027OEC’s This Week in Trees

This week we have 37 stories from Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Minnesota, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Scotland, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Gambia, Uganda, Kenya, Mexico, Argentina, Russia, Philippines, India, Malaysia, Australia.

Alaska:

1) Recent studies show rising temperatures and concentrations of carbon dioxide are causing a “greening” of the frozen tundra in northern Canada and Alaska, but a decline in forested areas. The vast boreal forests that stretch from Alaska’s interior into northeastern Canada appear to be drying out as the air warms, said Scott Goetz, a senior scientist at Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts. Insect outbreaks and lack of nutrients may also be speeding the decline. But the tundra of Alaska and northern Canada has been “greening” dramatically as the Arctic warms, with more plant growth and longer growing seasons, according to Goetz’s study that analyzed thousands of satellite images taken over two decades. The results surprised scientists conducting the survey. “Everyone was assuming that these forests were going to continue to green, and it turns out that there may be other factors that are causing unexpected results,” Goetz said. The report by Goetz and three other researchers was published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005

British Columbia:

2) In British Columbia, forestry science is specifically bought and controlled to prove that black is white. It’s no wonder that the fanaticism of scientism has garnered such unquestioned support amongst those whose primary religion involves nothing other that the making of money. Seven of Campbell’s top-ten ‘corporate contributions’ (a euphemism for quasi-legal bribery) for his 2001 election campaign were from giant logging interests, and British Columbian’s know that it’s the Weyerhaeusers, CANFOR’s and Interfors who call the tune on BC forest policies. The transnational logging industry simply bought themselves a BC government for the shameful pittance of around a million bucks over 10 years. But having bought the science, as well as the government to prosyletize it this still couldn’t placate an increasingly sceptical and alarmed public that isn’t buying the bull. Campbell took a beating in the 2005 election over his George Bush style “green-as-an-oil-slick” environmental policies. His was a government that axed the entire Ministry of the Environment and tried to privatise the entire British Columbia public landbase for the logging industry. The electors of BC sent a powerful message to the industry/government consortium that environment is a priority on a planet facing ever more disturbing ecological catastrophe. The Premier’s spin-stories about increasing amounts of old-growth in a province with an annual 70 million cubic metre cut, the scam of ‘variable retention’ logging, and the biggest lie of all, ~that voracious industrial destruction of forests was in any way sustainable were wearing thin. Yet the avalanche of regressive anti-environmental legislation and the onslaught of destruction on the ground during 4 years of Campbell was so sweeping, it completely overwhelmed any voices pleading for sanity in the beleagured BC forests. Such a trashing of BC’s magnificent forested landbase is having severe negative consequences for the economy and ecology of the province, and the spin-meisters know that the seething undercurrent of outrage and despair are bound to develop traction, sooner, rather than later. http://www.counterpunch.org/lee09192005.html

3) The government of BC will be announcing its Great Bear Rainforest solution very soon and with the credulous assistance of the RSP’s (Rainforest Solutions Project) environmental members it may be the final solution for the remaining great bears and wild salmon of the Great Bear Rainforest. Not all the BC engos are involved in the RSP and notably absent from this PR initiative are coast forest ecological experts Suzuki Foundation, Valhalla Wilderness Society and Raincoast Conservation Society. There has been a full court press to eliminate environmental criticism and opposition as well as to dumb down public expectations with promises about vague EBM (ecosystem based management) bean stalks to sustainability that may begin being implemented in five years or so when there is a lot less old growth left. The RSP enviros were heavily financed to play the collaborative role and abandoned their brains and skepticism at the door. The RSP experiment with collaboration and compromise has spawned another huge forest development initiative to emulate its industrial GBR PR success. This new franchise in incremental environmentalism and radical industrial development is the Canadian Boreal Initiative funded by Pew and Ducks Unlimited. It will promote the accelerated liquidation of Canada’s boreal forest region exclusively by Suncor Energy and forest industrials Tembec, Alpac and Domtar. They offer a trade in return for permission, no horse head in your bed, 50% of the landbase in protected areas and a lot of environmental management jobs monitoring the “progress”. Cheers, Michael Major [mbmajor@telus.net]

4) The Heiltsuk Tribal Council located in Bella Bella will be releasing an historic land-use plan for their territory which covers the heart of B.C.’s Central Coast, a region that has been the centre of environmental conflict for the past decade with environmentalists calling it the Great Bear Rainforest.The land-use plan represents the Heiltsuk’s vision for their territory, and includes general management directions, designation of protected areas and six key policy statements on salmon aquaculture, resource management, consultation, offshore oil and gas, cedar harvesting and protected areas. . The plan does not specifically call for an end to clear-cut logging, Wilson said, noting that it calls instead for eco-system-based management principles to be followed, meaning logging must leave behind fully functioning eco-systems and prosperous human communities. That would seem to rule out clear-cutting, but Wilson said precise details of harvesting systems are still being worked out. The land-use plan’s release comes shortly before a major announcement by the Province about wilderness protection on the B.C. coast. In January 2004, the Central Coast Land and Resource Management Planning (CCLRMP) table, consisting of representatives from communities, labour, environmental groups, tourism, forest companies and recreation interests, reached an unprecedented consensus on land-use recommendations for B.C.’s Central Coast. Since then, environmental groups have raised tens of millions of dollars in conservation investments to finance sustainable economic development for First Nations and local communities in the region. The conservation investment package depends on matching grants from the Province. A government announcement on the matching funds and consensus agreement is anticipated this fall. http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=eb20e5bc-8a2b-4003-b9a3-e053a91bd190&page=2

