033OEC’s This Week in Trees

This week we have 35 news stories from: British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, California, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Massachusetts, USA, Canada, Romania, Russia, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, Solomon Islands, China, India, Bhutan, Thailand, Philippines, and Australia.

British Columbia:

1) TimberWest Forest Ltd. put its Elk Falls sawmill up for sale Thursday,
saying the company no longer wants to be in the sawmilling business.
It is the fourth coastal sawmill to be closed or put up for sale in the last four months, signalling to some industry watchers that a coast-wide restructuring — where only the best mills would survive — may be on the horizon. “If this isn’t the beginning, it should be,” said Laurie Cater, publisher of Madison’s Canadian Lumber Reporter. The Elk Falls mill, which recently went through an extensive upgrade, still
requires more capital expenditures, and TimberWest, which is an income
trust, is not in a position to make continued investments, the company said. Cater said a mill with no accompanying log supply “is not an easy sell.” He said he does not foresee an end to the coastal industry’s woes until one of the surviving companies invests in a new “super mill” to grind out dimension lumber from second-growth timber. http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=6cc90689-6cd9-4da2-a6d2-7468ac65
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2) The Wild Spirit Places are called upon to do more than a park. Besides protecting wild landscapes and animals, they have been put in place to conserve and showcase the Squamish Nation’s cultural landscape too. Sacred sites, locations of traditional stories and ancient plant gathering and hunting grounds, are just a few of the treasures that the Squamish Nation has chosen to safeguard within their Wild Spirit Places. But can the Wild Spirit Places survive? So far, the government has not officially recognized the Wild Spirit Place designations. Because it is the BC government that grants permits for logging and other industrial uses the fear is that the Wild Spirit Places could be developed and destroyed under BC government permit at some future date. Currently the BC government is conducting a landuse study process of their own in the Squamish/Whistler area. If the government chooses to officially recognize the Wild Spirit Places in law, then these gems can truly be protected for all time. Today, there are five Wild Spirit Places and two Sensitive Areas, which are proposed for Wild Spirit Place status. All seven are located in the Squamish/Whistler area comprising 100,000 hectares of some of the most spectacular tracts of glacier crowned mountains, cascading rivers and ancient forests to be found anywhere in the world. They are home to grizzlies, wolves, eagles, salmon, moose, deer and a host of the other wild creatures that make this region famous amongst nature lovers. http://www.wildernesscommittee.org/campaigns/rainforest/lower_mainland/stoltmann_wilderness/reports/Vol24N
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Washington:

3) Two South Sound community activists have challenged the Port of Olympia’s environmental review of a proposal to move timber-giant Weyerhaeuser’s log export business from Tacoma to Olympia next year. The challenge comes after the port entered into a five-year lease for the project. Jerry Parker, a retired state Department of Ecology employee and Jan Witt, a community activist, charge that the port’s review of the project’s environmental effects was too narrow. They have challenged the port commission’s August decision to enter into the agreement with Federal Way-based Weyerhaeuser and asked commissioners to overthrow its staff’s opinion that the log export facility would pose no serious environmental threat. Estimates have ranged from 75 additional log trucks visiting the port daily to 125 because of the Weyerhaeuser dock. The estimate is imprecise because it’s not clear how many smaller independent log haulers at the port might have to move or decrease the size of their businesses to make room for Weyerhaeuser on the port peninsula. The port plans to spend nearly $4 million paving part of the peninsula to prepare for the log export operation. The challenge alleges that the port circumvented requirements in the State Environmental Policy Act.”This certainly would have impact on traffic, air quality and noise,” Parker said. Witt accused the port of having tunnel vision on effects of the operation.”They didn’t look at the whole picture,” she charged. “They railroaded this through so quickly that there was little opportunity for public involvement.” http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051008/NEWS/510080301

4) Ahtanum — has long been a hunter’s dream and a management nightmare. Now the nightmare part is gone. For most of that area, checkerboard ownership is no more. A far-reaching land exchange completed two weeks ago between the state Department of Natural Resources and two timber companies — involving lands in Yakima, Kittitas, Klickitat and Skamania counties — has consolidated the bulk of the Ahtanum under DNR ownership. The land swap transfers ownership of 3,364 acres of state trust land in Skamania, Klickitat and Kittitas counties to Plum Creek Timber Company and a limited liability corporation called Elk Haven. In return, the state receives just over 12,000 acres, the bulk of it in the Ahtanum. Once a checkerboard of one-mile ownership blocks alternating between public and private ownership, the Ahtanum now includes a block of roughly 35,000 acres — about 55 square miles — that’s all DNR land. “It makes it a whole lot easier for game managers to manage a piece of property, and for the public to have access to hiking or hunting, or doing whatever you want out in the woods,” said Gail Chapman, chairman of the Yakima Valley chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. As part of the swap, the DNR also obtained three pieces of land southeast of Cle Elum at the north end of the L.T. Murray State Wildlife Area. The lands given up by the DNR are primarily in Klickitat and Skamania counties, plus two one-square-mile tracts in Kittitas County, one southwest of and one southeast of Easton. The Ahtanum deal, though, could be just the start, said DNR district manager Ken McNamee. “Basically, what the department wants to do is try and eliminate, as much as we can, checkerboard ownership,” McNamee said. “It’s a management nightmare and the public doesn’t know whose land they’re on in that kind of situation.” The DNR is already in preliminary discussions with Western Pacific Timber on a land swap that, McNamee said, “would be far-reaching.” http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/284405753630020

