225 – Earth’s Tree News

Today for you 37 new articles about earth’s trees! (225th edition)
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–British Columbia: 1) logging the Queen Charlottes, 2) Blockade against Shell, 3) Telkwa community forest agreement, 4) Drinking Water facts
–Oregon: 5) Save Olallie Lakes, 6) Forestry Board in flames, 7) Umpqua clearance sale, 8) What’s wrong with the WOPR?
–California: 9) Fire-adapted landscapes can’t handle clearcutting
–Idaho: 10) Private landowners say they manage forests better
–Arizona: 11) After the fire, rebirth and renewal
–Colorado: 12) Colorado Springs meets for new forest plan,
–Oklahoma: 13) Decline of the Blackjack Oak
–Indiana: 14) Treesitter goes to jail and logging continues on
–Rhode Island: 15) Forests vanishing for houses
–Northeast US: 16) Conservation vs. housing development
–North Carolina: 17) Logging equipment set on fire
–Tennessee: 18) Cherokee Forest Voices challenges timber sale
–USA: 19) American Forest & Paper Association’s $1.4 million in bribes,
–Armenia: 20) Save Teghut forest from proposed strip mine
–Hungary: 21) 10,000 illegal garbage dumps
–Mexico: 22) Defending Oaxaca forests from US-sponsored loggers
–Peru: 23) Shipibo people threatened by logging
–Brazil: 24) Government rejects Greenpeace report of corruption
–India: 25) Campaign for Survival and Dignity
–Cambodia: 26) Logging on the border near Thailand
–Papua New Guinea: 27) Protests in New Zealand
–Indonesia: 28) Pulp and Paper threats, 29) Save the Kwila tree, 30) Carbon-based preservation analysis, 31) 60% of reserves already logged,
–Malaysia: 32) RFID, raising rewards to stop thieves, 33) Overloaded trucks, illegal logs,
–Borneo: 34) Borneo produced more wood in 20 years than Latin America and Africa
–Sabah: 35) Illegal log royalties still unpaid
–Philippines: 36) Selective logging policy is not working
–World-wide: 37) Boreal growth slows due to warming

British Columbia

1) A land-use plan for the Queen Charlotte Islands-Haida Gwaii that includes constraints on logging is raising alarm in the coastal forest industry, where licensees say they stand to lose 60 to 75 per cent of their harvesting rights. If the land-use agreement between Victoria and the Council of the Haida Nation goes ahead as written, it could wipe out logging operations, jobs and over $100 million a year from the provincial economy, say companies operating on the island archipelago. But Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell said logging operators have to wake up to the fact the old days of large harvests and log shipments from the islands are over. The cut is coming down. But despite the constraints on harvesting, the Haida and the province have agreed to maintain harvest levels at 800,000 cubic metres — a 38-per-cent drop from the current allowable annual cut of 1.3 million cubic metres. “We are looking for a sustainable future for the islands; a future that is predictable. People will understand the business model going forward, and that this is the volume of fibre that can be extracted in a sustainable fashion,” Bell said Tuesday. The agreement is in its final stage at talks taking place in Vancouver. Both parties describe it as addressing long-standing resource and land-use issues. It includes permanently protecting 225,000 hectares, initiating ecosystem-based forestry and a mandate to harvest 800,000 cubic metres of timber annually. The B.C. Timber Sales agency suggests in a report that constraints on harvesting could make logging uneconomic in some areas. Forest companies say their own analysis of the land-use agreement shows the annual harvest could be reduced to 300,000 to 400,000 cubic metres, a 60- to 75-per-cent drop from the current 1.3 million cubic metres. The actual average harvest over the last seven years has been 1.12 million cubic metres. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=9130d60f-9bed-4cdf-a364-4510cbb52
991

2) Shell’s access to the Sacred Headwaters in Northwestern BC was blocked today by over 100 First Nation protesters as the company attempted to resume its coalbed methane operations in the area. This is Shell’s first attempt to re-enter the area after it was evicted in 2005 by members of the Tahltan First Nation concerned about the impact the project would have on their traditional territory and Shell’s lack of consultation. Shell attempted to enter the area at 11am this morning despite warnings of a likely conflict from First Nation and Environmental groups. Shell was met by apporximately 100 protesters shouting and waving signs saying “Get the Shell Out”. In addition to First Nation protests, the cause of protecting the Sacred Headwaters has been taken up by the international environmental community. Last month, 14 groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, NRDC, David Suzuki Foundation and Sierra Club wrote Shell urging them to back off and warning them of potential conflict. “We are very disappointed that Shell has decided to proceed in this manner and disregard the wishes of the Tahltan First Nation.” said Will Horter, Lawyer and Executive Director of Dogwood Initiative, a watchdog organization monitoring the situation and one of the letters signatories “They have grossly underestimated the amount of opposition to this project.” The Sacred Headwaters is the birthplace of three of BC’s most important wild salmon rivers, the Skeena, Nass and Stikine. The intact landscape supports large-scale predator-prey relationships with globally significant populations of caribou, mountain goats, stone sheep, moose, grizzlies and wolves. Coalbed methane developments in jurisdictions outside of BC have left fragmented landscapes, contaminated fresh water aquifers and disrupted ecosystems; despite widespread exploration, BC communities have so far successfully resisted commercial coalbed methane production. Coalbed methane has never been developed in a wild salmon watershed. http://www.dogwoodinitiative.org/

3) The Town of Smithers and Village of Telkwa have been issued a five-year probationary community forest agreement (CFA) through their joint operation of the Wetzin’kwa Community Forest Corporation. “A community forest will provide the people of Smithers, Telkwa and the Wet’suwet’en with the opportunity to improve economic conditions for residents in the area, through locally developed and managed forestry operations,” said Dennis MacKAY, MLA for Bulkley Valley-Stikine. The agreement carries an initial five-year term, and grants the right to harvest up to 30,000 cubic metres of timber per year, on public forest lands within the Bulkley timber supply area. The Wetzin’kwa Community Forest Corporation was named as a tribute to the teamwork and relationships that developed during consultation with the Wet’suwet’en Nation, which reviewed and supported the application and who are a member of the community forest corporation’s board of directors. Wetzin’kwa is Wet’ suwet’en for the Morice and Bulkley River and means “where blue green waters mix. We have long looked forward to a community forest – the mountain, forest and town are inseparable,” said Smithers Mayor James Davidson. “Now we will have the opportunity to partner with the Wet’suwet’en and Telkwa as stewards of our resource. This is an exciting initiative and the Village of Telkwa is pleased to be part of a project that will provide opportunities for three communities, including the Wet’suwet’en and the Town of Smithers,” said Telkwa Mayor Sharon Hartwell. “This project will provide benefits to the local economy.” http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2007FOR0120-001046.htm