5) “There are signs that Hayes Forest Services as the contract manager or a logging subcontractor may be preparing to move on to the site. I repeat again that I will do my best to obstruct the logging on this site and am prepared to present my evidence in an injunction hearing and to create a media event at the site. This cannot be in the interest of the forestry profession or the association. I still have not received the approved SP for this site. I again request that this public document be sent to me from either the prescribing, reviewing or approving foresters. For your information we have been requesting the public information on this site through the FOI process for many months. The MOF wants $1530 to release public documentation on a public forest where there has been substantial investment of public funds. I also request that one or all of the prescribing, reviewing and approving foresters voluntarily rescind their signature on this document. A cut cannot proceed if a signature has been rescinded. The ABCFP could also request that the foresters rescind the SP until an investigation takes place because the site itself is crucial evidence to the investigation. I will be making another request immediately and directly to the ABCFP to initiate professional misconduct complaints.”–Michael Copland The dirt access paths that branch off Hillcrest Road are lonely places, the perfect spots to stash unwanted things. Keyless organs, stained and shattered patio furniture, torn sofa cushions and burnt tire rims are all hidden, the brush a dark curtain pulled across the window of memory. But deep in this bush, in this growing graveyard, a man has set up his small tent in protest. Michael Copland wants to make certain his hidden gem is not forgotten. Copland is protesting the possible logging of an eco-forestry research site that has been established in the Cowichan Demonstration Forest. He has spent more than three weeks camping out on the access road down which he is convinced the arrival of logging machinery is inevitable. “If I find the loggers out here falling trees, I’ll have to ask them to cease and desist,” Copland said. “Then if they want they can get an injunction and hear my reasons in court.” For two years beginning in 2000, Copland conducted research for the Ministry of Forests into the ecological and economical viability of a type of selective logging, called a fluid multivariable system, using the CDF as his research grounds. But after pouring $25,000 of public funds into the project, Copland said the ministry pulled the plug in 2001. Now, the land is under a B.C. Timbersales operating licence issued to DKM/WJM/GJM/ Manufacturing Ltd. until May 2007 and can be logged any time. –Duncan News Leader, Sept 03, 2005

Washington:

6) It was then, in 1989, that reluctantly a fledgling citizen activist took up the herons’ cause with little more than a couple of boxes of documents handed to her one night in a parking lot and a rudimentary understanding of the birds’ habits. “I realized I was starting from scratch,” said Suzanne Krom, who lives in West Seattle. Soon, Krom was doing more than watching the herons with curiosity and sometimes dismay from the office building in southwest Renton where she worked for Boeing. Today, she and her 560-member strong Herons Forever can take some of the credit for preserving the Black River Riparian Forest, a unique reminder of the heavily wooded forests that once straddled the county’s rivers. It helped forge the public’s emotional attachment to the forest and the herons and other wildlife that live there. Using millions of dollars in public money, 93 acres of wetlands, trees and wildlife habitat are now in public hands and available for gentle viewing. The Black River dried up when the level of Lake Washington was lowered for construction of the Ballard Locks in 1916 and is now just remnant wetlands. Within this preserve are about 130 heron nests, making it the largest heron colony or herony in the Puget Sound basin. “Each person in our community can make a huge difference,” said the 53-year-old Krom, a technical writer. http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005509170315

7) CLALLAM BAY — Timber companies and environmentalists, at loggerheads for months over water quality in streams that flow into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, have agreed to disagree. Rather than trying to write a policy that reflects either side of the dispute, they decided Sept. 7 to separately present written “perspectives” in the Water Resource Inventory Area 19 plan. Timber companies like Green Crow and Rayonier maintain that logging practices already are regulated by the state Forests and Fish Act of 1999. That act led to a Forest Practices Habitat Conservation Plan that they and the state Department of Natural Resources unveiled last March. Environmentalists insisted that timber-harvesting methods continue to destroy salmon habitat and that planners should monitor streams on private forest lands — a demand the timber companies adamantly opposed. It was no nitpicky issue. At least three-quarters of the land in WRIA 19 is planted with commercial timber. http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited/story/html/217870

Oregon:

8) Joe Keating of B2TW says “As we speak Boise Cascade is aggressively logging old growth trees in the B&B fire Sale. We demand that Boise Cascade immediately discontinue this logging which is in clear violation of its agreement. Boise Cascade has been emboldened by Bush’s
liberalization of logging regulations and his ‘Steal The Forests Initiative’ dedicated to ‘getting the cut out’.” Boise’s Cascade’s decision to log old growth in the B&B fire Sale in the Deschutes National Forest breaks Boise Cascade’s widely publicized 2003 promise not to harvest from old growth forests in the United States. On Tuesday, September 20th @ 12:15 PM A Protest Action will occur at Boise Cascades’s Building Distribution West Coast Center located in Lake Oswego @ 3 Centerpoint Drive where 217 meets I-5 just off Kruse Way… Led by the Back 2 The Wall’s (B2TW) bus named COOL and flanked by 8′ trees, citizen’s wearing green ribbons will march in a dirge on Boise Cascade. A 20’x3′ banner with “Boise Cascade: Keep Your Word” will be prominently displayed. The action is a Web Radio Action being streamed live on the WEB with Portland Indy Media. This action is in solidarity with the nationwide Boise “Green Ribbon” Campaign. http://www.back2thewall

