099OEC’s This Week in Trees

This week we have 37 articles from: Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Maine, USA, Canada, European Union, England, Kenya, Nicaragua, Brazil, India, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Australia, and Word-wide.

Alaska:

1) FAIRBANKS — To the untrained eye, Bonanza Creek forest is breathtaking, a vibrant place alive with butterflies and birds, with evidence of moose and bear at every turn. But look through forest ecologist Glenn Juday’s eyes, and you see a dying landscape. Since the 1970s, climate change has doubled the growing season in some places. Since 1950, the overall state temperature has risen by 3.5°F, while wintertime temperatures have risen by 6°F, says Juday, a professor at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. Drought is stressing and killing spruce, aspen and birch trees. Alaska has emerged as the poster state for global warming, the climate effect attributed to higher concentrations of “greenhouse” gases — mostly carbon dioxide created by burning fossil fuels — that capture the sun’s heat in the atmosphere. Global warming is a hot topic, especially now. The spruce budworm, aspen leaf miner and the spruce bark beetle, pests once kept in check by winter cold, are flourishing here. Statewide, insect outbreaks have killed more than 4 million acres of forest in a decade and a half, says John Morton, a biologist at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Soldotna. Fires, long an integral part of the forest ecology here, are burning millions of acres as summers get longer and hotter, says Scott Rupp, a University of Alaska-Fairbanks professor of forestry. And with each wave of fires, trees have a harder time coming back in the increasingly warm and dry landscape. Alaska is ahead of the climate-change curve because polar regions warm the fastest. They had long been kept frigid by vast regions of snow and ice that reflect 70% of the sun’s energy back out to space. But higher temperatures are shrinking that snow and ice cover. In the Arctic, summer sea ice has shrunk 15% to 20% in the past 30 years, according to 2005’s Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report. And as the snow and ice recede, the sun’s rays are hitting more dark ground and water, which absorb most of the heat, reflecting just 20% of the energy away, says Matthew Sturm, a research scientist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Fairbanks. Lakes and ponds are disappearing as the permafrost, permanently frozen ground that underlies much of Alaska north of Fairbanks, melts. http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2006-05-29-alaska-globalwarming_x.htm

British Columbia:

2) WEST VANCOUVER – Environmental crusader Betty Krawczyk has been arrested again in her attempt to stop road construction on Eagleridge Bluffs in West Vancouver. Police arrested the 77-year-old woman as she entered a court-ordered no-go zone near the bluffs. This is her second arrest at the site since a judge granted an injunction on May 15 preventing protests. The lawyer for the contractor, Michael Demers, told a B.C. Supreme Court judge that Krawczyk breached the court’s order in a flagrant manner. Krawczyk told the court she was hoping construction would stop until the protesters’ appeal process went through the courts. Her case will be heard today, and in the meantime she has agreed not to enter the protest site. Krawczyk and 22 others were banned from the site after blocking construction workers from starting work on widening of the Sea to Sky Highway in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=b2a54462-17c1-4897-9025-
e24592189df5

3) B.C. and Alberta cut down and burned more than 45,000 trees this winter in an effort to stop the mountain pine beetle infestation from spreading to the jack pine forests east of the Rocky Mountains. David Coutts, Alberta’s minister of sustainable resource development, estimates his province has about two million hectares, or $23 billion worth of, pine forest at risk from the fast-spreading pests. B.C. and Alberta signed a five-year agreement last year to target beetle infestation in the Rocky Mountain, Columbia, Headwaters and Peace forest districts along the border. B.C., which already has an infested area three times the size of Alberta’s entire pine forest, is paying $13.7 million of the project budget. Alberta’s share is $3.7 million, with another $1.7 million provided by the Alberta forest industry. With 80% of B.C.’s lodgepole pine forest expected to fall victim to the tiny bark beetles, the B.C. forests ministry has turned its focus to coping with the aftermath rather than trying to stop its spread. While warmer temperatures are believed to be a factor in the massive expansion of the natural pest in B.C., researchers say the province’s forest management also contributed. Pine beetles prefer mature trees and decades of successful forest fire suppression along with an emphasis on coastal logging have tripled the size of mature pine stands in B.C., the Pacific Forestry Centre estimates. http://www.tricitynews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=74&cat=23&id=661287&more=

Washington:

4) A survey mailed to people who own small forests earlier this month could help provide the foundation for development of a low-impact forestry industry on the Olympic Peninsula. Such an industry could provide jobs for loggers and others who have had trouble finding work in recent years. The survey, which was sent to 700 landowners in Jefferson and Clallam counties, will help identify the information and services landowners need to maintain their forests, whether they plan to harvest and sell the timber, preserve it for wildlife habitat or just enjoy it for its natural beauty. Project coordinator Bill Wheeler said the goal is to help landowners who might be new to the concept of forest management to take care of their land. “A lot of people, including myself, weren’t raised in a rural environment but find themselves at retirement with enough money to buy a piece of property with forest on it,” he said. “If you don’t come from an area where you know what healthy forests are supposed to look like, then your vision is deep green old growth,” he said. “But the property you’ve bought is probably just the beginnings of that.” A retired organizational psychologist, Wheeler is president of the Olympic Shadow Forest Owners, a nonprofit association of small-forest landowners in South Jefferson County that he founded as a way to network with other people who own small forest parcels. According to Wheeler, about 150,000 acres of forestland is privately owned in parcels as small as five acres. He bought his own 20-acre forested property, Fairlea Tree Farm near Quilcene, in 2003. Working with the Washington State University Jefferson County Extension office, he landed grant funding for the project from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The results of the survey are to be used to develop a preliminary training and business plan to develop a viable low-impact forestry industry. Low-impact forestry involves the use of selective harvest techniques and equipment designed to maintain forest health and productivity while at the same time minimizing disturbance in the forest. Local partners in the project include WSU, the Port of Port Townsend, Clallam County and the Clallam Conservation District. http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=21&SubSectionID=21&ArticleID=15129

Oregon:

5) When the Forest Service tries to do the right thing, we like to encourage them. Recently the Orleans District of the Six Rivers National Forest proposed decommissioning 263 miles of logging roads in sensitive watersheds in the northwest corner of California. The proposed restoration work would provide local jobs, protect important salmon producing watersheds, and reduce maintenance costs from the bloated maze of logging roads on these public lands. Unfortunately, the Forest Service is under a lot of pressure from the motorized recreation lobby to retain these logging roads, even when the roads dump sediment into salmon streams and cut up needed habitat for critters. The Forest Service recently reduced the amount of proposed road decommissioning due to motorized recreation advocates. The Forest Service needs to hear from non-motorized recreationists – hikers, campers, birders, botanists, equestrians and others – who value unroaded public lands for various reasons. The Forest Service has far more system roads than it can properly maintain, and these roads continue to degrade water quality, watershed health, and wildlife habitat. A reduction in overall road mileage would improve habitat quality and watershed health, and to bring agency infrastructure into alignment with its current budget. This is a great opportunity to support road decommissioning and encourage a Forest Service proposal that makes ecological and economic sense. http://www.kswild.org

6) TILLER — Fliers were posted in Tiller and Drew store windows announcing that training — in all logging aspects — was being awarded to those interested in working on a stewardship project in the Tiller Ranger District. In the “boom and bust” logging community of south Douglas County, it didn’t take long for all 15 training slots to be filled. “Work is work, up here,” said Scott Solt, 39, of Tiller as he and other trainees attended a timber cruising seminar Tuesday. Solt said his last payroll job was at a mill near Eugene. The commute was 80 miles one way. Even though he shared the commute’s traveling expenses with a friend, Leland Crumpton, the commute wasn’t worth their time or money. Solt now helps Crumpton work on his property in Drew. Crumpton is restoring his property for coho salmon habitat. Coho salmon began spawning in the creek on Crumpton’s property two winters ago. According to Crumpton and his neighbors, it had been 50 years since coho salmon had spawned in the creek. Crumpton received $300,000 in grants from various conservation organizations to restore fish habitat. He figures that by attending the stewardship project seminars, he can learn how to make extra money by managing his property and maybe take on a stewardship project from the Forest Service in the future. Crumpton and Solt know how to work in the woods. Yet it’s the total knowledge of a timber project, from start to finish, that they lack. By attending the stewardship seminars, they hope to learn timber cruising — estimating timber volume on a plot — and how to find potential buyers for small-diameter timber products. “It’s kind of a learning experience for us,” Crumpton said. In the meantime, Lomakatsi and Tiller officials will try to figure out a niche market for the small-diameter trees that need to be thinned from the approximately 844-acre Boulder-Dumont area. In a month or two, Lomakatsi and the stewardship project trainees will perform a demonstration thinning project on about 30 acres of the Boulder-Dumont area. It’s hoped that when the demonstration takes place, a potential buyer for 8-inch and smaller diameter poles will have been found. http://www.newsreview.info/article/20060601/NEWS/60601014

7) Andy Stahl, director of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, said that he first butted heads with Salwasser in the mid-1980s. At the time, Stahl was working on spotted owl research as a forester for the National Wildlife Federation and Salwasser was working for the Forest Service under President Reagan as a wildlife ecologist. Salwasser “poked his finger into my chest and he said, ‘Stahl, if you don’t drop this spotted owl thing, we’re gonna nail your fuckin’ ass,'” Stahl said. Richard Fairbanks, who now works for the Wilderness Society, offered another anecdote. In the early 1990s, Fairbanks, then a Forest Service employee, appeared on CBS News’ “Eye on America” and said that the export of raw logs accounted for more lost mill jobs than spotted owl protections ever did. Salwasser then director of a Forest Service institution called New Perspectives ? emailed Fairbanks, calling him a disgrace to the agency and suggesting that the Forest Service should never have hired him, according to Fairbanks. Within weeks Fairbanks was “surplused” and reassigned to do menial work. He suspects it was retaliation for the comments he had made on CBS News. Fast-forward to 2004, when Salwasser, then dean of the COF, and Dominick DellaSala, a COF alumnus who now works with the World Wildlife Fund, presented to a group of reporters on the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources’ fellowship program. DellaSala alleged that the COF has an inappropriately cozy relationship with Columbia Helicopters, citing an endowed chair and a suspiciously timed $1 million donation from the company. The gift came months after COF professor John Sessions released a report recommending immediate, aggressive logging of areas burned in the Biscuit Fire. The report suggested that much of the yarding be done by helicopter, a potential windfall for Columbia. According to DellaSala, Salwasser pulled him aside and admonished him, saying that he was “‘skating on thin ice.'” Salwasser said that the anecdotes recounted by Stahl, Fairbanks and DellaSala were an orchestrated attempt at “character assassination” by foes with an axe to grind. “It’s not my habit to intimidate people. I’m very careful about that because of my size,” said Salwasser, who stands 6′ 6″. “I’ve never retaliated against people and I’ve never even thought about it. These are allegations that are not consistent with my character.” It’s still unclear how, or if, OSU will discipline Salwasser if the June 5 vote reflects poorly on his leadership. “OSU doesn’t have a formal policy on votes of no confidence,” said OSU spokesman Todd Simmons. “It’s difficult to say what exactly will happen.” http://eugeneweekly.com/2006/06/01/news1.html