4) Recent media coverage has focused on the concerns of British Columbians about the potential effects of logging and road building on the quality of drinking water. Here are some facts on the rules governing forestry activities in community watersheds: 1) public forest land in British Columbia is managed for integrated use, which means that land is managed to meet a range of needs, including environmental needs such as biodiversity, and human socio-economic needs, such as natural resources, economic opportunities, recreation and water supply. 2) The Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA), along with its regulations and standards, governs all forestry activities, including logging, road building, reforestation and livestock grazing on Crown land in British Columbia. 3) “Community watersheds” are designated under the authority of FRPA. This designation places constraints and limitations on forestry activities, such as logging or road building, conducted within a community watershed. 4) Under FRPA, forestry operators must not cause material harmful to human health be deposited or transported in water being used for human consumption. 5) As well, all forestry operations must be kept away from creeks, streams and lakes. The regulations set out the minimum distances that operations may come to riparian areas, and may be as far as 50 metres, depending on the water body. 6) It is illegal to cause landslides through forestry activities, so operators must take steps necessary to prevent such occurrences. 7) Guided by the concept of professional reliance and due diligence under FRPA, government expects that professionals will conduct appropriate assessments as part of the planning process, including terrain stability assessments. 8) By law, these plans must be made available for public review and comment. Generally, a licensee must advertise that the plan is available, and allow at least 60 days for input. This process allows the public, First Nations, and those whose activities might be affected by timber harvesting activities to provide input on these plans. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/code/training/frpa/FSP_brochure.pdf

Oregon:

5) If you’ve been there you know and if you haven’t, the picture says it all. Olallie Lake is an Oregon treasure, but this family camping area at the base of Mount Jefferson is at risk. Right now, the Forest Service has plans to log 900 acres in the Olallie Lakes region. The Olallie Lakes Scenic Area contains dozens of alpine lakes perfect for swimming, fishing and paddling around in a rowboat. Families coming to enjoy their favorite camping spot don’t want to see miles and miles of tree stumps when they drive in. Tell them not to log the Olallie Lakes Scenic Area! Additionally you can support Oregon Wild’s crucial work to protect special places like Ollalie Lake by becoming a member today. Your donation makes a difference by helping Oregon Wild keep our state a special place to live, work and raise a family. Your support is greatly appreciated! In addition to being a scenic area, the world-renowned Pacific Crest Trail passes by several of the lakes. The logging would actually cut trees along several miles of this famous trail! And if that wasn’t enough, part of the logging project cuts into a designated roadless area; federally protected land. Oregonians want wildlands protected, not turned into stump fields Click here to send a letter to the Forest Service: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1780/t/430/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12395

6) Two years after his last nomination to the Forestry Board went up in flames, Gov. Ted Kulongoski has named two new nominees and reappointed two incumbents. The Forestry Board appointments were among dozens announced by the governor’s office Tuesday to fill 37 state boards and councils, including his former chief of staff Peter Bragdon to the Port of Portland Board of Commissioners. The Oregon Senate will vote to confirm the appointments when it meets Sept. 13. Typically the Senate approves the governor’s choices to state board positions, which are largely unpaid. But that wasn’t the case in 2005, when the governor named former congressman Les AuCoin, a Democrat who served in the U.S. House from 1975 to 1993. Republicans, the timber industry, rural Democrats and some conservationists bitterly opposed AuCoin’s nomination. As the debate wore on, the AuCoin nomination also created an angry rift between Senate Democrats and the governor. AuCoin withdrew from consideration, and the governor has waited to put forward other nominees. This time, conservationists say they won’t block the governor’s choices. But some representing the timber industry and counties dependent on dollars generated by timber harvests said Tuesday that they may put up a political fight. Kulongoski has reappointed Larry Giustina, managing partner of Giustina Land and Timber Co., and Bill Hutchison, a Portland lawyer. The new members would be Peter Hayes, president of a firm that manages family-owned forest lands, and Cal Mukumoto, biomass product manager for Warm Springs Forest Products. “It’s long overdue,” Ivan Maluski, conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Oregon Chapter, said Tuesday. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1187747761156800.xml&coll=7

7) Timber will go on sale in clearance-style fashion on the Umpqua National Forest next year, compared to recent years, as the federal government pumps more logging money into Northwest national forests. The primer, an extra $24.7 million in April, flowed to federal forests in Oregon and Washington to revive harvest programs toward previously designated targets. “It is directed to help meet goals of the Northwest Forest Plan (of 1994),” said Glen Sachet, spokesman for the Pacific Northwest Region of the U.S. Forest Service. Timber sales on the Umpqua forest could grow by as much as a third — from a projected 44 million board feet this year to 60 million in 2008 — but will not move outside the realm of thinning and fuels-reduction contracts. “We’re not doing anything different than what we’re doing now,” said Greg Lesch, an Umpqua National Forest timber and planning staff officer who is preparing for the ramp-up. The financial spur for harvest programs comes at the same time the Bush administration proposes to curb recreation spending. As reported in The News-Review in September 2006, cash set aside for recreation sites in Oregon and Washington national forests fell to $21.9 million this year, down from a previous budget of $25.7 million in 2005. The Umpqua National Forest responded to the shortfall by decommissioning a half-dozen lesser-used campgrounds and recreation sites, and closing one camping area, to save money for more popular visitor-use areas. The ax fell on sites at the bottom of a ranking-system list. http://www.newsreview.info/article/20070821/NEWS/70821022

