087OEC’s This Week in Trees

This Week we have 35 news items for you from: British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Minnesota. Louisiana, Maryland, New Hampshire, Georgia, USA, Canada, North America, England, Finland, Russia, South Africa, China, Indonesia, and world wide.

British Columbia:

1) A plan to carve 23 house lots from a fragment of forest a few blocks from Coquitlam Centre mall has mobilized area residents to protect it. The 9.8-acre property on Walton Avenue between Durant Drive and Erskine Street was being held for an elementary school and park but the school district doesn’t need it. The city is proposing zoning a 1.8-acre strip of property along Erskine and almost an acre on the Durant side for single-family housing, with the remainder developed as park. It is the only parkland in the area. Residents want it dedicated in its entirety as an urban forest like Mundy Park, said Helen Brown, who lives in the area. “We don’t want a neighbourhood park, we want our forest,” she said. “We don’t need any cute little trails. “This is a mature second-growth forest, it may even be one of the last ones in Coquitlam that is publicly owned. The city not only has an opportunity but, I feel, a responsibility to keep the forested part of it as an urban forest.” http://www.tricitynews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=74&cat=23&id=631170&more=

2) For the third time in as many weeks more than a hundred people rallied on ‘the hump’ of Mt. Arrowmith in order to stop dozens of fully loaded logging trucks that leave the Alberni Valley every five minutes. Mill workers, log scalers, environmentalists, union reps, the Mayor of Port Alberni, the local MLA, along with citizens from Parksville, Qualicum, Port Alberni, and other parts of the Island were all speaking the same language. They have had enough of massive corporations reaping all the profits and leaving the local communities without resources, long term benefits, or the essential ingredients of life such as clean drinking water. In Alberni mills have shut down, the entire Sprout Lake division has been shut down, and the Franklin division has been reduced from 500 to 100 employees due to raw log exports and mechanization. TimberWest recently logged the watershed forests that feeds into Beaver Creek causing massive erosion and mudslides that have directly impacted local residents who have had to suffer no less that four boil water restrictions in the past few months. The situation in Oceanside is much like that of the Alberni Valley. Englishman River and the Little Qualicum River provide drinking water for the residents of Parksville and Qualicum as well as several outlying communities. The forests that provide the watersheds that feed into these rivers are being heavily logged by both TimberWest and Island Timberlands (formerly BRASCAN renamed BROOKFIELD) — ISLAND LENS by Richard Boyce

3) A couple of hundred people kicked it off this past Monday, and there has been a steady presence up there since then, including Betty, of course. There has been much support on-site (with people bringing food and checking in frequently to see how things are and if anything is needed), and on the coalition’s website (http://www.eagleridgebluffs.ca). In one 24-hour period they received over a thousand e-mails supporting the cause. There has been some good press, and, as always, some distorted press Please do what you can to lend your support — the fight is far from over. You can join us for a few hours; camp out if you’re able to do so; plan to get yourself arrested or not; write letters to government officials or to the editor (see links on the coalition’s website); or vote in The Province’s on-line poll (see The Province at http://www.theprovince.com ). This coming Saturday, April 22nd, is Earth Day, and a celebration is planned up at the Bluffs on that day, from 10am onward. Bring a picnic lunch and come join Betty and the Eagle Ridge Bluffs coalition for the afternoon. There will be activities for children, tours of the Bluffs for anyone interested, and hopefully some dancing and music. Please bring drums or instruments any time you’re able to come up to the blockade — musicians and dancers are very welcome, as is everyone. See coalition website (above) re parking information and shuttle from parking area. Happy Earth Day! Marion

4) Richardson spoke on April 13, the day the Prince Albert Weyerhaeuser mill closed its doors. With the Meadow Lake Pulp Mill Ltd. currently in bankruptcy protection, the situation is important for those in this area, as well, Richardson pointed out. “There’s room for all sorts of diversity in the forest industry,” he commented, adding the crisis provides opportunity “to look at the forest and how it’s used.” Richardson said his business trip to Europe, which occurred several years ago, made him realize “Canada isn’t really well-represented in the world market.” But training and education can change all that, said Richardson. He proposed setting up community co-operatives for harvesters, giving them the opportunity to sell their produce to a central agency in the community which would then sell it to a distribution centre. http://www.meadowlakeprogress.com/story.php?id=226168

5) “It’s virtually impossible to determine if they’re nesting,” says Toby Jones, one of the report’s authors and a member of the provincial Marbled Murrelet Recovery Team. “To prove an actual nest, you’d have to climb each and every tree.” And that was beyond the scope of the $40,000 study funded not by government, but by a grant from a private-sector source obtained by Andy Miller, a wildlife biologist on contract with the WCWC. Miller says he “sympathizes” with Chilliwack Forest District manager Kerry Grozier whose “tough job” deciding where forest companies can log in this area is being made more complicated because neither provincial nor federal governments have put funds into studying the Marbled Murrelet locally. “(Grozier) should do what the other forest districts have done, pony up the money to find out where the bird is so they can log with certainty,” he says, and thus ensure the Marbled Murrelet is not driven to local extinction because their old growth habitat no longer exists. Miller says there are two ways Grozier can achieve that kind of certainty. “He can find out where (the Murrelets) are, and start managing for them, or he can ignore the problem and hope they go away through local extinction.” Grozier was not available for comment, but a ministry spokesman said there are a number of tools to address species protection, including the Wildlife Act and the Forest Practices Code. But the study authors say Marbled Murrelets were not identified by the B.C. government for “Section 7 Notices,” meaning that logging can continue to occur “without consideration” for the bird in the Chilliwack Forest District. “Chilliwack is the only forest district in B.C., within the range of Marbled Murrelets, to remove the bird from management consideration,” according to the study. “The B.C. government rationale (for the decision) is that sufficient knowledge of Marbled Murrelets does not exist.” The study recommends 85 per cent of the remaining old growth in B.C.’s southwest region, which includes Elk Creek, be protected, that a “thorough” population inventory of the Marbled Murrelet be completed and that formal habitat protection measures put in place. The study found eight possible “detections” in Elk Creek – defined as a sighting or a hearing – and that two of those were “likely” Marbled Murrelets – but that is not proof they are actually nesting in the area. However, Jones, a registered biologist who has worked on numerous Marbled Murrelet projects, says, “I don’t see any reason why they weren’t nesting” in Elk Creek, judging from the flight characteristics and other behaviours detected during the seven-week study. http://www.theprogress.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=39&cat=23&id=630546&more=

