043OEC’s This Week in Trees

This week we have 36 news items from British Columbia, Oregon, California, Montana, Idaho, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, USA, Finland, Congo, Colombia, Uruguay, India, Vietnam, Philippines, Australia, World-wide

British Columbia:

1) China has 1,600 giant pandas. Africa has 3,610 black rhinoceroses. East Asia has 4,500-7,350 snow leopards. Canada has only 1,670 mountain caribou. MOUNTAIN CARIBOU: DEATH BY PLANNING PROCESS The world’s only mountain caribou are living on the edge of extinction in the Inland Rainforest of British Columbia, sometimes referred to as BC’s Interior Wetbelt. The BC Species At Risk Coordination Office (SaRCO) is asking for public input on whether five of the herds should be allowed to die out. The spotlight of blame is being focused upon wolves and cougars, and the killing of these predators is receiving far more attention than maintaining and restoring habitat. SaRCO is proposing to reduce the decline of the other herds in a rapid timeframe. VWS has been advised by biologists that this most likely would entail a predator extermination program. This would only prop up the caribou numbers long enough for the timber industry to cut the rest of their habitat. THE DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC INPUT IS NOVEMBER 30. Please send a letter to Mark Zacharias/Species at Risk Coordination Office/Ministry of Agriculture and Lands/Fax 250-953-3752 à After 20 years of scientific reports, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what is needed to save caribou 1. No more clearcutting in caribou habitat. 2.) No more logging of old-growth forest in caribou habitat. 3) Permanent, legislated protection of large areas of old-growth forest. 5) Habitat recovery programs on existing clearcuts and along roads including thinning of young forest and removal of thick brush along roads. 5) A commensurate reduction in the rate of logging. 6) Winter Seclusion from helicopters and snowmobiles. http://www.vws.org

2) Nanaimo — At a pre public meeting with BC Parks yesterday, to establish possible locations for additional parking lots in Cathedral Grove’s MacMillan Park, the Western Canada Wilderness Committee was appalled at the deliberate misrepresentation of facts, environmental options and lack of science to be presented to the public tonight in Port Alberni. “The effort behind the presentation tonight is not enough to catch up to where we should be on this important issue,” explains Annette Tanner, WCWC Mid Island spokesperson. “The presentation clearly misframes and dismisses arguments of options from third parties by creating the government’s own renditions and misrepresenting them intentionally.” “With an inadequate period of three weeks to respond to the information that will be presented tonight, the government website should have been tested for problems of accessing and downloading the information,” continues Tanner. “The rendition that the public will view tonight is a pathetic attempt to justify former plans that show incompetence and an unwillingness to deal with environmental facts and problems posed by issues The public will be subjected to the “same old, same old” options that use a business model for creating mall sized parking lots,” recounts Tanner. http://media.wildernesscommittee.org/news/2005/11/1512.php

3) A B.C. forest industry group says companies here should consider moving their wood product manufacturing to China to take advantage of lower wages there.
B.C. already exports low-grade lumber to China, where it goes through the re-manufacturing process and is then re-sold around the world. Coast Forest Products Association president Rick Jeffery says Chinese manufacturers have a financial advantage over B.C. companies. “They have access to a workforce at very low wages, and it’s a very motivated workforce.” The association says B.C. needs to develop a plan on how to compete with wood products made in China – suggesting that could include taking advantage of that cheaper Chinese labor. –Vancouver Sun

Oregon:

4) Tree revetments are groups of felled trees placed against stream walls where streams take sharp, angular turns in direction. The trees are small, averaging 6 feet in length, and are placed with their tops pointed downstream. They are held together in succession, one after another, by a thin cable that is looped through a hole drilled in each tree’s trunk. With the cable fastened to a stake that is firmly planted in the stream bed, the trees remain in place. Each revetment involves about 30 trees and takes about four stakes to keep in place. During high water, the trees create a rough water passage area and slow water flow velocity. The slowdown causes sediment to deposit, providing a medium for riparian vegetation. The slowdown also decreases turbidity. The tree revetments of today are a breakaway from the more drastic rock revetments of the past. “Rock revetments look great, but it’s really not natural” to stream bed habitat, said Eric Riley, project manager and director for the conservation district. Riley said rock revetments are known to eventually wash away and scatter, introducing unnatural rock throughout a stream bed. Tree revetments, however, erode away naturally with time. The stakes and cable remain in place but are buried beneath sediment and trees and plants. Douglas Soil and Water Conservation District conducts 10-20 tree revetments a year throughout Douglas County. The agency responds to any problem area, whether it’s on public or private land. http://www.newsreview.info/article/20051114/NEWS/51114014

5) Regarding some of the Oct. 26 letters to the editor, it appears the Statesman Journal’s coverage of how reckless logging can harm our rivers, streams and wildlife has struck a nerve. The reality is that Oregonians today value our forests for far more than logging. The public wants these resources managed to protect a variety of values, from providing opportunities for outdoor recreation such as hiking, hunting and fishing to safeguarding habitat for threatened wildlife such as wild salmon and bald eagles. Some in the logging industry still long for the “good old days,” when things like salmon, clean water and outdoor recreation took a back seat to clear-cuts. But for the Oregon taxpayers who were left to deal with the legacy of mudslides, endangered species listings and degraded rivers, the “good old days” don’t seem quite as rosy. Rather than trying to turn back the clock, logging interests should look to the future and the common-sense compromise that has been forged in the Siuslaw by local timber businesses, the forest service and conservation groups such as the Oregon Natural Resource Council. Conservation-based thinning programs can both produce wood for local mills and improve habitat for wildlife. It is time to move forward. — Mari Anne Gest, Salem http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051115/OPINION/511150308/1050