8) Now is the time to focus on the future of our forests. We know they must provide our county with timber, jobs, recreation and beauty. Our community needs to band together to realize these goals as best as possible. Parties interested in only one of these goals need to look at the broad interests of and the larger picture of our community. Everyone here relies on our natural resources in one way or another. With the new studies about the spotted and barred owls competing for habitat and the BLM’s Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR), we can finally get to the heart of the debate behind timber management. Do we want to continue to plunder our forests for immediate gain without considering the consequences, or do we want a renewable resource to ensure long term sustainability of a local and diverse economy? I know what I want. I want healthy forests with plenty of pristine areas for future generations. We can have healthy forests by thinning the already overgrown plantations that make up a large percentage of our public lands. This would contribute jobs to the economy, timber to the mills, and fire prevention in the forests. When this happens we can leave our untouched and old forests standing for recreation and beauty. Our public forests serve different needs for everyone. Some view the only use as timber production. Some for only recreation use. Some use the forests as a church. We need to work together as a community and use the best science we have to manage our forests. The bickering and fighting over what to do will only further divide our community. –Seth Kirby, Roseburg http://www.oregonnews.com/article/20070821/PUBLICFORUM/108210097

California:

9) Here in the Western US, we live with wildfires every fire season. The entire chaparral, oak woodland and evergreen forest community in California here is fire-adapted. Many plants will not even germinate unless there is a fire to unleash them from their coatings or cones. Most types of logging actually increase fire danger here rather than decreasing it by drying out the forest. Clearcutting is one of the worst. Furthermore, logging often leaves “logging slash” on the floor of the forest, which is like throwing oil-soaked rags into your garage. It’s not cleaned up because there is no money in it. One of the favorite things to do around here is after a fire is to go in and log the place, supposedly due to the “fire danger”. Of all the dishonest nonsense of the timber industry and its paid whores in the US Forest Service (I have long experience with these rats, and that is exactly what they are), this is one of the most pitiful. A burned up forest is not a fire hazard at all. Hell, it just got burned up! And logging a burned forest is a catastrophe and adds insult to injury. I liken it to raping a burn victim. It really disgusts the professional Forest Service whores when I use that phrase, so I use it with them a lot. What’s really disgusting is the mockery called “science” in your typical Forest Service Environmental Impact Report. The problem is there is little to no money in logging small trees. As of 10-15 years ago, any tree below 17 inches diameter was a loss to the logger. So in order to get the small stuff, they have to log a lot of big trees to make it pay off, making the fire hazard rationale dubious. The best thing is for the government to pay to have the small stuff taken out. New milling techniques can saw a 2 X 4 out of a 9-inch log! However, many mills need to be completely reworked to accommodate the smaller stuff. Special mills can log cedars all the way down to 2 inches to turn them into pencils. http://robertlindsay.blogspot.com/2007/08/hot-spot-for-latest-us-wildfire-news.html

Idaho:

10) The thinned and groomed private forestlands like those Gurnsey manages account for just 5 percent of the state’s forests, far less than the 64 percent that are national forests. They are often the most productive forest lands, which generate enough revenue from timber receipts to make intensive management pay. More than half of the national forest in the state is either roadless or wilderness where access is difficult and the little timber the Forest Service sells costs the federal government more than it returns. Howard Weeks, chief fire warden for the Clearwater Potlatch Timber Protective Association, which is responsible for fire protection on 1 million acres of mixed ownership in northern Idaho, said most of these federal lands would not be suitable for intensive forest management. “It would not be a good commercial investment to develop those lands,” Weeks said. Most of all, private lands get the highest priority for federal and state firefighting resources in part because they are near communities and forest homes, said Brian Shiplett, the Idaho Department of Lands fire management chief. “I don’t know how many times I’ve seen dispatchers strip away resources from a growing federal fire to divert them to a new state or private fire,” Shiplett said. But the key to firefighting success for the private forest lands is the quick response in the initial attack, Gurnsey said. They have good access and 24-hour fire lookouts, a system the Forest Service abandoned for fire surveillance by airplanes. The fires don’t explode in the thinned forests, and fire retardant dropped from aircraft falls through the crown of the thinned trees to the fires below. “We get to our fires before they burn a tenth of an acre on average,” Gurnsey said. http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/136784.html

Arizona:

11) The scorched pine trunks pose a bleak reminder of a fire that ravaged the ridge four years ago — but newly sprouted trees, lush green grasses and vibrant wildflowers shout rebirth and renewal. Trek the trail now and you’ll get a firsthand short course on a wildfire’s effects and a forest’s resurrection. The route begins north of the mountain community of Summerhaven and extends 12.5 miles to the outskirts of Oracle. Hiking even the first mile or two of the trail will give you a good look at a blackened woodland coming back to life. “What’s happening along the Oracle Ridge Trail illustrates some of the natural, positive aspects of fire,” says Heidi Schewel, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service. “After the Aspen Fire burned through there in 2003, the residual ash acted like a fertilizer. Nutrients that had been locked up in living plants were released — and they’re now available in the soil for new plants to use.” Some new plants sprouted almost immediately after the fire — and by now many species are flourishing. “The wildflowers and the bracken ferns have come back very well,” Schewel says. “You’ll see fleabane daisies, lupines, paintbrush, penstemons, shooting stars and even some wild orchids along the trail.” As those flowers put on a dazzling summer bloom, wild grasses and ferns form a rolling carpet of green at the foot of fire-killed firs and pines. Trees, too, are on the rebound. “Anything that re-sprouts from the root system, such as aspens, will come back very quickly after fire,” Schewel notes. “Along the Oracle Ridge Trail, the New Mexico locust trees have come back quickly. They re-sprout from the root system like aspen and grow to small-tree size.” She says oak and juniper trees found on some parts of the trail also have begun building new woodlands. http://www.azstarnet.com/accent/196901

Colorado:

12) Colorado Springs officials will hold a public meeting next week on a new forestry-management plan, a first-of-its-kind document that will be a road map for the future of the forests here. In a climate that is technically a desert, where 140 years ago only yucca and weeds grew, where the trees are constantly beset by droughts and insects, officials say a comprehensive approach is needed to keep the trees and forests healthy. “When the trees are stressed, which they seem to be quite often, we’ve got management issues we need to stay on top of,” said Colorado Springs city forester Jim McGannon. The plan, drawn up during the past year, is a draft, with many details not yet finalized. Officials will take public comments at a meeting Aug. 29 and draw up a final document by January, Mc-Gannon said. City residents can expect no major changes for trees on private property, along streets or in the right-of-way between a street or sidewalk. While the plan proposes certain approved species for different sections of the city, McGannon said no trees now allowed would be prohibited. But there will be limitations on species planted where the space between the street and sidewalk is narrow or there are power lines. On 10,150 acres of parks and open space, officials need to come up with a comprehensive plan with other agencies, such as the U.S. Forest Service, to combat insects and disease, McGannon said. Officials have marked 2,550 acres for thinning of dead or overgrown vegetation in North Cheyenne Cañon and Garden of the Gods parks and the Blodgett Peak and Stratton open spaces for work, at a total of about $1.3 million, according to the proposal. Tree-thinning has been done in recent years on a smaller scale in North Cheyenne Cañon and Garden of the Gods parks. The city’s forestry department will still have the authority to order infested or diseased trees removed from private property, though McGannon said he does not expect an increase in such orders. http://www.gazette.com/articles/plan_26353___article.html/forestry_trees.html

Oklahoma:

13) Just as some conifers are fire adapted, certain grasses and trees in the prairies and forests of Oklahoma need fire and have always had fire. When you take that fire away or even alter the historical intensity or frequency of that fire, it can make significant ecological changes.” In Oklahoma forests DeSantis is studying the possible decline of blackjack oak. Previous studies indicate that decades ago, Oklahoma may have had a greater proportion of blackjack oak. While blackjack oak is less hardy than post oak, it may reproduce (through sprouting) much more prolifically than post oak following fire. Take away the fire and you may have less blackjack oak. Native Americans traditionally burned large parts of the state but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there used to be more blackjack, simply that over the past two to three centuries, blackjack oak appears to have been more abundant. “I am looking into whether more frequent fires stimulate blackjack oak to sprout more,” DeSantis said. “Fire exclusion may ultimately suppress blackjack oak and encourage post oak.” In the 1950s, Elroy Rice and William Penfound completed a survey of Oklahoma’s upland forests. DeSantis is relocating Rice and Penfound’s research areas and resurveying them. While the study is not yet complete it appears that Oklahoma’s Cross Timbers forests have more red cedar and post oak and less blackjack than they did more than 50 years ago. http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/features/local_story_234184908.html

Indiana:

14) “Technically, the sitter was in a tree that no longer belonged to the state,” she said. “It was property that was purchased by the timber cutter, and he wanted them out.”
Two groups — Friends of Morgan-Monroe and Earth First — said their members climbed an oak tree Monday. “We hope this action will protect the remaining forest while at the same time inspiring others to act in defense of our wilderness,” said Alex Singer, with Friends of Morgan-Monroe. The groups said the tree they occupied was in an area on steep slopes, where logging could cause soil erosion and other damage. In September 2005, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced that logging on state-owned land might increase up to five times under a forest management plan. Logging has increased since then, but state Division of Forestry officials say the forests are producing almost twice as much timber in a year than is cut. Morgan-Monroe State Forest, bought by the state in 1929, encompasses more than 24,000 acres in Morgan and Monroe counties in south-central Indiana, according to its Web site. Shawn Putnam, 25, of Fresno, Calif., was booked Monday into Monroe County Jail on a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass and was eligible for release without bond, said Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Angela Goldman. He was not jailed Tuesday. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070821/LOCAL/708210435

Rhode Island:

15) The forests are disappearing. That’s the warning from conservationists who point to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, which found Rhode Island has been losing forest land since 1963, when the tree cover peaked at 434,000 acres, or about two-thirds of the state. By 2005, the amount of forest land fell to around 358,000 acres, or a little more than half the state. If the trend continue, researchers say, Rhode Island could end up leading the nation in forest loss. The culprit? Too much development in a small state, according to conservationists. When The Nature Conservancy tried to purchase land just across the Rhode Island border in Sterling, Conn., along the winding Moosup River, they were outbid by developers, according to Conservancy member Kevin Essington. The lands is part of a key watershed that includes portions of western Rhode Island. The developer left trees standing on the edge of the land but the house lots were left bare, he said. “The owners had to buy new trees from Home Depot,” Essington told The Providence Journal. “It’s happening all along the east coast, along the I-95 corridor definitely,” Butler told the paper. By 2050, Rhode Island could be 70 percent urban, they say. In Rhode Island, local trusts and state agencies are ramping up effort to slow development. This year, the Department of Environmental Management spent nearly $4.7 million to protect 490 acres by paying for development rights, conservation easements or land itself. http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070820/NEWS02/708200361/1003/NEWS02

Northeast US:

16) Flying high above western Rhode Island, conservationist Kevin Essington points to a bit of Eden below. Pointy white pines and red oaks stretch from the shadow of a swooping Cessna to the hazy blue horizon. The jagged tops, in Coventry and West Greenwich, include a 1,647-acre forest purchased by The Nature Conservancy and others this year and last. The deal, the agency’s biggest in 20 years, stopped developers from building new roads and houses in a wilderness pawed by beavers, black bears and deer. To the north, however, new houses skirt a small reservoir. In nearby Hopkinton, a looped road splits the forest, the early footprint of a stalled subdivision. And just across the state line, in Sterling, Conn., new rooftops glint along the winding Moosup River, part of a key watershed that includes part of western Rhode Island. Conservationists tried to buy the Sterling parcel a few years ago, but a developer outbid them, says Essington, who has been with The Nature Conservancy since 2001. The developer left trees on the perimeter to meet a local zoning requirement, “but the house lots were left bare,” says Essington. “The owners had to buy new trees from Home Depot.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, Rhode Island has been losing forest land since 1963, when the tree cover peaked at 434,000 acres, or about two-thirds of the state. In 2005, the amount of forest land fell to around 358,000 acres, or a little more than half the state, which is around 671,000 acres. The same thing is happening across New England. From Canaan, Conn., to Caribou, Maine, developers from 1987 to 1997 have chewed up 60,800 acres of forest land a year. That’s 167 acres a day, or 7 acres an hour, says Brett J. Butler, a researcher with the USDA Forest Service. “It’s happening all along the east coast, along the I-95 corridor definitely.” Much is at stake. According to the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, the state’s $13.1-billion tourism industry relies heavily on forests, including fall foliage trips, camping and other outdoor recreation. The same is true for other New England states, where nature lovers hike the White Mountains or wander through thick woods in the Arcadia Management Area. http://www.projo.com/business/content/NOTREES_08-19-07_V72S7BR.2d4b367.html