8) “If information, truth and knowledge count for anything, if modern forestry conservation and biology count for anything, the Forest Service will not sell this sale,” he said while visiting the upper portion of Unit 3 in the Mike’s Gulch sale on Tuesday. Mike’s Gulch, the first roadless area sale expected to be offered, will be put up for auction in mid-June. “I can’t imagine what real forestry and real forest science would drive this sale,” Dennerlein said. “It’s a bad idea.” As evidence, he and Siskiyou Project ecologist Rich Nawa pointed to the natural regrowth in the form of young conifers, wildflowers and other plants that are thriving now. Logging, then replanting the area, will only set back Mother Nature’s work, they said. It was four years ago in July that the Biscuit fire burned nearly half a million acres in a mosaic pattern largely in the Siskiyou portion of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. In addition to the Mike’s Gulch sale, the agency also plans to offer the larger Blackberry sale in early August. Both are in the Illinois Valley Ranger District west of Kerby. Although Forest Service officials could not be reached for comment late Tuesday afternoon, an evaluation of the Biscuit fire timber salvage project released last month by the agency has concluded that no significant new information has surfaced in studies criticizing the salvage effort. The evaluation was in response to an environmental group’s lawsuit to stop the salvage logging. “The bottom line for us is that we didn’t consider any of it to be new information that would have required us to go back and do a supplemental environmental impact statement,” said Rob Shull, the timber and planning staff officer for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, when the report was released. “This is an intact roadless area,” he said. “We can hike toward the northwest five miles into the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area. From there, we can go another 20 miles or so without finding a road. “It’s a big, wild area, one of the biggest left in the West,” he added. “These roadless areas are the most valuable for human recreation and wildlife habitat. To purposefully fragment this area with clearcuts seems unnecessary.”http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0531/local/stories/biscuitrevistedpf.htm

9) The bad news is that the Baird-Walden logging bill recently passed the US House of Representatives. The good news is that 4 out of 5 of Oregon’s Representatives voted against this reckless legislation (only Greg Walden supported it). Congresswoman Darlene Hooley, and Congressmen Blumenauer, DeFazio and Wu joined 178 of their colleagues and courageously stood up to incredible pressure by the logging industry to oppose this dangerous bill. The better news is that it we have a very good chance of stopping this cynical scheme in the US Senate! Please take a few moments to call or email your Representatives and thank them for opposing HR 4200. Urge them to continue to support strong protection’s for America’s forests, waters, and wildlife! Call 202-224-3121 to reach the US Capitol Switchboard. When you are done, take another moment to call or email US Senator Ron Wyden. Gordon Smith has introduced logging legislation similar to HR 4200 in the Senate. Please urged Wyden to oppose this measure! Tell him: 1) The last thing an area recovering from a forest fire or other natural event needs is the help of bulldozers and chainsaws. 2) Yellowstone National Park’s amazing recovery from the fires for 1988 have shown us that sometimes the best thing is to let nature take its course. 3) By fast-tracking logging in areas recovering from fire, the Smith bill puts clean water, fish and wildlife at risk. 4) Forest management decisions should be based on science, not the demands of special interests. The Smith bill would lock in increased logging to help forests “recover,” even as more and more scientific research says forests recover faster on their own. —- Call Senator Wyden at (202) 224-5244, or email him at http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/

10) A vaunted tree-protection committee in Portland is suddenly leaderless. It started with what looked — at least to the city ombudsman — like simply a neighbor-notification plan. But the volunteer head of the program, claiming her committee was left out of the loop, has resigned in protest with, she says, some of her colleagues. It all began with an idea that might have seemed simple in a city where trees are special. Some trees, in fact, are more special than others because of seniority or size or related qualities. They become Heritage Trees, and during the past dozen years about 270 have been nominated and approved for that protected status as part of Portland’s efforts to keep a canopy of green. After a resident complained that she had not been told that a neighbor’s tree with parts over her property was a protected Heritage tree, city ombudsman Michael Mills proposed this plan: When the city nominates a tree for protected Heritage status, meaning in part that it cannot be pruned without approval, the city will take the extra step of also giving notice and allowing comment from owners of next-door properties where parts of the tree reach over. Mills describes his actions as part of Portland’s “good government culture,” but they sparked angry responses from some of the program’s key volunteers. Phyllis Reynolds has resigned from the Urban Forestry Commission and as chairwoman, for the past half-dozen years, of the Heritage Tree Committee — the volunteer panel that reviews and makes recommendations on nominations that ultimately must pass City Council approval. And now four others from the seven-member committee have quit in kind, Reynolds said. In a May 18 letter to Mayor Tom Potter, Reynolds said she was resigning because the ombudsman, despite the forestry commission’s rejection of his recommendation, “apparently overrode” the panel’s vote and successfully pursued creation of a rule she thinks gives neighbors essentially veto power over Heritage-tree nominations. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1149130574108420.xml&coll=7

Arizona:

11) FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. Federal officials are proposing to set prescribed fires and conduct logging on 22-thousand acres of the Coconino National Forest beginning in 2008. Fire officials hope to reduce vegetation that could help fuel wildfires. The goal of the project would be to protect most of east Flagstaff and surrounding areas from fires. The estimated cost of what’s being called the Eastside Fuels Reduction and Forest Health Project is nearly five (m) million dollars Nearly one-third of the forest around Flagstaff has already been treated to help reduce the wildfire threat. http://www.azdailysun.com/

Montana:
12) Forty-five days passed without an appeal being filed, meaning the Forest Service’s decision to harvest, thin and take other actions on 969 acres around Georgetown and Echo lakes is a go. The area is 10 miles south of Philipsburg in Granite and Deer Lodge counties. Where timber sales are planned, standard Forest Service competitive bidding procedures will be used. Officials hope to have the sales ready to put out for bid by August. Under the decision approved by Bruce Ramsey, forest supervisor of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, trees up to 6 1/2 inches in diameter will be cut on 511 acres. On another 187 acres, trees up to 14 inches in diameter will be cut. On another 81 acres, conifers or cone-bearing trees up to 6 1/2 inches in diameter will be cut where they are growing over sagebrush and in grasslands. On the final 190 acres, conifers will be cut and then burned.The areas involved are near homes around Georgetown and Echo lakes. Timber cut will either be sold as saw timber, for posts and poles, or piled and burned. Some of it may be chipped and used to heat schools in the “Fuels for Schools” program or for other uses. For more information or a copy of the decision, call the Forest Service at (406) 859-3211 or go to http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/b-d/projects/ http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/05/30/news/mtregional/news08.txt

Colorado:

13) The first question to be answered is how much beetle-killed timber will be harvested from local forests. The second is how much that timber will cost. Neither question will be answered until the U.S. Forest Service signs contracts for logging in local forests, which may happen this year. The price of wood, or chips, is the first number in the line that leads to what’s now called “biomass” technology. At the moment, the important number is 40, as in $40 per ton of whatever is being burned. At that level, a wood heating system for the county administration building would pay for itself in a decade or so, Eagle County Administrator Bruce Baumgartner said. The next important number is about 50, the number of years a steady supply of wood needs to be available to make a wood heating system cost effective. A building the size of the administration building in Eagle would require about 2,000 tons of wood per year to heat. There might be that much beetle-killed wood in Eagle County, but the question then becomes how much of it can be cut and hauled. “There’s a lot in roadless areas or wilderness that’s very difficult or cost-prohibitive to get to,” said county planner Eric Lovgren, who’s spearheading the research into wood-burning technology. If those and a host of other numbers line up, Baumgartner said the county could start pursuing a wood-burning heating system – probably for the county administration building – within a year or two. Like Eagle County, Summit County has thousands of acres of dead trees. The amount of timber available has been figured into that county’s plans for a biomass system to heat about 300,000 square feet of county-owned buildings on the south side of Frisco, said county planner Steve Hill. http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20060530/NEWS/105300029

New Mexico:

14) SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico has become the fourth state — and the first Western state — to petition the Bush administration for roadless area protection under a new rule established last year. Gov. Bill Richardson is asking the federal government to protect all 1.6 million acres of roadless national forest in the state — and to throw in 100,000 acres of the Valle Vidal region of northern New Mexico as well. Adding the Valle Vidal to the protected acreage would create “another stumbling block” to proposed drilling on the renowned elk and trout habitat, he said Wednesday. His petition was applauded by environmental groups. Oil and gas development in the Valle Vidal, a unit of the Carson National Forest, “would be disastrous,” according to Richardson. The petition process provides an opportunity to add the area to the roadless inventory and protect it, he said. Houston-based El Paso Corp. has asked the Forest Service to open almost 40 percent of the Valle Vidal for leases, in order to tap into coal-bed methane reserves. A final decision isn’t expected until 2008. If the Department of Agriculture rejects the state’s petition, the future of roadless areas would be left to local forest management plans, said Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust. That could leave 430,000 of New Mexico’s 1.6 million acres open to road building, he said. Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina have filed petitions to protect all roadless areas in those states. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13084080/

Wisconsin:

15) The Department of Natural Resources recognizes 47 of the largest trees in Green County as Champion Trees, which must meet minimum requirements for height, circumference and crown spread to receive the champion designation. Any citizen can nominate a tree for consideration based on three simple measurements, which are then verified by a DNR forester before the tree can be designated a champion and added to the state registry. A white oak tree at the corner of Sugar River Parkway and West Main Street in Albany has been designated a Champion Tree for years and is a popular landmark in town because of its magnificent spread. The tree was ranked 10th largest in the state for white oaks at the time it was measured several decades ago. Owners John Koopmans and Amy Salzberg said that the oak is almost 300 years old and was used as a marker on county maps as early as the mid-1800s. Wisconsin became a state in 1848. “This house was on an 1860 plat map of Green County as one of about five houses from around the county that were drawn on that map, and in that drawing on the map it shows the tree in the corner,” Koopmans said. “It’s a gem.” If nothing else, Stemple hopes that public awareness will serve to protect some of the area’s oldest denizens from the saws of development. “If they are thinking about cutting down a tree that may be large just because it is in the way, maybe they’ll think twice about it because it is a large one,” he said. http://www.themonroetimes.com/a0602pch.htm

West Virginia:

16) ELKINS — Wildlife officials say the West Virginia northern flying squirrel no longer faces extinction and should be removed from the federal endangered species list. Shane Jones is a biologist in the Elkins field office of the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service. Jones says endangered status no doubt benefited the squirrel, along with conservation and the natural regeneration of spruce in the Monongahela (muh-NON’-guh-HALE’-uh) National Forest. The small, nocturnal creature lives and glides throughout the Allegheny highlands of West Virginia and Virginia. It has been under federal protection since 1985, when biologists could locate only ten squirrels at four sites. By the end of the latest survey last year, biologists had found more than eleven-hundred squirrels at 107 sites. The agency concluded that logging, the single biggest threat to squirrel habitat, is no longer a problem at the national forest. http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=4981379

Tennessee:

17) Please take a moment to make a phone call, email or fax and help save Tennessee’s mountains. Your call will be a blow against the strip mining and illegal logging currently ravaging the watersheds of Tennessee. In this case 3 calls may stop a massive renegade logging operation (with strip mine to follow) that is over 10 miles long. On April 25, 26 and 27th United Mountain Defense conducted a 3 day tour of a proposed 10 mile long strip mine in Claiborne county. The proposed mine is to be operated by Appolo fuels (p#3191). The mine site preparation logging is being conducted by Ataya Hardwoods LLC. The logging site is called the Valley Creek Timber Operation. What we found was logging being used as mine site preparation, and it was the sloppiest logging you can imagine. What we found was streams that were being used as skid trails to drag logs down, massive sediment flow, and trees and rubble piled into waters of the state. Based on our tour and the GPS coordinates and high resolution pictures we provided on April 30, 2006 the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation received a complaint concerning the active logging at the proposed Appolo Fuels Buckeye Springs Mine 2 in Claiborne County. On May 1st TDEC conducted a site visit. Citizens clearly deserve better than this, but we’ll only get it, if we let Gov. Bredesen know that we demand more: real change, real enforcement of and compliance with the law and real protection for Tennessee’s mountains and headwater streams. In the coming months, both TDEC and OSM will be holding hearings on these permits. Email and/or call: TDEC Deputy Commissioner Paul Sloan: Paul.Sloan@state.tn.us And call him at:
(888) 891-TDEC He is having a meeting with the loggers and needs to be told he needs to exercise TDEC’s newly minted stop work authority to end the logging on this project until Best Management Practices have been put into place and a full investigation of how this lawless logging company ever managed to do so much damage to the waters of the state before they were stopped. http://unitedmountaindefense.org/sitevisit2.php

Maine:

18) In the last decade nearly 1 million acres in Maine have been conserved with Forest Legacy funds. The federal program enables the state and private entities to purchase development rights on forest land, keeping places like Nicatous Lake and Tumbledown Mountain free of camps and resorts, while allowing logging to continue. This benefits those who rely on the woods for work and those who use them for recreation. Both are important to the state’s economy. Because of Maine’s success in preserving land for wildlife and recreational use while keeping it open to forestry, the state has been a large recipient of Forest Legacy funds. The state has the top-ranked project on the president’s list this year. The president has asked for $61.5 million for the program. The House, however, is considering only $9 million. In recent years, the Senate has supported or even exceeded the president’s budget request. It should do so again this year as it begins its consideration of Forest Legacy funding next month. Two Maine projects are among the 31 included in the president’s funding request. Ranked No. 1 on his list is a plan to add 3,688 acres to Grafton Notch State Park. The land is surrounded by the park and includes a portion of Old Speck Mountain and a major snowmobile trail. The Trust for Public Land has negotiated an agreement with the landowners to buy the land, which it intends to turn over to the state. Three million dollars is needed to complete the deal. The president’s budget includes $2 million for Grafton Notch. The other Maine proposal on the president’s list is the Lower Penobscot Forest project, an effort to protect more than 42,500 acres near the Sunkhaze National Wildlife Refuge. The Nature Conservancy and Forest Society of Maine are negotiating with private landowners to buy two parcels in Great Pond and Amherst. Bangor Daily News publisher Richard J. Warren serves on the Forest Society board. The land is the largest undeveloped forest block in central Maine in an area where new housing developments are being built at an increasingly rapid pace. The Nature Conservancy plans to buy another 11,000 acres next to the federal refuge to manage as an ecological reserve. The president’s budget includes $2.2 million for this project, which is expected to cost $15 million. http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=135011

USA:

19) There was a time when you could drive through a forest, see something interesting, pull onto the shoulder, get out of your car and wander into the woods. Unfortunately, the US Forest Service has decided that you may no longer do this UNLESS you’ve pay them and hold a valid recreation “pass” or “passport”. The Forest Service has begun placing signs within the right-of-ways of State and County Highways that read — “Parked Vehicles Must Display Adventure Pass or Golden Passport.” This is being done in clear violation of the law — though the agency has come up with a fanciful explanation to justify their action. You can read those justification at: www.fs.fed.us/r5/sanbernardino/ap/welcome.shtml . You can read the relevant federal law at: www.wildwilderness.org/docs/therat.htm — and you might note that the USFS has no legal jurisdiction on State and/or County right-of-ways. The appended photo was taken last week on California State Route 2 as it passes through the Angeles National Forest. It is one of many similar signs that have recently begun popping up. http://www.wildwilderness.org

20) Last December when the Washington-based Cato Institute published a 25-page document with the chilling headline, “How and Why To Privatize Federal Lands.” Terry Anderson’s privatization proposal is alarmingly simple: Give each American a deed to a proportionate share of the 600 million acres of land now managed by the federal government over the next 20 to 40 years, and let deed holders keep or dispose of their shares as they see fit. Anderson, 53, is quick to concede the plan isn’t politically viable and won’t be considered anytime soon. “It got more attention than they (Cato Institute) dreamed,” Anderson said. “The main reaction from the environmental community is that ‘this bodes terrible for the future of conservation in the United States.’ ” The proposal also raised flags when one group, the Southwest Biodiversity Center in Tucson, identified Anderson as “environmental adviser” to Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Anderson said he and others met once with Gov. Bush and did not discuss his plan. “I don’t anticipate this will come up at all with Gov. Bush, and it’s not something that will rise up in his platform, nor is it something a presidential candidate will run with,” he said. Scott Silver, director of Wild Wilderness, is quick to denounce Anderson’s plan. “As soon as we turn the wilderness into a cash commodity, it will evaporate,” he said. Both the Cato Institute and Anderson, who directs the Political Economy Research Center in Bozeman, Montana, identify themselves as “market liberals.” Anderson’s nonprofit group, however, confines its work to environmental matters and policies involving “enviro-capitalism.” The only second thoughts Anderson has about the document is that he would have acknowledged the political improbability of his proposal, and then focused on “rethinking public land management policies,” which Anderson says have been costly and inefficient. Although his plan for privatizing public land is pure in libertarian theory, its implementation would be a practical nightmare, critics say. http://www.enn.com/features/2000/03/03132000/landauction_10537.asp#ENN_INTERACTIVE

Canada:

21) Most of the wood pulp from boreal forests, for example, goes into products like tissue paper, catalogues and half the newsprint sold in the United States; Canadian logging companies are signing on to the conservation framework to avoid growing pressure from U.S. environmental groups. Tembec, a $4 billion forest-products enterprise that was an original signatory for the framework, has pledged to bring all 40 million acres of its timberland into compliance with the development standards set by the international Forest Stewardship Council. Governments have also begun to recognize the economic importance of a vibrant, healthy boreal forest. A recent study found that the ecological benefits of Canada’s boreal forest – including clean water, carbon sequestration and pest control by migratory birds – are worth more than $80 billion annually, two and a half times the extractive value of its resources. But there is much Canada can still do to protect this incomparable region, in addition to supporting the goals of the boreal framework. It has yet to address the heavy environmental impacts of tar-sand extraction, which range from the strip-mining of immense areas to the use of staggering quantities of fresh water. In the Northwest Territories, one of the most pressing needs is to identify (with the help of the aboriginal groups there) and preserve significant swaths of the most critical natural areas in the Mackenzie Valley before the pipeline is routed and built. The time to draw up a workable – and visionary – plan to safeguard the boreal is now. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/30/opinion/edscott.php

European Union:

22) The word Druid means Tree. This meaning comes to us from the Age of Gemini which occurred 6,000 years ago. The religion of Gemini was established under the leadership of the Maji who were being called Druids among the Celts. During this time the Maji were the people whom the Bible calls the “priests of the groves.” It was commonly supposed they were ignorant people worshipping trees and performing all sorts of fertility rites with trees. This was far from true. Their religion was more of a “Johnny Appleseed” variety. They taught people that the highest religion was obedience to the first commandment of the Heavenly Father – to dress and keep the world as a Garden of Eden for man’s happiness. Therefore, every time an apple or fruit was eaten the people were taught to put the seeds in a pouch. Every time one sat down to rest he was taught to plant one seed. This they did throughout the whole continent of Europe and soon the entire continent was covered with trees and vines bearing fruits, nuts and berries. People walked from one end of Europe to the other living upon the fruits of the forest. This they did, and there was no private property in all the world. People wandered hither and yon from the northern regions of Scandinavia to southern Italy. They followed their teachers in small groups, discussing religion and philosophy, as they wandered north and south, eating freely of every tree in the forest. All of Europe began to resemble what the world will be like when people obey the first commandment of God, “Be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth and make the whole earth a garden of Eden.” Certain people then decided to stay in a certain place because they loved that particular area. And so they stayed there, lived there and took care of a particular grove. And they were known as the priests of the groves. ~ This Legend comes from the teachings of the Druidic Craft of the Wise ~ The American Rite. http://www.druidcraft.us/legends.htm

England:

23) Twelve protesters fighting plans to cut down 210 trees in West Sussex have set up camp in two 30ft-high tree houses. The Protect Our Woodland group has put up notices claiming squatters’ rights in Titnore Wood, Durrington. Titnore Wood is a designated Site of Nature Conservation importance with oak, ash, birch and willow trees. Landowner Clem Somerset said he will try to move protesters as quickly as possible from the site, where three developers are set to build 875 homes. The house-building project is a joint venture between Heron Group, Persimmon Homes and Bryant Homes, part of Taylor Woodrow. We’re going to make a show of how strongly we feel Campaigner Mr Somerset also said he would take legal action to remove the campaigners and is seeking advice. Sussex Police visited the site on Saturday to check for damage. A spokesman for the campaign group said: “It’s a huge juggernaut of property development. “It’s all about profit. “The companies building these houses are huge and they’re going to make millions and the landowner is going to make millions and I don’t think local people are going to be able to afford to live there. “We value green space and countryside more than money.” He said the protesters were making “a defiant act”. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/5027738.stm

Kenya:

24) The Forest Act 2005 will be enforced from early next year, Environment minister Kivutha Kibwana has said. Kibwana said the formation of the Kenya Forest Service was meant to make the Forest Department autonomous. He said an inter-ministerial forests reform steering committee had been formed to look into ways of enforcing the Act. He said the steering committee membership included researchers, representatives of non-governmental organisations, development partners and the timber industry. In a speech read by his Permanent-Secretary, Prof George Khroda, at the Kenya Forestry College, Londiani, during a graduation, the minister said KFS would be established by next January. “The Act provides for the active participation of stakeholders in forest management and will be operational by early next year,” he said. He said efforts to stop the destruction of forests were frustrated by corrupt Government officials. “My ministry is working round the clock to ensure the perpetrators of illegal logging are punished in accordance with the law,” he said. He warned errant officials that logging was not allowed in gazetted forests and promised that measures would be taken to end the practice. He said that those found engaging in the activity would be arrested and prosecuted. He added that charcoal burning was threatening indigenous trees. http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143953433

Swaziland:

25) In June of 2000, I found myself flying over the tiny Kingdom of Swaziland in southern Africa. Below were landscapes of rugged mountains and forests. Toward the center of the country, however, the forests gave way to extensive slopes of bare ground and plantations of exotic tree species. This looks like a terribly eroded and denuded landscape, and so some of it is. But the forestry plantations of Swaziland also provide a remarkably unique opportunity to study long-term effects of exotic forestry on forest productivity. Some 180 long-term productivity plots have been situated across 70,000 ha of pine pulpwood plantations, and research has continued for over 34 years or over four forest rotations. Research results suggest that productivity has actually increased with each rotation because of increasing silvicultural practices and genetic improvement of the planted stock. Along with subsistence agriculture and other resources such as sugar, coal, and quarry stone, Swaziland depends in part on exporting wood pulp for its economy, particularly to bordering South Africa. The forestry plantations in Swaziland are run by private companies. Swaziland is facing an uncertain future with much of its lands overgrazed and its soils depleted and eroded. Drought, flooding, and food shortages are increasing threats. There is 40 percent unemployment, and 69 percent of the population is below the poverty line. But perhaps worst of all is the heart-wrenching fact that nearly 40 percent of its adult population is infected with HIV/AIDs. http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_060531.html

Nicaragua:

26) Amnesty International criticizes Nicaraguan government on Awas Tingi — A recently published Amnesty International report about human rights abuses during 2005 says some agents of the Nicaraguan police force “made use of excessive force against protesters during at least two protests” during the year. “In February,” the report goes on, “three people who had occupied the farm ‘La Pañoleta’ in Chinandega died at the hands of police officers who evicted them by force.” The report goes on to criticize the government for failing to comply with an Inter-American Human Rights Court (CIDH) ruling dating back to 2001 ordering compensation and land titles to be awarded to the indigenous community of Awas Tingni after the government authorized a logging company to fell large areas of the community’s land. The community requested that representatives of CIDH intervene in the situation in 2005 because the government had still not acted on the ruling from 2001. http://www.nicanet.org

Brazil:

27) The fundamental is to understand the strategic importance of our forests for the economical future of Brazil and their opportunities for the improvement of the quality of life of our population. Brazil possesses an odd position in a world where forests are more and more scarce: being compared to the petroleum, the country has a more strategic position than Saudi Arabia. We have about 3 hectares of forests for inhabitant, twice superior to Indonesia, larger exporter of tropical wood of the world. The Amazonia, that represents 65% of the national territory and possesses 26% of the reservations of tropical forests of the Planet. Does it suit to transform that comparative advantage in ashes and to substitute the forests for pastures of low productivity, how did we already do in 77% of the deforested areas of the Amazonia and in most of the Atlantic forest? Our forests possess enormous potential to produce wood, lianas, medicinal plants, aromatic essences, fruits etc. The fundamental is to review our paradigms regarding the forests and its importance in the development of the Nation. If, on the other hand, we consider the forests a strategic component of our future, to deforest only one span is too much. The future and the sustainability of Brazil depend on the recovery and conservation of our forests. The approved report for the mixed commission of the Congress points a tragic future for them. The future of the forests not just depends on an appropriate revision of the Forest Code but, also, of credit politics, technical support, infrastructure, education, researches etc.; addressed for the maintainable forest production. Finally, it depends on the logic, of the common sense and of the political will. http://planetsave.com/ps_mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7231&Itemid=68

