest with young children. They see it
like it is meant to be seen. With the innocence of a being still connected
to the earth. They see it the way humans lived it for thousands of years.
Asked what her message to the world was last march regarding the effort to
stop the Forest Service’s largest logging project in modern history, the
Biscuit, Joan said, “Tell them to get some fire in their bellies and come
to this gate of paradise and help us defend it. Tell them to come. I will
be here.” When arrested last March 7 trying to block the Silver Creek
Logging company’s access to what activists maintain is an illegal old
growth logging sale on Fiddler Mountain, Joan said, “they came and removed
me from the bridge I was blocking. Carrying me in my chair next to the
sheriff’s vehicle they put me down there and thought I would stay put.
Then the officers went off to arrest someone else. I got up and moved my
chair back to my space. My sovereign space. An officer yelled, “Hey you’re
not supposed to do that! Get back over where I put you.” I just laughed.
People have been trying to get me to be where they put me all my life. I
have a right to stand up against evil and I will… I have been arrested
over 100 times standing against injustice. Why, I went with the freedom
riders to the south. I went to Alabama to stop the lynchings and let the
people be free. I went to Montgomery, Selma and Birmingham… I saw the
genocide against the people of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and I jumped in,
with both feet. I was at the Nevada test site protests. I stood beside the
true hero’s of this country. I stood by them at Fort Benning to protest
the School of the America’s, the place where international terrorists,
death squads are trained… I was at the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999, I
went to Washington DC to stop the G8 and the WTO takeover of the world. I
have been in the streets with the best of them. I have lived for 30 years
in a community of freedom riders. I lived in a motor home for 12 years and
traveled to where I was needed. I had my own kitchen, my own first aid
station, my few books and my passion for freedom and justice. I started
out with members of a church. I met Martin Luther King, Jr. The thing we
wanted to stand up to then was the destruction of the diversity of people
in this nation. The slavery, racism, and violence toward people of color.
The thing we are fighting today is much the same only we are trying to
defend the diversity of the whole world, of life on earth. We need all of
it to not just survive, but to thrive as a peaceful, loving people.”
http://www.o2collective.org, http://www.kswild.org or
http://www.siskiyou.org .
9) When will timber companies, their allies in Congress and the U.S.
Forest Service learn that logging America’s last remaining ancient forests
does not make good economic or environmental sense? (“Timber companies sue
for reparations,” July 3). Not only does the Forest Service sell our wild
heritage at taxpayer expense, but the companies that buy the contracts are
clearly aware that the vast majority of proposed public-land logging
projects violate the law. The Forest Service has not provided a full
public accounting of its timber sale program since 1998, when they
revealed a loss of $100 million in tax money. Independent watchdog groups
put the annual loss at more than $400 million. These losses grow every
year, and every time a new road is added to our public lands or another
stand of ancient trees is cut, the Forest Service is losing taxpayers’
money and damaging our natural heritage. These elected officials and their
backers use the fear of fire to cut old growth and our last remaining
roadless wildlands. In their wake, the public has gotten damaged
watersheds, endangered fish and wildlife, and diminished recreational
opportunities. This means more than environmental damage, it means
economic loss
http://www.oregonlive.com/public_commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/
editorial/112211310876830.xml&coll=7
10) The Medford District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) just released
revised plans to log parts of the beautiful Waldo-Takilma forest in the
Illinois River Valley. The West Fork Illinois River is the number one
watershed out of 1,400 for rare species (according to the Oregon Natural
Heritage Database). The West Fork Illinois has important spawning and
rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead. Elk Creek and its tributaries
provide some of the best habitat in the entire Rogue Basin for endangered
Coho salmon. The eastern portion of the West Fork Illinois project area
overlaps an area nominated by the public as an Area of Critical
Environmental Concern (ACEC). The BLM plans to log most of the
non-serpentine forests in the West Fork drainage. Logging would decrease
canopy cover, and increase fire risk. Logging would occur in Riparian
Reserves under Alternative 2 and logging would be conducted largely
through skyline and tractor methods, compacting soils, increasing risk of
erosion and spread of invasive weeds. http://www.kswild.org
11) The Medford District BLM continues its assault on the last remaining