Washington:

6) Even as leading businesses like Home Depot, Kinko’s, Nike and more than 400 others pledge to avoid products from endangered forests, Weyerhaeuser continues to cut-and-run its way across the continent, leaving a wake of barren clearcuts and abandoned communities its path. Weyerhaeuser falsely claims to be “Environmentally Friendly,” but in all reality, that is a proven lie that they market to challenge environmentalists and impress shareholders. With decepting commercials funded by massive clearcuts, Weyerhaeuser continues to ignore and deny all allegations of irresponsible logging. Today, Weyerhaeuser owns 2.5 million acres in the Pacific Northwest, almost all of which has been converted into industrial farms. In these monoculture farms, trees are harvested like crops—wiping out habitat, depleting groundwater and leeching the soil with chemical herbicides and fertilizers. Some of the recent clearcuts are from Weyerhaeuser’s Millicoma Tree Farm – a 209,000 acre plantation in Oregon. In a regulatory sleight of hand, Weyerhaeuser’s permit for the farm allows the company to eliminate the last 16,000 acres of endangered northern spotted owl habitat in the area. The company is now pushing to ax what remains of federal regulations that limit logging in other endangered species habitat in favor of voluntary measures. Weyerhaeuser is truly a global giant with timber operations or offices in 44 states, Canada and 18 other nations. In North America, Weyerhaeuser is one of the top distributors of wood products. Weyerhaeuser owns over seven million acres of land in the U.S., and owns or holds logging rights to more than 35 million acres of land in Canada. Weyerhaeuser also imports timber products from endangered rainforest hotspots in Malaysia, Chile, and Brazil. With your help we can save our endangered ecosystems and protect our old growth forests before they are gone forever. We are asking for your help in sending a financial blow to Weyerhaeuser by taking part in a Weyerhaeuser Protest this Thursday, at the Weyerhaeuser Head Quarters in Federal Way during their Annual General Meeting (AGM). The Protest will reach out to Weyerhaeuser’s Shareholders, urging them to reconsider their investment in a Corporation without ethics, and also speak our demands for Weyerhaeuser’s reform. http://www.searag.org

Oregon:

7) Recently released emails show just how actively Oregon State University’s forestry dean helped Big Timber do “damage control” over a grad student’s research that found logging after fires hurts forests’ recovery. Hundreds of pages of emails reviewed by WW clearly show how concerned Salwasser was by the study written by forestry student Daniel Donato and others. Science, one of the country’s most prestigious peer-reviewed journals, published the study in January. Salwasser thought the study’s findings were premature and overbroad. But at issue is how his concern translated into action, especially as industry insiders worried the study would undercut pending federal legislation to increase salvage logging. Salwasser, who has apologized for attempts by university faculty to prevent the article’s publication, told WW the emails were collegial because he didn’t think the controversy was so large at first. He denied the college was too closely tied to industry. “We have to have our programs aligned with the…science they depend on,” he says. “That doesn’t mean you’re in bed with them.” Here are some excerpts from Salwasser’s emails, reflecting his and the industry’s shared panic over the Donato study: Consider this Jan. 17 exchange between Salwasser and Dennis Creel of lumber wholesaler Hampton Affiliates after Salwasser has sent out a retort to the Donato study, in which industry funding of the college seems on the line: Creel: “Is there a way to get this into a shorter letter form and submit to the Oregonian from Hal?” Salwasser: “They have had a copy of it since last Tues.” Creel: “Well, that’s all you can do…Perhaps they are waiting on the timing or to see if other are going to respond.” Salwasser: “Its ‘cooking.'” Creel: “Good. By the way Hal, I would like to talk with you a bit more on philanthropy and the Hamptons when we get a chance. With this flap, I think it would be good to pause….” Max Merlich, vice president of Columbia Helicopters, a major Republican backer that uses choppers to haul timber from remote areas, also wrote to Salwasser after the controversy surfaced: “I am going to do some damage control on this thing … However, the likelihood of this paper being used successfully against us in court on salvage logging litigation is very high. Post catastrophic harvest is the most important part of our business, making this a very difficult issue between our organizations … How OSU handles this from this point on could play an important part on our issues.” http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=7458

8) Sen. Charlie Ringo says he might ask colleagues in the Legislature to introduce a bill next session to limit OSU College of Forestry involvement in political matters affecting the timber industry. “I will consider having legislation drafted,” Ringo said. “It depends on what steps the college takes to guarantee academic independence.” The Beaverton Democrat has been critical of Hal Salwasser, the dean of the forestry school, for taking sides with timber interests in a dispute over conflicting research into salvage logging in southern Oregon after the 2002 Biscuit Fire. The controversy erupted in January when a study led by OSU graduate student Dan Donato concluded salvage logging slowed natural forest regrowth, conflicting with an earlier study led by OSU professor John Sessions. The reports have been widely cited by pro- and anti-salvage logging forces to support their cause. In February, Ringo requested copies of Salwasser’s e-mail correspondence for the past several months. On April 7, he grilled the dean during a state Senate committee hearing in Salem over the college’s ties to the industry and chastised Salwasser for helping timber interests formulate their response to the Donato report. http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2006/04/18/news/top_story/tues01.txt