California:

6) In Northern California, a grove of ancient redwood trees, some measuring 42 feet around, are part of a 250-acre logging plan in the Nanning Creek area by Maxxam Corporation’s Pacific Lumber Company. Pacific Lumber (PL) has been clearcutting thousands of acres of old growth forests at ‘liquidation logging’ speed for the past 20 years, since Maxxam made a hostile takeover of the family-owned timber company. Civil disobedience, lawsuits, offers by well-funded conservation groups, and international attention have consistently aimed at protecting and bringing attention to the importance of the forests and communities affected by Maxxam/PL’s destructive practices. Now, PL is on its 5th day of cutting what is known to be the largest, contiguous unprotected tract of ancient redwood forest remaining in the world. Activists currently maintain a tree sit about 300 feet in the air in Nanning Creek , which is only a mile east from the dying Pacific Lumber Company town, and are inviting other concerned people to mobilize at Redwood Winter Renewal Camp for non-violent actions to protect the Nanning Creek Grove. “Through the courts and the regulatory agencies, environmental groups and the public have exhausted available administrative remedies. Because those charged with preserving the area have failed to do so, other actions will be taken to save the ancient grove. The Redwood Renewal Camp is at Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park. For more info, Humboldt Forest Defenders invite people to call (707) 825-6598. http://www.HeadwatersPreserve.org Thank you for your love and support and we look forward to hearing from you! May The Forest Be With You. http://ferngully.wesavetrees.org/

7) U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer issued a preliminary injunction blocking a timber sale known as the “Ice Project,” saying the U.S. Forest Service had ignored extensive research on how commercial logging would affect wildlife in the region. The lawsuit was brought by several environmental groups.”We hope they’re finally getting the message,” said Deborah Reames, an attorney with Earthjustice, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit. The project would have hurt the current wildlife, some of which are at the point of extinction, she said. “They’re reasoning for going ahead with the Ice Project was based on totally outdated science,” Reames said. Breyer, who halted a similar project in September, questioned the scientific analysis used to justify cutting trees in and around the Giant Sequoia National Monument in the Central Valley. The Forest Service said sales such as the “Ice Project” help preserve logging jobs and the natural ecosystem. Matt Mathes, a spokesman for the Forest Service in California said the project, along with 10 others, was grandfathered in and therefore not covered by monument rules. The sale was approved before Congress declared Sequoia National Forest a national monument in 2000. The designation generally prevents further logging on thousands of acres in Tulare County. The National Monument sits in Sequoia National Forest. The forest is one of 18 that cover about a fifth of California, according to the Forest Service. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/13166986.htm

8) Redwood National and State Parks contain more than 50,000 acres of second-growth forests commercially logged between 1945 and 1978. A critical element of the park’s 1968 establishment and 1978 expansion was the restoration of previously logged lands to their original old-growth forest conditions. The Whiskey 40 unit, located along Bald Hills Road between Lady Bird Johnson Grove and Gans Prairie, was selected for experimentation. This 40-acre second-growth stand was harvested in 1962 and aerially seeded with coniferous trees after clear-cut logging. Prior to 1995, the stand averaged 2200 trees per acre. In 1995, the park initiated the first of three thinning projects, originally planned for 20-year intervals. The first such thinning project in the fall of 1995 targeted all trees under five inches in diameter and all exotic tree species. The result was a 73 percent reduction in tree density within the Whiskey 40 unit. In 2004, park staff concluded that the 1995 thinning had not opened the canopy to permit sufficient sunlight to reach the forest floor. To accelerate the restoration of healthy forest conditions, the park staff will now conduct additional thinning operations on 26 acres within the Whiskey 40 unit. A 4-acre control unit and an additional 10 acres will not be thinned at this time, maintaining a small area for comparative data analysis. All culled trees will be left on site after cutting to encourage growth of the forest understory. Chipping will occur within 50 feet of Bald Hills Road to reduce the fire potential along the roadway. http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=5762

Montana:

9) FOREST PLAN COULD ALLOW MOTORIZED USE IN THE SMITH RIVER CANYON — Imagine after waiting two years to draw a float permit you are finally settled into camp after a tranquil day of floating, enjoying the solitude and beauty of this special river. Suddenly the rattle and roar of ATVs noisily pierce the silence reverberating off the canyon walls as a caravan of four-wheelers ride by headed for your planned evening fishing spot. The Lewis and Clark National Forest is in the process of updating the travel plan for the Little Belt Mountains, including the Tenderfoot/Deep Creek Roadless Area that skirts the banks of the Smith River. The travel plan will determine where motorized vehicle use is allowed-and which areas will be reserved for a quiet, non-motorized experience. At present, almost every trail in the Little Belt Mountains is open to motorized vehicle use. This oversized, motor-driven trail system promotes damage to the forest and particularly to Smith River tributaries that are so vital to the river’s fishery. Each year more ORVs invade the forest. With more off-road vehicles covering greater distances, the result is more noise, more damage to trails, and more noxious weeds. Fish are disturbed in the river, wildlife is displaced and conflicts arise with floaters, anglers, horseback riders, hunters, and hikers. Increasing ORV use can disturb the campsites of fishermen and floaters, spoiling quiet evenings on the river’s edge. http://www.nativeforest.org