wild forests in western Oregon. The newly released Environmental
Assessment for the “Bald Lick Landscape Project” proposes more than 5,000
acres of logging and almost 12 miles of new road construction in the
Little Applegate and Applegate-McKee Bridge watersheds. The Little
Applegate is important habitat for threatened Coho salmon and steelhead,
and the project area includes thousands of acres of critical habitat for
the threatened Northern Spotted Owl. http://www.kswild.org
12) Take a tour of the incredible Klamath-Siskiyou region and learn about
rare species, recreational opportunities, at-risk forests and the laws
that protect public lands. Join us for a beautiful slideshow of our
beloved region, an overview of recent victories and a virtual tour of
current threats – all accompanied by music, scrumptious snacks, local
beer, refreshing tea and good people. Learn about current timber sales,
grazing allotments and attempts to gut environmental laws such as the
popular Endangered Species Act. Other Upcoming Events: August 5-6:
Kelsey-Whisky Campout, September 3: Ashland Watershed Hike,
September 24: Mount Ashland Hike http://www.kswild.org
California:
13) San Jose Water Co. plans to submit formal documents to the state next
month asking permission to log about 1,000 acres of land near the
Lexington Reservoir as a way to control fire and protect water quality.
Much of the property — upstream from the reservoir, east of Highway 17 —
was burned in the 1985 Lexington Fire. At the time, state forestry
officials expressed concern about firefighters’ lack of access to the
property. A timber-management plan being developed by Big Creek Lumber
would greatly improve that access, officials of the water company say. The
plan will call for a “light harvest — essentially a thinning” of
redwoods and Douglas firs over 15 to 18 years, said Janet McCrary Webb,
chief forester at Big Creek, located north of Davenport. Roughly a ninth
of the property would be harvested every two years. The property
represents about a sixth of the land owned by San Jose Water Co. The
current timeline calls for submitting a management plan to the state
Department of Forestry at the end of August. Nearby property owners in
Chemeketa Park, Aldercroft Heights and the Summit Road area would be
notified by mail early next month The water company will hold an informal
meeting with neighbors at 7 p.m. today at the Redwood Estates Pavilion.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/
the_valley/12224275.htm
14) Over two years ago in December 2003, the North Coast Regional Water
Quality Control Board (Regional Board) took an important step towards
addressing cumulative impacts from Pacific Lumber’s (PL’s) logging in
Freshwater Creek and the Elk River, directing their staff to require PL to
apply for and obtain watershed-wide water pollution control permits.
After significant delays by PL in providing required information to the
Regional Board, and after Regional Board and independent scientists
demonstrated severe cumulative watershed impacts from high levels of
timber harvesting by PL, the proposed permits are now available for public
review and comment. EPIC supports the concept of the proposed WDRs and
believes that correlating timber harvest levels with watershed damage is a
welcome and long-overdue method for reliably predicting some of the
damaging impacts of timber harvest. However, the proposed permits as
written contain some “gaps” which will have to be filled before the final
WDRs are adopted in order to ensure watershed protection. EPIC will submit
extensive expert comments for the record. Take action now by responding to
this alert using EPIC’s web site:
http://www.wildcalifornia.org/actions/number-28
USA:
15) As many of you know, the Leach Slaughter bill is our solution to
commercial logging in all national forests. And, like every piece of
important legislation ever passed, the road to victory may be long. As we
reintroduce legislation that points us towards our vision, it is important
to remain focused on protecting public lands from immediate threats. We
can call for our comprehensive solution while protecting our individual
forests. We can point to a long-term goal while restoring local
ecosystems. And, we can uphold legislation for permanent protection while
winning market-based commitments from companies to not sell products made
from public lands. Working together as a national alliance of over 120
grassroots forest protection organizations makes this possible. THANKS
for your work! For the Wild, Andrew George www.forestadvocate.org
16) Consider that one average household in the western world annually
creates 28,350 pounds of greenhouse gases. To offset this by planting
trees would require growing 34 hardwood trees which are much more
efficient CO2 converters than softwoods. It would take 25 years for these
34 trees to reach peak efficiency to absorb the full 28,350 pounds which
means that CO2 production would greatly exceed CO2 absorption. In the
bigger picture, it would require fifty million acres of hardwood trees
planted annually to manage the fossil fuel use of the United States alone.