Oregon:

5) For most of Portland’s 162 years, this city’s economic foundations were obvious. It grew because it was the closest port to the Willamette Valley farm country. It became a timber town because it was headquarters for the companies that cut the trees. In the ’80s, the economy got taken over by high-tech hardware-silicon, oscilloscope and circuit-board manufacturers were attracted to the Portland area in large part because land, water, power and labor were cheap. The latest stats show that high-tech manufacturing, which replaced timber as the region’s economic engine, peaked in 2000. Median income in the city is down. In general, Oregon’s unemployment rate obscures its job growth, because people are moving here faster than the job market can absorb them. Not only is Portland attracting people, it’s attracting some of the most economically desirable people alive. Ever since Richard Florida’s 2002 book The Rise of the Creative Class, cities everywhere have obsessed over luring young, smart, mobile professionals. In that respect, Portland is kicking butt, attracting hordes of college-educated 24- to 35-year-olds at a time when that group is shrinking nationally. “They’re like the spotted owl,” says local economist Joe Cortright, whose study of these phenomena is gospel among Portland boosters. “If they’re leaving, you’ve got a problem. If they’re coming, you’re doing something right.” “I think a lot of what’s going on here is emblematic of bigger patterns,” says Seltzer. “What matters now is the completely global and the intensely local. With your cell phone, email and the Internet, you can acquire just about anything from anywhere. Once you can acquire anything in the world, what then? People are looking for a relationship with a place.” http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=6802

6) The Forest Service proposal includes planting Brewer spruce seedlings and expanding the botanical area to include clusters of the trees on Hungry Hill, bounded by Forest Service Road 4201-140 on the east and Road 4201-827 on the south. It also calls for excluding the botanical area from fuel burning operations, leaving slash from logging in place to allow for Brewer spruce regeneration and surveying for invasive species within a half-mile perimeter for at least five years. Cleanup from logging operations would involve removing debris along Road 4201-864, dismantling log decks and a landing and blocking off a temporary road spur. Environmentalists said the plan does not go far enough to protect the rare species. Barbara Ullian, conservation director for the Siskiyou Project, a Cave Junction-conservation group, said the botanical area should also embrace a population of Brewer spruce about a mile away on Fiddler Mountain. “This plan is kind of putting a Band-Aid on what the Forest Service did when the whole area needs a health-care plan,” she said. Dominick DellaSala, program director for the World Wildlife Fund regional office in Ashland, said the plan fails to address the reason for the logging mistake and how the Forest Service plans to prevent it from happening again. “This is an opportunity for the Forest Service to deal with public concerns about logging in the Biscuit fire and put in place a moratorium,” DellaSala said. “The Forest Service can’t put the trees back that were logged in the botanical area, but they could stop logging in riparian (creekside) areas, roadless areas and old growth reserves.” http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2005/1005/local/stories/04local.htm

7) I agree that Biscuit is coming to slow, a grinding stop. And yes, the roadless sales (three, including Mike’s Gulch) are the only big wild-cards left. There are a few old-growth reserve sales that haven’t been completed. And that doesn’t include the 10-15 mmbf logged as part of the roadside “safety” logging. That brings the total Biscuit volume to about 80 mmbf. I think it is a good idea to start paying more attention to other sales like Fischer and B&B. I also agree that we should celebrate principled, dedicated efforts to slow and stop Biscuit logging. Whether these efforts ultimately stopped logging or not, they inspired people across the nation and the world, drew attention to the threats facing our public lands, and taught the Bush administration that they will be held accountable for their actions. That said, there are some reasons to not declare victory at Biscuit: 1) No Forest Service sales were stopped by legal action or protest 2) 80mmbf and 3,657 acres of logging is hardly something to celebrate 3) Roadless sales could still be auctioned (Mike’s Gulch is relatively accessible, even through the winter, and off-season waivers could be granted to facilitate logging there) 4. The 370 mmbf FEIS logging plans were, I believe, intentionally hyper-inflated beyond the capacity of the local Forest Service to administer and beyond even the timber industry’s hunger for Biscuit wood. In other words, this project was set up to fail. It collapsed under its own monstrous weight. Even though enviros have done little to stop the project, folks like Senator Smith and “Communities for Healthy Forests” are citing “lawsuits, protests and red-tape” as the reason Biscuit didn’t hit the 370 mmbf mark. Rolf Skar [rolf@siskiyou.org]