9) Helicopter logging of larger-diameter trees, to cost an estimated $375,000, would be partially offset by the estimated $310,000 value of the logs. The whole trees removed during helicopter operations would be flown to adjacent RY Timber property for processing. Barbara Walker, District Ranger, said the agreement with RY for use of the nearby log decks would allow for reduced flight time and costs of the logging. The thinning and clearing of understory around the unincorporated community at the head of Wallowa Lake has already been completed to form a community fuel break. Further fireproofing by private landowners, funded through federal grant programs, is the next step in the wildfire protection plan. The removal of dead and downed fuels on 68 acres of public lands by the Forest Service, and continued maintenance of the resulting clearings, are the final steps of the proposed project. Forest Service crews would begin the process of fuels reduction by hand-piling downed material. The treatment of Forest Service land bordering their own would be a benefit to RY, Walker said, adding that no financial agreements are involved and the timber sale process cannot begin until final approval of the fuels reduction proposal. The Mount Howard Fuel Reduction Project, with an estimated total cost of $2 million for planning and implementation, would begin as early as next spring, pending approval of the environmental assessment, final decision by the Forest Service and availability of funds through the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. http://www.wallowacountychieftain.info/main.asp?

California:

10) Within the original 60,000 acre Headwaters Forest lies the North Fork of Elk River. The NF of Elk River now contains Californias largest unprotected complex of “Class E” Marbled Murrelet habitat. In the past several years Pacific Lumber cut two logging plans named “Elkheart” and “Pass the Turkey” which removed 28% of this stand (150 acres) , leaving 395 acres. A new PL logging plan “Second Serving” #1-05-079 proposes to decimate 78.6 acres of this ancient Redwood forest. The liquidation logging of this watershed and other nearby regions has drastically increased the rate and intensity of flooding of downstream communities. “Second Serving” and the other two new logging plans “Magnum Opus”#1-05-131 and “John Doe” #1-05-161 include other groves of potential murrelet habitat that, although not surveyed to protocol, are assumed by officials to not be unoccupied by the birds. According to official paperwork some of these groves have comparable canopy closure and board footage per acre as many of the “Class E” stands. For more information and ongoing news coverage on this and other threatened Ancient Forests please visit http://saveancientforests.blogspot.com

11) My private land — the 12 acres I own with my husband. We bought it through a Forest Service land exchange in 2000 and have paid taxes on it ever since. Yet there it is, a tiny green polygon on the maps described in the Feb. 28 Federal Register. There it is, part of the president’s plan to sell 304,370 acres of Forest Service land to raise $800 million to fund the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, a popular county payments Program established in 2000. If our speck of land in rural northeastern California were the only mistake in the president’s funding plan, we could all laugh it off as another bureaucratic blunder. But the proposal is replete with errors. Some are like the inclusion of our property, mere slip-ups in a sloppy process done in haste. Others are far more troubling, suggesting a strategy that veers from simply incompetent to irresponsible. Take California’s Plumas National Forest, where agency officials have listed 700 acres that are already under contract to the Maidu stewardship project. This first-of-a-kind program was approved by Congress to demonstrate traditional Native American management techniques on national forest land. At best, the listing is a thoughtless error. At worst, it is a cynical response to an innovative undertaking. Clearly, no officials at any level went out on the ground to review the properties they have proposed to abandon. It they had, they would have Discovered the wildlife, watershed and aesthetic legacy they are sacrificing for a pot of cash. They would have confronted a funding scheme that values maximizing short-term income over preserving public treasures. They might even have Realized that the tiny 12-acre parcel listed for sale in the remote Sierra Nevada is in private ownership — mine. The president’s proposal to sell national forest land to raise revenue for a one-time payment is the land-management equivalent of his strategy for leaving Iraq. It shows a profound lack of foresight. Resolving the mistaken listing of my land will likely require little more than a telephone call. It will take Congress to resolve the more significant errors of this foolish proposal. http://www.tidepool.org/original_content.cfm?articleid=189165

12) On March 15th, activist Christy Tennery of the Bay Area Forest Sustainability Coalition chained herself to a Victoria’s Secret store in downtown San Francsico. She was protesting Victoria’s Secret’s wasteful paper use practices, and she said she would wait, chained to the pillar in front of the store, until Victoria’s Secret switched to recycled paper. Ms. Tennery’s stay was cut short when she was arrested. She did not resist arrest. “Executives at Victoria’s Secret are the real criminals here,” proclaimed Ms. Tennery as she was escorted off the scene and into a police car. “It is not worth destroying Endangered Forests to print 395 million catalogs a year!” The Bay Area Forest Sustainability Coalition, which organized the rally, is a group of concerned citizens dedicated to the protection of forests and the implementation of a sustainable logging industry. They learned about the Victoria’s Dirty Secret campaign and decided to take action since they saw that there had been no move on Victoria’s Secret’s part to make changes to their policies. “Not one acre of Endangered Forests should be destroyed for these catalogs,” said Ms. Tennery. “Victoria’s Secret knows that it can switch to recycled paper but refuses. I’m here to show Victoria’s Secret that people do care about the hidden environmental cost of the massive catalog industry.” http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/04/1816468.php

13) After years of working its way through the courts, a lawsuit by conservation groups has halted lumber company plans that would have allowed clearcut-type logging of more than 1,100 acres of private forest land east of Big Trees State Park. The 5th District Court of Appeals published its legal judgment this week, finding that the California Department of Forestry (CDF) failed to follow the law by approving three disputed clearcutting plans by timber giant Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI). The court agreed with the plaintiffs, Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch (EPFW) from Arnold and the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center (CSERC) from Twain Harte. In its ruling, the court upheld the two environmental groups’ complaints that CDF failed to consider the environmental effects of SPI’s herbicide use and that the state agency also failed to adequately assess the overall, cumulative effects caused by SPI’s widespread clearcutting. “Again and again we have pressed CDF to look at the big picture,” stated Bruce Castle, president of Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch. ” In its legal opinion published this week, the Appeals Court found that CDF must require SPI to provide a fuller analysis of the effects of widespread herbicide treatments and to use appropriate assessment areas to judge the cumulative effects of logging on different kinds of rare, declining species. http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_34734.shtml