But instead of planting trees, we are cutting them down. There is only
one solution to global warming – only one, an impossible one, and that is
to immediately cease and desist from burning fossil fuels. Close the coal
mines, cap all the oil and gas wells, stop burning the rainforests, stop
driving cars, flying in airplanes, and transporting goods in super-tankers
and giant container vessels. Sometimes the only possible answer is the
impossible solution. (Paul Watson)
http://sisyphus.gnn.tv/blogs/7575/More_and_Dumber_People_Hot_and_Hotter_Planet
Montana:
17) Schmaus spent his working life after the war from 1945 through 1991 as
a logger. “I felled 50 million board feet of logs in my day,” he said. He
also helped fight forest fires in several western states and believes he
has seen the evidence of ill-advised policies prevent forest regeneration
and healthy management. Specifically, Schmaus objects to what he terms the
“let burn” policy of the forest service on some national forest lands. In
several hand-written pages of notes, he documents places in Idaho and
Wyoming where fires burned all of the forest growth over thousands of
acres. He believes that fires in recent years have been more severe and
more damaging because crews with heavy equipment are not allowed to get in
to some fire spots and put them down. “From the 1930s to the 1970s we saw
almost no fires. They hit them hard and fast with heavy equipment,”
Schmaus said. “I fought a war because I believed in justice and
righteousness. I don’t like my children to be fooled,” he added when
talking about what he sees as poor decision-making in forest management.
Schmaus is the father of eight children and has 27 grandchildren. He is
quick to say that not all the district forest rangers are the same in the
way they manage their forests. While one ranger may reclaim a logging road
in order to have better access to an area of forest, others have told
Schmaus they would never do that. Burned areas of the forest may take
hundreds of years to truly regenerate, Schmaus said. He believes it would
be wiser and more economically sound policy to allow logging and thinning
to a much greater extent. “I think there are 20 billion board feet of
timber rotting right now in the U.S. forests. This is a waste of our
national resources,” he said. He even backs up his views with a few Bible
quotes, but he doesn’t want people to think he is just a little old man
with crazy ideas, so he writes down every example he can think of to back
up his views.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1300&dept_id=156923&newsid=14916093
&PAG=461&rfi=9
Minnesota:
18) For the first time, the U.S. Forest Service is about to sell what it
considers surplus buildings and the land beneath them up in the North
Woods of the Superior National Forest. In an online auction to be held
later this summer, you can make a bid for a Depression-era ranger station
constructed out of giant logs near Isabella, Minn. Also on the block are
two shoreline parcels on Fall Lake north of Winton, Minn. — one with an
abandoned resort cabin and another that once served as an outfitter
building for renowned conservationist Sigurd Olson. The Superior Forest,
up in the state’s Arrowhead area, is one of only three national forests in
the country given authority to hold such sales. All told, nearly 24 acres
will switch from public to private hands — and to the Lake County tax
rolls — in the four-parcel auction. Environmental advocates aren’t
thrilled about the prospect of selling off public forest land because
Congress hasn’t earmarked enough money to maintain the old buildings. “But
it’s not as though they’re taking some old-growth stand or a pristine
example of a particular type of forest and putting it up for sale,” said
Matt Norton, a forestry attorney for the Minnesota Center for
Environmental Advocacy. “It’s a little frightening from the standpoint of
setting a precedent where, rather than Congress giving the Forest Service
the funding we need, we just start selling off more property,” said
Melissa Lindsay, director of the Friends of the Boundary Waters
Wilderness. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness sprawls near the
parcels. “But it’s not something that’s going to affect recreational use.