North Carolina;

17) Four members of a logging crew are out of work this week because someone burned two tractors in Croatan National Forest. The tractors belonged to Jack Temple of Temple Point Road outside Havelock. Temple, an independent logger, said he couldn’t put his crew back to work until he could get more equipment. He said his crew had been working off Catfish Lake Road on Ives Field Road for about seven weeks thinning a plantation of trees. Around 10 a.m. Sunday, a passing driver saw flames coming from the area and called fire officials. Doug Marsden, a ranger in the National Forest Service, said the machines —a skidder and a loader—were deliberately set on fire. “We are still conducting tests to determine the material used to ignite the tractors.” Marsden said. Temple said the loader was valued at $180,000 new and the skidder at $120,000 new. He said both were used, but he had just canceled the insurance on the older skidder and put insurance on another piece of equipment. Temple said another piece of logging equipment was close by but was not damaged. http://www.newbernsj.com/news/temple_36091___article.html/work_tractors.html

Tennessee:

18) According to a news release from Cherokee Forest Voices, Laurel Fork stream would be greatly impaired by muddy runoff from a logging project in the north end of the Cherokee National Forest. CFV officials said the proposed Rough Ridge timber sale in Carter County would also degrade mature forests and chop up scenic views along the Appalachian Trail and other paths popular with bird watchers, hikers and mountain bikers. The conservation group says that the Forest Service plans to log 267 acres in eight chunks scattered throughout the watershed of Laurel Fork, but has failed to ensure protection of water quality in its many tributaries. They contend the timber sale also involves building or rebuilding almost five miles of logging roads, which can also contribute to muddy runoff. “The timber sale adheres to flawed aspects of the plan, or even disregards the plan altogether, itself a violation of federal law,” said Sarah Francisco, staff attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center which represents Cherokee Forest Voices, the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition and The Wilderness Society. “These resources are much too important to Tennesseans to allow them to be ruined. It’s astonishing, really, that the Forest Service would choose to put a large-scale timber sale smack dab in the middle of one of its premiere trout habitat and trail areas.” Johnson City resident Catherine Murray, executive director of the Cherokee Forest Voices, is very familiar with the Laurel Fork area. “I’ve been going to Laurel Fork for 40 years, and have taken four generations of my family to enjoy camping, picnics, trout fishing, and hiking to beautiful waterfalls,” Murray said. “There is something here for everyone. It would be a shame to spoil it.” The group says the Rough Ridge project grew out of a larger proposed timber sale that the groups had opposed in 2004. Though smaller in size, Francisco said the Rough Ridge sale still violates the National Environmental Policy Act, in addition to several of the Forest Service’s own standards and guidelines. “The Forest Service did not designate any old-growth forest in reviewing this logging project, continuing a pattern of not following its own management plan or regional direction to establish an old-growth network,” said Hugh Irwin with the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition. http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9002649

USA:

19) The American Forest & Paper Association spent more than $1.4 million to lobby the federal government in the first half of 2007, according to a federal disclosure form. The Washington-based group lobbied on appropriations for various federal agencies and on farm, environmental, trade and energy bills, and tax issues, according to the form posted online Aug. 7 by the Senate’s public records office. In addition to Congress, the association lobbied the departments of Agriculture, Treasury, State and Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service, the White House budget office and others. Weyerhaeuser Co., Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. and Rock-Tenn Co. are among the dozens of companies that are members of the association. Under a federal law enacted in 1995, lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches. They must register with Congress within 45 days of being hired or engaging in lobbying. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/21/ap4041541.html

Armenia:

20) Teghut’s forest is located in Armenia and is an ancient, pristine forest in a largely deforested nation. Over 1,500 acres of this forest is about to be destroyed to accommodate a massive, open-pit copper mine. Environmental activists in Armenia are trying to battle the mine, but without the freedoms of speech to which we in the U.S. are accustomed, and with a government openly siding with industry, they need outside pressure to make their path easier. Send a message to the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, asking him to stand up for Armenian protestors, and the forest. Your message will be cc’d to the Armenian government so that it knows people in the U.S. are paying attention to Teghut forest and the activists in Armenia trying to save it. You might point out in your letter that: 1) The mine will not support long term economic development Mining will create air and water pollution destroying habitats and damaging communities 3) A biologically diverse, global treasure will be at risk – including its already endangered species, like the Caucasian Persimmon and Gray Bear 4) There are other ways to create jobs and stimulate the economy – like turning Teghut into an eco-tourism destination. http://action.foe.org/dia/organizationsORG/foe/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12401

Hungary;

21) Budapest’s forests have been fouled by more than 10,000 illegal garbage dumps, writes privatbankar.hu, based on a report in daily Népszabadság. Half of the garbage is made of household waste, while the rest is composed of building materials and rubble, lawn and garden trimming and hazardous waste. The problem is not only aesthetic: wastes like discarded motor oil pollute the ground and the water, damaging plants and endangering animals. The most polluted forests are thought to be the Halmi forest in District XVIII, the Páskomliget forest in District XV, and the patches of forest along Illatos út in District IX and Konkoly-Thege út and Jánoshegyi út in District XII. Forest workers in charge of the problem are finding that the garbage heaps grow faster than they can be cleaned away, the paper writes. In addition, there is not much that can be done against offenders, as the maximum fine that can be issued in these cases is only a few tens of thousand forints, or just a couple of hundred euros at most. http://www.caboodle.hu/nc/news/news_archive/single_page/article/11/budapest_for/?cHash=0c518bb1
2b