Montana:

14) Rancher Tom Maclay submitted a special-use permit application this week for what would be the first phase of a destination ski resort on federal land adjacent to his family’s spread in the Bitterroot Valley. Maclay’s Bitterroot Resort asked the Bitterroot National Forest for use of 1,780 acres to develop alpine ski runs on Lolo Peak. The Bitterroot and Lolo national forests turned down Maclay’s original proposal last year, which called for a more extensive development on about 11,000 acres, including the Carlton Ridge Research Natural Area. “We think this would be a good first step to begin offering quality skiing on the mountain,” said Jim Gill, the Bitterroot Resort’s chief operating officer. Gill said the proposal calls for a pair of lift systems that would open up some intermediate ski terrain on north-facing slopes that should hold snow fairly well. The U.S. Forest Service received two special-use permit applications from the resort – one for nordic skiing and the second for the alpine ski development. For the nordic venture, Maclay asked the agency for permission to use 17 miles of existing roads over the next two winters as a trial “to evaluate the feasibility of a commercial nordic skiing operation and to refine a future proposal for a long-term special permit.” About 12 miles of the roads are on the Bitterroot forest. Maclay projects an economic development infusion of more than $1 billion during the build-out phase of a resort that includes about 2,200 homes and hotel rooms. Besides skiing, the resort will feature ice skating, mountain biking and a golf course. “We ask that the expanded recreational and economic development opportunities for western Montana be more fully considered,” Maclay said. “We have the opportunity for a template for future planning that includes increased wilderness area, additional area for research, and fabulous recreation close to a growing human population with growing recreation demand.” Bob Clark of the Sierra Club is dubious about the Bitterroot Resort’s latest proposal. This incremental approach taken by the developers presents its own set of red flags, Clark said. On top of that, Maclay was charged with illegally cutting trees along roads on national forest lands in January, Clark said. “And now he’s putting in a request through the legitimate process to gain access to what may be some of those same roads,” he said.http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/04/20/news/mtregional/news03.txt

Minnesota:

15) Superior National Forest officials on Wednesday released their logging plan for a broad area near the Echo Trail west of Ely. The proposed plan includes logging on about 12,800 of 126,000 acres of national forest land. That land is spread across about 203,000
acres when state, county and private lands are included. The plan is the largest so far under the forest’s new long-term strategy and includes one of the highest-profile areas of the Superior National Forest. The area surrounds the southern Trout Lake unit of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and includes popular tourist areas around Lake Vermilion. “People around here pay attention to what happens in this forest. When you throw in the proximity to the Boundary Waters of this project and include some of the high-profile roadless areas, there’s even more interest,” said Nancy Larson, LaCroix District Ranger. The plan also includes logging in roadless areas that conservation groups have sought to protect. The Echo Trail management plan calls for clear-cutting 10,597 acres, 1,423 acres of partial logging and 779 acres of thinning, said Kris
Reichenbach, Superior National Forest spokeswoman. http://www.duluthsuperior.com

Louisiana:

16) While the jokes can be plentiful, there is a serious side to keeping up with the state’s big trees. The Louisiana Forestry Association has a directory it publishes each spring It also verifies any state and national champions. The American Forest Foundation maintains its own list of national champions. Keeping an eye open for unusually large trees is not an official part of Ricky Kilpatrick’s job, but it’s something he does anyway since his work as a forestry agent with the LSU AgCenter’s Northwest Region Office puts him in touch with foresters, property owners and just plain folks who take note of such things. “There’s more of an interest than you would think.” Louisiana has seven national champions or co-champions, none of which was damaged by last year’s double whammies known as Katrina and Rita. “Our national champion live oak in Mandeville and our bald cypress in West Feliciana Parish survived Katrina with no damage,” said Brian Chandler, volunteer chairman for the program. The bald cypress this year, however, has to share honors with one in Mississippi. The Louisiana tree had been the top tree since it was discovered in 1981 on Cat Island in St. Francisville. Chandler remeasured it after the Mississippi entry came in and found that it increased in height from 83 feet to 96 feet. The national program names both trees as co-champions. “We had been the sole champion for years,” Tompkins said. The Big Tree program measures native or naturalized species on a point system that uses circumference, height and average crown spread, Tompkins said. Not all of the champion trees are pretty, and many are showing their age. A lot are off the beaten path on private property. For example, the champion loblolly pine in Claiborne Parish is in Kisatchie National Forest. A Louisiana Tech University forestry class found it after walking about 30 minutes deep into the woods. Another champion tree, a willow oak, is on the grounds of David Wade Correctional Center northeast of Homer in Claiborne, also limiting its viewing by the general public. Very visible is an American sycamore found on the A.C. Steere Elementary School campus on Youree Drive in Shreveport. A sign designates the tree’s addition to the champion list in 2005. “They’re real proud of their tree,” Tompkins said. http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060419/NEWS01/604190321/1002/NEWS

Maryland:

17) A statewide environmental group is suing the Department of Natural Resources, alleging that the agency withholds documents it must by law provide to the public. Filed by Robert DeGroot, president of Maryland Alliance for Greenway Improvement and Conservation, the suit says the DNR failed to respond fully to three requests the organization has filed under the Public Information Act since October 2003. The nonprofit organization, which monitors public forests, wants to know how much logging has been permitted in state-owned forests in recent years. The DNR has the information, Mr. DeGroot said, and it provided the data to Sen. Paul Pinsky, D-Prince George’s. In the case filed April 13, MAGIC is asking the Montgomery County Circuit Court to order the agency to provide the requested information. “What we have been trying to do is find out what they are doing to the forests, and that is what is making them so mad. We are putting it on the Web,” Mr. DeGroot, a Rockville resident, said yesterday. Examples of where MAGIC didn’t receive the requested data came in October and November 2003, when the group asked DNR for information about logging activity in Savage River State Forest. With 54,000 acres in Garrett County, it’s the largest state forest. “DNR still has not provided plaintiff with the Savage River Forest data provided to Senator Pinsky,” the suit states. Also, according to the lawsuit, MAGIC requested information concerning timber sales and forest management plans for four state forests – Savage River, Potomac-Garrett, Green Ridge and Pocomoke. The DNR responded by providing part of the sought-after information for two of the four forests. http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2006/04_20-13/GOV

