300 – Earth’s Tree News

Today for you 36 new articles about earth’s trees! (299th edition)
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–British Columbia: 1) Spontaneous treesits amid Langford ruins, 2) City Council Langford, 3) First Nations Blockade, 4) Loggers ruin Powell River, 5) Forest Minister Coleman no background in forestry, 6) West Fraser gets Weyco trees, 7) Interfor gets Weyco trees, 8) Massive rezoning of forestry lands, 9) What’s 13 a billion bd. ft. decline? 10) Great Bear is for “Playing for Good” ?
–Pacific Northwest: 11) Solidarity among treesittters
–Washington: 12) Forests to supply ‘fuels for schools’
–Oregon: 13) Save Grandmothers grove of Wolf creek, 14) Economic Biomass feasibly,
–California: 15) Nature Conservancy get CalPERS funding, 16) 30 UCSC faculty and Staff support treesitters, 17) UC Berkeley treesit gets raided,
–Colorado: 18) Too many exceptions in protection of 4 million acres of roadless area
–Wyoming: 19) Targeted logging in Medicine Bow NF is futile knee-jerk reaction
–West Virginia: 20) Bill to save best parts of Monongahela National Forest –Arkansas-Louisiana-Texas: 21) 1/3 of a million acres sold to Canada insurance outfit
–Massachusetts: 22) Ruining Mount Jefferson for a “long-term” revenue source
–New York: 23) Philema Road at the Parks at Chehaw gets logged
–Tennessee: 24) Oak Ridge National Laboratory studies logs in stream channels
–Florida: 25) Ocala National Forest’s “Big Scrub” is a 1/3 of a million acres
–Canada: 26) Protesters sneak notes into Kleenex products
–UK: 27) A memorial woodland, 28) New woodland coverage increasing, 29) Lost stories of World War I memorial tree plantings,
–EU: 30) Biofuels or Biofools?
–France: 31) 65,000 square miles of forest and still hard to find firewood
–Angola: 32) Take measures aimed at stemming this evil
–Mexico: 33) How critters deal with deforestation
–Brazil: 34) 181 endangered species have support of the state of Pará? 35) Mob of 2,000 people, 36) Turn rice fields into Eucayptus?
–Australia: 37) Turning weeds into a forest

British Columbia:

1) I just left the Spencer Rd./Trans Canada intersection 20 minutes ago, and at that time three activists were occupying three Garry Oak trees that were about to be cut down for the highway interchange. We were there to wave signs on the side of the road, but when the work crew showed up, tree-sitters climbed the trees before the chainsaws could even be unloaded from the trucks. A lone RCMP officer arrived on the scene and tried to climb one of the trees, but the tree-sitter climbed higher. The officer climbed down and informed the tree-sitters they were under arrest, and it seems he is just waiting for them to come down and be arrested. Supporters are on the scene, but more people are needed to come out and show support, as we do not know how long this stand-off will occur. -in solidarity with all life, Kalanu — Direct resistance to construction of Langford’s highly controversial Bear Mountain interchange continued with quiet diligence today, as small groups of concerned citizens intervened to slow down the process of destruction tearing up the land for the proposed right-of way. Work was halted for several hours early in the morning when a group of fifteen citizens peacefully blocked a log truck hauling out fresh cut trees and several protestors stopped the yarding activities in a clearcut adjacent to the Langford Lake caves. Members of the public are invited to join the growing groundswell of opposition to this unethical and destructive development at an action
to witness and resist the daily destruction:
http://treesit.blogspot.com

2) On Monday, frustrated residents and activists packed another meeting of Langford City Council to express their anger and disgust over last week’s destruction at the Langford Lake Cave and Spencer’s Pond. Cheryl Bryce, the lands manager for the Songhees First Nation, presented the council with a six-foot-tall “bouquet” of invasive species – broom, gorse, and English ivy. The arrangement was topped off with a balloon marking 50 years (and more) of colonization. Bryce also laid cedar boughs on the floor of the chamber. “This is a get-well gift,” she explained, “because you are all sick.” Environmentalists cried “Shame!” and booed the mayor and the councillors. An area of forest several kilometers long and hundreds of meters wide has now been flattened by logging for the new interchange and parkway. The logging took place under heavy police guard. Langford Lake Cave has been closed off with a metal cage. Last week, the city installed a three-meter-wide grate made of welded rebar across the rocky entrance to the cave. A forest advocate is facing a charge of mischief for blocking timber operations on Saturday. Ben Isitt scrambled into a fresh clearcut on Feb 16 and got in front of a log yarder, forcing it to stop work. Two dozen others stopped three more machines that day. Police did not interfere with the action and no one else has been charged. While the logging is finished, removing the downed trees is going on from 8 am to 5 pm or so. A very small police presence remains in the area. Environmentalists have been maintaining a vigil on the highway since Friday. Here’s the Youtube video of Ben Isitt stopping the work crew and telling the police to leave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGKY-zdSdkU Photos of Langford Lake Cave and its rebar cage: http://www.spencerspond.ca/cave

3) First Nations landowners started a blockade of forestry operations on February 9th when the logging contractor employed by Canfor began cutting a road right of way onto the keyoh (a forested region near the headwaters of the Salmon River in British Columbia). Yesterday the loggers fought back by dumping logs across the only road leading into and out of the Maiyoo Keyoh blockade. “We asked them how we can get out if we have a medical emergency” Maiyoo Keyoh spokesperson Jim Munroe reported from the site about 100 kilometers by road east of Fort St James. “They told us that’s our problem.” He said the loggers also said that if anything happens to the logs piled across the road “we’ll bring our big guns out.” http://foresttalk.com/index.php/2008/02/20/loggers_blockade_the_first_nation_s_bloc