10) BOZEMAN — Sen. Conrad Burns plans a hearing on federal land management issues such as logging, motorized use and wilderness designations, and intends to limit comment to invited parties. “The Forest Service has a clear multiple-use (of the land) mandate,” said Burns, who has scheduled the hearing for Dec. 2 in Missoula. “I am not convinced that the Forest Service is following this mandate when it makes critical decisions during the planning process on how forests in Montana will be managed.” The meeting is not an open public forum, according to Burns’s office. People invited to the hearing include representatives of the Forest Service, the wood-products industry, motorized users of federal lands and wilderness advocates, according to Burns’s office. http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2005/11/15/build/state/50-burns-forests.inc

Idaho:

11) A new University of Idaho study shows that nearly two-thirds of all loggers in Idaho, Montana and Washington state are 40 years old or older, raising warning signs in traditional timber communities that rely on the industry. What’s more, if loggers become scarce, it may be difficult to muster crews for forest-thinning projects that help protect rural communities from wildfire, some industry officials say. The industry has been hit by bad news recently: Stimson Lumber Co. of Portland, Ore., is laying off 121 workers as it shutters a sawmill in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, because of falling prices, dwindling demand and foreign competition. Boise-Cascade has laid off 70 workers at a La Grande, Ore., sawmill due to rising operating costs. And in late October, Weyerhaeuser announced it would close two Grays Harbor County mills, cutting 342 jobs. “Certainly, when a mill closes like that you’ve got a problem,” Idaho state Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, told The Spokesman-Review newspaper. “And we do have logging contractors that aren’t working. It’s hard to beat the drum to get younger members in.”
UI graduate student Travis Allen has sent out 1,200 surveys to loggers across Idaho, Washington and Montana. He hopes to have data analyzed by early 2006. But in preliminary findings, Allen said it appears those still in the industry are aging — and younger loggers to fill their spots as they retire are showing up in dwindling numbers. The reasons could be globalization in the timber market, fewer timber sales on federal land and high insurance costs, Allen said. http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051114/NEWS06/51114012/1003

Missouri:

12) Last week, a 10-member Forest Service team carried out a prescribed burn on 208 acres southwest of Rolla. The Forest Service said it will promote woodland health by reducing hazardous fuels and restoring the ecosystem. Proposed revisions to the Mark Twain forest plan call for as much as a fourfold increase in prescribed burning over the next 15 years. Native Americans used fire regularly to keep the forest more open than it is today, said Laura Watts, a Forest Service planner who worked on the proposed Mark Twain forest plan update. A study in January found that thousands of acres of red, scarlet and black oak in the Mark Twain have “experienced oak mortality” and attacks from the red oak borer. A likely cause for the declining forest health is the lack of historical fire regimen, the study found. Jerry Presley, a consulting forester with the Missouri Forest Products Association and former director of the state Conservation Department, said his group opposes such extensive prescribed burning to restore natural forest. “If we walked away from our forest today and didn’t do anything over a certain period of time, all of the trees would be oak and hickories with just a few pine trees here and there. It’s a natural forest.” The U.S. Forest Service now uses prescribed burns on 10,000 to 17,000 acres a year. Elsewhere in Missouri, the state Department of Conservation, the Department of Natural Resources, the National Park Service and the Nature Conservancy all conduct prescribed burns. But the use of fire on the Mark Twain forest could increase to 59,000 to 72,000 acres a year depending on the forest plan chosen. A decision on the new forest plan is expected as early as this month. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/13166035.htm

Indiana:

13) “Yes,” State Forester Jack Seifert said when asked by the Indiana Forest Alliance’s David Haberman if he planned to log the backcountry acreage that spans parts of Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood State Forests. “Thank you for your honesty,” Haberman replied. Seifert joined forest activists Andy Mahler and Joanna Gras at a town-hall-style meeting titled “Logging the State Forests: A forum on public lands management,” sponsored by The Bloomington Alternative. The discussion attracted an overflow crowd to the Bloomington City Council Chambers. The evening’s focus was a logging plan in the IDNR, Division of Forestry, Strategic Plan 2005-2007, released by the DNR in late September. With the exception of 18,000 acres of legally protected Nature Preserves, the plan opens virtually the entire state forest system to logging, including watersheds, steep slopes, and endangered species habitat. Mahler, representing the Indiana State Forest Stewardship Coordinating Committee and nearly every speaker who ventured to the podium, assured Hupfer that southern Indiana citizens will not meekly accede to such a radical shift in public policy on their state forests. “You just watch what’s going to happen over the next few months,” Mahler said. “If you think people are just going to roll over and ignore the fact that you want to increase the logging on state forest by 400 percent ” Mahler argued it is not a question of management, it’s one of the DNR’s priorities. “We feel that the public forest should be protected for those public values that are not readily available from private forest-land,” he said, “habitat for forest wildlife, watershed, recreation opportunities, tourism, and so forth. Public forests are the best reservoirs of biological diversity in our area.” Hupfer and Seifert insisted that the $3.5 million annual revenues that would be generated by the plan’s timber harvests will be used for the forests and not to ease the state’s fiscal crunch. “We don’t need to increase logging in our forests,” she said. “If one percent of our forests are public forests, 99 percent of any forest anywhere else can be logged all you want. I think that one percent should be kept as a place for the species that need those forests, who need them for their survival can live there.” http://www.bloomingtonalternative.com/