New Hampshire:

18) CONCORD, N.H. –The state Department of Environmental Services broke state environmental laws by cutting too many trees near Lake Francis in Clarksville, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. The contract to clear trees encroaching on the dirt road also was not put out to bid and was not approved by the governor and Executive Council. The department says the $1,500 contract was too small to be put out to bid or sent to the council, which must approve contracts worth $5,000 or more. However, the logger also was entitled to sell the wood he cut, adding at least $7,000 to $13,000 to the contract’s value, according to state estimates of the value of wood “on the stump” and receipts showing how much wood the logger delivered to buyers. Assistant Environmental Services Commissioner Michael Walls said one of the department’s employees directed the heavy cutting for road maintenance and safety, not the wood. The employee believed some trees well back from the road could fall across it, endangering drivers and snowmobilers. “In his opinion, they were not healthy and they were subject to blowing down,” Walls said. He said he would not second-guess the employee’s judgment. “We got the whole roadside cut for $1,500. Otherwise, it would have cost the state $35,000,” plus the cost of chipping the wood and hauling it away, Judd said. “We were very lucky to get it cut.” Guy Petell of the state Department of Resources and Economic Development, which tracks wood prices and timber harvests, had no knowledge of the Clarksville job. Typically, however, state logging contracts are put out to bid, with loggers paying the state for the opportunity to cut and market the wood, not the other way around, he said. http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/04/21/state_environmental_agency_violated_environ
mental_laws/

Georgia:

19) The new 3,597-acre Flat Tub Wildlife Management Area, one of about 95 operated by DNR to provide outdoor recreation for Georgians, was the latest addition to the 33,000-acre Broxton Rocks Conservation Area, which includes the Broxton Rocks Preserve, managed by the Georgia Forestry Commission, the Nature Conservancy and Coffee County. Frankie Snow, the Broxton Rocks’ naturalist, said the area was created by shifts in the earth’s tectonic plates and thousands of years of erosion. Rock Creek, a tributary of the Ocmulgee, flows through the rocks. “It is a refuge for plants that don’t normally grow in south Georgia,” he said. “There are plants from north Georgia and lichens from the far North. There are plants from the tropics.” One of the plants, a Caribbean flower known as the rock rose, is believed to have been brought to the rocks by a migrating bird that feeds on insects that eat the seeds, he said. The new management area resulted from a partnership between DNR, the Georgia Forestry Commission, the Nature Conservancy, Plum Creek Timber Co., the nation’s largest landowner, and local officials. DNR received a $1.5 million federal forestry grant to purchase the land. The Nature Conservancy provided another $450,000 and state bonds, another $520,000. The project will mean preservation of wetland areas and calls for the creation of a working forest with longleaf pines, the types of trees that used to cover the South from Texas to Virginia. “The project is a huge success,” said Tavia McCuen, director of the Nature Conservancy in Georgia. “We’ve got to continue to look at these private-public partnerships to make great things happen.” http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/politics/14379890.htm

USA:

20) Only about a fifth of Americans endorse current proposals to ease logging restrictions in federal forests and reduce the size of protected habitats for endangered species, according to the survey, which have both been endorsed by Republicans in Congress. While Americans oppose easing logging in federal forests, they are divided on whether logging reduces the danger of forest fires, as the timber industry maintains: about 47 percent agree with the industry, while 40 percent say logging actually increases the risk of forest fires. The poll, conducted by the University of Connecticut’s Center for Survey Research and Analysis, finds 54 percent of Americans disapprove of President Bush’s environmental policies, while 37 percent support them. http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16501511&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6

21) The United States has a long history of conservation. Today, natural resources worldwide are under pressure. The U.S. State Department believes that by working with other governments, organizations and civil society, we can together meet the global conservation challenge. To this end, the Bush Administration, assisted by the Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES), has launched new global initiatives and partnerships, including those highlighted here. Coalition Partners: India, United Kingdom, United States, American Forest & Paper Association, Cheetah Conservation Fund, Conservation International, Humane Society International, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Save the Tiger Fund, Smithsonian Institution, TRAFFIC International, Wildlife Conservation Society, WildAid, World Wildlife Fund. Launched in 2003, the President’s Initiative is helping fight illegal logging and related trade and corruption in the forest sector worldwide. The U.S. has provided $4 million to launch what is now a $10 million, multi-donor initiative to reform Liberia’s forest sector after 14 years of devastating civil war. We have initiated and co-sponsored ground breaking regional Ministerial Conferences on forest law enforcement in Asia, Africa and Europe to foster political commitment to fight forest crime. We are working with Indonesia on a new cooperative effort to combat illegal logging. Through the Congo Basin Forest Partnership and Tropical Forest Conservation Act’s innovative debt-for-nature program, the U.S. is contributing or generating $150 million to conserve tropical forests worldwide. http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=April&x=20060421160527eaifas0.8502
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22) OfficeMax, the third largest retail office supply store in the US, threatens forests of the south by doing business with the most irresponsible logging company in the region. Tell Office Max CEO Sam Duncan to make a commitment to the environment and Southern Forests. Demand that OfficeMax stop sourcing paper from endangered forests! Our Southern forests are being rapidly wiped out to meet surging demands for office copy paper and paper packaging. Unless consumers insist that such throwaway products be produced from recycled fibers instead of trees, the great forest that once cloaked the southeastern U.S. are in danger of being into turned into vast, biologically sterile pine plantations. Take Action. Tell them to stop sourcing paper from endangered forests! The Southern forest region of the U.S. contains some of the most biologically rich ecosystems in North America. It is home to hundreds of forest and aquatic species – especially amphibians, reptiles, snails and trees — that are found nowhere else on earth. OfficeMax’s two largest competitors, Staples and Office Depot, have already committed publicly to increase recycled content in the paper they sell and avoid sourcing paper from endangered forests. Urge Office Max to follow suit. Demand that OfficeMax stop sourcing paper from endangered forests! Tell Office Max CEO Sam Duncan to make a commitment to the environment and Southern Forests. Agata Gussmann defendersofatwa@yahoo.com Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team