None of us are going to feel the pinch.”
http://www.startribune.com/stories/531/5524432.html
South Dakota:
19) South Dakota congressional delegation wants the U.S. Forest Service to
cut down more trees in the Black Hills National Forest to reduce fire
risks. The delegation met Wednesday with Forest Service Chief Dale
Bosworth and Rocky Mountain Region Forester Rick Cables. The delegation
also urged that commercial logging in the forest be increased to the
allowable sale quantity of 83 million board feet. The annual figure for
the forest was 118 million board feet before 1997. That year, it was
reduced to 83 million. But this decade, the timber harvest has averaged
between 60 million and 70 million board feet per year. “Everybody seemed
to be pretty much on the same page. The delegation recognizes that forest
health needs to be an issue they are concerned with,” said Sen. John
Thune, R-S.D. Representatives of other Black Hills Forest users say they
wish they would have been included. “The Sierra Club hasn’t changed our
policy that we still strongly oppose all commercial timber sales,” said
Sam Clauson of Rapid City, chairman of the Sierra Club’s Black Hills
group. There are better ways of reducing fire risk and improving the
forest’s health, he said. “I sure wish I would have been there,” said
Nancy Kile of Sturgis, who represents Defenders of the Black Hills. Others
are interested only in promoting “corporate welfare,” a term Kile uses to
describe logging.
http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/12217674.htm
New York:
20) Once more the cry goes up, “Save Sterling Forest!” If you are puzzled,
you are not alone. I thought Sterling Forest had already been saved. In
fact, it was one of the more remarkable environmental victories of the
Nineties. It began, you may recall, when a European-owned company
presented a plan to develop some 27 square miles of forested ridges and
valleys in Orange County, N.Y., just over the New Jersey border from
northern Passaic County. Environmentalists denounced it as an instant city
that would threaten the purity of downstream reservoirs in New Jersey.
Environmentalists mounted a long, fierce attack on the project. The New
York-New Jersey Trails Conference, which maintains the Appalachian Trail
through the forest, weighed in with well-considered objections. Eventually
New York Gov. George Pataki changed his mind. So did the congressman,
Benjamin Gilman, also a Republican, after he was deluged with letters from
constituents, angry phone calls, and agitated testimony at public
hearings. He became a co-sponsor of federal legislation for preservation
of Sterling Forest, and the National Park Service committed $17.5 million
to the cause. New York State contributed $16 million, and foundations and
philanthropists contributed millions more. The total eventually reached
$55 million, which bought 90 percent of the forest. But the developer
retained 2,200 acres, including a tract of 575 acres with a tree-fringed
pond, smack in the middle of the forest. It is this tract that is now in
dispute. Heimbach’s company, owned by Swedish and Swiss firms, proposed to
develop it as Sterling Forge – a hundred luxury homes and a golf course.
Not so fast, said the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.
The land marked for the golf course sheltered a threatened species, the
timber rattlesnake, and we all know what a vulnerable and lovable creature
it is. So Sterling Forest L.L.C. redrew its plan, dropping the golf course
and adding a few more houses, 107 in all. These will be expensive, $1.2
million to $2.2 million each, on lots of 1 to 5 acres. How this turns out
remains to be seen, but the pattern that has been set is that a precious
open-space resource must be preserved, no matter the cost, and Sterling
Forge is seen by opponents as just another chapter in a long story, and
probably not the last one.