8) Before logger Joe Pariera starts dropping trees on national forest land, he walks the ground to find the best route for dragging the trees out. He watches for steep grades, rock outcroppings and other natural barricades. And, because of U.S. Forest Service rules for logging on the east side of the Cascade Range, he also has to figure out how to get the logs out while leaving trees with diameters of 21 inches or more undamaged. ”It definitely changes how we log and how they manage forests,“ Pariera said. The 21-inch rule is designed to produce stands of mature timber like those that stood before settlers came west. Environmentalists say the larger trees have more benefits for wildlife. Loggers say the result is a crumbling of the timber industry. Smaller trees are less valuable and yield less lumber, factors that contributed to the closing of sawmills over the last decade. Gary L. Johnson, contract manager and log buyer for Fremont Sawmill in Lakeview, said he would like to see the tree size rule changed. ”All the mills are starving for material,“ he said. There used to be three mills in Lakeview. Now there is only Fremont. Although there still is logging on federal forests near Lakeview, the amount of timber coming from each sale produces has dropped. Before the screens the average sale would produce 5,000 to 6,000 board feet of wood per acre, Johnson said. With the screens in place, the sales produce 500 to 2,500 board feet. ”That is just too low of a volume for equipment,“ Johnson said. ”You got a million dollars plus worth of equipment getting four to five loads per day – it just doesn’t cut it.“ To cut trees smaller than 21 inches in diameter, loggers prefer to use mechanized feller bunchers, skidders and limbers that can quickly topple, move and ready the trees for the haul to the mill. And what about the possibility of going back to the plans that were in place before the eastside screens came into being? ”That’s never going to happen,“ Anderson said. http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/10/08/news/top_stories/top1.txt

California:

9) In 1999, Pacific Lumber agreed to the Headwaters Forest settlement in which it would sell 5,600 acres of land to the state as a public trust for $480 million. In return, the company would be allowed to log the remaining 211,000 acres, although it would have to follow a strict set of environmental restrictions. However, it was later discovered that the company had lied to state officials about the risk of cutting down trees on unstable slopes in order to make an additional profit of $40 million per year. Richard Wilson, the Department of Forestry’s director, stated that if he had been given accurate information, he would not have sanctioned the company’s logging plan. A panel of seven scientists who were employed by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board also issued a scathing condemnation of the company’s blatant disregard for environmental protection. According to the panel, the corporation’s logging had resulted in the degradation of water quality and the destruction of habitats for salmon and other endangered animals. In 1998 alone, Pacific Lumber had been cited for fourteen violations of state forestry laws. However, since the corporation employed many residents and retained an enormous amount of influence, legislators and politicians turned a blind eye to the situation. In 2003, a judge concurred with the Humboldt Watershed Council that Pacific Lumber had violated environmental regulations, but refused to penalize the corporation or even slow down its logging. Furthermore, the California Fish and Game Department did nothing to punish the company. Only six weeks after barely winning the local election against the twenty-year incumbent, the new district attorney, Paul V. Gallegos, risked his political career when he became the first elected official to ever confront the timber giant. His office sued Pacific Lumber on the grounds that the corporation had provided the state with deliberately fabricated information regarding the potential environmental impact of its logging. The six-count litigation asserted that the company’s misleading attempt to generate a greater profit had “caused destruction to ancient redwoods, serious harm to Humboldt Bay, and serious harm to streams, bridges, roads, homes, and property rights of Humboldt County.” Moreover, Gallegos sought an additional $2,500 for each tree that was cut, a lawsuit that had the potential of costing the corporation over $250 million. When asked about his decision to pursue the case, Gallegos responded, “Government needs to represent and treat everyone equal. Whenever you have businesses engaged in unlawful fraudulent activity…it affects the overall integrity in our systems. We cannot have two levels of justice in Humboldt County. That is how simple it is.” http://teenink.com/Past/2005/October/19389.html

10) Major environmental groups sued the Bush administration Thursday over its repeal of a Clinton administration ban on road-building and development in vast pristine areas of U.S. national forests. The suit in San Francisco federal court by 20 organizations, including the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, follows a suit filed Aug. 30 by California and three other states. Both challenge the government’s decision in May that potentially opened some of the forests’ 58.5 million roadless acres to logging and mining trucks and off-road vehicles. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/07/MNGNVF40EU1.DTL

Montana:

11) It’s not just the land and trees. It’s what’s under the land and trees that Plum Creek can profit from, President and CEO Rick Holley explained recently. Plum Creek is increasingly finding mining reserves on its land as well as timber value, Holley said last month at the UBS Global Paper and Forest Conference in New York, NY. For example, in an area where there is valuable sand under the company’s forest, the company would ”first of all, cut all the trees down,“ then allow the sand to be mined over an eight- to 10-year period. Then it would replant the trees, Holley said. There may be an added benefit Holley said – the mining would create a lake. Right now mining everything from rock to titanium is being eyed for some Plum Creek lands. Mining is still a fraction of the company’s overall business strategy – about $13 million in 2005 – but Holley sees it as a growing segment of the company’s future. In Montana, Plum Creek is developing quarries west of Kalispell. But the big word at Plum Creek isn’t trees anymore. It’s real estate. Holley predicted real estate will amount to $220 to $240 million in business this year. Some of that comes through conservation deals, where the company gets paid by a state or federal agency for development rights. In Montana, the company has swung deals in the past for development rights on land it owned in the Thompson and Fisher River Valleys west of Kalispell. In those deals, the state, using a mix of funds, bought development and subdivision rights for about $30 million. It is eyeing similar deals for Plum Creek lands in the Swan Valley. In that deal, the state is looking to acquire conservation easements on about 7,200 acres of land, and outright purchase about 3,700 acres of land. The lands are in a checkerboard pattern throughout the Swan River State Forest said Alan Wood, wildlife program officer with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The entire deal is estimated at $26.7 million, though the state has the funds that will likely be needed to acquire the easements. http://www.hungryhorsenews.com/articles/2005/10/06/news/news2.txt