9) Tree sitters trying to prevent logging in the Willamette National Forest say they’ve been shot at on two separate occasions, with guns as well as arrows. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the reports, but said the activists’ reluctance to reveal their identities has slowed the process. On Saturday, witnesses reported seeing a person shoot a hunting bow at a tree sitter protesting a timber sale 15 miles east of the McKenzie Bridge, said Lane County Sheriff’s Lt. Spence Slater. In a press release, Guardians of the McKenzie Watershed, the group that organized the tree sit at the Sten timber sale, said that one of their tree sitters was grazed by the arrow. The Saturday incident follows a report on Aug. 28, that someone fired a gun aiming into the trees near activists in the same location. None of the activists who claim they have been targeted have been willing to be interviewed by officers, or give their names, Slater said. Without first-hand information and victims’ identities, the Sheriff’s Office said it will not be able to move the investigation forward. Officers have more to go on with Saturday’s bow-hunting incident, Slater said. Witnesses — including two videographers working on a documentary — have filed a report saying that they heard arrows zing by them that afternoon. They also said they saw a white pickup truck, and that after the truck left, they noticed a water jug that had been up in the tree was on the ground with an arrow through it. The videographers did not, however, speak to the activist whose hand was grazed. Slater says deputies will classify Saturday’s incident as menacing, a misdemeanor. If the victim who was hurt by the arrow comes forward to file a complaint, the charge could potentially become attempted murder, he said. A coordinator for the tree sit, Shane Feinstein, said activists are reluctant to identify themselves for fear of retaliation. http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8CKUEL86.html

California:

10) Officials with a water company owning about 1,000 acres within the 20-year-old fire line — from Lexington Reservoir up and along Summit Road — want to log their land. They say it will help prevent a catastrophic blaze in the future. But there’s a problem. San Jose Water Co. didn’t hire loggers to cut the smaller trees and underbrush near Los Gatos Creek that generally fuel wildfires. Instead, the privately held company contracted Big Creek Lumber of Davenport to bring down bigger trees that they say will fund fire prevention in the future. Otherwise, “we really don’t have a way to pay for this,” said Andrew Gere, director of operations and water quality for San Jose Water Co. Gere said his company wants to stop that scenario. Prescribed burns are too much of a risk this close to neighborhoods, added Matt Dias, forester for Big Creek. The only alternative is to mechanically remove the overgrowth. But small trees and brush don’t make much money, and company officials don’t want to raise rates, Gere said. So first they’re cutting 40 percent of the trees with a diameter of 24 inches or more, or 20 percent of the trees on the 1,000-acre plot. Many neighbors near Los Gatos question the approach. “This is not taking out dead trees and brush,” said Kevin Flynn of Los Gatos. “This is taking out the healthiest parts of the forest.” He and others worry only smaller trees and brush will be left, leaving their homes in further danger. What complicates the matter further is San Jose Water Co. has not released its final logging plan. The document must be approved by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and will be public information once submitted — which should be in the next few weeks, officials said. Until then, the company refuses to say exactly how much timber will come off the forest, how much money they expect to make off of it, and how much of that will go to fire protection or to shareholders’ bottom line. Meanwhile, Flynn and a growing group of neighbors are threatening a lawsuit should CDF approve the logging plan. “Take it to court? Absolutely,” Flynn said. “This is our backyards. We want to protect our families and homes. There is a right way of protection and a wrong way. This is the wrong way.” http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/September/19/local/stories/02local.htm

11) September 15th marked the end of marbled murrellet nesting season, which means the beginning of old growth redwood logging season, so we need as many people to come and help out as possible. We didn’t have a huge rally this year, yet many people will be gathering at EarthDance, so the tribes will be gathering nonetheless! September 17th is also the 7-year anniversary of the death of David “Gypsy” Chain, an Earth First! activist killed when an enraged Maxxam Corp./Pacific Lumber Co. logger began intentionally falling trees towards a group of NCEF! activists. So maybe light a candle, burn some cedar and sage, and send some prayers up for the forest and all of us (including yourselves) who work to save them and protect the Earth. North Coast Earth First! continues to grow and evolve, as does each and every one of us. Tree-sits continue in the Fern Gully tree-village in the Freshwater Creek watershed, here in Humboldt County, California. Fern Gully is one of the last old growth redwood groves left on Earth, and just so happens to stand right above an elementary school in the small rural community of Freshwater. Maxxam/Pacific Lumber logging has been suspended in Freshwater, thanks to the Water Quality Control Board, yet Fern Gully still remains unprotected. Should the children who will go to that school for the next 100 years have to look at a clearcut, or should they have the unique privelege of looking up to see one of the world’s wonders for years to come? http://www.northcoastearthfirst.org

12) A Sun Dance was held in mid-August, along the Avenue of the Giants. The focus of the prayer was for the old growth redwoods and the people working to protect them. It was a beautiful ceremony, and will continue for the next three years. You are all invited to attend, and we hope that many of you will come to join in this sacred ceremony for the Earth and her people. Many activists are still dealing with harassment from the S.L.A.P.P. suits being brought against them by Maxxam/PL, while Charles Hurwitz received a ruling for $72 million for allegedly being harassed by a vast conspiracy between the government and environmentalists. Thankfully, the FDIC has appealed the ruling, and the $72 million won’t go to Hurwitz quite yet, and hopefully never will. Activists are being sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars for allegedly costing the company so much money to deal with us. Maxxam/PL fails to mention the debt they have accrued with the people of Humboldt County, for years of sedimentation, landslides, assault & battery, increased flooding, and other blatant criminal activity they have been engaged in for the past 20 years. http://www.northcoastearthfirst.org

13) The California roadless area protection bill, AB 715, yesterday passed the state Senate on a 22 to 15 vote! Now it is up to the governor to sign the measure. Sponsored by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), AB 715 would prevent state agencies and departments from assisting the federal government in any action not compatible with the original, protective 2001 federal roadless rule. The measure passed its Assembly floor vote on May 31. It now returns to the Assembly for a concurrence vote on amendments made in the Senate. “California spoke loud and clear in 2000 when the original roadless rule was written,” said Paul Hughes, executive director of Forests Forever. “The passage of AB 715 is an emphatic re-statement that we want our last wild forests protected. We need to let the governor know, once again, that California wants this bill signed.” There are 18 national forests in California; inventoried roadless areas within them cover about 4.4 million acres. It is these roadless areas that the recent Bush administration repeal of the 2001 roadless rule would leave vulnerable to logging, roadbuilding, and other kinds of development. You can send the governor an email at: http://www.govmail.ca.gov