Ohio:

14) The danger of a 16,000-acre forest in southeast Ohio being sold to developers or broken up into small private plots has state officials so worried that they want to buy it. For the past 50 years, the Raccoon Ecological Management Area in Vinton County has been the site of timber-growth research by government and private scientists and is a key location for forestry education. It is also prime wildlife and hunting grounds. The forest is up for sale by Escanaba Timber LLC, which supplies pulp for paper production. State officials fear that if the forest is sold, the land could be broken up into small private plots, public access could be denied, and the state could lose its research rights. “It would be a tragic loss of scientific research,” said Andy Ware, assistant chief of the Ohio Division of Forestry. Raccoon forest is the largest privately held tract of forest land in the state. If Ohio purchased it, it would be the fourth-largest state-owned forest, behind Shawnee, Zaleski and Tar Hollow state forests. The department currently owns or manages 500,000 acres, most of it forest land in southeast Ohio. Ware said the forest is crucial to the state’s efforts to study long-range genetic effects on trees, research that can take decades to come to fruition. The research is invaluable in helping the state determine how to manage the 8 million acres of forest in Ohio, he said.”It’s not like this research can be done in Idaho or Florida,” Ware said. “This is the premier forest education site in Ohio.” Ware said losing the forest and having it broken up would be part of a trend of wooded areas being sold into smaller parcels. There are about 410,000 private owners of forest land in Ohio, up from 330,000 a decade ago. http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/13174939.htm

Virginia:

15) For the third time in a row, the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests were named among America’s 10 most endangered forests. No other forests in the lower 48 states have been named three times. The report, published by a nationwide coalition of grassroots groups, can be viewed at www.virginiaforestwatch.org. Spanning the western edge of Virginia and neighboring states, the two national forests provide a backdrop for our daily lives. We rarely contemplate this 1.8 millionacre gift to us from previous generations. And we rarely reflect upon the threats to this important piece of public land. But imagine. More miles of the Appalachian Trail pass through our state than any other state — much of it traversing our national forests. George Washington and Jefferson National Forests face many threats, including over 4,000 miles of roads; increasing logging; incursions in unroaded areas, logging in old-growth forests; gas development in Southwestern Virginia; and off-highway vehicle use in sensitive environments. We are seeing logging in majestic old growth forests. According to the Forest Service’s own Regional Old Growth Guidance, “old growth forests are rare or largely absent in the southeastern forests of the United States,” comprising only 1/2 of 1 percent of total forest acreage. Amazing old growth 130- to 315-years-old was logged in the Hoover Creek timber sale. Logging of old growth has also occurred elsewhere on the forest — including the Peters Mountain North, Overly Run, Parkers Gap, Johnson Mountain, and Sugartree areas. We are already seeing timber projects in several highly deserving roadless areas that have not been formally recognized or protected by the agency. For example, parts of Big Schloss and Barbours Creek RARE II areas, some of the first roadless areas identified by the Forest Service, will soon be logged. The Toms Branch timber sale, visible from a large outcrop near the edge of Barbours Creek wilderness, is part of an unprotected portion of the Barbours Creek RARE II area. http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/wb/xp-40896

16) Tennessee – From the air, the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee look like the coat of a once-beautiful animal with a debilitating case of mange. Mountaintops are laced with strangely shaped bald spots, where trees give way to brushy undergrowth. Giant hunks have been bitten out of the mountainsides, revealing sores of crumbling sand, broken rock and black tar. Once-neat layers of sediment are visibly torn asunder, cascading down hillsides. Strange top-hat-shaped protrusions of land rise up sharply. For miles and miles, it looks as if someone took a giant potato peeler to the side of the range. Several groups of residents here, shocked to realize the extent of the strip mining going on in their area, have been working doggedly to stop the mines wherever possible and slow down the process. Paloma Galindo’s chihuahua skittered ahead of her, jumping back when a small cascade of loose rocks and dirt at the Egan Mountain mine in Tennessee tumbled down a jagged cliff created by the type of mountaintop removal mining that has left the mountains of Appalachia increasingly scarred, pocked and leveled. Galindo, an environmental activist with the group United Mountain Defense who has come to know the mines of Tennessee like the back of her hand, gestured toward a scrub-covered hillock at the end of a gently sloping meadow, a “reclaimed” strip mine that was once home to lush forest. “It looks like it’s back to its original shape, but it acts like a big sponge,” she said of the hillside, which was reconstructed out of rubble after part of the mountain was blasted away to get at coal seams. “It’s all broken rock slapped on there and compacted with no hydrological system, so it will soak up water, and five years down the line you’ll get massive landslides. Then the mining company will have already bonded out so the cost will fall on the taxpayers.” During a flyover of Egan and other mines in eastern Tennessee and Kentucky the next day, landslides of the type Galindo was describing were visible: gashes of jumbled gray boulders, upended trees and debris cutting through the autumn colors. http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=2599