India:

28) Shimla — THE Himachal Pradesh Government has been caught napping over the institutionalised plunder of the state’s forest wealth. The Timber Distribution (TD) Rights, which authorise the state’s Forest Department to allow timber felling despite a ban, will now be under the High Court scanner. After yesterday’s High Court order imposing a complete ban on tree felling, the Forest Department today flashed instructions to all field officers advising them to strictly follow the court orders. ‘‘We have written to all DFOs and conservators to inform them about the HC orders and are putting a full stop on any new TD sanction,’’ said a senior IFS officers at the forest headquarters. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=185804

Taiwan:

29) I hiked into the mysterious Yu Nei Stream area, which straddles the border between Taipei and Taoyuan County. There weren’t any picnicking teddy bears in these woods, of course, but something almost as remarkable: a grove of twenty-or-so vast old cypress trees, some over two-thousand years old, towering over the surrounding forest that covers the valley of the sparkling Yu Nei Stream. Beholding them for the first time in the vast, roadless forest is an almost spiritual moment, more so because chances are good you’ll get to enjoy them alone. The ancient tree grove at Yu Nei Stream is by no means the only one in this part of Taiwan: there’s a far more famous (and more easily accessible) one not so far away, at Baling on the North Cross-island Highway, and several others dotted over Taoyuan and Hsinchu counties. What makes the trees at Yu Nei Stream even more special, however, is that they’re remote enough to protect them from weekend day trippers and casual walkers, yet not so far from civilization that any special organization is needed to mount a trip there. The ancient grove lies right on the border between Taipei and Taoyuan counties and can be reached by two trails that make a wonderful (if very long) day walk if connected. Follow the muddy trail for a few minutes, and it’s impossible to miss the biggest of all — the Eight Immortals Tree — as the trail passes right through it! Unlike the famous trees in California’s Avenue of the Giants, the hole wasn’t man-made, but a natural cavity between the tree’s exposed roots is large enough to walk through. In fact, the tree is full of cavities and strange, gnarly protuberances and multiple trunks, which altogether give it a weird appearance unlike any other tree I know. For most hikers, this will be time to turn around and head back. Beyond the Eight Immortals Tree, the trail wanders through the great forest and splits into trails leading to the delights (and challenges) of Mt. Bei Cha Tian (the highest point in Taipei County at 1,727 meters), the five waterfalls of Full Moon Mountain Forest Park and Mt. Dongyan Forest Recreation Area, each another three-hour-or-so hike away. But those are hikes best left for another day… http://www.chinapost.com.tw/travel/detail.asp?ID=83320&GRP=g

Thailand:

30) The sight of HRH Princess Soamsawali cooking for mudslide victims in Uttaradit and, at other times, personally attending to every bag of relief materials to make sure all the basic needs were in place for the victims, was, indeed, impressive and heartwarming – not just for those in grief but also for others elsewhere who were fortunate enough to be spared the wrath of Mother Nature. Had Princess Soamsawali been easy-going – like several bureaucrats or politicians who are content with waiting for reports from their subordinates in the comfort of their airconditioned offices – she would have put off the trip as suggested by the officials. Her persistence to see the truth with her own eyes should serve as an example for those officials in their “ivory towers”. In contrast to the Princess’ attempt to learn the truth about the sufferings of the flood and mudslide victims, it was disappointing that certain senior officials in Uttaradit, the governor in particular, appeared satisfied with getting their reports from subordinates, rather than venturing out of their offices to see the real situation. When asked by reporters whether the huge pile of tree branches and bamboo which flowed down the mountains in a sea of mud and devastated several villages in Uttaradit was partly a result of illegal logging, the governor said he had not received any report from his officials about any illegal logging activity in his province. Had the governor been really concerned with the state of the forests in his province, he could have taken a ride on one of the helicopters and seen for himself – which would have been the easiest way to find out the truth, rather than waiting for a report from his officials which might never come at all. Although excessive rainfall was the main cause of the mudslides, the disappearance of big trees on the mountains, apparently by illegal loggers, was also to blame for the greater impact of the disaster. Similar disasters have happened before and illegal logging has been identified as being partly responsible. Unfortunately, illegal logging has never been seriously treated as a priority by the Thai Rak Thai government or any of its predecessors. Only a fraction of the budget has been earmarked each year for the protection of the remaining forests and for reforestation. http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/01Jun2006_news96.php

Philippines:

31) LUCENA CITY—An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 board feet of illegally cut logs were seized by elements of an environmentalist group and the military and environment officials in Barangay Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal at the base of Sierra Madre during two-day operations on Wednesday and Thursday. According to Jay Lim, forest protection program coordinator of Tanggol Kalikasan—a nationwide public interest environmental law office, the total number of recovered hardwood flitches earlier discovered in several stockpiles in the area could be more had the raids been conducted earlier. “The raids started late. Most of the stocks in the piles were already transferred to other areas or dumped in the rivers,” Lim said in a mobile phone interview. He said the first batch of raiders took off at Camp Capinpin in Tanay at about 4 p.m. on Wednesday and was followed by the second group early morning the next day. “Most of the suspected illegal logging operators in the area were nowhere to be found, along with most of their stocks. Maybe they smelled the incoming raids,” Lim said. He said the raiders planned to file criminal charges against the owners of the house where the stockpiles of illegally cut forest products were found. “Most of the suspected illegal logging operators in the area were nowhere to be found, along with most of their stocks. Maybe they smelled the incoming raids,” Lim said. He said the raiders planned to file criminal charges against the owners of the house where the stockpiles of illegally cut forest products were found. http://news.inq7.net/regions/index.php?index=1&story_id=77754

