059OEC This Week in Trees

This week we 35 stories from: Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, California, Colorado, South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Canada, Scotland, Kenya, Mexico, Trinidad, Bhutan and Australia.

Alaska:

1) My wife and I are writing this letter in regards to the appeal filed on the decision for the Emerald Bay timber sale. We have enjoyed the Tongass National Forest together, and with our children for 30 years. I first came to Alaska and the Tongass National Forest in 1975 with my wife. We went to Meyers Chuck, a small community at the tip of the Cleveland Peninsula. My wife’s parents had built a retirement home and we went there to vacation. We strongly feel that logging in this area would have a negative impact on the National Forest, such as fish, wildlife and tourism. We know many people who travel through this area whether it be on cruise ships, ferries, or personal water craft. Many of these people have voiced their displeasure with the logging that has taken place along the waterways of southeast Alaska. The present old growth wooded hills are prime visual attractions for visitors to the region. Tourism is very important to Alaska’s economy and logged areas have a definite visual impact. In closing I would like to acknowledge that there have been many individuals and organizations working hard for many years to keep this area in its natural state for present and future generations to enjoy. My wife and I would like to thank everybody that have been working hard to keep these areas in a state that I believe will benefit the most people. Tom and Jackie Timm Arlington, WA. http://www.sitnews.us/0106Viewpoints/012006_tom_jackie_timm.html

British Columbia:

2) Squamish Off Road Cycling Association (SORCA) officials said they are taking the back seat on the issue of the Powerhouse Plunge being logged. SORCA president Cliff Miller said it made more sense to allow the District to lead the political charge to prevent the popular mountain biking trail from being sold and logged in the future. “I spoke to Mayor Ian Sutherland and they have sent a letter off to Rich Coleman, Minister of Forests and Range, asking him to put a year moratorium on logging in the Powerhouse Plunge,” said Miller. “That is where it stands right now. We are letting the DOS take the lead on this. Our thoughts are the water issues are more important than the trails issues. Bob Simpson, NDP MLA from (Quesnel) Cariboo North said he would also be penning letters in defense of the Plunge. Simpson, who is the official opposition Forest and range critic, was in Squamish this week to support this riding’s NDP candidate Judith Wilson. He said he had personal experience riding the Powerhouse Plunge, and couldn’t imagine it being “ravaged” by loggers. “It is a trail that everyone doing the Test of Metal simultaneously fears and is excited to get to,” Simpson said. “I plan on writing letters to see what I can do to prevent this from happening.” Last week, Squamish’s biking community voiced outrage after it was announced Jan. 12 that the popular trail had been approved for logging. Mayor Ian Sutherland expressed his concern that the area up for logging was also near where more than 80 per cent of Squamish’s water supply comes from. http://www.squamishchief.com/madison%5CWQuestion.nsf/0/6A23B2DADF91C801882570FC007B4A36?OpenDocument

3) It is the middle of winter and I just had the pleasure of walking in one of the rarest ecosystems in Canada. Clusters of bright red berries hung off the abundant Arbutus trees, with smooth orange bark and twisted limbs, fully covered by lush green leaves. The array of colour was further dampened by the gray bark of the Garry oak which are bare except for bright spots of moss and hanging lichens. Most of the ground was covered by leaves with patches of exposed yellow grass, and in between the trees the green of sharp leafed Oregon Grape in such profusion that I can not recall every seeing that much of it anywhere else. A black-tailed deer popped out of the woods but disappeared after taking one look at me. Both the Federal and Provincial Ministries of Environment have identified the Garry oak ecosystem as rare and red-listed them as endangered. They are considered to be on the brink of extinction. While a plant community is identified by its most dominate species, the entire ecology is dependent upon the other parts that make up the whole. Many bulbs and smaller plants die out if the trees that protect them from the elements are removed. The BC Conservation Data Centre concluded: “At least 694 species, subspecies, and varieties of plants have been identified in Garry oak and associated ecosystems in British Columbia. Garry oak ecosystems are home to more plant species than any other terrestrial ecosystem in coastal British Columbia.” Ecosystems that are associated with the Garry oak include maritime meadows, coastal bluffs, vernal pools, grasslands, rock outcrops, and mixed transitional forests. All of these appear in small areas around the Nanoose peninsula. The Notch of Nanoose is that big hill many of us see from a distance as we drive to Nanaimo. The top of this rocky hill and the southern exposed slope is home to a ecosystem known as Garry oak/Arbutus while the gullies in between are Garry oak/ Oceanspray, and the northeastern face, as well as most of the rocky Nanoose point, is made up of Douglas-fir/Arbutus. Its true that the entire area was logged over fifty years ago but in those days the rock outcrops would have been ignored because they had only stunted trees which were no good for lumber. Today those same spots are prized for the view they provide. –Richard Boyce [oldforest@shaw.ca]