Montana:

14) An environmental review of a proposed timber harvest in the Kootenai National Forest did not adequately address potential effects on wildlife, including federally protected grizzly bears, a forest supervisor has ruled. In a letter Thursday to the environmental groups that had appealed the project, Bob Castaneda, Kootenai National Forest supervisor, said he had overruled the district ranger who approved the timber harvest. The environmental assessment conducted on the proposal included an “inadequate” discussion of its potential effects on wildlife, Castaneda wrote. In June, Cabinet District Ranger Julie Molzahn ruled that the project, known as the Green Mountain fuels reduction project, would have no significant effects on wildlife. Her decision authorized logging nearly 2 million board feet of timber from about 350 acres, construction of a series of temporary roads and prescribed burning on another 700 acres of forest. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, The Ecology Center and the Lands Council appealed the decision, arguing that the environmental assessment did not adequately address effects of the project on wildlife. The groups said it marks the second time since 2004 that the Green Mountain project has been successfully appealed. “The Kootenai National Forest did not tell the public how this timber sale would affect old growth forest and old growth dependent species such as the northern goshawk, lynx and grizzly bears,” The Ecology Center’s Jeff Juel said in a statement. John Gubel, environmental coordinator for the Kootenai forest, said Thursday that forest officials would provide the additional documentation to address concerns that were noted. http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2005/09/16/build/state/80-timber-project.inc

Minnesota:

15) Roscommon County Commissioners Wednesday voted to ask the Department of Natural Resources to protect a natural area in Roscommon Township and place a moratorium on clearcutting of state forest land in the county. In a resolution, commissioners supported permanent designation of the area surrounding the Lost Twin Lakes Foot Trail in Roscommon Township as an old growth forest, protecting it from logging. The Michigan Forest Certification Plan has given the area tentative old growth status. Commissioner Marc Milburn of Dist. 4 said efforts by constituent Steve Stuck and an article in the Resorter prompted him to draft the resolution. In related action, commissioners voted to send a letter to DNR Director Rebecca Humphries asking for a halt to clearcutting in the county until commissioners can meet with residents to discuss concerns about the practice. Commissioner Jim Smolarz of Dist. 3 said the goal is to “possibly control the raping of the earth in Roscommon County.” He said commissioners hope the DNR will at least agree to leave greenbelts around subdivisions and stop planting fire-prone jack pine trees near homes. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15216355&BRD=2053&PAG=461&dept_id=398174&rfi=6

16) Americans average more than 300 pounds of paper used per person per year — compare that with Angola where a person averages 7 pounds per year. Nothing in North America eats more forests than newspapers. The daily and Sunday volume is staggering. There are 1,580 daily newspapers in the U.S. with a circulation total of 61 million. There are 875 Sunday newspapers with a total circulation of 62 million. This huge destructive process happens every day, 365 days a year. These numbers do not include weekly publications like City Pages or college newspapers like The Minnesota Daily. How many trees, how many old-growth forests are lost every day for newspapers? Most of the newsprint used for Midwestern newspapers — Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, Chicago, Milwaukee and The Minnesota Daily comes from northern Ontario. Newsprint is Ontario’s principal wood product and Ontario contributes 40 percent of the gross national product of Canada. One Sunday edition of the Star Tribune weighs on average 3.5 pounds. The Star Tribune Sunday circulation is 700,000 papers, 70 percent of this is virgin old-growth Canadian forest. The Star Tribune gets all of its newsprint from Kenosa, Ontario, which is home to Abitibi-Consolidated. The Bowater Company plant in Thunder Bay, Ontario, is the largest newsprint plant in Canada and supplies the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Chicago Tribune, Duluth News Tribune and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with newsprint. Canada is the number one newsprint producer in the world — 8.8 million tons of newsprint are made in Canada each year and 8 million tons of this amount comes to the United States. Imagine the outrage here in the Twin Cities if forests in northern Minnesota were being clear-cut every day for newspaper production. Metropolitans with cabins up north would be outraged. What makes one tree more important than another? The city of Minneapolis prides itself on its parks and lakes. What if all trees were clear-cut in the local parks and lakes, or even worse, the golf courses? People would go insane with anger. So what makes our local trees more important than trees in Canada? What makes our urban trees untouchable? Why can’t our local trees be turned into something as wasteful and pointless as a sports page or a full page Marshall Fields ad? Why are Canadian trees expendable? The Star Tribune fights to save Minnesota forests and sees them as valuable assets — yet right across the border in Canada there are members of Grassy Narrows First Nation who have been blockading the roads into their reserve for many years and trying to keep Abitibi, the Star Tribune newsprint supplier, off its land because they clear-cut forests. http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/09/14/65131

17) After 20 years of effort, Niemi points to NRRI’s work on forest ecosystems and management as a key success. That research, for example, is being used as base information for the environmental review of the proposed Blandin paper mill owned by UPM Kymmene in Grand Rapids. The key issue is whether there are enough trees in Minnesota forests to handle the larger mill’s increased demand. “We have an idea of what sustainable is now for our forests. We have that base line. We’re close to seeing what that limit is, how far we can go,” Niemi said. Issues surrounding Minnesota’s forests “are a lot less contentious than they were 15 years ago. I think we’ve helped with that.” “The U.S. Forest Service has to make critical decisions on recreation, logging, on tourism, because of animals like wolves and lynx and moose if they become a threatened species. Those decisions have a direct impact on the region’s biggest industries,” Niemi said. “We are providing baseline data on lynx that allows the Forest Service to make informed decisions.” For example, early indications are that lynx spend considerable time in recently clear-cut forest hunting snowshoe hares. That’s good news for loggers who don’t want to see land-use restrictions because of the Endangered Species Act. But lynx also need dense stands of conifers in spring where they can hide their dens of young kittens, meaning foresters may have to work harder when planning timber sales to keep both open and cover habitat closely linked. http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/12684374.htm