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzOTcmZmdiZ
Ww3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY3MzIzODYmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNA==
Pennsylvania:
22) Pennsylvania Game Commission officials want landowners to know that
the benefits dead trees or snags provide wildlife are immense. In fact, in
Pennsylvania today, dead trees are in higher demand for certain wildlife
species than living ones, mostly because there are so few of them. Prior
to European colonization, much of the state was covered by a dense
forestland that had a substantial number of dead and dying trees. It was a
great time for cavity-nesting birds and squirrels. The state’s settlement,
of course, would change that eventually. And to this day, development
continues to swallow more wild lands and often forestland or woodlots.
Dead and dying trees typically are some of the first to be cleared. The
main problems developers and some property owners have with dead trees and
snags are their unattractiveness and the usual threats associated with
their deterioration. But wildlife managers familiar with the important
habitat dead and dying trees provide forest ecosystems believe these trees
deserve more respect than they’re getting. They can – and should – be
managed with the same considerations live trees receive. “Dozens of wild
birds and mammals use tree cavities for shelter, resting or nesting,”
explained Cal DuBrock, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management
director. “Some excavate their own cavities in the decaying wood of dead
and dying trees. Others wait for a woodpecker to do the work and then
occupy and enlarge the cavity. “These cavities in dead and dying trees –
as well as some living trees – are invaluable to bluebirds, American
kestrels, wood ducks, flickers, pileated woodpeckers, chickadees and many
other species. Their limited availability makes each one a precious
commodity in any forest, woodlot or backyard.” The natural benefits
provided by dead and dying trees extend beyond cavities in the trunk. The
separating or peeling bark can shelter resting bats during daylight hours,
or provide habitat for insects that many wild birds consume. The bare,
weather-worn branches are favored hunting perches for hawks and owls.
After the tree falls, it provides shelter for amphibians, reptiles, birds,
mammals and insects. The tree’s decaying debris also returns nutrients to
the soil, ultimately strengthening the forest’s ability to support life.
About half of Pennsylvania remains forested, and slightly more than half
of that forestland is dominated by large trees. A small percentage of
these large trees are dead, deteriorating or harboring cavities that birds
and mammals use for dens or nest sites. To help offset this disparity, the
Game Commission has been manufacturing nesting boxes for everything from
bluebirds to wood ducks for years at its Howard Nursery in Centre County.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050727/phw037.html?.v=19
England:
23) Disaster strikes the trees of the Forest of Dean: The forest’s wide
range of trees, including oak, beech, chestnut, pine, fir and spruce, make
it particularly attractive to squirrels. They strip bark from around the
trunk, which means that the tree dies. The Forestry Commission estimates
there are now around 20,000 squirrels there. Ben Lennon, of the
commission, said: “If you walk around the forest at the moment you can
start to see the damage. Some branches are bare on the trees and a lot of
leaves are brown. The squirrels are an introduced species and their
population just keeps growing and growing. “There are several theories why
the squirrels rip off the bark, but the most likely one is that it is
linked to mating and the squirrels are trying to impress females.” Grey
squirrels were introduced to Britain from America in the 19th century. The
grey is bigger and more adaptable than the native red squirrel. Mr Lennon
added: “The animals have been in good condition to survive the winters in
the past few years. “We don’t even bother planting some species in the
forest now because it’s not worth it – the squirrels just destroy them.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/26/nsquirrel26
.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/07/26/ixhome.html
Kenya:
24) What ignited the passion in you that made you one of the world’s
leading environmentalists? I was assisted by the fact that I had higher
education in biological sciences, but I was also born in the countryside.
I am really a child of the forests and … love the smell of the
countryside. Because of this love the destruction of the countryside was
really horrifying to me — deforestation was taking place, and a lot of
soil was being lost in the river. When I started planting trees, one thing
led to another and I realised that the environment was connected to the
way we govern ourselves. Thus after working in the environment I started
[campaigning] for better governance in my country and I also got involved
in efforts to resolve conflicts. That is how I eventually saw that quite
often people are fighting over resources. I realised that if we managed
the resources properly, and if we share them more equitably, we are more
likely to live in peace with each other.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=246360&area=/insight/insight
__comment_and_analysis/
Bolivia:
25) The role played by conservation programs that are implemented with the
collaboration of local populations is a critical issue in discussions
about the relationship that exists, or should exist, between the goals of
promoting economic development that contributes to improving the quality
of human life and promoting the conservation of biological diversity.