12) Three local environmental activists, who were restricted from attending a recent Forest Service press conference, held their own news conference Tuesday to inform the public about their potential legal action against the Forest Service and their request for a Congressional investigation. “We see that we have a very basic override of the public process,” said Stewart Brandborg, a long-time local activist for conservation and wilderness whose father was once supervisor for the Bitterroot National Forest. On Sept. 22, the Bitterroot National Forest held a press conference to announce the release of the final Environmental Impact Statement for the Middle East Fork Hazardous Fuels Reduction project. In the document, the alternative developed by the agency, alternative 2, is identified as the preferred option. Also analyzed in the document is alternative 3, which was developed by several environmental groups, including Friends of the Bitterroot. This option would focus hazardous fuels reduction work in an area 400 meters around homes in Middle East Fork community, as opposed to alternative 2, which would be a variety of fuel treatments on about 6,000 acres. Brandborg attempted to attend the press conference but was kept out by Forest Service public affairs officer Dixie Dies.
Two members of Friends of the Bitterroot, Jim Miller and Larry Campbell, were also kept out of the conference. Miller, who is president of FOB, was appalled. He was asked to leave the press conference after he had already been let into the room by the receptionist, he said. “I was told the meeting was for invited press only,” Miller said.
He was also offended by the presence of three Forest Service law enforcement officers, who were present at the press conference seemingly to keep him and the other two men out. Miller related that he complained to Dies about people were already at the press conference who weren’t members of the media but rather residents from the Middle East Fork community who supported alternative 2. Because Miller feels it was illegal for the Forest Service to turn away interested public from the press conference, his organization has hired an attorney to investigate legal options. The three also announced that they have requested a Congressional investigation into failures of the Bitterroot National Forest public process. http://www.ravallinews.com/articles/2005/10/05/news/news01.txt

Colorado:

13) A Colorado task force started grappling Friday with one of the most contentious land-use issues in the West: the fate of millions of acres of roadless areas in national forests no longer off-limits to development. The panel appointed by Gov. Bill Owens and legislative leaders launched its review of the use of 4.1 million roadless acres a day after 20 environmental groups sued to overturn the federal policy that opened land in Colorado and across the West to logging and other development. Colorado’s approach to the process is unique, said Rick Cables, head of the regional Forest Service office. He said he knew of no other state where the Legislature created a task force to recommend how the roadless areas should be managed. “There’s a lot at stake here in Colorado,” Cables told the 13-member task force, which will hold meetings across the state over the next several months. The group will present its recommendations to Owens, who has until Nov. 13, 2006, to decide whether to ask the federal government to protect the roadless areas. http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20051007/NEWS/110070045

14) The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation released an 88-page research compilation that the group says casts doubt on a logging project in headwaters of the Rio Grande in southwestern Colorado. The County Line project was proposed with the justification that it would reduce the chances of a spruce beetle insect infestation spreading across public forests. In September a coalition of citizens and conservationists filed an administrative appeal of the logging project with the Lakewood office of the U.S. Forest Service. The research report, “Logging to Control Insects: The Science and Myths Behind Managing Forest Insect Pests,” is a synthesis of independently reviewed research. It includes a summary of studies on the importance of insects to forest function and the methods used to control forest pest insects, and a compilation of summaries of over 150 scientific papers and Forest Service documents. “The findings are very clear,” said Scott Hoffman Black, executive director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and author of the report. “A review of over 300 papers on the subject reveals that logging is not the solution to forest insect outbreaks and in the long run could increase the likelihood of epidemics.” Currently, the Rio Grande National Forest is promoting a logging project that would remove 29 million board feet, over 7,000 logging trucks full, to control spruce beetles. The logging project will have significant impacts on water quality and soils in the upper Rio Grande watershed that is so critical to the lives and well-being of the San Luis Valley, the conservation group says. Although insects have been a part of the ecology of temperate forests for millennia, many in the timber industry see them only as agents of destruction, the report points out. “A century of fire suppression, clear-cut logging, road-building, grazing, urban encroachment, and the selective removal of large trees has upset the ecological balance in forests across North America, often making them more vulnerable to insect infestations.” http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2005/2005-10-06-09.asp

15) The meeting, organized by Eagle County’s Democratic Congressman Mark Udall, was aimed at coming up with ideas to deal with the bugs turning trees rusty brown as they kill mountain forests. According to Udall, a new bill he intends to introduce soon in Washington, D.C. might help. “The federal government has a role to play. We don’t have all the answers, but we need to look at what’s working and what changes could be made,” Udall said, explaining that he’s drafting what’s tentatively called the bark beetle relief act. Udall said the measure could authorize the Forest Service to hire additional employees and increase funding to federal agencies to respond to beetle threats. “This has been a terrible problem for Colorado,” said Colorado Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, who represents Summit County. “It’s a visual problem and a safety problem. Maybe there’s some economic development that can come out of this. Maybe we can take this problem and make it work to our best advantage.” Timber industry comeback? State timber industry officials were also on hand Wednesday as officials acknowledged that addressing the beetle problem will require extensive collaboration with private businesses to cut and process the dead and dying trees, which are more flammable than lives trees.
In Summit County last month, a small wildfire became more severe because it burned in trees killed by beetles. Dead trees also played a role in a 20,000-acre-plus fire in the Flat Tops Wilderness, which sprawls into northwest Eagle County, in 2002. “Catastrophic fires in our watersheds could unravel the fabric of life here in Colorado,” said Mark Morgan of the Colorado Timber Industry Association. “You have to have an economic engine to keep this kind of work affordable, and you have to have sustainable, long-term forest management policies so you’re not managing from crisis to crisis.” http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20051007/NEWS/51007025