4) Three local groups are holding a public meeting to explain how Powell River is impacted by logging companies taking private land out of the province’s tree farm licences. The Powell River chapters of the Sierra Club and the Council of Canadians and the Friends of Eagle River (FOER) have invited the Western Canada Wilderness Committee to talk about the issue. The Great Land Give Away public meeting takes place at 7 pm on Wednesday, February 27 at Community Living Place, 6831 Artaban Place in Cranberry. The Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) will give a presentation on protecting forest land and jobs, followed by questions and public discussion. Admission is free. When the forest tenure system was set up in the 1950s and 1960s, large companies were given sole access to large areas of public forests. The BC government gave logging companies this monopoly in exchange for including their own lands in government-regulated tree farm licences (TFLs). Companies were also required to provide mills and stable employment in dependent communities. After the BC Liberals passed legislation allowing logging companies to take their own lands out of the TFLs and treat them as private land, the social contract was completely dissolved, said Terry Brown, a FOER spokesman. “The result is an increased stream of raw logs leaving our coastal communities while mills are being closed, local jobs are lost and forest land is sold for development,” he said. “Also lost are regulations designed to protect wildlife habitat, fish streams, scenic beauty and water quality.” WCWC has been assisting forestry dependant communities on Vancouver Island to take action to protect their forests and jobs. WCWC representatives will explain what Vancouver Island communities are doing to prevent large tracts of forest land from being sold for large developments. “Many people are outraged by the destruction they see happening around them, but they don’t know what to do about it,” said Wes Bingham, a spokesman for the Sierra Club. Destruction of recreational areas erodes quality of life for residents and discourages tourism, said Kevin Austin, also of FOER. “The scars Island Timberlands is leaving behind in our community are an insult,” he said. “Just look at the Horseshoe Lake canoe portage or Canoe Main entrance. Eagle River and Stillwater bluffs are next.” http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19316893&BRD=1998&PAG=461&dept_id=499599&rfi=6

5) BC’s ancient, old-growth forests are under attack from the ancient, old mindset of Rich Coleman, BC’s Minister of Forests and Range. A few weeks ago Coleman told a convention of the BC Truck Loggers Association, “We have enough protected areas and parks” and that he was “frustrated with the people on the coast of British Columbia who keep saying ‘quit cutting all the old-growth forest.'”(Vancouver Sun, Jan.17, 2008). One gets the impression that Coleman, a former police officer with no background in forestry, cares little about his position in charge of forestry in BC. He even said it: “I wonder some days just what I did to the premier to have been made the forests minister”, he told the convention. As an example of how much Coleman pays attention to his forestry file, he told the A-Channel News that there are “4 million hectares of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, but only 700,000 are available for logging”. That’s odd, considering that Vancouver Island is only 3 million hectares in size. To read the rest of the article, visit our website at: http://www.wcwcvictoria.org

6) West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has entered into an agreement to acquire certain timber tenures in the Kamloops region from Weyerhaeuser Company, including the northern portion of Tree Farm License 35 and Forest License (FL) A74910, having an aggregate Allowable Annual Cut (AAC) of approximately 400,000 cubic metres per year. These tenures will increase West Fraser’s long-term timber supply and will help to offset anticipated declines in future timber supply as a result of the current Mountain Pine Beetle infestation. The acquisition is expected to benefit West Fraser operations in 100 Mile House, Chasm and Williams Lake, B.C. and the south Cariboo communities associated with these operations. The transaction is subject to various regulatory reviews and requires the consent of the B.C. Minister of Forests and Range. Terms of the transaction remain confidential. The remaining tenure held by Weyerhaeuser in the Kamloops TSA, FL A18694 which has an AAC of approximately 356,000 cubic metres per year, will be acquired by International Forest Products Ltd. West Fraser is an integrated wood products company producing lumber, LVL, MDF, plywood, pulp, linerboard, kraft paper and newsprint. The Company has approximately 9,000 employees and operations in western Canada and the southern United States. http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=822232

7) International Forest Products Limited (“Interfor” or the “Company”) (TSX:IFP.A) announced today it has reached agreement to acquire a timber tenure in the Kamloops region currently owned by Weyerhaeuser Company Limited (“Weyerhaeuser”) having an Allowable Annual Cut (AAC) of approximately 356,000 cubic meters. The tenure will strengthen Interfor’s long term timber supply in the region and help to offset anticipated declines in future supply as a result of the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation. The acquisition will benefit Interfor’s sawmill at Adams Lake and the communities associated with that operation. The transaction is subject to various regulatory reviews. Terms of the transaction remain confidential. In a related transaction, certain other tenures including a Tree Farm Licence and Forest Licence held by Weyerhaeuser in the Kamloops region with an approximate AAC of 400,000 cubic meters will be acquired by West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. Interfor is one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest producers of quality wood products. The Company has operations in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, including three sawmills in the Coastal region of British Columbia, one in the B.C. Interior, one in Washington and two in Oregon.. http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=822231

8) Despite threats of a lawsuit and accusations of banana-republic tactics, Capital Regional District directors yesterday reinforced their decision to downzone vast tracts of forest land along the southwest coast of Vancouver Island to lot sizes of 120 hectares. The three members of the Juan de Fuca land-use committee — the only CRD directors allowed to vote on electoral area issues — gave third reading to bylaws that will see a massive rezoning of forestry lands stretching from Otter Point to Port Renfrew. The bylaws now go to the province for approval before returning to the CRD for adoption. However, the committee gave a glimmer of hope to owners of smaller properties caught in the zoning changes and said that, once the bylaws are through, a zoning review of rural lands will start immediately. “The whole purpose of this is to give us a time-out to identify areas that are of a sensitive nature,” said Juan de Fuca electoral area director Erik Lund. Hearings have been packed with anxious landowners, many of them caught in a change that took away their right to strata four-hectare parcels. Peter Martin, who has already started a strata subdivision on his Otter Point Road property, said anything that mitigates the impact of the bylaws is welcome. “But it needs to be done promptly so that people are not burdened with excessive financing and rezoning costs,” he said. Metchosin Mayor John Ranns, who wanted rural parcels immediately rezoned to one hectare, could not get his fellow committee members to agree. “I think we all understand the province has the final authority and can overturn these bylaws. If we can address the injustices in the rural areas, it will reduce the pressure to overturn them,” he said. But Central Saanich director Chris Graham, the third member of the committee, said rezoning to one hectare was a code word for urban sprawl. “Let’s not have a kneejerk reaction. Let’s stand back and get some advice,” he said. As an additional wrinkle, the Association of B.C. Landowners voted this week to take legal action against the CRD because of concerns about the legality of the three-person committee making land-use decisions. The larger issue of the forestry lands was a response to the province’s decision to allow Western Forest Products to remove more than 28,000 hectares of private land from tree farm licences on Vancouver Island without paying compensation. WFP then conditionally sold 2,532 hectares of high-profile land to developer Ender Ilkay. Lund said public hearings showed that more than 80 per cent of people are in favour of downzoning the forestry land. http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=d2b436fe-246f-45
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9) Shutting it down was the only other option, given the depth and extent of the current market slump. He put the forest industry crisis in perspective by noting lumber demand in the U.S. has dropped by 13 billion board feet since the housing market imploded. “That’s the equivalent of 50 to 60 sawmills the size of Kamloops.” Pillon said The Kamloops closure date is set for May 12 but it will likely shut down before that. “We are essentially going to be running out the wood supply we have in the yard,” Pillon said of the mill’s future. Employees are to receive pay for the 12 weeks from now until May 12 regardless of how long the mill operates, he said. The 140 loggers harvesting timber from Weyerhaeuser’s tenures are not likely to be affected. West Fraser and Interfor intend to re-allocate the timber harvesting contracts on a roughly 50-50 basis, said Wayne Clogg, West Fraser senior vice president of woodlands. The tenure transfers are expected to take two months or so, Clogg said, meaning it will likely be summer before logging commences. West Fraser has reached a deal with Weyerhaeuser to acquire wood at logging roadsides, which will provide work for truck drivers. http://www.bakercityherald.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=26