4) Report from the Northeast: Well, things are certainly “booming” in this area! The government has closed all the weigh stations here so the huge vehicles from the oil and gas sector no longer have to be checked for weight, speed, etc. There have already been several very severe accidents involving private citizens and there will surely be more. I drive many of the highways and byways here and the roads are not safe for the average individual. Many of us have been forced off the road into ditches by these maniacs. (Thank God for four wheel drive!) The ironic part of this is, the government actually came out and said that the stations were closed as a bonus for the oil and gas sector so things would not be slowed down unnecessarily. Regarding the stripping of our timberlands. The new OSB plant in Ft.St.John has come on line with limited capacity so far. It will take eight months to a year to get up to full capacity. At full capacity they will be pumping out 830 million square feet of OSB board per year. The amount of raw timber this will require is phenomenal. What the company does is clear cut and take only the hardwood (aspen) of the exact size they use and they leave all the rest of the timber to be burned in huge windrows after a two year period of drying. This includes pine, spruce, willow, black poplar, etc. It all goes up in smoke and the landscape is totally denuded. This, of course, causes the topsoil to be washed away and not much chance for any natural regrowth and they do not replant. We have a real mess here. Just a little footnote, as a wildlife rehabilitator. This past year, no geese, swans and very few ducks landed on my pond during migration. Usually I was putting out hundreds of pounds of grain for the flocks. This past fall, fifty pounds, no birds. I have always had bears, deer, moose, etc seen every day on my property. This past year very few and no bears. My rehab pens this past year were also literally empty all season. G. Leona Green [glgreen@neonet.bc.ca]

Washington:

5) “It looks like behind every tree there’s a porch light,” he said. Ruestig, president of the Clark County Farm Forestry Association, isn’t just imaging things. Thousands of acres of traditional working landscapes from pasture to timberland have succumbed to the demand for homesites in a fast-growing county. Between 1982 and 1997, the last year in which county-level sampling was done, the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service found that Clark County lost 38,600 acres of crops, pasture and timberland, mainly to urban forms of development. The biggest loss, about 15,800 acres, came out of timberland. Conservation groups, land trusts and investor groups increasingly are exploring new and fundamentally market-based solutions to help address what they view as a market-driven problem. Among the possibilities: 1) Conservation easements. Forest owners retain ownership of their property, but they sell an easement listed on the deed requiring the property to be maintained in its existing use. 2) Outright purchases for important parcels. The Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Department is negotiating to buy a 169-acre parcel of timberland straddling the East Fork of the Lewis River, which is considered the most important salmon spawning river in Southwest Washington. 3) Paying directly for ecological benefits. Trees filter stormwater, capture carbon dioxide and harbor wildlife. Government and private individuals are only now trying to figure out ways to form markets in which landowners can sell environmental “credits” in return for agreeing to keep their properties in timber, creating a market that may save taxpayer dollars over the long run. 4) Tapping conservation-minded investors. Tom Tuchmann, who served as President Bill Clinton’s point man overseeing a 1994 land-management plan on 24.5 million acres of national forests in the Northwest, has spent the past eight years bringing together buyers and sellers of large blocks of private timberland. http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/01222006news119406.cfm

Oregon:

6) GRANTS PASS — Hoping to remove one obstacle to logging on public lands, Coos County commissioners are suing to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to carry out its promise to take the marbled murrelet off the threatened-species list. The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Eugene argues that the original reasons for listing the 17,000 to 20,000 birds nesting in Oregon, Washington and Northern California no longer exist. “The legal basis for the listing has disappeared,” said Scott Shepard, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, the property-rights law firm representing Coos County. The firm argues the wildlife service has improperly treated the birds in the United States as separate from birds in Canada, which has adopted its own version of the Endangered Species Act. Genetic testing shows the listed birds are not significantly different from the 1 million birds in Canada and Alaska. Coos County Commissioner John Griffith said he hoped the delisting would ultimately lead to more logs coming off state and federal lands, where protections for the large trees where murrelets nest have contributed to reduced timber harvests. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002753035_murrelet21m.html

7) CORVALLIS – A group of professors at Oregon State’s College of Forestry unsuccessfully tried to get the journal Science to hold off on publishing a study that concluded that leaving forests alone is the best way to help them recover from wildfires. Editor Donald Kennedy said those who dispute the findings can respond once the study is published instead of using what he called censorship. The study was scheduled for Friday’s edition. Oregon State graduate student Daniel Donato, 29, led researchers in examining lands burned by the 2002 “Biscuit” fire in southwest Oregon, where the Bush administration and others at Oregon State had promoted logging as a means of restoring forests quickly. Donato’s team concluded logging slows forest recovery. They found that logging after the Biscuit fire destroyed seedlings and littered the ground with flammable tinder. As is customary, Science’s editors had independent scientists review Donato’s research. Oregon State’s College of Forestry receives about 10 percent of its funding from a tax on logging. Nine Oregon State scientists and professors plus the U.S. Forest Service asked Science editors to delay publication of the study. They said the conclusions are premature and that the true test of efforts to restore forests will require decades. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0121forestflap21.html