New Mexico:

16) The Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Tajique Watershed Restoration project is getting ready to go out to the public. The Tajique Watershed was identified two years ago as one of the highest priority watersheds for treatment in the Southwestern Region of the Forest Service. Concern over the high fire risk both to forest lands and surrounding communities is great, since the number of trees within the area is extremely high compared to historical levels, high incidence of lightning strikes have occurred in this area, development on private land around and within public land has increased, and road access to many areas within the watershed is limited. The decision to treat this area is based on natural resource concerns. http://www.mvtelegraph.com/mountain/opinion/396478mtnoped10-06-05.htm

17) A U.S. Forest Service official who voiced concerns about alleged pesticide misuse in forests across the Southwest has been fired. Doug Parker, who worked as the pesticide coordinator and assistant director of forestry health for the agency’s Southwestern region, told The Associated Press that he was removed from his duties last week because his supervisor said he failed to follow instructions. Parker, who has not spoken publicly about his case, worked for the agency for nearly four decades and said he was proud to wear the Forest Service uniform. “The whole reason behind this is I reported some significant pesticide misuse problems to the regional forester and they don’t want to have controls over this process,” he told the AP. “They want to be pesticide cowboys and go out there and do what they want to do without consideration of compliance with their own policies, regulations and environmental laws.” Parker filed a whistleblower complaint earlier this year that pointed to what he called a “systemic problem” when it comes to proper pesticide use across several forests in New Mexico and Arizona. He accused some managers of not preparing environmental risk assessments and failing to get approval from agency officials who have the authority to make decisions about pesticides. Parker is concerned that not following agency policies or laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act — which serves as the basis for federal management of public lands — could lead to public safety and environmental threats. “When it comes down to it, besides the violation of policy and law, it’s a betrayal of the public trust,” Parker said. “If we’re going to use toxic chemicals out in the environment, we need to assure the public that what we’re doing meets our policy, which is ensuring the proper use of pesticides.” http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2005/10/06/build/nation/52-fs-pesticide.inc

18) The supervisor of the Santa Fe National Forest says a project for the northern New Mexico forest to provide this year’s Capitol Christmas tree is moving forward despite a court ruling that prompted the Forest Services to put hundreds of projects on hold. As long as no substantive objections are raised during a 30-day public comment period that started Monday, the tree could be cut and shipped to Washington in time, a forest spokesman has said. The holdups stem from a July 2 ruling by U.S. District Judge James K. Singleton Jr. in California that found the Forest Service was improperly approving projects. without public comment or appeals under a process known as categorical exclusions. New Mexico’s two U.S. senators said earlier this week they were concerned that the U.S. Forest Service’s reaction to the recent court ruling could jeopardize the cutting of this year’s Capitol Christmas tree, an 80-foot spruce in the Santa Fe forest. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said it’s clear there’s nothing preventing the Forest Service from moving ahead with plans to cut down the tree. “I urge the agency to stop looking for impediments where there are none,” he said. And Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said the ruling and the Forest Service’s response “would be like the grinch who stole Christmas for the many New Mexicans who have worked well over a year to prepare for the tree’s state tour and eventual trip to the nation’s capital.” bThe Christmas tree is to travel throughout New Mexico before being taken to Washington, where it will be lit in a Dec. 8 ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. New Mexico also is supplying 65 smaller trees for other federal offices. http://www.lamonitor.com/articles/2005/10/07/headline_news/news03.txt

Massachusetts:

19) Dwyer argued that much of the land that is now being developed was donated to the school with the expressed condition that it be maintained as protected woods. “The Middlesex trustees are now going back on that agreement. That’s why people are all stirred up about it,” she said. Friday’s more conventional protest was followed up on Saturday morning with a more theatrical demonstration by a group of current and former Middlesex students calling themselves Middlesex Graduates For Estabrook. Gathering in front of the dining hall on the Middlesex campus, the protesters staged a mock funeral, complete with a larger than life puppet of Henry David Thoreau who strolled through a cemetery representing all that would be lost if the woods were cut down. Some of the protesters dressed all in black, while others donned tree stump outfits and pretended to play tennis, signifying the destruction of the forest to make way for outdoor tennis courts. This weekend’s protests marked the latest round of a battle that has been raging on and off for more than 13 years. The controversy began in the early 1990s when the school proposed a major construction project to build new athletic facilities including eight tennis courts on school-owned land in Estabrook Woods. After many years and many legal challenges, construction finally began in July and is scheduled to continue for the next several years. Middlesex School Headmaster Kathy Giles said that while she disagrees with the opposition, she respects the passion of their convictions. While the project appears to be moving ahead, neither of the opposition groups are ready to give up on their cause just yet. “Everybody is still just as engaged as they were 13 years ago. It’s a real up for us that there’s still that much concern,” said Dwyer. http://www2.townonline.com/concord/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=339922

USA:

20) To get a sense of the Bush administration’s antipathy for the act, one need only look at how the U.S. Forest Service — overseen by Bush’s undersecretary of Agriculture, Mark Rey — has implemented it. In June 2003, for example, the agency decided that logging done in the name of hazardous fuels reduction on up to 1,000 acres of land, as well as logging in burned areas up to 4,200 acres, was as benign environmentally as clearing brush. It claimed, shockingly, that logging of such magnitude would have no significant impact and therefore needed no environmental review or public comment. This week, the Forest Service is expected to apply such “streamlining” yet again. A proposed rule change would exempt its entire forest-management planning process from environmental review. That means that the agency can put together a plan for logging, mining, off-road vehicle use and more on public lands without having to consider environmental effects or deal with citizen input. That process, instead, would kick in as each piece of the plan is implemented. But as more and more kinds of actions are made exempt, fewer and fewer reviews will actually take place. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-rosenberg5oct05,0,4568370.story?coll=la-news-comment-
opinions

Canada:

21) As you read this message, Kimberly-Clark is clear-cutting ancient forests to make Kleenex and toilet paper. As the world’s largest manufacturer of tissue products, K-C is in a unique position to damage or destroy entire ecosystems. Only 20% of our ancient forests remain and they are too precious to throw away or flush down the toilet! Join Greenpeace to take on the tissue tyrants: Greenpeace is working with folks throughout North America to protect these endangered forests and the people and wildlife living in them by mobilizing pressure against Kimberly-Clark. Take action today Send an email to Kimberly Clark CEO Thomas Falk at http://kleercut.net/sendamessage?lst. Read more about the campaign at http://www.kleercut.net 2) Host a House Party Host a Greenpeace House Party on October 27th and join activists around the country. Meet other people who care about our environment and learn how you can help! Greenpeace will provide a video for your party to watch, and will host a conference call. Email usa@kleercut.net for more information. 3) November 3rd Day of Action Mark your calendars! November 3rd is an international day of action to save the Boreal Forest, North America’s largest wilderness tract, the size of 13 Californias! Join campuses and communities around the world to stop K-C from trashing the Boreal. Check out the Kleercut Action Pack at http://kleercut.net/en/actionpack?lst for ideas on what you can do on November 3rd. Download stickers, posters and fliers, and join a local Kleercut Group(kleercut.net/en/getlocal?lst). Email usa@kleercut.net with any questions.

Romania:

22) Authorities are prosecuting more than 1,000 people for logging illegally in Romania, police said Wednesday. The crackdown began in June after the country was hit by devastating floods this year, with some recently deforested areas suffering heavy damages. Police have issued 7,000 fines, totaling 5.2 million lei (US$1.73 million; ?1.45 million), and 1,057 people were being criminally prosecuted for cutting trees illegally, Police Commissioner Cornel Ciocoiu said. The chaotic logging “was one of the causes for this year’s floods,” he said, blaming a lack of personnel to guard state and private forests. Since 1991, there was little enforcement of laws protecting forests, he said, adding that the Ministry of Agriculture employs just one-fifth of the rangers needed.
Among those facing criminal charges was the Runcu town mayor, who allegedly gave away part of a public forest to a private company. He is charged with abuse of power.
Other local officials have been accused of abusing their positions by approving deforestation projects or allegedly failing to protect public property. Floods this year caused more than ?1.5 billion (US1.8 billion) in damage and killed 74 people. http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2005/10/05/64540.html

Russia:

23) …she starts to describe the magnificent black fir (Abies holophylla) forests around her home in Vladivostok. “It is a unique forest formation in the basin of Peter the Great Bay,” she said. “They are the biggest trees in the forest, up to 60 meters, and two meters in diameter. But there is a lot of illegal logging. It is a big problem.” The trees are rapidly disappearing, she said, explaining that there is a huge need for environmental education in her region. Chipizubova is a research assistant with the Far East branch of the Pacific Geography Institute, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She said many school children in Vladivostok can’t recognize black fir trees because they’ve never seen one or even a picture of one. As chairperson of a grassroots group in her city called the Center for Ecological and Civil Initiatives (ECOGEA), she hopes to change that. Working with funding from several international organizations, she hopes to tackle a slew of issues including sustainable development, ecological resource protection and restoration and environmental education. http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20051007/NEWS/51007012

Nigeria:

24) Officials of the Ogun State Ministry of Forestry have impounded eight lorries belonging to illegal loggers in government forest reserves in the state. A statement by the ministry said on Tuesday in Abeokuta that the Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Dele Odulaja, gave the order during a tour of Aworo forest reserve in Yewa North Local Government Area. The statement said three farmers had been charged to court for cultivating cocoa in government forest reserves, adding that several other persons had been penalised for some illegal acts. On the recent attack on officials of the ministry by the Temidire community in Ijebu-Igbo, the commissioner announced police reinforcement to protect forest guards against such incidents. He noted that the ministry had done well in its revenue generation drive during the first two quarters of the year and stressed the need for timber contractors and other stakeholders to ensure that the ministry realise its target for the year. http://www.independentng.com/news/nnoct050517.htm

Kenya:

25) The Eco Challenge estimates that Kenya needs to plant 100 million trees per year to meet demand and restore forest cover from its present denuded and declining state to the target of 10 per cent of national land area. Outgoing managing director Lamine Kane said the exceptional planting achieved in the past one year was 330 million better than nothing, but 70 million less than enough. To increase the number of people planting trees, with even more vigour, the Eco Challenge is now adding an extra campaign called: “One person, One Event, One Tree”. Kane said: “We need to harness something that already happens at least 100 million times a year and to celebrate each of those events – by planting a tree. One person. One event. One tree. 100 million times.” And with each planting of each tree, let the person say: I am changing the world for the better; I am saving and building Kenya’s future. http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=30&newsid=58669