While there is a consensus that local participation is an important
element in conservation programs, in many cases there is also
dissatisfaction with the results. On the one hand, there are questions
about whether such collaboration really contributes to improving the
quality of life of program participants, and, on the other, there are
questions about whether collaboration with local people really results in
significant contributions to biodiversity conservation. Among the factors
that have contributed to unsatisfactory results has been the tendency of
many activities with local populations to define their actions in terms of
work with communities, attributing to them levels of homogeneity and
solidarity that do not exist and, which, in many cases, have not existed
historically. As a result, different observers have recommended that the
concept of work with communities be replaced by an institutional focus
that identifies entities characterized by compatible interests and builds
shared agendas based on those interests. This has been the focus utilized
by the conservation program in the Bolivian Chaco, which has been jointly
implemented by WCS and the Capitanía de Alto y Bajo Izozog. This program
has achieved positive results related to biodiversity conservation and
improving the quality of human life. Of particular importance, the
program’s focus has enabled it to respond relatively effectively to
challenges related to both sets of issues that have originated outside of
the area that is the program’s geographic focus.
http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0725-cbc_cbc.html
Mexico:
26) Chiapas – In Latin America, people and high value natural resources
coexist in Biosphere Reserves. Nevertheless, it is very common to find
inhabitants don’t know they live inside one. In 2000, a Conservation
Education Campaign using the Rare Pride methodology at El Triunfo
Biosphere Reserve strongly reached local inhabitants to increase awareness
about their natural resource values, sustainable management and pride of
living inside a Biosphere Reserve. This educational campaign used the
Quetzal (Pharomacrus moccino) as the flagship species to reach people. A
monitoring survey showed how before the implementation of the Quetzal
Campaign 27% of local inhabitants (young and old) didn’t know they lived
inside the Reserve. After one year of implementing the Quetzal Campaign
57% of the people were aware of cohabitati ng in a natural protected area.
Results show the immense usefulness of an educational campaign involving
community-based social marketing. At present, the Quetzal Campaign
prevails increasing local awareness for sustainable development
(sustainable coffee, fire prevention, water conservation) at El Triunfo
Biosphere Reserve in a participatory way after a five-year nonstop
program. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0725-cbc_cbc.html
Brazil:
27) Forest and conservation policies in the Amazon suffer from a lack of
information about costs of implementation, and of the long-term impact on
production. This lack of information makes decisionmaking, whether for
conservation set-asides or timber concessions, essentially related to the
best guess. And, while there is some good basic information available,
there is neither a dynamic model nor a comprehensive basin-wide effort. In
this research we outline the structure of a Pan-Amazon logging model that
forecasts where logging will occur over a 30-year period. The model, based
on secondary data from the IBGE and supplemented by data from a 527-mill
survey, uses a residual cost analysis that allows firms to select the
least cost harvest path in 590 Municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon.
Once the harvest is selected, the cost- surface variables are reformatted
and the model is rerun. Using this modelXIX Annual Meeting of the Society
for Conservation Biology ABSTRACTS we simulate (1) the costs of protecting
conservation areas from illegal logging and (2) how a timber concession
program will affect the location of logging.
http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0727-cbc_timber.html
Australia:
28) Logging of a forest block near Collie, in south-west Western
Australia, will be delayed until next week, after an Indigenous group
identified several areas it wants quarantined because of their cultural
significance. The Forest Products Commission is to log the Palmer One
block as part of this year’s harvest plan to supply local sawmills.