Indiana:

18) Gov. Mitch Daniels on Friday announced a plan to fell up to five times as many trees in the state’s public forests as in previous years, a move he said would rejuvenate aging groves and stimulate Indiana’s timber industry. The Republican administration’s efforts bring the state into a a growing and impassioned debate about how best to nurture Indiana’s 150,000 acres of state forest: through selective clearing or by exercising a more hands-off approach. Daniels and top state forestry officials — most of whom the governor appointed — said the strategy would target older and stricken trees near death, as well as denser groves that could become havens for insects and disease. State natural resources officials then would use the additional timbering revenue, perhaps as much $4.5 million, for conservation efforts. Those include planting more trees, buying more acres of forest and offering cash incentives to owners of private forest who do not develop their land. At a news conference before a swaying backdrop of black walnut and Chinese chestnut trees at Morgan-Monroe State Forest, Daniels sought to downplay the scope of the timbering effort. The chief goal, he said, is not to cut down more trees but to “make the forests more robust.” http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050916/NEWS01/50916067/1006

Massachusetts:

19) Martha’s Vineyard: According to the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, the forest contains the highest concentration of rare species in the state. Because so little of it was developed or tilled for agriculture, the contiguous oak woodland and scrub oak habitats have remained relatively undisturbed and became a haven for rare plants, beetles, moths and birds. The meeting will offer Island residents their first opportunity to weigh in on the long-term goals for the 5,000-acre state forest that lies at the geographical and ecological heart of the Vineyard. “We want to bring the public up to speed about the various projects at the state forest, as well as some of the future plans,” Jim DiMario, chief forester in the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, said yesterday. “We really want folks to be comfortable with what we’re doing, and want to listen to their concerns.” Longtime Island conservationist Robert Woodruff, who headed the Vineyard Conservation Society for more than a decade and also served as chairman of the state forest advisory committee, said he was pleased to hear about the meeting this week. When news of the restoration project first surfaced one year ago, Mr. Woodruff expressed some concerns and criticized state officials for not seeking Island comment. “I think that it’s responsible and expected of them to seek public input on this,” Mr. Woodruff said yesterday. “Because Islanders are concerned. This is our resource, as well as the state’s resource.” The Vineyard forest is a priority property for the state – both as an imminent fire threat and a critical ecological habitat. http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/09/20/public_comment_forest.php

Mississippi:

20) Georgia-Pacific Corp. will reopen two forestry plants in Mississippi, creating 500 jobs and seizing an opportunity to make use of trees downed by Hurricane Katrina’s damaging winds. Hiring will begin today at McComb and Natchez WIN job centers, said Ronnie Paul, executive vice president of wood product for the Atlanta-based company. The average hourly pay will be $12.50. The business will give timber owners a chance to recover some of their anticipated financial losses, said State Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Lester Spell. The state estimates more than 1,000 spin-off jobs after Georgia-Pacific cranks up its plywood plant in Gloster and sawmill in Roxie. The facilities were idle for three years because of high operation costs. With economic predictions of a construction boom in wrecked parts of the state, Georgia-Pacific is positioning itself amid forthcoming lumber demands. http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050917/BIZ/509170363/1005

Scotland:

21) It’s an industry that is as old as the trees. But like the roots of its core product, the various segments of Britain’s forestry industry have been searching out their own course to productivity. And, to squeeze out another cliche, it is an industry that believes too many people – particularly policymakers and those in government – can’t tell the wood from the trees when it comes to its economic value. Because of its lack of apparent sexiness, forestry has largely been ignored as a valuable contributor to Scotland and the UK’s economic success. But it is a multi-million pound industry, which in Scotland has around 40,000 jobs reliant on it and which contributes around £557 million to Scottish GDP. And now it is getting its act together, prompted by what it perceives to be a lack of appreciation and awareness about a raw material that is both sustainable as a fuel source and a valuable additional plank in the battle to bring about more affordable housing. Hence the creation of Edinburgh-headquartered ConFor (Confederation of Forest Industries), set up to foster the aims and ambitions of forestry’s private sector. “Forestry is seen as a traditional and typically rural industry,” says Mr Crichton, who had no previous knowledge of the industry before joining ConFor. “But it’s demonstrating that it’s as forward-looking, technologically advanced and globally-aware as many industries that are seen as sexier, such as electronics and life sciences.” And Scotland, thanks to a realisation a few years back that forestry had some economic merit, is “a little bit ahead” of the rest of the UK in terms of cohesion. http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1942532005

Czechoslovakia:

22) “We are trying to force Lesy to organise tenders in line with the law on public orders,” Sebek said. Lesy has rejected the accusation and added the law did not affect the company. “We could not have breached the law. We are a company like any other,” Lesy spokesman Lubomir Salek told CTK. “We are not tied to the state budget, the state is not responsible for our debts and we are not responsible for the government’s debts. We hope courts will say we are right,” he added. The tenders, whose results were announced on Monday, concerned work on 500,000 hectares of forests, which is about 37 percent of state-owned forest area. Lesni spolecnost Plasy won four tenders to log 35,900 hectares of forests. Jihoceske lesy Ceske Budejovice won two tenders for 29,940 hectares. A total of 158 companies placed 1,072 bids in 120 tenders, in which Lesy divided 505,000 hectares among 65 bidders. The winners who won five-year contracts with a three-year option should start work on January 1, 2006. Lesy CR manages 1.33 million hectares of forests, about half of the total Czech forest area. http://www.praguemonitor.com/ctk/?id=20050913E03780;story=CE-WOOD-files-lawsuits-over-Lesy-CR-tenders

Ethiopia:

23) The first arbor day in the history of modern Ethiopia was inaugurated forty-eight years ago earlier this month. Officiating at the ground-breaking ceremony was no less a political personality than Emperor Haile-Selassie. This is to say that even as long ago as 1956, the generality of Ethiopian leaders were painfully aware of the fact that this country was being gravely denuded of its formerly thick – and luxurious – vegetation. There is, of course, no use in bewailing the fact that over the past one hundred years Ethiopians have been systematically destroying their erstwhile rich forest resources. What is now more important is to give due consideration to the fact that it is incumbent upon this generation to plant trees so that posterity would be in a stronger position to make a judicious utilization of its potentially rich vegetation. It is encouraging to note that visionary leaders like President Ghirma Wolde-Ghiorghis, who are not unfamiliar with the forest resources of this country as long ago as the late 1920s, have been motivating youth to plant trees by promoting the idea of a greener Ethiopia. After all, it is beyond doubt that where there is no vegetation there is no life. It is only enough to examine the craterous Martian or lunar landscape to realize this immutable truth. Emperor Haile-Selassie had been exhorting youth to plant trees throughout his enlightened leadership – in particular since planting the first tree officially on July 19, 1956. It is only appropriate to mention the fact that in July every year the Emperor and his officials were planting trees in various parts of the country in the presence of journalists between 1956 and 1974. This is what is often known in political parlance as leading by example. Let us now hope and pray that Ethiopian youth would be fired with the necessary spirit to clothe this immortal land of heroes with a gorgeous mantle of greenery. During the next two months in particular when most university students and school-children are idle, their free time could be utilized more constructively for planting trees. At the same time also the government should take appropriate measures aimed at conserving existing forests. http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2004/07/23-07-04/Planting.htm

Ghana:

24) Government should immediately halt all current mining activities in forest reserves, which have significant natural, economic, and social values, an environmental nongovernmental organisation (NGO), Friends of the Earth said on Thursday. The Government should not allow any future prospecting or mining within forest reserves, it said in a communiqu=E9 released at the end of their three-day annual general meeting in Accra. “These reserves must be protected to support biodiversity and the sustainable livelihood activities of local communities,” FOE said. “Forest reserves are crucial for the protection of biodiversity, as well as the sustainable livelihood activities of present and future generations,” it emphasised. On the West African Gas Pipeline project, the communiqu=E9 said before it was continued further, the sponsors should tell the people of Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, which were involved in the project, the full treaty together with the annexed international project agreement. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=90185

Gambia:

25) Poor communities in the Gambia are now earning regular income by selling forest products, thanks to an FAO programme that helps communities to build up markets for local products. In a pilot area of 26 villages suffering extreme poverty, people learned about the potential value of forest products and how they could be marketed more successfully. Villagers interested in marketing forest products have set up their own businesses and organized themselves in producer associations to sell honey, logs, fuelwood, mahogany posts, handicrafts and palm oil on nearby markets. They are also making additional income from tree nurseries and ecotourism. “Before the start of the project, villagers had not explored the market potentials of handicrafts made of Rhun palm leaves, because they did not have the practical skills or market knowledge. Now they are selling products such as chairs, tables, lampshades, baskets and beds made of these leaves,” said Sophie Grouwels, an FAO community forestry expert. In the Gambia, forests were deteriorating at an alarming rate partly due to the state-controlled forest management approach, which ignored the local population. Therefore, in the 1990s, the Gambian government introduced community forestry, giving ownership to the communities, in an attempt to improve forest management. Despite this change, the communities still did not have many incentives to conserve the forests until the program was introduced. Communities that used to sell a truckload of fuelwood at around US$50 prior to their involvement in the FAO project are now selling the same amount of wood at around US$700 after having organized themselves in a producer federation. “Given the success of this project, FAO hopes its methodology will be applied in other parts of the Gambia and other countries,” Grouwels said. http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0914-fao.html

Uganda:

26) “Paying landowners, communities and companies to protect ecosystem services could have a great impact on conservation and provide important new income opportunities for Ugandans,” stated Dr. J.R. Sonko Kaboggoza, Chairman of the Board, ECOTRUST, Uganda. “Many countries have had successful experience in mobilizing private companies, municipalities and others who benefit directly from ecosystem services to pay for conservation. We are eager to explore how to adapt these programs to work well in Uganda and other regions of Africa.” African countries have become increasingly interested in payments for ecosystem services (PES) over recent years and a number of projects have emerged on an ad hoc basis. Forest Trends and the Katoomba Group have been leading work internationally on the development of payments for ecosystem services. They launched the Ecosystem Marketplace SM in 2004 to provide much-needed transparency for emerging ecosystem markets. For more information about ecosystem markets, please visit www.ecosystemmarketplace.com. Established in 1999 by an international group of leaders from environmental and community development NGOs, forest industry, multilateral development agencies and investment firms, Forest Trends works to achieve sustainable forest management and conservation by creating and capturing market values for ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water purification, flood control, and biodiversity conservation; support innovative projects and companies that are developing these new markets; and enhance the livelihoods of local communities living in and around those forests. For more information visit www.forest-trends.org. http://www.socialfunds.com/news/release.cgi/4435.html

27) Yoweri Museveni has directed that four of the forest reserves on Bugala Island in Kalangala be used to cultivate palm trees. This follows a recent meeting during which BIDCO, a palm oil company, complained to Museveni that the pieces of land that they had been offered on the mainland had sandy soil and were unsuitable for growing palm trees due to poor rainfall. Museveni consequently ordered the Prime Minister, Apolo Nsibambi, to implement the directive, according to a letter dated August 5. Nsibambi, agriculture state minister Kibirige Sebunya and the BIDCO investors resolved that: “Central forest reserves on the island of Kalangala, namely Mugoye, Banya, Nkoma and Towa, be availed for palm oil plantations.” Last month, it was decided that the National Environment Manage-ment Authority (NEMA) and the National Forestry Authority (NFA) undertake an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). However, the NFA has opposed the change of land use of the protected areas, saying earlier studies had shown that the reserves were ecologically sensitive areas. “Forest reserves were considered prior to the establishment of the palm project, but were ruled out as unsuitable due to their environmental and biodiversity values,” said Olav Bjella, the NFA chief. http://allafrica.com/stories/200509150270.html