32) WITH the spiraling cost of petroleum products, a congressman is urging the public to venture into agro-forestry, particularly into inter-cropping fruit-bearing trees with high-yielding crops that are potential sources of alternative fuels. Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri, one of the authors of the pending bio-fuel bill, said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has opened up four million hectares of denuded and barren forest lands to agro-forestry last November through Department Administrative Order No. 2005-25. “Individuals and groups could apply for a permit to replant, under a joint venture scheme with DENR, a minimum of 50 hectares of this type of land with a combination of timber species and economically beneficial crops,” Zubiri said. The congressman is specifically endorsing the planting of tuba-tuba, or jathropa curcas, a fast-growing small tree whose fruit, actually a nut, can be processed into cooking or car fuel. Zubiri said three kilos of jathropa seeds could produce a liter of bio-diesel. The jathropa bio-diesel readily mixes with diesel fuel and it runs in any diesel engine without modification. According to him, a tuba-tuba can bear fruit within three years after planting. Yields vary from 0.5 to 12 tons a year with a lifespan of up to 40 years. http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?page=news&id=3212&sid=1&urldate=2006-05-30

33) BAGUIO CITY – The reported decreasing number of Baguio pine trees has prompted two councilors to ask for the creation of a monitoring team to check the status of trees planted in and around the city. The plan to create a monitoring team was reached at a meeting on the first Baguio City “Tree Festival” on June 3, which aims to rally strong public support to protect and preserve the remaining forest cover. Councilors Erdolfo Balajadia and Leandro Yangot Jr. noted that several trees in various parks, reservations and vacant spaces in Baguio were cut to pave way for the construction of commercial and residential buildings over the past years. While concerned citizens are planting trees in various city sites, their number and survival were left unaccounted and unattended, the councilors said. “With this predicament, there is an urgent need to create a team to regularly monitor, evaluate and validate the trees planted in Baguio City,” they added. “At present there is a growing concern about the preservation of a healthy environment,” they said. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=40214

Malaysia:

34) Greenpeace activists say they were assaulted and abused in Port Moresby when they tried to present a “golden chainsaw” award to Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau for achievements in forest destruction. Six Greenpeace activists were detained and harassed at the company’s city compound and had to lock themselves in their vehicles for safety, the environmental group said. A cameraman was assaulted and his camera broken and verbal threats were made, it said. Police arrived to escort Greenpeace members from the scene to the local police station where senior company officials were also questioned. No charges were laid. “All we wanted to do was peacefully deliver the Golden Chainsaw award and leave,” said Greenpeace campaign director Danny Kennedy. “This type of reaction is uncalled for and reflects the way the company considers itself above the law.” The golden chainsaw award is reserved for the worst forest destroyers in the world and has been awarded twice before to companies in Brazil and Indonesia, Kennedy said. As the largest logging company operating in PNG, Rimbunan Hijau was responsible for destroying much of the country’s natural heritage and serious questions had been raised about their dealings with local landowners, he said. http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Greenpeace-abused-by-PNG-logging-giant/2006/05/31/114895
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Australia:

35) ACTIVISTS will spend five chilly days in a tree overlooking a busy Melbourne street in a bid to pressure the Victorian government to protect the state’s forests. Environmentalists from the Australian Student Environment Network (ASEN) will occupy a tree platform 15 metres above Melbourne’s St Kilda Road until World Environment Day on Sunday, when they will join a rally at the State Library in Swanston Street at 11am (AEST). “We ask the community to come along to the rally and stand tall for Victoria’s forests,” ASEN spokeswoman Julia Dehm said in a statement. “We are raising awareness of the plight of old growth forest, rainforest and endangered species habitat currently being logged and chipped across Victoria.” The habitats of endangered and threatened species across Victoria, including the spot-tailed quoll, were at risk from logging, Ms Dehm said. Participants in Sunday’s rally will march from the State Library to Federation Square, where actor Jack Thompson will speak and band the John Butler Trio will perform. http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19315481%255E1702,00.html

36) The Tasmanian Greens have called on the Government to reveal its discussions with Gunns on wood prices for the proposed Tamar Mill. The pulp mill task force director Bob Gordon recently admitted that the stumpage costs quoted for the mill at $10 to $12 per tonne could have been underestimated. In Parliament today, the Greens leader Peg Putt asked if the Government had negotiated a cheap deal on stumpage. “In order to proceed with an integrated impact statement, Gunns has to be able to assess their prices, that means surely there must be an in principle agreement about the quantum that will be paid for pulp wood supplied from public native forest to the pulp mill,” she said. “Is that correct, and is it lower than the $10 to $12 per tonne as asserted by the head of the pulp mill task force?” The Resources Minister Bryan Green would not comment, only saying the deal is not yet complete. “I’ve already indicated that it has not been finalised,” he said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1653048.htm

World-wide:

37) Trees store carbon and clean the atmo sphere. In 50 years, one tree generates $30,000 in oxygen, recycles $35,000 of water, and removes $60,000 of air pollution. 2) Tree shade reduces air conditioning costs in residential and commercial buildings by 15-50 percent. Do you need a tree planted to the South or West of your house? 3) Properly placed and cared for trees and shrubs significantly increase residential and commercial property values. Would you like a new tree for your property? 4) Trees provide habitat for a large vari ety of wildlife. Do you like bird songs? 5) Trees connect us with nature and rein force spiritual and cultural values. 6) Trees prevent or reduce water pollu tion in NJ’s streams, rivers, darns, and estuaries. 7) Trees prevent or reduce soil erosion. 8) Trees help recharge ground water and sustain stream flow. 9) Properly placed screens of trees and shrubs decrease traffic noise along NJ’s busy streets and highways. Do you have a site that needs a tree along Rt. 46? 10) Trees screen unsightly views and provide privacy for NJ homeowners. 11) Trees make life more pleasant by softening harsh outlines of buildings. 12) Trees add beauty and grace to any community setting. They make life more enjoyable, peaceful, and relaxing. Do you enjoy walking through Ridgefield Park? 13) Research shows that trees help reduce stress in the workplace and speed hospital patients’ recovery. Do you hear the sighs of relief on NYC buses as they reach RP? 14) Trees provide a multitude of recreation opportunities. 15) Trees, planted as memorials, leave a valuable gift for future generations. http://www.ridgefieldpark.org/content/50/83/default.aspx