17) The state’s hemlock trees are coming under attack by man at the same time that a deadly exotic insect is targeting them. State park rangers found 2,700 hemlock seedlings and saplings dug from the Grundy State Forest Natural Area near Tracy City. They arrested three local men, all of Palmer, Tenn., whose case goes before the Grundy County Grand Jury today. Two of the men said they were just trying to make ends meet. They said they intended to sell the hemlocks to a plant nursery. Tree and plant rustling are nothing new. Reynolds pulled his gun and one of the men took off, according to a report Reynolds filed. King was later arrested after Reynolds called for help from other rangers. Troy King and Marvin Phillips are charged with vandalism and theft of property. Randy King faces those charges, plus evading arrest. “We put every one of the trees back in the ground as soon as we could,” Christof said. “I believe 99% died. It’s so hard to transplant a hemlock.” The lightly developed mountain area and its public resources hold a temptation, she said. “Some people think of the woods as their backyard and a common ground and don’t think of cutting it, or taking plants, as theft,” she said. “It’s ironic this happened because the hemlock species is under siege by the woolly adelgid bug, and this is one of the few places where the plant is really thriving.” About half the hemlock stands in the eastern forests of the country are infested, with the pests causing up to 80% mortality, according to the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service. http://www.dicksonherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051114/NEWS03/511140347/1297/MTCN02

Alabama:

18) Touching on the economic benefits of forestry, Ketchum said the Alabama paper industry uses seven billion tons of pulp per year from state forests. “In terms of value, Alabama is second only to Georgia in the paper products shipped to world markets.” That paper manufacturers are selling off their woodlands “definitely affects the price of the product.” The Alabama forest products industry employs 205,000: This means one in nine jobs in the state are related to the forest industry, generating an annual payroll of $4 billion per year. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15578876&BRD=2235&PAG=461&dept_id=439676&rfi=6

Louisiana:

19) Shea Penland nosed his truck along a mud-covered street, past uprooted trees, cars leaning crazily on fences, torn-off roofs, and piles of ruined furniture, wallboard and shingles – the waterlogged evidence that Hurricane Katrina had been through the New Orleans suburb of Chalmette. Heading south on Route 308, a two-lane strip that barely rises above the acres of salt-marsh grass and open water glimmering in the sun. Here and there, the leafless trunk of a dead oak tree rose from the grass. Dr. Penland said these gray skeletons signaled that this wetland was once a freshwater marsh dry enough for a tree to grow. “The whole surface is sinking,” said Abby Sallenger, another coastal scientist with the agency. “It’s almost changing before your eyes. It’s grassland turning into open water, the ponds turn into lakes.” According to the Geological Survey, since the 1930’s Louisiana has lost more than 1,900 square miles of wetland, an area as large as Delaware. The Geological Survey estimates that if things continue as they are, 700 square miles more will vanish by 2050. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/15/science/earth/15marsh.html?pagewanted=1

USA:

20) American Lands Alliance with the Heritage Forests Campaign and other partner organizations have launched a citizen petition drive to request that the Bush administration reinstate the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule that limited logging and road-building on nearly 60 million acres of national forests. The petition will be filed under the auspices of the “Administrative Procedures Act,” which allows citizens to request that the government, issue, amend, or revoke federal rules. Sign the Petition
A petition with all of the signatures will be presented to President Bush and the Department of Agriculture. Additionally, a copy of the petition will be delivered to your Governor. Click here to sign the petition TODAY! http://www.net.org/petition.php?partner=ALA

Finland:

21) HELSINKI, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Finland’s state logging firm said on Wednesday it would take a break from felling trees in part of Lapland’s forests, a move that follows a United Nations call for a suspension after complaints from reindeer herders. Earlier this week, the U.N. Human Rights Committee recommended the government suspend logging after three herders from Nellim, in Finland’s far north, complained about logging in key reindeer-grazing areas and asked for 27,000 hectares (67,000 acres) of land to be protected. State logging company Metsahallitus said it would decide on any resumption of logging in the area only after the government put its case to the United Nations, for which it has six months, and after the United Nations responds. The dispute relates to a long-standing complaint about land rights by Lapland’s indigenous Sami people, who make up a significant proportion of reindeer herders. They say the state-owned lands where reindeer graze are vital for preserving their culture and their herds. Metsahallitus, which says existing protection for state- owned forests is sufficient, said that in the meantime it would try to find suitable logging areas elsewhere in northern Lapland.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16390382.htm

Congo:

22) The world’s second largest rainforest expanse found in the Democratic Republic of Congo is threatened by new illegal timber concession allocations. Nearly 150,000 square kilometers of have been allocated to timber companies within the last three years in violation of an existing “moratorium” or ban on new logging concessions. Africa’s rainforest ecosystems – vitally essential for local, regional and global ecological sustainability – are threatened by illegal logging, as are virtually all of the World’s remaining large, contiguous rainforests. These rainforests provide critical habitat to indigenous, local and by virtue of their ecosystem services and biodiversity – all of the Earth’s peoples and species. Meanwhile WWF, and even Greenpeace and Rainforest Action Network, advocate misguided policies to log many if not most of the Earth’s ancient forests in an “environmentally sustainable” manner. Environmentally sustainable ancient forest logging is perhaps the ultimate oxymoron. Natural rainforest management in an ecologically sustainable manner is impossible. Once logged ancient forests are no longer primary forests, and they enter a period of permanent and ultimately fatal decline. http://forests.org/blog/2005/11/africas_massive_illegal_rainfo.html

Colombia:

23) The Fundación GAIA of Colombia reports that Forests.org’s alert on behalf of Colombia’s rainforests has already had positive impact. “The debates on the Forestry law are taking place every Tuesday in the House of Representatives. Last Tuesday, the opposition used the letter signed by environmental NGOs. It had impact. Those who promoted the project did not succeed in getting it approved. The debate continues next Tuesday. We made progress in the sense that it has been accepted that the concept of “vuelo forestal” (separating rights to land from rights to the forest cover, PV) will not be applied to indigenous or afro-colombian territories. In spite of this, they want to cancel all norms that protect natural forests.” http://forests.org/action/alert.asp?id=colombia

Uruguay:

24) FRAY BENTOS, Uruguay — From the dusty clearing where earthmovers roll between stacked eucalyptus logs here, Argentina is little more than a stone’s skip away, directly across the Uruguay River. But in the months since two European companies began working to transform this drowsy town into a world capital of paper production, the bitterness flowing between the two countries has created a distance between them that seems wider than the shining ribbon of water. Uruguay expects a robust economic boost from the two cellulose plants — the largest capital investment in the country’s history — but Argentine officials are working to block the project, arguing that the pulp factories will pollute their land with toxic runoff and the chemical stench of rotten eggs. To retaliate, officials in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos recently threatened to shut off a pipeline that pumps natural gas across the border. At the end of a long holiday weekend in October, Argentine protesters blocked access to the main bridge spanning the river, creating highway backups that stretched for miles. Argentine President Néstor Kirchner recently wrote to the World Bank asking it to refuse partial financing of the factories, while Uruguay’s president, Tabaré Vasquez, countered with his own letter urging bank support. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002624226_uruguay15.html

India:

25) Mapusa Nov 14: Even though the Assagao comunidade yesterday unanimously revoked its earlier approval given to Mapusa businessman, Mr Freddy Fernandes to set up the Saturday Night Bazaar on the Assagao hill, its bazaar-troubles are far from over.The forest department today summoned and grilled both, the special attorney to the Assagao comunidade, Mr Cajetan Raposo as well as Mr Freddy Fernandes in connection with the illegal cutting of over 33 trees and bushes in Assagao. The chief conservator of forests, Mr A K Wahal, when contacted said that action could be taken even against the Assagao comunidade because they gave permission to clear the bushes, which they should not have done in the first place. He said action under the Goa Tree Preservation Act, 1948, is being considered and that the range forest officer (RFO), Panaji, is investigating the case. The inquiry will continue, Mr Wahal said. The RFO Panaji, Mr Deepak Pednekar confirmed he had summoned Mr Raposo and Mr Fernandes for questioning today. Mr Pednekar said he had expected to find out everything about the tree cutting with the questioning of these two, but more and more persons were now coming into the picture. http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=111529

26) Dias claimed approximately 47.445 acres of land will be required for the projects in Kolhan Region, which was likely to affect about 10,000 families and cause deforestation of 57.15 km land. While the tribal organisations have adopted an aggressive posture vowing to sacrifice their lives to protect their land rather than vacate it for development projects, JMM advocated promotion of agriculture sector and agro-based industries in the state. Soren demanded a proper rehabilitation policy before any displacement. He threatened to launch padyatras (marches) across the state against the “anti-people” approach of the government and said it should promote agriculture sectors and small scale industries instead of big industries, if it was really serious about development of the state. Like Soren, Salkhan Murmu, the chief convenor of AAM, which has been organising rallies and demonstrations across the state to mount pressure on the Jharkhand government to implement panchayat (extension to schedule area) Act,1996 (pesa-1996), said AAM was not opposed to development of Jharkhand, but certainly not at the cost of tribals’ interest. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12778

27) A tribal temple on Shervaroyan Peak in the hills of Yercaud in Southern India recently developed several large cracks. Built several centuries ago, the temple has withstood colonization and independence. But of late, a new mine threatens to destroy this historic site. Vedanta, a fast-growing British company, owns a subsidiary – Madras Aluminium Company Limited (MALCO) – that has been strip mining this and nearby peaks for bauxite, the ore that yields aluminium. From where he stands, K. Babu can see the deep red gashes ripped into the hillside barely 100 metres from the temple. He and other community activists charge that MALCO is a heavy weight player in the local economy and politics, and a significant contributor to environmental degradation. “There’s a limit to exploitation. Nothing is sacred any more,” says the president of the local youth federation. “Their only botheration is to excavate more and more. Maintaining ecology is not at all an issue.” MALCO is a small cog in the giant wheel that is Vedanta Resources, a company set up by British billionaire businessman Anil Agarwal. Born in eastern India, he started out as a scrap metal merchant in Mumbai, before moving to London 30 years ago. According to the company’s annual report, it plans to start a massive captive mine in the Niyamagiri hills of Orissa, a smelter in nearby Lanjigarh, and a refinery also in Orissa. According to activists, the projects threaten densely forested areas that are home to tiger, Indian bison, bear, and elephant. The effected human population includes impoverished tribal communities, some of whom charge that Vedanta’s projects are illegal, and that the state and central governments are colluding with the company to circumvent environmental protections. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12783

Vietnam:

28) A recent photo exhibition in Ha Tay, a neighbouring province of Ha Noi, has spawned renewed interest in one of Viet Nam’s age-old symbols: ancient trees. With over 900 photos, the exhibition presented the extraordinary beauty of the trees people take for granted in their daily routines, giving them an opportunity to meditate on the unique story surrounding each tree – whether it still exists or has succumbed in the scramble for the country’s national development. Ha Tay is fertilised with silt from the Hong (Red), Tich, Day, and Nhue rivers, and its temperate climate has made it a home to many of Viet Nam’s oldest trees. The exhibition featured images from a recent photo contest about these ancient trees in Ha Tay, as many are associated with historic sites and other events. For example, the banyan at Dong Temple is still alive after being struck by lightening five times, and even after prolonged wars against foreign aggression. According to the photo’s caption, one of the hollows in the tree’s upper trunk provided safe shelter for the Viet Minh guerrillas during the war against the French. Now it is a favourite haunt for local children. http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01SUN131105

China:

29) It is not just China’s economy that is growing phenomenally. An aggressive afforestation policy, put in place in 2000, has seen large tracts being covered by trees every year. But afforestation efforts are no match for China’s growing demand for wood – much of it a result of domestic policies – increasingly met through imports. With the strong pull its demand for wood exerts on its neighbours, China has been accused of exporting deforestation. Last year, China planted trees in some 7.2 million hectares (MHA) – increasing its total forest area to 175 MHA, says Cao Oingyao of the State Forestry Administration (SFA). The year before, some 8 MHA were afforested, and by the end of 2005, another 7 MHA will be covered. China is doggedly pursuing its goal to increase forest cover to 7 per cent of its area by 2050. These seemingly laudable efforts mask another reality: China faces a deficit of 75 million cubic metres (m3) of wood to meet domestic needs and export industry demands. But it refuses to touch its own forests. Following floods in the Yangtze river catchment in 1998 that killed more than 4,000 people and rendered more than 18 million homeless, China imposed a sweeping ban on logging in twelve provinces, later extended to eighteen. Between 1997 and 2004, Chinese imports of wood almost tripled from 40.2 million m3 to 106.7 million m3, and doubled in value from about US $6 billion to almost US $13 billion, says a joint study by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Indonesia, an GO based in Washington called Forest Trends, and the Chinese Center for Agricultural Policy. The impact this has had on countries supplying wood to China have made it the focus of concern and investigation in recent years. Despite plantations of fast-growing species, the country remains dependant on others like Russia with large tracts of natural forest for large, high-grade logs. China is importing more logs and less plywood, and purchasing pulp, rather than paper – a strategy to keep jobs at home. http://www.centralchronicle.com/20051116/1611304.htm

Philippines:

30) THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT LIFTING THE LOG BAN in effect in 15 of 16 regions of the country anytime soon, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources declared yesterday. “Secretary Defensor has ordered the most extensive log ban in the country so far. We have no plans of lifting it yet,” Environment Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio said during the opening of the three-day National Consultation on Rainforest Reforestation conducted by Haribon. The DENR, however, has allowed several logging permit holders to harvest timber even in provinces covered by the log ban, causing confusion among furniture makers and drawing flak from environmentalists.Environment Secretary Michael Defensor signed at least six memoranda in August allowing eight holders of Industrial Forest Management Agreements (Ifma) and one holder of a Timber License Agreement (TLA) to cut trees and transport logs. “Our forests are important and yet we use it as tools for political patronage, particularly with the current political situation. It’s used as rewards for people loyal to the administration,” Haribon executive director Anabelle Plantilla said in an interview during the consultation. Plantilla was apparently alluding to the DENR’s decision allowing a firm owned by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile to cut trees inside a protected area in Samar and extending the firm’s TLA by another 16 years. “The log ban has minimal impact. The recent orders negate the impact of the ban,” she said. http://news.inq7.net/regions/index.php?index=1&story_id=56752

31) ) ALTHOUGH the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has given him the go-ahead, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile will be violating the Constitution if his logging firm cuts trees inside a protected area on Samar Island, a faculty member of the Ateneo School of Government said yesterday. Lutgardo Barbo, also a former Senate secretary and three-term governor of Eastern Samar, said the logging permit issued to San Jose Timber Corp. (SJTC) posed a conflict of interest for the senator because he obtained it during his term. Section 14, Article 6 of the 1987 Constitution bans senators and congressmen from being “directly or indirectly interested financially in any contract with, or any franchise or special privilege granted by the government” or any of its agencies, including government corporations during the lawmakers’ term, Barbo said. “He shall not intervene in any matter before any office of the government for his pecuniary benefit or where he may be called upon to act on account of his office,” he said in a statement, quoting Article 6. Leaders of environment groups in Samar have lambasted SJTC’s logging permit as a “political concession” to Enrile, who they said lobbied for Environment Secretary Michael T. Defensor’s confirmation in the Commission on Appointments in June. http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=56681

Australia:

32) An environmental group is proposing to buy the rights to the Arcadia forest near Collie, in Western Australia’s south-west, in a bid to stop it being logged. The Forest Products Commission is planning to log the forest as part of next year’s harvest plan. There is concern the logging would increase salinity problems around the Wellington Dam and affect the biodiversity of the area. Campaign coordinator Peter Murphy says recent costing figures produced by a Margaret River businessman have valued the proposed logging area to be worth less than $30,000. Mr Murphy says he will present a proposal to the State Government to buy the rights to conserve the area. “There’s been a long drawn community battle to save Arcadia. It’s a very popular piece of forest in the Wellington catchment and people are now saying they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is and protect this beautiful ecosystem,” he said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1505996.htm