Mexico:

22) Women from the village of San Isidro Aloapam in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca are struggling to save an ancient forest from a US-sponsored logging company. Demonstrations against the forest’s destruction have led to serious confrontations with paramilitary groups. Villagers have been shot at and three pregnant women have miscarried after being severely beaten by hired thugs.The women were not alone in boycotting Mexico’s recent state elections. Over 70 percent of eligible voters in Oaxaca, Mexico’s poorest state, stayed away from the polls. The record low turnout was repeated across Mexico. Many are still angry at the result of last year’s farcical presidential elections. The rejection of Mexico’s conservative system has seen community organisations grow. This is most marked in Oaxaca where an uprising last year saw popular assemblies take control of local services for months following a teachers’ strike. Although the state eventually regained control after using extreme violence, the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) continues to campaign for social justice. http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=12832

Peru:

23) Although the below reposted article suggests there is a decline in overall logging in the Peruvian Amazon it highlights a major threat to the Shipibo people – the fact that “86 percent of all forest damage was concentrated in only two regions: the area around the Ucayali logging centre of Pucallpa, and along the associated road network.” That means that 86% of the 127,700 hectares lost per year of the Peruvian Amazon forest cover is in the Shipibo’s and their indigenous neighbors’ territories. Although maybe not technically within the legally allotted territories of the indigenous people according to the government – these remote forest lands serve as indigenous hunting grounds or other areas of important resource or spiritual significance. With global warming on much of the world’s minds right now, protecting these forests is going to play a more critical role in the future of the planet. Right now these forests act as huge carbon sinks, and when cut down, are one of the number one emitters of greenhouse gases because of all the carbon and such that is released from these old forests as they are destroyed. The aerial photo from Google Earth shows the immense deforestation surrounding Pucallpa and its road network, some legally-titled Shipibo communities are seen in yellow. http://www.villageearth.org/pages/Projects/Peru/perublog/2007/08/86-of-all-deforestation-in-sh
ipibo.html

Brazil:

24) Brazil’s government rejected accusations on Tuesday that its settlement of poor peasants in the Amazon was fueling the destruction of the world’s largest rain forest but promised an investigation. Several reports said this week that settlements of landless peasants were being used to extract timber. They said the government land reform agency, Incra, promoted timber companies through “suspect” contracts and “phantom” settlements. Incra intentionally chose forested areas with valuable trees, Greenpeace said in a report picked up by some newspapers. The government denied the reports, saying that deforestation in settlements had been falling, not rising, and was not always illegal. But Environment Minister Marina Silva pledged on Tuesday a full investigation into the accusations. “This is an investigation that certainly will be carried out by Incra and other authorities,” she told reporters in the western farm city Cuiaba. The government of left-leaning President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been increasing protected areas, promoting sustainable development and recovering deforested areas, the government’s land reform institute Incra said in a statement. As a result, satellite images published last week showed that deforestation in such settlements fell by 52 percent last year, the fourth consecutive annual reduction, Incra said. The government said last week that overall deforestation in the Amazon fell by about a third in the 12 months through July to the lowest rate in at least seven years. Deforested settlements cited by Epoca news magazine at the weekend were created in the three decades before 2002, Incra said. Until then it was legal to cut 50 percent of the forest, compared to 37 percent actually cut in those settlements. Successive Brazilian governments, particularly during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, settled scores of landless peasants in the Amazon as a way to stem the flow of poor migrants to overcrowded cities. TV Globo on Sunday showed a deforested settlement in the south of the Amazon’s Para state. Incra said the settlement was created after the area was cleared by an illegal land speculator who was expropriated and imprisoned. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N21356413.htm

India:

25) New Delhi – Dozens of activists traveled from unknown hamlets deep inside forests all over India to the nation’s capital Tuesday to press their demand for more rights over their own lives. Brought together by the Campaign for Survival and Dignity, the forest dwellers demanded changes in the rules notified by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs after the passage of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act in 2006. They also demanded implementation of the law after the changes they wanted – mainly formation of empowered and representative committees in every village. The act was passed Dec 18, 2006. There was a long hiatus before the ministry published a series of draft rules June 19 to make the act operational, and gave the public 45 days to suggest changes to the rules. The suggestions have been given, the period is over, and there is no further move from the ministry, according to Pradip Prabhu, convenor of the campaign. The representatives of voluntary groups and community organisations who gathered at the Indian Social Institute here Tuesday accused the government of ‘sabotaging the act’ by rejecting the recommendation of a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) and saying that the panchayat (village council) would decide who would have the right to farm land inside a forest and collect minor forest produce. Since most villages located inside forests were very small, a panchayat took in a large number of villagers, Prabhu pointed out. In effect, this meant that most villagers would not be able to attend panchayat meetings and argue for their rights. The activists demanded that the gram sabhas – committees that would decide on the rights of individuals – be constituted at the village and even hamlet level. http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1345806.php/Forest_dwellers_demand_more_r
ights_over_forests

Cambodia:

26) In 1990, the border region between Thailand and Cambodia was densely forested, but between 2001 and 2005, tree cover change analysis reveals extensive deforestation on the Cambodian side. The problem of deforestation along the border between these two countries dates back to at least the early 1990s. After severe flooding linked to deforestation in Thailand, the Thai government banned all timber harvesting in 1989. As a result, timber imports from neighboring countries like Cambodia increased, along with allegations of illegal logging inside Cambodia. Despite attempts to halt the logging in the 1990s, and a 2002 moratorium issued by Cambodia, deforestation has continued. The Cambodian government is working with a number of independent organizations to address problems of illegal logging. Global Witness the WRI is not, and the overt subservience to the Cambodian government’s political sensitivities is unlikely to win the institute any points for having a spine. What the WRI does have, however, is satellite photos, and those clearly show the wholesale flattening of forests in what is ostensibly a government-protected area. http://detailsaresketchy.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/cambodias-disappearing-forests/

Papua New Guinea:

27) ANZ Lampton Quay was visited this morning by protesting rainforest trees, an orangutan, drummers and several loud chainsaw wielding loggers. The protest was criticising the bank’s role in funding a logging company invovled in deforestation in Papua New Guinea. ANZ worker and Finsec Deputy President, Kelvin Pycroft, responded to the protest by offering to facilitate a meeting between the bank and the protest groups to work towards ending the bank’s funding of environmentally destructive logging in Papua New Guinea. Rimbunan Hijau is accused by independent observers and agencies of illegally logging the largest intact rainforest in the Asia/Pacific region – an area big enough to cover New Zealand. The forest is home to the majority of the 5 million people in Papua New Guinea. It contains over 15,000 plant species. The company is accused of using torture, assault and unlawful detention to drive people off the land it wants to log and subjecting its employees to abusive working conditions. A Gossip reporter managed to record some of the protest; you can see photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/finsec/sets/72157601558464973/ http://finsec.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/finsec-proposes-anz-and-logging-protesters-meet/

Indonesia:

28) Two of Asia’s biggest pulp and paper companies have warned they could close within two months with the loss of up to 1m jobs unless Indonesia’s police and forestry department resolve a dispute over alleged illegal logging. Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper, a subsidiary of Asia Pulp and Paper, and Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper, part of the Raja Garuda Mas group, have been caught up in an eight-month police operation to stamp out illegal logging in Riau province in Sumatra, where they are both based.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/50d920c2-4e71-11dc-85e7-0000779fd2ac,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=
http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F50d920c2-4e71-11dc-85e7-0000779fd2ac.html&_i_referer=

29) Last summer the Indonesia Human Rights Committee conducted a retail survey and found that Auckland was awash with outdoor furniture and decking made from kwila sourced from Indonesian controlled West Papua. Kwila has already been stripped out of the rest of Indonesia and other South East Asian nations and there is a strong international drive for kwila to be listed as an endangered species. Greenpeace estimates that the wood is only 35 years away from extinction as a species. “Indonesian leaders from the Minister of the Environment to the Governor of West Papua are calling for international help to combat the illegal trade, which amounts to up to 80 % of all the logging trade in Indonesia. The problem is a bit like the drug trade – it is driven by the western demand for the product. It is time for firm action – so we are urging the Minister and Government to place an immediate ban on the import of kwila.” http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0708/S00284.htm

30) Our analysis shows that preserving land for its carbon value is worth more than sawit kelapa at present prices for carbon in legally binding markets: US$9.99 million for the EU ETS Trading Scheme, $8.02 million for the Secondary Clean Development Mechanism, and $6.32 million for State of the Voluntary Markets report. This compares with $6.58 million in net income over a 25-year period for sawit kelapa plantations. Even if sawit prices were to go to $1,000 per metric ton, net income would still be less than current ETS prices. Carbon credits could also provide the Indonesian treasury with greater tax revenues than oil palm estates, especially given the recent report that 90 percent of the country’s plantations had underpaid their taxes (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 14). At a 7 percent tax rate for carbon, the present value of tax revenue for the Indonesian government ranges from $476,000 to $752,000, whereas the oil palm plantation generates $495,000. In fact, the model suggests that at some carbon prices the Indonesian government could actually charge a slightly higher tax rate for carbon credits than oil-palm, and still leave Indonesian businesses better off financially than if they were to rely on sawit kelapa. These results show that carbon credits offer a great deal of economic potential for central Kalimantan at a low investment cost. Furthermore, carbon offsets are applicable to virtually any part of Indonesia that has intact forests and peatlands. Such a development could make conservation profitable in Indonesia, an important step to protecting the environment and biodiversity. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20070822.F07&irec=6

31) ‘Sixty percent of the protected and conservation areas are already badly damaged due to illegal logging and palm oil plantations,’ a forestry expert with Indonesian environmental group Walhi, Rully Sumada said. ‘The deforestation speed is 2.8 million ha a year. At this rate, by 2012 the forests in Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi will be gone, only the forests in Papua will be left. And if cutting of trees carries on, no forest will be left by 2022.’ Indonesia has a total forest area of more than 91 million ha, or about 10 per cent of the world’s remaining tropical forest, according to Rainforestweb.org. But the tropical South-east Asian country – whose forests are a treasure trove of plant and animal species including the endangered orangutans – has already lost an estimated 72 per cent of its original frontier forest. The biggest threat to the forests of Borneo, and also Aceh on the northernmost tip of Sumatra island, is from illegal logging. A recent report by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Indonesia-based Telapak said that Malaysia and China were major recipients of stolen Indonesian timber and that shipping companies from Singapore carried such wood overseas. http://www.palmoilprices.net/news/indons-forests-threatened-by-logging-palm-oil/

Malaysia:

32) Tagging trees with radio frequency identification (RFID) devices and raising the reward for information are two of several sweeping changes being considered to curb illegal logging. Natural Resources and Environment Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Sazmi Miah said other moves being considered included allowing the ferrying of timber only during the day. He said on his road journey back to Kota Baru from Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, he counted 70 trailers ferrying logs at night. He said he would also propose that the movement of trailers be done on a fixed schedule to enable effective monitoring of their cargo. The proposed hours would be from 10am to 5pm daily, he said after opening a Merdeka carnival at SK Kampung Laut here. Sazmi said previously, forest rangers faced difficulty in determining if the logs chopped down were from restricted zones, so RFID technology could help them overcome the problem. He would propose that RFID tags be fitted to tree trunks in selected zones of forest reserves, especially in areas prone to illegal logging. “Some of the logs obtained illegally are sent extremely fast to wood processing factories, before the authorities can react.” He said the ministry was studying how the mechanism of illegal logging worked, from the modus operandi of loggers to the transporters and factory operators. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/8/24/nation/18682638&sec=nation