Brazil:

26) Large parts of the Amazon rainforest are at their driest in living memory, a direct consequence, scientists say, of the severe hurricane season off the US Gulf coast. Rainfall has been significantly below average this year along the Rio Solimoes and the Rio Madeira, two of the major Brazilian tributaries that flow into the Amazon, causing water levels to drop to record lows. Rivers and lakes are drying up, revealing huge sandbanks and making navigation difficult for boats. Since many towns are only accessible by river, medicine, food and fuel are running out in some communities. “There is no rain here because the air is descending, which prevents the formation of clouds,” said Ricardo Dellarosa, of the Amazon Protection Organisation (Sipam) in Manaus. “The air is descending here because the air is rising very intensely in the north Atlantic, creating storms and hurricanes. What goes up must come down.” Gilvan Sampaio of the National Institute of Space Research said the north Atlantic was slightly warmer than usual, which had shifted the tropical weather system further north. A secondary factor, he added, was that cold fronts that usually came from the south of Brazil at this time of year had not been arriving. “These cold fronts have been heading straight into the ocean, instead of heading north towards the Amazon.” In towns such as Humaita, 400 miles south of Manaus on the Rio Madeira, the lush landscape has drastically changed. “A beach has been born in the middle of our town,” said Jose Edmee Brasil, the president of the town council. “Before this year I’d never seen the river less than 10 metres deep – now its only 2 metres. This is the biggest drought in our history.” http://www.ecobc.org/newstoday/2005/10/todaysnews1049/index.cfm

Solomon Islands:

27) The fact remains that the earth’s natural resources are very important to us. They contribute towards world food supplies and are source of employment for hundreds of Solomon Islanders. Social and economic factors are directly related to these pressures on our natural resources. The quest for money led many stakeholders and middlemen to sway away from the need to conserve the forest in a sustainable manner. Western Province had a large concentration of logging operations in the country. May be because of the forest quality and density and the topographic characteristic. Most part of Western Province composed of lowland forests packed with suitable hardwood. Thus all the major islands have operational logging concessions with a direct focus at large scale extraction of timber resources regardless of the environment consequences or ensuing long term ecological and social problems. Pollution due to logging will result in material entering the rivers and streams and used by the oxygen. As a result most of the organism in the waters cannot survive and disrupted the food chain. Marovo once a proposed World Heritage has been heavily exploited by loggers. Due to the vast exploitation of its forest, if nothing is done to halt and at least manage its environment then the lagoon may never recover from extensive damage that is already started. From an aerial view you can see the snake of roads made by loggers through the islands. Even the smaller islands near Bareho were not spared as roads were built and forest slashed down as part of the forest harvesting. From air it was obvious how the sediments from the soil being washed down into the sea that made the coastal areas look muddy. Definitely the taste for money had brain damaged so many locals within the area. While there are alternative ways to get money such as through sustainable logging, many people in the lagoon have resort to fast-money by allowing foreigners to log for them. Although many of these people have enjoyed fat money very little have they realized the consequences it would have on the lagoon and the generations to come as well as the pride to keep the lagoon beautiful. http://www.solomonstarnews.com/drupal-4.4.1/?q=comment/reply/5213

China:

28) China has made significant strides forward in protecting its natural forests by reducing 130 million cubic meters of logging. The State Forestry Administration says China has been carrying out a Natural Forest Conservation Project for seven years at the upper reaches of Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. During the project’s preliminary phase, logging for commercial use was banned completely. Throughout the rest of the project, the aim has been to restore and develop natural forests with a view to balancing forest conservation and the obvious economic functions of logging. The timber output of state-owned forest regions in northeast China and north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has dropped. With the reduction of timber output, a large number of workers have become ‘forest guardians’. http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2238/2005-10-6/125@275352.htm

Bhutan:

29) In May, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation made a $700,000 grant to a World Wildlife Fund program to protect the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in Bhutan. According to a 2003 report in National Geographic, the sanctuary was created to protect Bhutan’s version of “Bigfoot,” which is about 5 feet tall, covered with hair except for its face, smells horrible and disguises its four-legged tracks by carefully making sure to leave only two prints. http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_RelishArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=
1031785205029&path=!entertainment!general!sub!article&s=1037645508970

India:

30) Mr. Radhakrishnan said the measures taken by the Government to check plunder of sandalwood had yielded results. Following the formation of a new sandalwood division and posting of additional staff in July, the felling of sandalwood trees had come down, on average, from seven to one a day (78 trees lost in 79 days). About 150 forest brigands had been arrested. More than 1,000 cases were in different stages of filing. Besides, the Department had seized 553 kg of sandalwood. This was equivalent to half of the 78 trees felled after July 18. The Government, he said, proposed to strengthen the intelligence wing of the department and the local forest protection councils. The remuneration of informers would be increased. Southern States would take steps for joint action to check poaching, ganja cultivation and sandalwood smuggling. The Minister said that the course of action the Government would take on the report of the empowered committee of the Supreme Court on encroachment on Cardamom Hill Reserves would be taken after discussion with the Revenue Department. Mr. Radhakrishnan said that as many as 23 unauthorised sandalwood factories had been closed down. Altogether 110 personnel had been posted additionally to the sandalwood division at Marayur and the wildlife division at Munnar. Forest stations, he said, were opened at four places. Arms, wireless and other equipment were provided to the forest staff. A rapid action police force was also functioning at Marayur. http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/08/stories/2005100812410100.htm