10) “More and more, our guests are seeking more and more,” says Michael Uehara, president and managing director of King Pacific. “There is a pronounced desire for a deeper understanding of the culture and eco-systems around the Lodge. The Great Bear Rainforest and Gitga’at First Nations territory inspire authentic engagement in both.” This year, King Pacific is offering its guests the opportunity to vacation and be part of the solution – ‘playing for good’ rather than ‘playing for keeps’. The resort’s “Playing for Good” promotion will generate donations to local conservation, wildlife and cultural charities on behalf of guests. “As our guests connect with their inner adventurer, they will be able to assist organizations that are fundamental in the sustainable stewardship of the land and sea here,” said Uehara. Be warned, the activities the Lodge has in mind will ensure their guests will earn their donations. For example, only ardent kayakers should attempt the five-mile open water circumnavigation of Ashdown Island. Other adventures appeal to those interested the history and culture of the area, including mastering a Sm’algyax language guide of place and animal names on a cultural tour of the territory. Each endeavor earns the Hartley Bay School C$100.00. “We have long viewed King Pacific Lodge as our partners in business, conservation and social equity” said Ernie Hill, principal of the Hartley Bay School and the Eagle Chief of the Gitga’at. “They are part of the community. They have stood beside the Gitga’at in so many ways. This new program allows their guests to be part of that—to belong in our territory.” King Pacific’s relationship with the Gitga’at Nation is a story itself: The lodge was the first private operator to sign a working protocol with the Gitga’at Nation (2001). Since then, the two parties have worked together on a wide variety of programs including a student mentoring program, an elders’ breakfast program, joint educational initiatives and hospitality training. King Pacific Lodge also holds its annual staff training in Hartley Bay, home of the Gitga’at Nation, where staff are billeted at private homes in the community. http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080219005
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Pacific Northwest:

11) With the fall of the Bear Mountain tree-sit in Victoria, BC, it seems like this is a very crucial time for activists in the trees up and down the west coast. There are two campus trees-sits, one under attack right now at UC Berkeley and one at UC Santa Cruz. These actions are opposing the unnecessary development of greenspace. It is very inspiring to see these actions pop up along the coast, all of them non-violent peaceful demonstrations of civil disobedience. Yes, I feel the UC’s are elitest corporocrats, without regard for the needs of the students or community, or the planet in that matter. Tuition costs are on the rise. The gap between the upper and lower “classes” is widening, and the ability for middle income students and families to afford upper level education is becoming virtually impossible, furthur exacerbating the problem. Even here in Humboldt, the state university feels that it is more important to spend $350,000 for non-functional and tacky “so-cal-esque” gateways, instead of helping student tuitions, much needed salary increases for students, or for funding of important student programs. Our trees are disappearing, this is a fact. Whether you live in the city, or the country, the last remnants of our greenspaces are threatened by the greed of corporations. These unaccountable companies are pushing our planet to the brink of extinction. Lately, there has been a lot of media attention towards climate change and our environment. It seems that the trend is to “think green”, to live “sustainably” and to fear the coming changes that are happening right now to our entire planet. However, I feel that true meaning of these buzzwords that the media is throwing around are constantly changing and evolving to fit the needs of the elite. This is a trick in semantics that has been used by the corporate controlled media to squash uprisings and revolutions in the past, and now, under the guise of concern for the environment. http://humboldtforestdefense.blogspot.com/

Washington:

12) With a lumberjack for a mascot, perhaps it’s no surprise that the St. Maries School District is turning to the nearby forest to cut its power bill. Beginning next school year, the district will fire up a wood burner at Heyburn Elementary School. Puny trees and branches that would have once burned on slash piles at North Idaho logging sites will be converted into heat for more than 400 students and staff. The program is part of the U.S. Forest Service’s “Fuels for Schools,” an ambitious effort to thin fire-prone forests and provide a renewable fuels source for cash-strapped rural districts. Since 2000, the federal government has spent $7 million in the Rocky Mountain West to outfit 12 schools, a prison and the University of Montana with wood-burning boilers. The community of St. Maries, in one of Idaho’s most timber-dependent regions, is a natural fit for the program, said Virginia Beebe, a program coordinator for the St. Maries School District. “We’re right at the edge of the national forest. We have all this biomass right in our backyard, and we’re not using it,” she said. The district anticipates spending less than $500,000 to install the hot-water boiler system, which should be in place by Sept. 1. A Forest Service grant will contribute $250,000 toward the project, with the school district borrowing the rest of the money. Heyburn Elementary’s main wing was built in 1928. The two-story, red-brick school annually sucks up about 20,000 gallons of heating oil — a commodity whose price has shot from 65 cents a gallon to nearly $3 a gallon over the past five years. Beebe said the district has tried to control costs by turning on the heat just before students arrive and turning it off at the end of the school day. Teachers who work late end up shivering in their classrooms. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2004191239_skulfuels20e.html

Oregon:

13) Cascadia’s Ecosystem Advocates and Native Forest Council is sponsoring a walk in what some call the Grandmothers grove (old growth) on Wolf Creek Road outside the town of Crow this Sunday, and I hope you can come, too. The trail is small and steep in places, so wear good shoes. The Grandmothers grove is a small, beautiful old growth forest that is administered by the Bureau of Land Management but hasn’t yet been cut, although it is currently slated to be cut on the revised maps of Alternative 2 of the WOPR that BLM has been working on during the past few months. It seems to be the old growth closest to Eugene that is on public land and easily accessible, so it’s a good place to know about. I’ve been bringing my ESL students there as part of our study of environmental civics. I hope to see you next Sunday! In Eugene, people are meeting at the Grower’s Market, on Willamette Street near the train station, at 10 AM to carpool. In Crow: you can also meet me in the Crow High School parking lot at 10:30. The only reason the walk would be rescheduled is if there are high winds. Please call or e-mail me if it looks like that is happening. If you need specific direction please email me at tsuga@efn.org

14) Baker County’s Small Woodland Owners have been awarded $5,000 by Baker County’s Economic Development Council to help the association study whether it’s economically feasible to harvest and bring to market biomass from the county’s privately owned forests. The prefeasibility study, as it’s called, will cost $15,000 and be conducted by Wallowa Resources Community Solutions, the nonprofit arm of Wallowa Resources. Baker County’s Economic Development Council will pay one-third the cost of the study. The woodlands association will chip in one-third from a previous grant, and in-kind work donated by woodlands association members will cover the remainder of the cost of the study, which should be completed by Aug. 15. “Compared to historic conditions, today’s forested landscape is dominated by smaller diameter, even-aged, homogeneous stands,” wrote Ben Henson, manager of Wallowa Resources Community Solutions, and Nils Christoffersen, executive director of Wallowa Resources, in their scope of work proposal for the study. “This study will explore the economic viability and technical feasibility of various forest product industries, and how and if their needs can be met by the biomass available in Baker County.” Biomass, in this context, includes trees that are too small to be sawed into lumber, as well as debris such as fallen limbs. http://www.bakercityherald.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=6017

California:

15) The Nature Conservancy congratulated the California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) for its vote today to adopt a trend-setting forest investment policy that requires certified sustainable forest management and positions CalPERS to profit from the rapidly emerging global market in forest carbon credits. “This leading-edge policy will direct $2.4 billion in CalPERS investments toward environmentally friendly forest projects. That level of investment provides a strong incentive to the global timber industry to engage in certified sustainable timber management,” said Mike Sweeney, Executive Director of the California Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. “Good forest management provides healthy returns – for investors and for the planet.” The Nature Conservancy began to work with CalPERS in the early stages of this new policy. “CalPERS is a savvy institutional investor. What it does can influence other institutional investors and the timber industry,” said Louis Blumberg, director of The Nature Conservancy’s California forest and climate policy program. “We were able to offer our experience with sustainable forestry and certification and to help create a policy that strengthens the institution’s long term asset while protecting forests lands.” http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/california/press/calpers21908.html
16) Thirty UC Santa Cruz faculty and staff members are supporting a legal defense fund for tree-sit demonstrators they say are merely exercising “civil disobedience.” Professors Bettina Aptheker and Paul Ortiz, nationally known social activists, have founded an nonprofit advocacy group called “Friends of Flora and Fauna” with the help of filmmaker Mathilde Rand. Also involved is professor Zack Schlesinger, who was arrested in December for bringing hot tea and soup to tree-sitters. Former Santa Cruz mayors Jane Weed, Bruce Van Allen, Celia Scott and UCSC professor Tim Fitzmaurice also are supporters, according to a solicitation letter Aptheker said her group has mailed to more than 600 “progressive” residents. UCSC spokesman Jim Burns said the support is to be expected: “On a campus as diverse as ours, it’s not at all surprising that there would be UCSC people who would lend their name to a letter of this nature.” The university says the tree-sit violates an overnight camping rule and endangers demonstrators and pedestrians. Schlesinger, student Cruz A. Molina and seven others not directly tied to the campus were brought to court by the UC Regents in December in an attempt to shut down the three-month protest over UCSC’s Long-Range Development Plan, a growth plan to add 5,000 students by 2020. Most defendants and others arrested at the site since November are not accused of climbing into four redwood perches, but rather “aiding and abetting” by bringing food or other supplies. A judge will hear arguments March 6. The letter seeking money for legal fees told potential donors their contributions would be tax-deductible and “provide help to people putting themselves on the line to question UCSC expansion plans that could damage the environment, degrade the quality of education at UCSC and impose unacceptable traffic, water and housing impact on Santa Cruz communities.” “The lawsuit, which demands punitive damages from supporters of the tree-sit, appears designed to intimidate and stifle protest and dissent,” the letter said. “UCSC’s bullying tactics are inappropriate, and especially egregious when aimed at people who have very little money.” “We’ll give money to anyone who was arrested,” Aptheker said Tuesday. Schlesinger said he will pay for his own defense. UCSC’s handling of the demonstration, which has included at least two pepper spray-laced melees, has put it at odds with some high-profile employees.
http://www.scsextra.com/story.php?storySection=Local&sid=65938

17) After an early morning raid on the long-standing tree-sit protest Tuesday, February 19, 2008, at the Berkeley Oaks to remove gear, platforms and support equipment from the tree-sitters, one of the sitters still in the trees was faced with a life-threatening situation when he moved from his location after the UCB-hired climbers left. As is customary and safe when moving about off the ground, he attempted to use a rope hanging from the tree, not realizing that the other end had been cut by the contract climber sent up by UC police. It appeared the rope was still attached, as it was hanging where it had been since prior to the raid, but when the tree-sitter moved on to the rope, it nearly pulled loose, and a fall from high in the tree was only avoided because the rope happened to snag on a water jug.
The tree-sitters and supporters will hold a press conference to discuss the situation at the Oak Grove at 4 pm Wednesday. While exhibiting this level of recklessness, the police also cut a waste bucket, letting it fall and splash open on the ground, but they had the audacity to tell the media that their actions were done in the interest of “safety and sanitary concerns”. A ruling is expected from Judge Miller on the long-standing lawsuits challenging UCB’s planning documents, determining whether UCB’s plans can move forward, sometime in late March or April. The Oak Grove, location of a Native American burial site as well as the grove of native coast live oaks, whose cutting City of Berkeley law prohibits, is located on Piedmont Avenue just north of Bancroft Way next to the International House. bach@HeadwatersPreserve.org

Colorado:

18) Exceptions in Colorado’s plan to manage some 4 million acres of roadless areas in national forests are worrisome because of the potential environmental impacts, a federal agency says. The regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency wrote in recent comments to the U.S. Forest Service that it’s concerned about “the considerable breadth of exceptions” to logging in roadless areas to prevent wildfires and stem the spread of bark beetles. The exceptions to roads and activity in those areas have also drawn criticism from environmental, hunting and angling groups that want to see the 4.1 million acres in national forests across the state remain off-limits to development. The draft environmental review “should include clear guidelines and commitments for how impacts from exemptions will be avoided, minimized and mitigated” on roadless areas, according to EPA officials. “What the EPA is saying here echoes almost precisely what the sportsmen community has been saying from the start,” said David Petersen of Durango, a staffer with Trout Unlimited and a member of the statewide task force that developed the plan. State officials didn’t immediately return calls for comment. The Forest Service, in conjunction with state officials, is writing a draft environmental impact statement to implement Colorado’s plan to manage the roadless areas. The land is among 58.5 million acres nationwide declared off-limits to development in 2001 toward the end of the Clinton administration. After the Clinton-era rule was overturned by a federal judge, the Bush administration approved a rule potentially opening some of the roadless areas to development. States were allowed to petition some or all of the land, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, making the final decision. http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20080220/NEWS/594385228

Wyoming;

19) ANDER — The U.S. Forest Service’s plan for targeted logging in the Medicine Bow National Forest is a knee-jerk reaction which will do nothing to stop the spread of pine beetles, a Laramie-based conservation group says. Duane Short of the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance said his organization takes issue with assertions made by the U.S. Forest Service that the scale of the current beetle epidemic is a historic, first-time phenomenon. Rick Cables, the regional forester for the Rocky Mountain region, said last month, for example, that the ongoing epidemic is an “unprecedented event.” “I would like the public to know that that’s really not true,” Short said. “It is unprecedented in terms of Forest Service experience, but in natural history this is a cyclical event, and every few hundred years these major epidemics occur, and the forests always recover.” Agency officials said last week that pine beetles have infested all of Wyoming’s forests, and most of the state’s mature lodgepole pines could be dead within five years. The problem is particularly acute in the Medicine Bow National Forest in southern Wyoming. Short said a proposed timber harvest in the Spruce Gulch area near Fox Park and Wyocolo in the Med-Bow includes some clear-cutting and creating a half-mile buffer around some private property. A buffer of 300 feet provides adequate protection for properly constructed buildings; a half-mile is nothing more than overkill, Short said. “Without trying to second guess their motives, it would appear they’re trying to assure the public that they are doing something about an epidemic that nothing can be done about,” Short said. “We’re not opposed to reasonable measures to protect private property that is surrounded by or borders the forest. But that does not include these kinds of clear-cutting, some as much as five miles away from the nearest property.” The Forest Service’s targeted logging will disturb the soil and take more habitat away from interior forest species such as the American marten and the Northern goshawk, both of which need mature forest to survive, he said. http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2008/02/19/news/wyoming/61f66cb30c953485872573f4000
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West Virginia;

20) I would point out that for the first time in 25 years, Congress has seized an opportunity to permanently protect some of the most special remaining wild places in the Monongahela National Forest. While we are grateful for the bill being considered, it is seriously deficient in that it has omitted two of the most important areas with respect to trout. Marvelous natural treasures, Seneca Creek and the East Fork of the Greenbrier River, are two of our most prized trout fisheries, contained within some of the wildest and most important roadless areas of our state. Brook trout are found only in the coldest and purest streams, such as these. They are rare in the vast landscape beyond the Monongahela Forest. Primarily found in little disturbed, generally remote watersheds, brook trout define pristine, high-quality water. The major factor harmful to trout is sediment caused by watershed disturbance. Trout eggs must spend the entire winter under the gravel, where they are much more easily smothered by sediment than other fish eggs, all of which hatch during the summer in three weeks or less. Because much of the watersheds of these two trout streams has not been disturbed in the past 100 years, stream channel recovery and healing is just now beginning. This must be a top-down recovery. Wilderness protection will allow the recovery of these headwater areas and eventually will reduce the terrible flooding in the communities below. Only Wilderness designation will permanently protect these headwater streams from the negative impacts of roads and logging, which increase sediment directly from the disturbance of the forest floor. The reduction in forest canopy from logging also causes increased peak flows following rain events, leading to increased stream bank erosion and bottom “scour.” This kind of erosion can actually produce more sediment than the ground disturbance associated with logging. http://www.dailymail.com/Opinion/Commentary/200802180109

Arkansas-Louisiana-Texas:

21) TORONTO – Manulife Financial Corp. Canada’s largest insurance company and a major asset manager, is getting more heavily into the resources sector with a $US1.7 billion cash and debt deal to acquire a big chunk of U.S. forest land. The deal was announced Tuesday in New York by IStar Financial Inc. a partner in the TimberStar Southwest venture, a company that has agreed to sell the 900,000-acre (364,220-hectare) land portfolio to the Canadian insurance giant. TimberStar Southwest’s lands are in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. They were bought in October 2006 from International Paper for US$1.19 billion. Though it makes its money selling life insurance and through investments and money management fees, Manulife is no stranger to the resources field, which it sees as a good growth vehicle as it manages timber assets for investors. As part of the Toronto company’s multibillion-dollar takeover of Boston-based insurer John Hancock, Manulife acquired and is now one of the world’s largest timerlands managers, with forests in Canada, Australia and the U.S. The company also owns energy interests. The timber holdings are held in the Hancock Timber Resource Group, which manages the trees for institutional investors and wealthy individuals. With logs in increasingly short supply for use in lumber and paper production, prices and profits are expected to rise in the sector. “We are very pleased to reach an agreement with TimberStar on the acquisition of these excellent and highly productive timberlands,” said Hancock Timber Resource Group president Dan Christensen. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5j6Ef1TrJcI2Z0_Ou6eaI2A2lEgrA

Massachusetts:

22) HUBBARDSTON— The first timber harvest at Mount Jefferson in 30 years has begun. Officials hope the forestry and hay lease revenues generated from the Mount Jefferson Conservation area will provide a long-term source of money, while the area will continue to provide recreation opportunities and wildlife habitat. The harvest is part of the Mount Jefferson Conservation Area Stewardship Plan and is aimed at improving habitat for wildlife, producing wood products and protecting water. The plan was prepared by a licensed forester, Roger Plourde of Broad Arrow Forestry, in conjunction with the Hubbardston Conservation Commission and Open Space Committee. Funding for the plan came from a grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection. The trees were marked last winter and the harvest will take place over the next six weeks, unless there is a spring thaw. Ms. Bratko said the harvested wood will be turned into firewood, pulpwood or board-feet lumber, depending on its quality. The current harvest involves about 75 acres on the west side of Mount Jefferson Road. This area was harvested about 30 years ago, leaving a forest dominated by low-quality trees. The current harvest has targeted inferior growth to naturally regenerate a vigorous young forest, while leaving the healthiest trees to increase in value and provide habitat. “We are only taking out the inferior lumber,” Ms. Bratko said. “It is not the best harvest, but it is a necessary harvest.” A variety of techniques will be used to accomplish this, including creating large patches of sapling-size trees amid a mature forest. Planners hope the harvest will promote species such as cherry and oak that produce valuable food for wildlife and useful wood products. Revenue will go into the Fund for Hubbardston Preservation. That money is used for maintaining the town’s recreation facilities or future open space acquisitions. http://www.telegram.com/article/20080219/NEWS/802190605/1008/NEWS02

New York:

23) Albany- You might notice a lot of trees missing along Philema Road at the Parks at Chehaw. It’s part of a project to improve the health of the park. Crews have been thinning the trees in 100 acres in the front of the park. Trees that are diseased have been marked with blue paint and will be cut down to improve the forests’ health. In place of the Loblolly pines, new trees will be planted, but this time a different variety. “What we want to do as we open up some of these areas is come back and plant long leaf pine which was the native vegetation that was found in this area centuries ago. We’re going to restore the long leaf pine in the wire grass areas around the park,” said Doug Porter, The Parks at Chehaw Executive Director. Money raised from the sale of the trees will go toward long term park projects to preserve the landscape. http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=7907304&nav=5kZQ

Tennessee:

24) Small streams disrupted by military training activities or commercial development can be restored with simple and inexpensive measures, according to findings of a group headed by Pat Mulholland of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Researchers from ORNL and Auburn University learned that streams can be adversely affected even if as little as 10 percent of the watershed is disturbed. In their study, conducted at Fort Benning, Ga., the researchers found that revegetating drainage ditches that carry water only during storms and adding dead trees and woody debris to stream channels helped trap smaller organic materials and improve the habitat for stream organisms, including fish. “This project has provided the military with an improved understanding of its effects on streams and a possible approach for mitigating some of those effects,” Mulholland said. The project was named Sustainable Infrastructure Project of the Year by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, which funded the work. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213144617.htm

Florida:

25) President Teddy Roosevelt understood the value of the Ocala National Forest’s “Big Scrub.” A hundred years ago, on Nov. 24, 1908, he signed a bill formally establishing the Forest. Nearly all of the original 165,000 acres was sand pine scrub. Land purchases have enlarged the Forest to 382,318 acres. Up to that point, the land had never been bought or sold or homesteaded. Nobody wanted it. What passers-by may not realize is that the sand pine scrub today is the largest ecosystem of its type in the world. “The scrub is 70 percent of the Ocala National Forest,” said Janet Hinchee, silviculturist for the U.S. Forest Service. The scrub is by far the largest of those systems. It runs roughly 30 miles east from Mill Dam to Astor and stretches 35 miles from north to south. Hinchee said there is a good reason people should care about the scrub. “We don’t think about the oxygen those trees are producing or the water going down into the aquifer,” she said. And then there is the mystery about how the rolling hills were created. There is not a lot of variety in the scrub, Hinchee said. If you know 15 or so trees and shrubs, then you can identify roughly 90 percent of what is there. There is a lack of diversity because the sandy soil drains so quickly, and very few species can thrive in dry conditions. “The world’s largest stand of sand pines is here in Ocala,” Hinchee said. “The trees are not that large. They are not majestic looking. They are crooked with a lot of branches. “The oldest might be 80,” Hinchee said. “Most species in the scrub grow fast and die young.” The sand pine does not have a tap root to anchor it, so strong winds and hurricanes easily topple it. Cutting the trees for timber also reduced the number of older trees, although they likely would have died anyway, Hinchee said. Today, timber is harvested to manage the resources. There is little water and few fires in sand pine scrub. Today, the Forest Service burns areas to mimic the natural fire occurrences and to maintain the ecosystem. Much of the work is done to help preserve the habitat for the threatened scrub jay. Some of the shrubs are also endangered or threatened. U.S. Forest Service botanist William Carromero said scrub plants have adapted to the disturbances, whether hurricanes or catastrophic fires. Among the plants in the scrub are four species of oak, one pine, two palms, one blueberry, scrub bay, scrub holly, green briar, rosemary and scrub mint. http://www.ocala.com/article/20080218/NEWS/802180315/1001/NEWS01

Canada:

26) The battle over the environment has found a new front: the inside of a Kleenex box. “Wiping away ancient forests,” warned a note found inside a box bought recently at a drug store in New York by a stuffy-nosed reporter. “Here’s a little secret that Kimberly-Clark, the largest tissue maker in the world and parent company of Kleenex, does not want you to know.” The not-so-secret secret is that Kimberly-Clark has been fighting with Greenpeace for nearly three years over recycled fibers in its products. Greenpeace says the company is destroying the boreal forest of Canada; Kimberly-Clark says it has begun testing new tissues made with recycled materials. But the bigger mystery is how the leaflet got into the box. “We take any and all comments about any foreign materials in products extremely seriously,” said David Dickson, a spokesman for Kimberly-Clark. He then called corporate security. Dickson said the company has received a handful of calls about the leaflets. None of the leaflet incidents could be confirmed, he said. In one case, a caller complained about the leaflets but left a telephone number that led to a Greenpeace office. The note found by a reporter purportedly came from Greenpeace and referred to its nearly three-year “Kleercut” campaign against the company, which has included disrupting Kleenex commercials as they were being taped in a public area and driving around in a truck shaped like a giant Kleenex box. Greenpeace’s forests campaigner, Rolf Skar, said the leaflet tactic was not officially sanctioned. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/15/AR2008021503198.html

UK:

27) A GESTURE that started out as a way of remembering Adam Griffin has become a lasting legacy to anyone from Claxby. A memorial woodland has been set aside by village farmer Trevor Lyle for anyone wanting to plant a tree in memory of a villager. The initiative sprang from Adam’s close friend and travelling companion Dave Doswe, from Stainton le Vale who wanted to plant trees in tribute to Adam. Trees were felt more appropriate than flowers for someone regarded as a really down-to-earth and pragmatic. Mr Lyle thought it a terrific idea and so a month ago Dave and 30 other members of Adam’s circle of friends and family set to to root 31 trees into a hillside above the village, one for each year of his life – he would have turned 31 on March 9. This was the beginning of a woodland that will continue to grow as villagers chose to plant their own tribute. Adam’s father Ken said it was hoped to plant an additional tree each year. Mr Lyle hopes that an annual open air service will be able to take place at the wood. During his lifetime Mr Lyle will look after the wood and then it will taken on by the parish council, which will also provide a gate to the permissible path access across Mr Lyle’s field high above the village. “It’s purely for the village, just for Claxby as a Claxby memorial wood,” he said. http://www.marketrasenmail.co.uk/news/Trees-are-planted-as-a.3791870.jp

28) South Yorkshire Forest was one of a number of similar organisations established by the Government across the UK following the first Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. Ministers were concerned that Britain’s tree cover was just seven per cent, compared with a European average of 27 per cent. SYF hoped to increase woodland from 7 per cent to 14 per cent in 30 years – and the proportion of the county now covered by trees has risen to 10.3 per cent. Ted Talbot, an officer with SYF said: “Now the challenge is to keep the momentum going. New woodland can provide a resource for carbon-neutral fuel and construction, leisure and can have an added benefit by increasing house values. “And each new hectare of woodland soaks up 23-and-a-half tonnes of carbon each year, the equivalent of that produced by three-and-a-half households.” Mr Talbot said the project started slowly but has mushroomed over the last six years, when a million trees were planted at 87 new sites. Some 29 more sites have been identified for further new woodland. In Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster, areas targeted have mainly been former colliery sites, while in Sheffield, land has included the old Beighton landfill site – where there are now 2,000 new trees – plus parks, open spaces and next to playing fields. Species planted include ash, beech, birch, holly, maple, oak and sycamore. SYF is also involved in helping to replace Sheffield’s urban trees, which cover whole suburbs but are nearing the end of their lives. The project has so far been funded through a £2 million grant from the European Union Objective One fund, but is now seeking further money from regeneration agency Yorkshire Forward to provide cash incentives for landowners to plant trees. http://www.thestar.co.uk/features/South-Yorkshire-forest-just-keeps.3785356.jp

29) Sometimes we have very little, or out of date information with which to record a war memorial. Recently we recorded a memorial from a copy of a souvenir booklet produced in 1922. The memorial commemorated 26 men of the Essex villages of Downham, Ramsden and Ramsden Bellhouse and was to consist of 27 oak trees, planted by next of kin, each to commemorate one person who had died in the First World War. A tablet was attached to each tree, inscribed with the name, regiment, and place of death of the soldier. The tablets were fixed with a length of telephone cable cut from a reel used in the war and brought back from France. The first tree planted had a memorial tablet opposite with the names of all the villagers who had lost their lives. 19 trees were planted on the 21 October 1922 and it was planned to plant the remaining 8 trees when their next of kin were available, although we do not know if these were ever planted. Mr William Leslie, the man responsible for the planting of the trees had the following aspirations for them: “A tree, however, or a row of trees, is not easy to plant successfully; it is not enough to suppose that when once trees begin to take root they will grow without further care; and the villagers therefore, like others who plant trees, must see to it that their young oaks are tided over the perils of infancy.” Do you know what happened to these oak trees? Were the other eight trees ever planted? Did they survive the last 80 years? Do local people still know that they were planted as memorials to those killed in the First World War? Do any of their relatives still live in the village? Please tell us if you know anything about these trees! http://ukniwm.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/what-happened-to-the-downham-oak-trees/

EU:

30) EU targets for renewable energy in transport will indeed increase the demand for biofuels, but the directive makes clear that this demand should be met in a sustainable way. Although the directive does not include specific criteria on social issues, they are not ignored. The commission will monitor the impact of the policy on food security and on wider development issues, reporting every two years. Your article focuses on the social damage caused by deforestation. The directive contains substantial measures to discourage deforestation for the production of biofuels, and to encourage the use of ‘idle lands’ for instance to be reforested. As well as potential negative effects, it is important to be aware of the potential positive effects of biofuel promotion, in terms of economic growth and employment opportunities for people living on low incomes in rural areas. Some 70 percent of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas in developing countries. I would therefore urge a more balanced approach to the question of the social impact of biofuels. Yours truly, Ferran Tarradellas – Spokesperson for Energy in the European Commission http://euobserver.com/7/25681

France:

31) France has about 65,000 square miles of forest. That’s equivalent to the area of Wisconsin. And it means forests cover nearly a third of the overall surface area of France. It’s fairly surprising when you think that the country has nearly 65 million inhabitants and is “only” about the size of Texas (which has “only” 20 million inhabitants). The French forests seem to be pretty strictly managed. There are almost no areas where first-growth forest remains, of course — people have lived on this land forever. Here in Touraine and around the country, patches of forest and woods are cut periodically and then allowed to grow up again. A lot of oaks grow here, but there aren’t very many big trees. A lot of people heat their houses with wood, and some do so exclusively. Other houses, like ours, have an oil-fired or electic boiler and radiators in addition to a fireplace or wood-burning stove. Many places we looked at before deciding on this one had no central heat, just a big fireplace. The climate is not harsh, though it does get cold. The vineyard we live on the edge of is otherwise surrounded by woods. These are constantly being cut for firewood, and you seen big piles of logs along the sides of little country lanes when you drive around the region. You also see big woodpiles in people’s yards and outbuildings. We have almost burned up all the wood we bought three summers ago. I hope we will be able to find some more to buy this year, but it’s not always easy. It’s especially not easy to find someone who will deliver several cords of wood to your driveway.
I have to start asking friends, neighbors, and other locals, including the bread lady and the vineyard owners, if they know where I can buy some. And of course I’ll ask the guy we bought wood from last time. He does gardening work periodically for our neighbors, and maybe he’ll be able to get wood for us and deliver it again like last time. http://ckenb.blogspot.com/2008/02/firewood-and-managing-forests.html

Angola:

32) Lubango, 02/21 – Angolan Agriculture deputy minister for the Forests sphere, André de Jesus Moda Thursday expressed his worry with the illegal cutting down of trees in the districts of Matala, Jamba and Kuvango, south Huíla province. Speaking to the press, in Lubango city, at the end of a four-day work visit to the region, the official urged local competent authorities to take measures aimed at stemming this evil, otherwise it could negatively affect the ecological balance. André Moda referred that supervising teams of the Forest Development Institute (IDF) should intensify their activity, not only in those localities, but also in other province-based areas, where the deforestation is a reality. André Moda, who is expected back to Luanda this Thursday, has already visited the Forest Area of Humpata district, the aforestation zone of Otite, and travelled to Matala, Jamba and Kuvango localities to learn on the situation of local forests. http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=597495

Mexico:

33) I founded that seasonality and habitat type (pasture, forest edge or forest interior) had a strong effect on reptile’s abundance and composition, while seasonality, habitat type and edge orientation had a strong effect on amphibian’s abundance and composition. During wet season the combination of canopy cover, temperature and leaf litter cover best explained amphibian and reptile pattern; during dry season the combination of distance to streams, temperature, leaf litter depth and leaf litter cover best explained amphibian and reptile pattern (Picture 8). Determining the distribution of amphibians and reptiles across the pasture, forest edge and forest interior gradient and their relationship with microhabitat will allow for the creation of robust tools for conservation and management of the herpetofauna in highly fragmented tropical landscapes. This work provides robust data on natural history of Los Tuxtlas lowlands herpetofauna, complements the edge effect theory on tropical environments and propose concrete local management and conservation strategies for the amphibians and reptiles. I propose to maintain in the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve the forest remnants in the lowlands that have gentler slopes and a deep cover of leaf litter, a dense understorey, and high relative humidity and low temperature, to buffer the effects of edge related environmental changes and the invasion of species from the matrix. I suggest that high connectivity among habitats will facilitate the dispersal of edge species between forest patches and that habitat restoration projects must consider edge orientation and seasonal movements of species to ensure high habitat quality in degraded landscapes (Picture 9). Future research efforts most focus on the mechanisms that determine amphibian and reptile’s distribution in rainforest interiors to better understand their seasonal fluctuations, population ecology and their threats to extinction. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0220-urbina.html

Brazil:

34) The Amazon rainforest is rapidly disappearing, and with it goes the only habitats for thousands of rare, threatened and endangered species. But now 181 of those endangered species have support in the Brazilian state of Pará, which yesterday launched the “Zero Extinction Program” to protect threatened species and habitats. Why Pará? Simple: it may be the keystone state for preserving the Amazon in Brazil. While Pará is the second largest Brazilian Amazon state (1.25 million km2, roughly twice the size of Texas), it is first in terms of Amazon deforestation. Of the 679,899 km2 of cleared Amazon rainforest, 202,906 km2 are in Pará. The program includes a red list of endangered species, species recovery plans, and identification of what it calls “Key Biodiversity Areas” for conservation. Will Pará be able to stem the tide of Amazon destruction? Only time will tell, but this is an important first step. http://www.plentymag.com/blogs/extinction/2008/02/brazilian_state_aims_for_zero.php

35) RIO DE JANEIRO | A mob of 2,000 people burned tires, blocked roads and attacked federal agents who sought to crack down on illegal Amazon logging, but officials vowed Wednesday that riots would not halt law enforcement. Brazil’s Environmental Protection Agency abandoned efforts to audit logging companies and sawmills suspected of illegal logging on Tuesday after mobs surrounded its workers and tried to invade a sawmill in a “public revolt” in the Amazonian town of Tailandia, the agency said on its Web site. The Globo TV network, Brazil’s largest, said protesters ransacked Tailandia’s courthouse, destroying computers, breaking windows and setting fire to the building. Police fired tear gas at the rioters and questioned four suspects to identify the looters. Many of the rioters work in the area’s saw mills, which could suffer as a result of the inspections. Sawmill owners provoked unrest by threatening to fire workers questioned by officials, the environmental agency said. But the government pledged Wednesday to resume its so-called “Guardians of the Amazon” crackdown on the illegal logging in the world’s biggest rain forest, said Flavio Montiel, director of the environmental agency. The crackdown began last week, when 130 environmental workers began inspecting Tailandia’s estimated 140 sawmills. Of 10 mills audited, five were fined for stocking lumber of unknown origin and for selling lumber without authorization, the environmental agency said. It seized 17,003 cubic yards of illegal lumber, including top Brazilian hardwoods — enough to fill 640 trucks, the agency said. But inspectors were surprised Tuesday by “an enraged mob” that blocked roads and forced them to flee under the protection of 70 police officers. http://www.kansascity.com/news/world/story/498400.html

Thailand:

36) BANGKOK – Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej supports the idea of planting eucalyptus trees in rice fields nationwide, saying the fast-growing plant is so useful to people and harmless to environment. The prime minister endorsed the idea proposed by Science and Technology Minister Wutthipong Chaisaeng to promote the growing of eucalyptus trees in rice fields so that the plant could be used as raw material for bio-diesel production. Besides, Mr. Samak said, the roots and leaves of eucalyptus trees can be used as fertilizer in order to increase yields of rice. About 100 eucalyptus trees grown in one rai (1 acre =2.5 rai) of farmland may produce five tonnes of eucalyptus wood in a five-years time. Eucalyptus trees provide no harms to other plants or the environment, as earlier feared, the prime minister assured. http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=2912

Australia:

37) Almost 10 years ago, Greg Downes had a vision of transforming an overgrown piece of bushland west of Woombye into a native tropical rainforest. After removing tens of thousands of weeds, including camphour laurels and lantana, from the 13 hectare site at the headwaters of Petrie Creek, Mr Downes and representatives from the Petrie Creek Catchment Group planted more than 15,000 trees to build up the rainforest, which had been depleted following years of clearing for farmland. In doing so, he was able to save a number of plant species listed as rare or threatened with extinction. “We found that of all the listed species that were threatened with extinction, one third of them were found on this land, which was very significant,” Mr Downes said. The Floydia Bushland Conservation Reserve will be officially opened to the public on Saturday, March 1, at White Cedar Place, West Woombye, with a field day from 2pm to 4pm featuring guided walks and talks from local experts. http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/feb/21/win-nature/