33) ELEANOR HALL: The $250 million forest package announced by the Federal and Tasmanian Governments in March of this year was supposed to put an end to the conflict between the various interest groups in the Tasmanian forest debate. But it seems the latest plans to quarantine more of the State’s forests from logging are pleasing no one. At issue is news that an extra 15 per cent of Tasmania’s forests will be locked up. It’s part of a revised policy outlined by both Federal and State Governments in May this year. The agreement was touted by both governments as a way to end the forestry debate once and for all. But talk to someone like former Liberal leader Bob Cheek and it’s easy to believe the issue will never be resolved. “I went into Parliament as a very pro-development person. I came out having a lot of sympathy for the Green position on there,” says Cheek. “I think John Howard’s gone a long way towards solving the issue, and I think that should be enough for the Greens But it won’t be because the farmers and the loggers will never be happy because they think they should have access to their resource. The Greens don’t think they should have and they’ll never meet in the middle. It’s just the nature of the beast. It’s ingrained into Tasmania. It’s like parochialism between north and south. The forestry industry is very synonymous with Tasmania and there’ll always be a huge divide, I’m afraid. It would be nice to have peace in the forests but when you make a political football out of it, and it’s an issue for the Greens at each election and it’s an issue for country areas to be pro-development and pro-forestry, it sends an image to everybody that we’re just, that we’re fighting a continual civil war. That’s not good for an image.” http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1508281.htm

World-Wide:

34) The Rainforest Foundation today claimed that new figures released today by the United Nations on the ‘state of the world’s forests’ are misleading, inaccurate and understate the real extent of deforestation and damage to forests globally. The new UN figures purport to show that the rate of “net forest loss is slowing down, thanks to new planting and natural expansion of existing forests”. However, analysis by the Rainforest Foundation indicates that there are major methodological flaws in the UN’s report, especially that: 1) the UN figure for ‘net’ deforestation is grossly misleading, as it conceals the fact that most deforestation is taking place in the world’s tropical rainforests, whereas most of the reforestation and natural re-growth of forests is taking place in the northern hemisphere, and much of this consists of plantations rather than forests. 2) the UN figure is based on a definition of forest as being an area with as little as 10% actual tree cover, which would therefore include areas that are actually savannah-like ecosystems and badly damaged forests; 3) areas of land that presently have no trees on them at all, but that are ‘expected’ to regenerate, are also counted as forests; 4) the UN includes in its data for existing areas of forest those that are covered by industrial tree plantations, which are actually lacking some of the key functions of true forests; These flaws are analysed in detail in a new Rainforest Foundation report, entitled ‘Irrational Numbers: Why the FAO’s Forest Assessments are Misleading”, which is published today to coincide with the release of the new UN figures. http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/fcpage.php?fcpage=1237&language=EN

35) Cambodia has the world’s highest deforestation at a staggering 73% of its primary forests between 2000 and 2005. At 11.9%, Vietnam’s annual rate of natural forest loss is the third highest in the world Brazil loses the largest area of forest annually, and Congo consumes more bushmeat than any other tropical country. These are among the findings from mongabay.com’s analysis of new deforestation figures from the United Nations: Central America — lost 1.3% or 285,000 hectares of its forests each year. South America — where large tracts of the Amazon rainforest are being cleared for cattle ranches and soybean plantations — suffered the largest net loss of forests between 2000 and 2005 of around 4.3 million hectares per year. Africa suffered the second largest net loss in forests with 4.0 million hectares cleared annually. Nigeria and Sudan were the two largest losers of natural forest during the 2000-2005 period, largely due to subsistence activities. At 11.1%, Nigeria’s annual deforestation rate of natural forest is the second highest in the world and puts it on pace to lose virtually all of its primary forest within a few years. Malawi, currently in the midst of a severe drought and famine, has the world’s fourth highest deforestation rate. Tropical Asia — including the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam — lost about 1% of its forests each year. According to FAO, the United States has the seventh largest annual loss of primary forests in the world, according to FAO. In the 2000-2005 period, the United States lost an average of 831 square miles (215,200 hectares, 2,152 square kilometers or 531,771 acres) of such lands which are sometimes termed “old-growth forests.” http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1115-forests.html

36) The National Audubon is a multi-million dollar environmental powerhouse with tens of thousands of members. A recent survey suggests that nearly 50 million Americans bird watch! Yet, go to the American Forest Foundation donor list (an organization loaded with multinational timber corporations who thrive on cutting bird habitat) and you find a most unusual “donor”: the National Audubon Society. One-fifth of all bird species on earth are now facing extinction (some 1,212 species!) and the major cause is habitat loss: mass deforestation and fragmentation of habitat. Why is this organization (Audubon) recognized as the environmental group most associated with our feathery friends colluding with the worst forest destroyers and actually funding their education programs? With one-third of U.S. bird species facing extinction, students and their parents need accurate data on habitat loss. The American Forest Foundation (AFF) produces environmental education materials with the earthy name, Project Learning Tree. One might suspect that any “educational materials” supported by the likes of the Weyerhaeuser, Georgia-Pacific and Sierra Pacific timber companies might be prone to omission or bias. And why would a prominently timber funded curricula have the name “National Audubon” in the midst of its donors? Is it politics, the neutering effect of trying to be centrists or maybe just a simple lack of courage to stand up? The timber industry wields vast financial assets to influence public opinion. It is unseemly to have the credibility of their omission- laced curricula validated by the “protectors of birds”: the National Audubon Society. –John F. Borowski http://www.CommonDreams.org