8) Oaks aren’t the only hazard tree western Oregonians must be aware of, but it is the most common one found around homes, barns and other private structures, especially in rural areas. “Oak trees are most prevalent in the valleys,” said Walt Barton of the Douglas Soil and Water Conservation District. “We have some relic oaks that are approaching the end of their lives. Roots may be dying and then they just don’t have the strength to hold the tree up.” “We do tend to have more issues with the oaks,” John Punches, an associate professor and extension forester for the Douglas County Extension Service, said. “We have a lot of oak trees that are 100 to 150 years old, and oaks typically begin breaking down in the 150- to 200-year-old range, although there are always exceptions to that.” Other trees that may grow tall and then create problems for structures are madrones, Douglas firs, poplars and weeping willows. Punches explained that root fungus is a common problem for most trees in Douglas County. He added that trees that grew up in a natural setting and are used to a dry site through the summer can be negatively impacted by the irrigation and fertilization involved in new home landscaping. Trees can also be damaged by insects, erosion, incorrect pruning, compaction of soil on the roots by heavy equipment during construction projects, and by roots being damaged during foundation and septic system construction. Shallow top soil over clay, especially on hillsides, may also lose its grip on a tree. Once weakened, a tree is more susceptible to wind and rain. “When I teach on this topic of hazard trees, I emphasize that when building around trees, a serious approach should be taken, not only in the present, but also in the long term,” Punches said. “I suggest a temporary fence be put around the tree at its outer branches to protect the tree and roots during construction. http://www.newsreview.info/article/20060120/NEWS/101200059

California:

9) Through the end of December, she said, 47 million board feet had been cut. “We have contributed, I think, tremendously to the mills,” Ferrell said. “In Sonora and Chinese Camp, they were suffering from a lack of logs.”The huge piles of logs are visible from Highways 88 and 49 in Martell. They’re the scorched logs that have been harvested from the 2004 Power Fire near Bear Lake Reservoir and they’re keeping sawmill workers and truck drivers employed over the winter. “It’s unfortunate when you have a fire,” said Ed Bond, a spokesman for Sierra Pacific Industries, which won the bid on the right to log parts of the U.S. Forest Service land that made up a majority of the 16,000 acres burned. But, Bond said, “There’s value to the logs if you can get them out of the woods before they rot and decay and the bugs get to them.” One group, however, wants the burned timber to rot and decay, and claims some of it will regenerate if left alone. Rachel Fazio, an attorney who filed a lawsuit for the John Muir Project of the Earth Island Institute and the Center for Biological Diversity, said oral arguments in the case were held last week at the Ninth District Court of Appeal in San Francisco and the court issued an injunction until it can decide the case on its merits. Pat Ferrell, a forester and timber sale contract officer for the U.S. Forest Service in Placerville, said about 70 percent of the trees had been cut, and that until the recent injunction, Columbia Helicopters was still cutting and bringing in freshly cut logs by helicopter. Virtually every bit of the wood fiber in the trees gets used, she said. In addition to lumber, the bark is used for fuel to generate electricity and the sawdust and shavings go to make particle board. In the beginning, she noted, the environmental groups that filed the lawsuit had won a seven-day temporary restraining order, but the logging has gone forward since that was lifted in August. The lawsuit, which was filed on Aug. 11, claims the Forest Service overestimated the number of dead trees, underestimated the amount of suitable spotted owl habitat and failed to analyze the impacts of removing a significant number of trees that still had up to 35 percent green in their crowns. http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/news/newsview.asp?c=177370

10) The Dunsmuir High School District board has set the wheels in motion for a non-industrial timber harvest plan for the school’s forested hillside. In a 4-0 vote Tuesday of last week, the board unanimously directed superintendent/principal Len Foreman to contact a qualified geologist to walk the property to see what can and cannot be done in terms of timber harvesting. Trustee Norma Clemens was absent. A Forest Management Plan, through the California Forest Improvement Plan, was prepared for the district’s hillside property in 2000 by local forester Hal Bowman. While the board has discussed the plan in the past, including touring the property with consulting foresters, no action had been taken. Foreman had recommended the timber harvest plan be re-addressed in light of the school’s declining enrollment, which affects state and federal funding. There was also discussion about the educational opportunities for students with implementation of the plan.When asked how much funding the district would get from non-industrial timber harvesting, Lindler said, “A rough estimate would be $70- to $80,000, net.” He said this net revenue would be if the district decided to do the harvesting all at once rather than spreading it out over 12 years as had been proposed in the 2000 plan. Lindler said the net funding to the district would actually be less if it was spread out, due to the cost of bringing equipment in each time. One of the major issues that Lindler said should be addressed is erosion resulting from cutting of trees and use of heavy equipment. “There are active slides up there for sure,” he said. Prior to harvesting of trees, which would not only provide an added source of income and potential educational opportunities, Lindler said there would also be a need for some preliminary work. This includes construction of access roads and laying of culverts for drainage. “You definitely need some infrastructure work,” he said. “I would say it would cost approximately $60,000 to get a decent road system up there. I don’t think it will be much more than that. Because water quality protection is a major concern there will have to be a couple of 40 inch culverts put in. http://www.mtshastanews.com/articles/2006/01/19/news/04dunsmuirtimber.txt