Kenya:

28) More than 100 armed men were yesterday forced out of Mau Forest by police. Their 60 semi-permanent houses were destroyed during the operation conducted by a combined force of Rapid Deployment Unit, Regular and Administration Police, council and forest rangers. Narok district commissioner Hassan Farah said the young men, who were armed with poisoned arrows, fled when they were confronted by the police in Olmekenyu and Arorwet. He said the exercise, expected to take five days, would continue in Nkaroni and its neighbourhood until all illegal settlers were flushed out. Mr Farah said they saw cut trees, adding that the young men might have been hired by timber merchants. He said the council would build eight permanent security surveillance posts on the forest perimeter to ensure nobody entered the forest. At the same time, six rangers were recruited for a three-month paramilitary course in Embakasi, Nairobi, after which they would be posted to Mau Forest. Hundreds of heavily armed young men last week returned to the forest two months after the Government evicted 10,000 people from the area. http://allafrica.com/stories/200509170109.html

Mexico:

29) Environmental activist and prisoner of conscience Felipe Arreaga has been acquitted of murder, and was released on 15 September. However, he, his family and other environmental activists in the region remain in grave danger. Amnesty International welcomes the decision of the Guerrero State court to acquit Felipe Arreaga. This verdict was made possible by the efforts of his lawyers from the local human rights organisation, Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montana ”Tlachinollan” (”Tlachinollan” La Montana Human Rights Centre) and the national and international pressure for Felipe Arreaga’s release. After his release, Felipe Arreaga told the media that he would continue to defend the environment and thanked national and international human rights organizations for their support.During his trial, one of the men responsible for the prosecution reportedly threatened reprisals against Felipe Arreaga and his family if the environmental activist was not convicted. It is feared that Felipe Arreaga, his family and other environmentalists in the region could face attack. Felipe Arreaga had spent more than 10 months in prison in Zihuatanejo, in Guerrero State, and accused of the murder of the son of a local cacique (local political boss) committed in 1998. Strong evidence demonstrated that the case against Felipe Arreaga was fabricated as a reprisal for his leading role in protests against excessive and illegal logging of forests in Petatlan, Guerrero State. Thirteen other former leaders of the Organizacion Campesina Ecologista de la Sierra de Petatlan (OCESP), Peasant Environmentalist Organisation of the Sierra de Petatlan still face arrest warrants in connection with the same case. Amnesty International fears that the thirteen are being targeted in order to deter environmental activism in the region. Amnesty International is not aware of any substantial advance on the investigation into the attack against environmental activist Albertano Penalosa and his family in May. Email: uan@aiusa.org … http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/

Argentina:

30) Some 200 Greenpeace protesters in penguin costumes protested Thursday to demand that the national government deter loggers and farmers from destroying Argentina’s native forests. The peaceful protesters lined up outside Government House on one of the last cold days of the southern hemisphere winter as police kept them behind a cordon. Greenpeace activists said they wore the penguin masks and black tie outfits as an attention-getting stunt because Argentina’s president, Nestor Kirchner, hails from the wind-swept southern Patagonia region teeming with penguins. Kirchner himself has at times jokingly referred to himself by the “penguin” nickname many have given him. Visiting New York for the United Nations General Assembly, he had no comment on the protest. The environmentalists are urging Kirchner’s government to impose new restrictions to better defend native forests in the northern province of Salta where large tracts of lands have reportedly been sold for lumbering, ranching and soybean farming. Emiliano Ezcurra, a Greenpeace spokesman, said the so-called Pizarro reserve is threatened with “imminent destruction” from loggers that would also imperil rare jaguars and other forest animals. The rugged northern reserve is also home to an indigenous group called the Wichi who have also protested recently that the encroachment on native forests would drive them from their habitats. The so-called Pizarro reserve is also home to rare native trees including the quebrachal, but demonstrators claimed those areas were being subjected to some of the fastest deforestation campaigns in the world. Greenpeace claimed only 14 per cent of native forests remain intact today on Argentine territory compared with 39 per cent in 1914. http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/050915/w091538.html

Russia:

31) As the total forested area in Russia amounts to 1.1 billion hectares, or 80 billion cubic meters of timber, a sizable timber industry developed in the country. This is more than 24% of the world’s forest reserves. It produces and processes no more than 130 million cubic meters. About 1.4 million people work in the industry. Its annual sales volumes exceed $4.5 billion, which is 2.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Russian Federation. Up to 85% of production is geared to export: round timber accounts for 33% of exports; lumber, for 19%; and the remainder is comprised of cardboard, pulp, and paper. The industry’s foreign deliveries of more than $3.5 billion per year hold fifth place as a source of income after gas, oil, and ferrous and nonferrous metals. The industry accounts for about 5% of Russia’ exports. The average age of equipment in the industry is 25 years. No more than 10% of the capacity of pulp and paper mills in Russia conforms to world standards, and up to 40% of it needs to be replaced immediately. However, stable demand for Russian timber and pulp in Europe and Asia coupled with an unlimited inventory of raw materials makes business in the industry extremely promising. http://www.kommersant.com/tree.asp?rubric=3&node=43&doc_id=307741

Philippines:

32) “Although I can’t quantify it because DENR as of now lacks a monitoring system but based on the feedback I received, our campaign has created an impact and taken effect,” says Babiera. Cutting of trees in Oriental Negros is not rampant within natural forest areas as the natural forest cover in the province is dwindling, but instead it occurs within planted areas. From January to Agust this year, a total of 112.7822 cubic meters of lumber/slitshes, keel, banka and charcoal were confiscated while 9 units of illegal conveyance or transporting of logs without permit were apprehended by Task Force Oriente, disclosed Forester Sabina Silva of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO 2). Task Force Oriente was created this year following a directive from Environment Secretary Mike Defensor to intensify anti-illegal logging activities. The Angat Watershed Area Team last recently scored a minor victory in the campaign against illegal timber poaching within the 63,000-hectare Angat Dam protected area by confiscating about P500,000 worth of illegally-cut lumber. http://www.pia.gov.ph/news.asp?fi=p050919.htm&no=15

India:

33) Monday September 19, 2005, NEW DELHI: Naxals have found a haven in the 6,000 sq km dense forest area, once dominated by forest brigand Veerappan, bordering Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. They are not only using it as their new hideout, but also as a resource centre which would finance their nation-wide operation through sandalwood smuggling. bThough these three states are still on the fringe of the Naxals’ “Compact Revolutionary Zone” (CRZ) covering nine states, the recently imposed ban on CPI (Maoist) in AP and Chhattisgarh has pushed the armed extremists towards the Urigam-Male Mahadeswara Hills-Sathyamang alam-Gundiyal forests. Elimination of the forest brigand and his gang has made it possible for the Naxals to make it their new hideout and subsequently reap the rich forest wealth.This revelation is part of a comprehensive report prepared for discussion during the meeting of chief ministers of the affected states to be held here on Monday. “The report has been prepared on the basis of information provided by the Intelligence Bureau and intelligence wings of different states. Besides mentioning areas of Naxal operation, the report also talks about the economics of the entire CRZ which has led the Naxals to make bases in different states,” said a senior home ministry official. Quoting the 21-page report, the official said it was basically the economics of the axis of the entire forest area covering Jharkhand-Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh and the border of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala which has made the entire stretch a Naxal hotbed. The rich forests have attracted them for the purpose of having their hideouts as well as supporting them through the illegal trade in Khair trees (Jharkhand), Tendu leaves (MP and Chhattisgarh) and sandalwood (MM Hills-Sathyamangalam forests). The axis southwards could be completed with the elimination of Veerappan, he added. Khair wood is used in the dye industry and is the main ingredient of pan masala. Just one kilogram of the wood fetches Rs 40-50. The Jharkhand forest area is full of Khair trees. The report also mentions an attempt by Indian Maoists to establish contact with their Nepalese counterparts. http://indiamonitor.com/news/readNews.jsp?ni=8716

Malaysia:

34) Sabah will not back out from the use of helicopters to log hill forests despite the recent crash of a logging helicopter in Sarawak which killed its three Russian crew, said State Forestry Department Director Sam Mannan. “We have no problem with that, we are very happy with it,” he told Daily Express. He said the matter had been clarified in the State Legislative Assembly. “Soil is very important to tree crops. Without soil, nothing will grow,” said Mannan. “And if you want to protect forests, the first thing you protect is soil because soil is the basis of all that biological wealth above the ground and below. You must not destroy that,” he added. “In helicopter logging, soil destruction is 30 times less than Reduced Impact logging (RIL). That’s a massive difference,” said Mannan. However, it is not a widespread practice. “It is only done in the Sabah Foundation area, using only one helicopter and it’s treated as an experiment and we are heavily involved with research input led by the Forest Research Centre,” he said. Meanwhile, WWF Malaysia praised Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman for having the “foresight” to maintain 60 per cent of Sabah’s land as valuable forest asset. He was surprised by Sabah Forestry Director Sam Mannan’s showcase natural forest management unit Deramakot’s ability to potentially earn RM2 million per year from just wildlife tours. Revenues from all other Forest Management Units must be enormous if their nature tourism potentials are “unleashed,” he reckoned. http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=37201

Australia:

35) An Aboriginal group says its hands are tied and it will not be able to stop the logging of a forest block near Collie in south-west Western Australia. 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 conducted surveys of the area to determine whether it contained trees of cultural significance to Aboriginal people. Council member Phil Ugle says although he does not agree with the logging, the group has been unable to find anything significant enough to stop it going ahead. “I’ll sign any protest that they put forward, but my hands and Ngalang Boodja’s hands are now tied from the process that we went through and the work that we’ve done,” he said. “If we’d have found anything really significant out there we would have held that operation up.” Meanwhile, a 33-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to a number of charges relating to a protest against logging the Palmer One forest block. Police allege it took eight hours to remove Jerome Keightley from one of the trees with a cherry picker. Keightley has pleaded not guilty to obstructing police and trespass. He is due to reappear in court in January. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1460943.htm

36) A 35-year-old man is due to appear in Bega Local Court next month charged with two offences in relation to an anti-logging protest on the NSW far south coast yesterday. The man was arrested and charged with malicious damage and hindering police after he had to be removed from a pipe that had been buried in the centre of a road near the Wandella State Forest, west of Cobargo. The long-running protest is over logging by Forests NSW in what conservationists claim is a sensitive catchment area. The man was released on bail and is due to appear in court on October 11. http://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200509/1460853.htm?southeastnsw

37) Forestry Tasmania has revealed its logging plans for the next 10 years to the legal team of Senator Bob Brown. The information was requested as part of a case involving the Wielangta State Forest on Tasmania’s east coast. Senator Brown fears Forestry Tasmania’s plans will threaten three endangered species in Wielangta, and is taking the issue to the Federal Court to stop the logging. In previous court appearances, legal counsel for Forestry said it was not known if the logging plans over the next 10, 20 or 80 years existed, and labeled Senator Brown’s request for documents as a fishing expedition. Senator Brown’s legal team says it now has all the information it requested, including computer records of logging plans for the next decade. In court this morning, legal counsel for Forestry expressed concern that commercially sensitive information would be leaked to the media. Federal Court Justice Shayne Marshall was given an undertaking the information will not go beyond the Senator’s legal team. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1461037.htm