Canada:

23) Protecting the environment played a major role the government’s decision to reduce the total allowable cut for the forest industry, Newfoundland and Labrador’s minister of natural resources says. The government announced Monday it had reduced the overall cut on the island portion of the province by more than three per cent for the next five years. Natural Resources Minister Ed Byrne said the government wants to be sure that wood harvesting does not infringe on environmentally sensitive areas. “The impact of buffer zones, particularly around water supplies, was another contributing factor,” Byrne said. While the reduction taken may be small overall, Byrne said, some commercial wood operations are facing significant losses. The province has imposed cuts ranging from 18 to 29 per cent in the Gambo, Lewisporte and Springdale areas, and Byrne said his department is working with the industry to try to reduce the impact. However, at least one commercial user is happy with Monday’s announcement. Alongside reducing the overall amount of wood to be taken for the next five years, the province has also reallocated some areas to be cut. Corner Brook Pulp and Paper is now getting a small increase in its cutting permit. Pat Tompkins, the company’s woodlands manager, said the announcement will improve business at his mill. “Having a little more fibre available to us just provides us with a little more flexibility in terms of some of the decisions that we have to make to run our operation efficiently and to keep it running,” Tompkins said. http://www.cbc.ca/nl/story/nf-logging-cut-20060418.html

24) A new poll released by the Canadian Boreal Initiative shows that NWT residents want to see more of the territory protected from industrial development. The poll found that 83 percent of NWT residents supported the creation of more areas protected from industrial activities, but where traditional activities like hunting and fishing were allowed. “This direction needs to guide us as we contemplate the single largest industrial construction project in the history of our country – the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline,” said CBI Director Cathy Wilkinson. “The NWT represents fully one-fifth Canada’s vast Boreal region, and is one of our most important opportunities to plan for conservation in advance of development.” “Our people have seen many changes in the land,” said Herb Norwegian, Grand Chief of the Dehcho First Nations. “We need to be certain that there are some places that will remain as our Elders remember them, while we work to ensure that any development is done in a manner that will support and sustain our communities.” The survey also found that eight in ten (82%) respondents say that “a balanced approach to economic and environmental protection” is a high priority. This is in line with the comprehensive and balanced vision of the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework, which aims to protect half the region and ensure sustainable management on the remaining landscape. “The results of this poll clearly indicate a determined mindset is present in communities of the Northwest Territories that have potential to be affected by industrial activity,” said Shannon Haszard, Northwest Territories Manager, Ducks Unlimited Canada in Yellowknife. “ These communities are not opposed to development but want to maintain control to ensure that overall land use is sustainable for water, wildlife and their way of life”. http://www.borealcanada.ca

25) As pedestrians clutching umbrellas hurried past San Francisco Victoria’s Secret store on a recent Tuesday, a street theater skit unfolded under the gaze of bikini-clad mannequins. The protesters unfurled a pink banner, a “maid” dressed in a revealing black dress and thigh-high stockings danced with a broom, and activists passed out leaflets blasting the company for supporting forest clear cuts. The short protest didn’t attract a huge crowd — passersby seemed more worried about keeping dry than pausing to take in the rain-soaked parody — but multiply that number by over 200 other cities where similar protests took place on April 11, and the public awareness factor quickly adds up. http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/35244/

North America:

26) Forest certification systems, like “organically grown” stickers on produce, serve as a seal of approval. They are a way to hold companies publicly accountable for management practices in the forests, which provide the wood and paper for the products the companies sell. Shareholders of Weyerhaeuser Co., Kimberly-Clark Corp. and International Paper Co. are being asked whether they think Sustainable Forestry Initiative, or SFI, standards are sufficient. Some owners of stock in these companies have their doubts, so they filed proxy resolutions asking that the companies study the feasibility of certifying their timberlands and production facilities under different standards set by the Forest Stewardship Council, or FSC. “We think of Weyerhaeuser as a leader,” said Stu Dalheim, manager of advocacy and policy for Bethesda, Md.-based Calvert Asset Management Co. Inc., an investment firm that specializes in funds that are “socially responsible” in areas such as the environment, human rights, and corporate governance. “It should remain a leader” by adopting FSC, “the leading-edge certification system,” he said. But Weyerhaeuser already adheres to SFI standards, said Cassie Phillips, Weyerhaeuser’s vice president of sustainable forests and products. “Some companies are doing dual certification… but we don’t see the value justifying the extra cost,” Phillips said. To understand this difference of opinion, it’s important to understand the genesis of forest certification, said Ben Cashore, director of the program on forest certification at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in New Haven, Conn. Large-scale certification schemes only began taking shape after the 1992 Earth Summit in Brazil, he said. The global FSC scheme, created largely by environmentalists, was one of the first attempts to codify forest-management standards. Now based in Bonn, Germany, FSC is overseen by a general assembly composed of three chambers — social, environmental and economic — and a nine-member board of directors. “Industry across the world responded by creating FSCcompetitor programs,” such as SFI in the United States and Canada, Cashore said, and a “competition for legitimacy” has ensued. http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/152021/

England:

27) Seven musicians and dancers from the tribe have formed a group called Baka Gbine which will feature the traditional bird-like singing that is used to enchant animals in the forest and ensure good hunting. Martin Cradick, who created the Global Music Exchange charity to help the Baka people fight for their survival, said: “It seems a travesty that the Baka, one of the few remaining peoples living a truly ancient life, in touch with nature and their planet which they revere, are being squeezed out of their ancient forests and denied their lifestyle. “The UK tour will give the Baka a wider voice internationally as well as giving them more confidence to stand up for their rights at home.” He said: “I think it’s because, to survive in the rainforest, you have to learn to listen, whereas almost everywhere else our brains learn to filter out sound. Being a musician is 90 per cent about listening, which is why the Baka are so phenomenally musical and can pick up new instruments so quickly.” Baka Gbine will also launch their first album, Gati Bongo (Forest Cat), next week. The album was recorded using a mobile, solar-powered studio under a giant tree in Cameroon and profits will be channelled back to the tribe through Global Music Exchange. Mr Cradick said: “For years they [the Baka] have asked me why I can go to Cameroon but they can’t visit us in England. “I have always put them off, not wanting to create a pygmy circus, but now that the Baka have created their own association, their own band and have recorded their own album, and are achieving such positive results back in Cameroon, the time seemed right.” http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article359455.ece

Finland:

28) Before christianity spread among the population the finns venerated forest gods. The place of worship was called ‘hiisi’, or holy grove. In people’s minds hiisi was like a temple, a place of congregation for sacred feasts and sacrifices to the big forest gods. Hiisi was often situated on a small knoll, a stony hill, or a rock cliff. The place often also had water: a spring, a pond, or a brook. As a symbol for the life-tree a notable tree or bush grew in the hiisi. Tree, stone and water marked the boundary to the lands on the ‘other side’, because hiisi was also a gate to the past and a connection to the dead, who it was believed affected luck and well- being. In the year 1229 Roman Pope Gregorius IX gave the Church of Finland the right to take hiisis and holy groves into ownership. The clergy began to destroy the hiisis and holy groves: trees were chopped down and sacrificial stones were dumped in water. The destruction proceeded for hundreds of years, because the deeply entrenched old beliefs were not easy to eradicate. Trees and groves were still being cut down as late as the end of the 1800’s. Even in the 1890’s in Rantasalmi offerings were found in the branches of old sacrificial trees. The holy groves still live on in place names: Hiiunniitty (Hiisi’s glade), Hiidenniemi (Hiisi’s peninsula), Hiisila (Hiisis house) — these mysterious names lead one to a strange, enticing world. As christianity found a foothold trees in the holy groves were cut down and new symbols were erected, such as a church or a cross. Names were changed: Hiidenkallio (Hiisi’s cliff) became Kirkkokallio (Church cliff). Every now and then a holy place got a cross and new name only as a front, in order to avoid destruction. Gradually however that which had been holy changed to evil and feared. Hiisi become a curse word, which meant the devil or hell. New places were named hiisi, now meaning the place where demons or giants lived. http://www.smy.fi/koulut/polku/nuotiolla/hiisi.html

Russia:

29) The planned amendments will promote sustainable use of Russia’s forest resources by imposing duties on unprocessed round-wood exports, Valery Roshchupkin, head of the government agency overseeing the industry. However, the export of lumber products will be duty-free, as will be the import of advanced processing equipment not produced domestically. “We expect that a forestry code fundamentally changing attitudes toward the use of forest resources will be adopted by autumn,” he said. “Exporting wood products will become a far more lucrative business than selling raw logs.” According to the official, the leasing policy will be reviewed to give priority to large, vertically-integrated timber companies which apply for logging concessions of 25 years or longer, over smaller businesses seeking short-term concessions. Improvements to forestry legislation were high on the agenda at a conference held a fortnight ago in the Republic of Komi, in northeastern European Russia. At the conference, President Vladimir Putin stressed the need to develop the country’s timber processing infrastructure. “Our neighbors continue to earn billions of dollars on Russian raw logs while we are doing very little to create conditions for processing timber domestically,” he said. More than 40% of China’s total log imports come from the Russian Far East, a figure that is expected to rise in the next few years. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060418/46569338.html

30) Muhyen was once a jewel in Russia’s remote wilderness. As the centre of the Soviet Union’s biggest logging operation, this tiny outpost about 6,200 kilometres east of Moscow was blessed with famous mineral springs, well-stocked stores and even a gift shop. But when the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s and the forestry business went bankrupt, residents abandoned the town in droves, part of a mass exodus out of Russia’s eastern settlements after the lifeline of subsidies from Moscow was severed. People who didn’t escape Muhyen were left with little to do except drink and contemplate the town’s bleak scenery of empty shops and quiet factories. Where Russians saw only despair, the Chinese saw an opportunity. They injected millions into the bankrupt forestry company, cleared debts, rebuilt the town’s roads and refurbished classrooms. These days, timber clatters and diesel engines rumble as the town comes back to life. But the local residents aren’t grateful ? instead, some have reacted violently toward those responsible for Muhyen’s revival. Troublemakers have started sabotaging company equipment: breaking windows, setting fires and stealing the sparkplugs from trucks. Last summer, in an apparent prank aimed at the Chinese, somebody photocopied a handwritten advertisement in Russian and posted it on walls and doors. The sign said: “Chinese man will buy Russian dogs, cats and girls.” A price was fixed for the animals, but the poster said the girls were “negotiable.” Why would the people of Muhyen try to drive away the foreigners who are saving the town from ruin? “I rack my brains about this every day,” said Cai Guowei, deputy general director of OOO Muhyen Forest. “Why aren’t they happy?”A great tide of Russians washed eastwards across the Asian continent over the past 1,000 years, from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, settling the world’s largest country. Now that historic migration has reversed itself. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060421.w0422russia/BNStory/RussiaShrinks/home

South Africa:

31) BRUCE WHITFIELD: How green is his valley? Well a lot greener than it was yesterday. We are talking about Vali Moosa, the former Forestry Minister. He has done a BEE deal today. The paper producer, Sappi, selling 25 percent of its local plantation land portfolio to black investors and staff for R224-million. Vali Moosa’s Lereko Grouping is the leasing BEE Consortium. André Wagenaar, the Sappi Forest Products chief executive is on the line to us from Johannesburg now. And André, when you look at this particular transaction, it is the land portfolio, not necessarily the trees that stand or grow on that particular land. You have got 360 000 ha of land altogether. 100 000 ha of that is not being productively used. ANDRÉ WAGENAAR: That is correct yes. BRUCE WHITFIELD: Because we have seen Tongaat Hulett making very, very good use of their excess land through Moreland. That is a property development company on the Kwazulu Natal Coast, where they turned former sugar cane fields into very lucrative estates and housing developments. Is that the idea behind what is happening with the Sappi land now as well? ANDRÉ WAGENAAR: We are only going to use unutilised land. We have got no plans to utilise the land we have decreased. We obviously still need that timber for our processing plants. So we will only concentrate on the dormant land. BRUCE WHITFIELD: Where is the majority of the land situated? ANDRÉ WAGENAAR: Well the land is running up from the Northern Mpumulanga, up to near the Kokstad area. It is over a widespread area of over 700 km. So there are various areas. Some of them are near to the sea, and some of them are near to the mountains. BRUCE WHITFIELD: So there is some very attractive real estate, effectively which has been empowered today, and is an opportunity for Vali Moosa to actually drive a process, which will benefit them and theoretically Sappi as well. http://business.iafrica.com/transcripts/251521.htm

China:

32) Wind and sand were blowing across Beijing as the city endured the worst dust storm in five years. The sky had turned grey and yellow, visibility was reduced to a few hundred metres, and many people were wearing face masks or scarves wrapped around their heads to prevent themselves from choking. Hospitals were reporting a sudden rise in patients with breathing difficulties, while experts were warning of lung diseases. Children were urged to stay indoors and motorists were advised to park their cars. Much of the dust was blowing in from the Gobi Desert, which has steadily expanded as a result of deforestation and overgrazing in China. But the sandstorm was aggravated by the mounting pollution from vehicle emissions, factories and construction sites. The storm began on Sunday night with gusting winds that dumped an estimated 300,000 tons of dust and sand on the Chinese capital. “If I had known Beijing could be so dirty, I never would have bought an apartment here,” said Wang Weiqiang, a 32-year-old hairdresser. “How can a city that will hold the Olympic Games be so dirty?” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060419.STORM19/TPStory/Environment

33) China has joined Europe and the United States as a global drain upon the world’s ancient forests. China’s appetite for foreign wood arises from its spectacular economic growth and from the decision in 1999 to protect its own environment at the expense of regional forests. Their unsustainable demand for timber is causing widespread deforestation and environmental destruction beyond their own borders – particularly in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar and increasingly Russia. Over the past five years, the Asian region has lost more than 14.8 million acres [6 million hectares] of natural forests, while adding a paltry half a million hectares in plantations (which are crops, with all their attendant agricultural impacts, not forests). To their credit, even the FAO understands that limited plantation development is not a replacement for lost natural forest ecosystems. China’s rush to develop and resultant destruction of ancient forests differs from historical deforestation in the immense magnitude and scope of destruction. As China’s massive population adopts the deadly Western lifestyle and ecocidal relationship to natural ecosystems, it is highly unlikely any large, intact forest ecosystems will persist anywhere. The global economic growth machine is eating the Earth’s life support systems. http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/2006/04/china_devastating_asiapacifics.asp

Indonesia:

34) Jakarta – An Indonesian company has been conferred the ‘golden chainsaw award’ by Greenpeace for its logging operations in the remote eastern province of Papua, a media release said Friday. Greenpeace activists, who arrived in Jakarta from Papua on their Rainbow Warrior ship, delivered the award to the headquarters of Kayu Lapis Indonesia (KLI) for the company’s alleged role in the destruction of the province’s forests in recent years. ‘Greenpeace has submitted evidence to the Ministry of Forestry so that it can investigate KLI for its destructive and suspicious logging operations in Papua,’ said Greenpeace forest campaigner Hapsoro, who goes by one name. ‘It is time for the Indonesian government to act against the ongoing destruction of our forests.’ No one from KLI was available for comment. The environmental organization claimed the company, which owns the largest logging concession in Papua with a total of 1.4 million hectares, was one of three ‘untouchable’ companies in the country with a ‘well-documented history of environmental abuse’. Greenpeace said it plans to next target overseas companies in a campaign to stop them from buying KLI wood, which is exported mostly to the US, Japan, Canada and Netherlands. http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/article_1157197.php/Greenpeace_awards_Indonesian_logging_com
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World-wide:

35) OUR forests are the heart of our environmental support system. And yet, in the 36 years that have passed since the first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, we have lost more than one billion acres of forest, with no end in sight. The people most vulnerable to the disappearance of forests are the poor: nearly three-quarters of the 1.2 billion people defined as extremely poor live in rural areas, where they rely most directly on forests for food, fuel, fiber and building materials. But those of us in the developed world are hardly immune. Smaller forests mean fewer predators keeping insects and rodents in check in the Northeastern United States, a phenomenon linked to the spread of Lyme disease and West Nile virus, among others. Everywhere, forests prevent erosion, filter and regulate the flow of fresh water, protect coral reefs and fisheries and harbor animals that pollinate, control pests and buffer disease. That is why the single most important action we can take to protect lives and livelihoods worldwide is to protect forests. And one of the best ways to do that is to change how we think about their economics. First, we must connect local, informal foresters, who harvest timber and other forest products for a small fraction of their value, to better markets. A good example is in Papua New Guinea. A community there receives about $13 for a cubic meter of tropical hardwood. That same cubic meter of wood, transferred through a series of intermediaries, shows up in New York Harbor with a new price tag, $700. Minimally processed into thin veneer, it sells for $2,300. That same cubic meter, fully finished, goes for over $3,000. Small forest holders who receive just pennies on the dollar for a valuable natural resource can hardly be expected to practice sustainable forestry. Opening access to regional and global markets at fair value will create strong incentives for sustainable forest management. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/20/opinion/edmelnick.php