33) According to him, the lorries used to transport the logs to sawmills were heavily overloaded causing the sealed roads along Nabawan/Sook much damage, necessitating the Government to spend millions of Ringgit on repairs. “As the Assemblyman of Sook I have witnessed these lorries every time I travelled along the said road. As a matter of fact I had on nearly every meeting of the Keningau District Development Committee brought the matter up but it seems no action was taken by the government enforcement officers. “I had also written two letters to the Federal Minister of Transport and the Federal Minister of Works but no action was taken,” he said. Meanwhile, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Vice President, Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, said the party appreciates ACA for a job well done to intercept and investigate illegal logging and corruption in the country. In the case of the seized logs in Keningau and many similar cases of illegal logging reported to the police for investigation, he said the Forestry Director would always deny such activities. “Why is Datuk Sam Mannan (Forestry Director) always denying such occurrences instead of thanking the public for the information and investigating?” he asked. Dr Jeffery said the ACA should also delve into the issuing of logging and purchasing contracts of about a million acres (306,310 hectares) of Yayasan Sabah’s concession to a single company through Benta Wawasan under the guise of reforestation. In this respect, Dr Jeffery said several questions need to be answered such as why an exclusive buyer and an exclusive contractor was granted such a huge area? “Why did the Forestry Director allow the clear felling of forest in such a massive area without concern for the environmental and ecological impact of such logging activities? Who are the real owners of these companies?” he asked. http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=52115

Borneo:

34) Over the past two decades, the volume of timber harvested on Borneo exceeded that of all tropical wood exports from Latin America and Africa combined. Illegal logging is destroying the equatorial rain forests of Indonesian Borneo, bringing the island, once known as the lungs of Asia, to the brink of an ecological disaster. Not only has 95 percent of the forest legally set aside for logging been cleared but nearly 60 percent of protected national parkland has been illegally logged, according to a new report in this week’s Science by professor Lisa M. Curran of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. The illegal timber is turned into plywood and is exported to other parts of Asia. It is also used to build furniture for Japanese, European and U.S. markets. The island of Kalimantan’s valuable old growth, called meranti (Philippine mahogany), is used for hardwood flooring and provides wood trim for luxury automobiles. If the current rate of destruction continues, the report says, Kalimantan, which is about the size of Texas, will be completely stripped of its rain forests in the next three years. This will have a drastic effect on the wildlife, the native population and the local weather patterns. Animals such as Malaysian sun bears, hornbills, bearded pigs and orangutans are rapidly becoming endangered species, according to the report. The report combined aerial and satellite photographs with data from geographical mapping systems and remote sensing devices. It was carried out between 1999 and September 2003. “Already, what is left (of the forest) is too small and too fragmented to support many of the species that depend on the forest,” said Curran, director of the Tropical Resources Institute at Yale University. “For the first time we have seen large mammals, such as orangutans and Malaysian sun bears, wild boar, starving.” There are more than 420 different birds and 222 mammal species in Kalimantan, half of which depend on the rain forests for survival. Furthermore, the indigenous people of Borneo, the Dyaks, depend on boar as a primary source of protein. http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/?p=575

Sabah:

35) The royalty on most of the 5,000 logs seized by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) in Keningau over the weekend has not been paid, The Star reported. Graft busters are also puzzled how such a large shipment of logs with unpaid royalty were able to slip pass the attention of forestry and road transport departments and the police. The raiding team, from the ACA headquarters in Putrajaya, also discovered that many of the lorries did not have permits and carried expired road tax. Several of the drivers also did not have valid driving licences. They have not ruled out collusion between the loggers, saw millers and certain forestry enforcement officers. “From what we have found out so far, royalty for most of the logs have not been paid,” said Senior Asst Comm Mohd Jamidan Abdullah Jamidan, who led the sting operation on the Keningau-Sook road and follow-up raids at sawmills in Keningau, Wednesday. The logs were a mix of legally and illegally felled logs. “If there had been proper enforcement, this would not have happened,” Jamidan said. On a statement by Sabah Forestry Department director Datuk Sam Mannan that the seized logs had been legally felled and duties paid, Jamidan replied: “I think he has been wrongly briefed by his men in Keningau.” http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/fri/aug17b1.htm

Philippines:

36) “The selective logging policy has proven to be ineffective in protecting the forests because of the common malpractice of loggers to cut trees even in areas not covered by their timber permits and their poor reforestation records,” Pimentel said. Citing warnings from environmental experts, the senator said that Lake Lanao would be gone in 25 years if logging continued around its watershed areas. Lake Lanao is the biggest freshwater lake and main source of power in Mindanao. Pimentel stressed the critical importance of conserving the lake due to the looming power crisis in the whole of Mindanao. “Six hydroelectric power plants of the National Power Corporation depend on the waters of Lake Lanao and its tributary Agus River for generating power,” he noted. He also hit the resurgence of illegal logging in the Sierra Madre mountain range which he said violated the “total log ban” policy of the President after flashfloods and landslides in December 2004 that caused massive destruction and killed at least a thousand people. Pimentel said he has revived his proposal (Senate Bill 275) imposing a ban on commercial logging operations over a period of 25 years – the length of time it takes for hardwood trees to mature. He predicted that within this period the country will be able to regain its lost forest cover. ”In 1900, an estimated 21 million hectares of the country’s total land area (30 million hectares) had forest cover. But based on available data, this has declined to 7 million hectares today. However, only about 800,000 hectares of this area consists of old-growth or virgin forests. About 200,000 hectares of forests areas are destroyed annually through legal and illegal logging, as well as slash-and-burn (kaingin) farming, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources” he said. http://mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3067&Itemid=50

World-wide:

37) An anomalous reduction in forest growth indices and temperature sensitivity has been detected in tree-ring width and density records from many circumpolar northern latitude sites in recent decades. This phenomenon, also known as the “divergence problem”, is often expressed as an offset between warmer instrumental temperatures and their underestimation in reconstruction models based on tree rings. The divergence problem has potentially significant implications for large-scale patterns of forest growth, the development of paleoclimatic reconstructions based on tree-ring records from northern forests, and the global carbon cycle. The causes of this phenomenon, which appear to be several and sometimes regionally specific, are not well understood and are difficult to test due to the existence of a number of covarying environmental factors that may potentially impact recent tree growth. Although limited evidence suggests that the divergence may be anthropogenic in nature and restricted to the recent decades of the 20th century as well as higher latitudes, one current challenge is to confirm these observations. We welcome papers that address this issue using tree rings, remote sensing, vegetation models, and other methods. http://climatesci.colorado.edu/2007/08/21/december-2007-session-the-divergence-problem-in-north
ern-forests/