Thailand:

31) The price of imported teak and hard wood from Burma has risen in Mizoram due to recent increases in transportation costs. The Mizoram State Government recently banned the logging of teak and hard wood in Mizoram in an attempt to preserve the state’s forest. Last month they began importing teak and hard wood from Burma. According to the Mizoram State Forest Office, the price of teak is about US $200 a ton with the state having imported 500 cubic feet so far. The teak is being traded in Kale on Indo-Burma border at more than Ks. 300,00 a ton. (The unofficial current exchange rate is Ks. 1,350 a US dollar. http://www.mizzima.com/mizzima/archives/news-in-2005/News-in-Oct/08-Oct-05-29.htm

Philippines:

32) BACOLOD CITY—BACOLOD BISHOP Vicente Navarra has asked President Macapagal-Arroyo to personally look into what he believed was the questionable dismissal by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez of an illegal logging case filed against Don Salvador Benedicto Mayor Cynthia de la Cruz, her husband Nehemias, and eight others. “As shepherd of my flock in the Diocese of Bacolod I personally register my indignation with the manner with which the Secretary of Justice, Sec. Raul Gonzalez, dealt with the illegal logging case,” the prelate said in a letter to the President yesterday.
“Please allow our judicial courts to decide on the merit of the case, lest it appear that the exercise of justice is a farce and your government lacks sensitivity to the continuing degradation of our forests and mountains,” he told the President. “I join the sentiment of the enlightened citizens and together with them ask you to look personally into the case and let the issue take its just course,” the bishop added in the letter. http://news.inq7.net/regions/index.php?index=1&story_id=52530

33) The Provincial Development Council (PDC) asked yesterday President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to order the Zamboanga Economic Zone and Free Port Authority ( Zambo EcoZone ) in Zamboanga City to stop the cutting of trees in upper Malayal, Sibuco, this province and punish those responsible for denuding the remaining forest of the municipality. PDC’s request was embodied in two resolutions it adopted during a special session called yesterday by Gov. Rolando Yebes. At least 21 of the 25 town mayors in the province attended the special session. Also in attendance were members of the religious sector and some-non government organizations (NGO’s) whose concern is to preserve the remaining forest of the province. The twin resolutions asked President Arroyo to order Zambo EcoZone chairperson Georgina Yu to stop the cutting of trees at Sitio Kasilangan, Upper Malayal, Sibuco, this province and punish administratively the people found to have violated the implementing rules and guidelines of the zone and the total log ban imposed by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Mike Defensor. Sibuco Mayor Norbi Edding delivered a privilege speech during the session, disclosing the many violations that the zone has allegedly committed. These include encroachment on territorial jurisdiction of the town, illegal cutting of hardwood trees and maintaining a checkpoint manned by armed men of the zone at Sitio Kasilangan, Upper Malayal. http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV2005100746161.html

Australia:

34) The Member for Collie-Wellington, in south-western Western Australia, says a local environmental group has raised valid concerns about plans to log the Arcadia forest and he will take the matter up with the Environment Minister. Mick Murray met representatives from the group this week, where they explained their opposition to the Forest Products Commission’s proposal to log the forest as part of next year’s harvest plan. The group is concerned the logging would increase salinity problems around the Wellington Dam and affect the biodiversity of the area. Mr Murray says the group wants the area included in the Wellington National Park and to be used for tourism purposes. “My job is to take their concerns to [Minister] Judy Edwards with some costings that they have there,” he said. “It’s not a win-win situation because they say it won’t pick up a great deal of dollars out of the logging of that area.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1475982.htm

35) There’s been an angry reaction from conservationists over a decision that will allow logging in the latest Australian region to be granted National Heritage status. At issue is a pocket of land at Recherche Bay on Tasmania’s southern coast. The Federal Government this afternoon announced that the region warranted inclusion for its historical significance on the National Heritage List, but conservationists are furious. Already some conservationists are dismissing the protection as “Claytons protection” – the protection you have when you’re not having protection. Greens leader, Senator Bob Brown goes even further: ”What a washout that on the same day the minister gives this heirloom of Australia National Heritage status, he also gives the go ahead to the bulldozers to log the forest in the centre of the peninsula. It’s the Minister for the Environment who should be the protector of our nation’s environment giving his imprimatur to the destruction of a core piece of this nation’s cultural and national heritage. It’s just awful. It’s more than money for woodchips, it’s our cultural, our historic, our natural heritage, which we should pass on to the next generation, not logged out to line the pockets of a woodchip corporation. Ian Cambell says: “I should make the point that in National Heritage areas around Australia, for example the Great Barrier Reef, there is significant multi-use in these areas. There is no reason why sound forestry practices and the protection of heritage cannot take place side by side, and that is likely to occur here.” But that argument doesn’t wash with the local Recherche Bay Protection Group, which says there’s been very little logging in the area. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/s1476488.htm