Members of the Ngalang Boodja Council have now identified several areas
containing scarred trees. Council member Phil Ugle says the trees are
culturally significant. “There’s a few that we’ve found, but we haven’t
gone right through it because it’s not a small block. We’re going to talk
about delegating some more people to help with this procedure,” he said.
The commission has agreed to hold off works in the area until next week,
when the council expects to have mapped out all of the areas it wants
quarantined. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200507/s1422180.htm
29) Wandella State Forest logging debate has reportedly almost divided the
community of Cobargo in two. The protest is now entering its seventh week
with the protesters being camped on the side of Yowrie Road outside
Cobargo and near the Wandella State Forest. NSW Forests declared the area
of Wandella State Forest where the harvest operation is taking place, a
prohibited area so that the harvesting operation can continue without
people causing a safety risk and to minimise the possibility of conflict
between the loggers and protesters. The prohibited area is sign posted.
On Saturday, July 23 a large group of protesters entered a prohibited area
of the Wandella State Forest.
30) After protesters had entered the prohibited area it was alleged that
contractors felled two large trees to block entrance to the road,
stranding the protesters within the prohibited area of the forest. It was
then alleged that a small group of men arrived in the restricted area and
rammed a vehicle being driven by a woman. Protesters also claim they were
intimidated, abused and assaulted. The protesters are camped on Council
reserve and adjoining State Forest land. Bega Valley Shire Council rangers
are working with police in the area to try and resolve the matter of
illegal camping. Police are still investigating the matter and at the time
of going to press had not made any arrests. Mr Nairn said that he did not
condone the violence for a second but he said the protesters should not be
there. “It is an area set aside in the RFA and the company carrying out
the logging has done everything according to the law,” Mr Nairn said. “We
spent millions and millions [of dollars] doing the science for the RFA and
these protesters won’t accept the umpire’s decision.” A large meeting of
conservation groups in the south east has backed the Wandella blockade.
The weekend meeting, held in Bega, was called to discuss strategies to
save the region’s forests from woodchipping and other key environment
issues. Ms Deb Harris said that campaigners from local, regional and State
groups, as well as Canberra have put their full support behind the
blockade. The meeting felt that the Wandella blockade has been a great
success because it has had strong support from local residents. “Community
actions like this demonstrate how strongly many people feel about the
logging of forests and catchments for woodchipping,” Ms Harris said.
http://narooma.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&category
=general%20news&story_id=411493&y=2005&m=7
31) Kerry Martin was drawn to Tasmania for the trees, and she suspects
Tasmanians have been drawn to her work for the same reason. Martin was
awarded the People’s Choice Prize in the City of Hobart Art Prize
Exhibition for her painting Under The Canopy. The painting depicts
rainforest from Martin’s own bushy block near Cradle Mountain. Martin, who
moved to Tasmania four years ago from Western Australia, said she was
passionate about our natural environment and its preservation. “I love
everything here apart from the forestry activities,” she said after
receiving the award yesterday. “I think Tasmania is a real little treasure
island but I find it very disturbing to see the amount of forest
destruction.” Martin said she suspected her love of the Tasmanian
environment was behind her $1000 People’s Choice award. “When you have a
subject you are passionate about and feel strongly about it is reflected
in your work,” she said. “Hopefully this has struck a chord with people.”
Her winning painting is from a series entitled Shroudings, which depicts
the forest canopy as seen from below — complete with lichens, tree ferns
and forest debris. “Under the canopy, gazing up, it is possible to imagine
being submerged in water looking through veils of moisture to the light
above,” Martin said. “On the ground level the forest enfolds and protects
its inhabitants, wrapping around in shadows and reflections.”
http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16060284%255E3462,00.html#
China:
32) XI’AN: Years of hard work and determination are finally paying off
with the announcement that the area is at last winning the battle against
encroaching desert. Some 400,000 hectares of sand in the Maowusu Desert in
Shaanxi Province have been brought under control thanks to organized grass
and tree planting. “In the past 15 years, local people in Yulin have
planted forests each with an area of more than 670 hectares in the desert.
Four forest belts with a length of 1,500 kilometres are now growing, which
stops the flowing sand and improves the ecological environment,” said Lu
Xuebin, general engineer of the Forestry Bureau of Yulin, a city in
northern Shaanxi Province. Forest-grass coverage has increased from 0.9
per cent to 25 per cent in Yulin, and the city is now witnessing
desertification in reverse. Sandstorm frequency has fallen from 30 days a
year in the 1970s to less than 10 in recent years, the general engineer
said. “We used to suffer from sand which came into our houses with the
wind some years ago and we even thought we would have to leave the city
because of it. But now we enjoy a better environment that attracts many
birds to our city, with clean water in the river and green trees along the
river and roads,” said Guan Zexi, a 64-year-old Yulin resident. The
Maowusu Desert is between the southern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
and northern Shaanxi, and covers more than 32,000 square kilometres of
barren land which nibbled away at all sides and gradually increased the
area of desert. Most of the desert here was flowing sand, covering some
573,333 hectares around Yulin city, which is the capital of Yulin
Prefecture. Yao Zhongxin, 70-year-old researcher at the Shaanxi Provincial
Anti-desertification Research Institute, said the desert was some 500
metres from Yulin city 40 years ago, but now the sand had been pushed back
and cannot be seen within 50 kilometres of the city.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-07/26/content_463259.htm
Malaysia:
33) Tourism has the potential to surpass palm oil as the biggest revenue
earner for Sabah so long as its nature reserves are well cared for and
good infrastructures put in place, Deputy Science, Technology and
Innovation Minister, Datuk Kong Cho Ha, said. “In fact, I myself love to
come to Sabah just to see the greenery and the nature that you have – the
islands, the beautiful sea, mountains and rivers. That’s what tourists
want to see,” he said on the sidelines of a three-day Symposium for
Tropical Rainforest Rehabilitation and Restoration, Tuesday. Reporters had
queried him on how the Federal Government can help to expedite the
gazetting of the Lower Kinabatangan wildlife sanctuary that was declared a
‘Gift to the Earth” by the State Government in 1998 with little follow up
action to date. Kong said since the State Government is developing
ecotourism in a very big way, he could see ecotourism as a very important
sector in the long term, especially for Sabah. “I think the State
Government, maybe under the Wildlife Department, need to put in a good
policy for the management of tropical rainforest,” he said. “The Sabah
Government will have to put in place good infrastructures so that these
places can be easily accessible and those nature reserves preserved to
promote ecotourism. http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=36024
Indonesia:
34) More than 170 foreigners have been arrested for alleged involvement in
the illegal felling of forests in Indonesia, Forestry Minister Malam
Sambat Kaban said Wednesday. About 178 foreign ”barons” of illegal
sawmills on Papua, Sumatra and Borneo have been detained since the
imposition of a presidential decree on illegal logging last year, Kaban
said. About 74 forestry ministry officials have also been detained for
backing illegal logging operations, which cost Indonesia more than US$3
billion (HK$23.4 billion) in lost revenue annually, Kaban said. Indonesian
officials warned in April that the so-called barons were targeting remote
Papua province due to the lack of trees on Java and Sumatra. Environmental
watchdogs, in a joint statement published Wednesday, urged the government
to review logging licenses issued by regional administrators which were
contributing to further deforestation. Environmental investigators say
timber smuggling from Papua to China is the world’s largest logging
racket. The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency said 300,000
cubic meters of merbau hardwood is smuggled out of Papua every month to
feed China’s timber processing industry. The agency said illegal logging
in Papua involved Indonesian military and civilian officials, Malaysian
logging gangs and multinational companies as well as brokers in Singapore
and dealers in Hong Kong. It said Indonesia loses forest areas equivalent
to half the size of Switzerland every year.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/World/GG28Wd06.html