11) The Stanislaus National Forest is on track to increase its logging production this year. But increasing the harvest 50 percent — from 14 million to 21 million board-feet — means a larger staff. Although they will not give precise numbers, forest officials are in the process of filling numerous positions. Ranging from hydrologists to timber sale administrators, they will aid in the large timber-harvest increase. The increased harvest is part of a long-term plan to hike the annual cut to 38 million board-feet by 2011. But the high cost of living in California and a lack of affordable housing in the Mother Lode are “major issues” in attracting new employees, forest spokesman Jerry Snyder said. Even so, applications continue to come in. The forest has hired two new hydrologists, including one from Puerto Rico, and two new timber sale administrators, including one from Alaska. And officials are reviewing applications from around the country for jobs such as wildlife biologist and an archeologist. Forest employees are now hard at work preparing sales for advertising and bids. Actual logging will begin once environmental review is complete and dry weather begins. Next year, the timber-harvest amount is projected to increase from 21 million board feet to 25 million, followed by 30 million in 2008, 35 million in 2009, almost 38 million in 2010 and another 38 million in 2011. A board foot is an inch-thick, foot-square piece of lumber. “We commend the forest for trying to do more,” Bond said. “But at the same time I think everyone realizes a lot more can be done.” This year’s federal funding for vegetation and fire-fuels reduction on the Stanislaus rose from about $4.7 million to $8 million. http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=19455

Colorado:

12) In my opinion, having worked on forest issues for 25 years, use of wood biomass is hugely questionable, particularly because it often starts from scrap (waste) source and then when that is up the operations lobby to log more forests. For example, DNR has received an offer to have their pre-commercial thinning done for free (in parts of the state) if the company can have most of the material. Problem is that pre-commercial thinnings typically (for ecological and other reasons) stay on the ground and provide nutrients. –Bonnie Phillips (Olympic Forest Coalition) The “Bioenergy & Wood Products Conference II: Innovations in Restoring Forests and Strengthening Economies” will explore successes in utilizing woody biomass, feature new innovations and stress strong partnerships. “The conference will focus on utilizing biomass removed from public and private forests to provide a reliable supply for bioenergy production and wood products businesses. As a renewable, domestic energy source, woody biomass is helping America to reduce its reliance on non-renewable foreign energy.” The Western Governors’ Association, Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Energy, and other organizations are sponsoring the second Bioenergy and Wood Products Conference March 14-16 in Denver. The following is a link to the Conference’s web site. http://nationalbiomassconference.org/

South Dakota:

13) CUSTER, S.D. – The Black Hills National Forest is making free firewood available, according to forest supervisor Craig Bobzien. “We’re doing everything we can to encourage rapid removal of excess wood from the forest as quickly as possible,” Bobzien said in a release. “We’ll monitor the program and see if it helps.” Bobzien said the program will be checked to make sure it meets objectives and then reassessed before the 2007 season. “We have got to find more avenues to rapidly use the increasing build up of wood,” he said. Opening new free-use areas to people and families who will use the firewood to heat their homes is a common sense solution for people who face record energy costs while removing excess fuel from the forest, Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., said in a release. “The firewood that will be made available is debris that would have been left on the ground as waste. Now, it can be used to heat homes,” said Herseth, a member of the House Resources Committee and its subcommittee on forests and forestry. “This project will be particularly important for some tribal communities, as high energy costs and cold temperatures rapidly exhaust (low income heating aid) funds.” http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/13680063.htm

Wyoming:

14) As project coordinator for FireWise, Gullickson’s territory encompasses the northern Laramie Range and involves at least four growing communities blended with U.S. Forest Service land. FireWise is funded through a grant from the Wyoming Office of Forestry. Primarily, Gullickson encourages building defensible space around structures to stall wildfires, and promotes healthy forests on larger tracts. She advocates several key practices to counter fire. First of those is fuel treatment, or thinning beyond the defensible space. By removing some timber, property owners can eliminate some of the rungs of a ladder of fuel that fire climbs, gaining ferociousness as it goes. When FireWise started in Converse County in 2002, Gullickson made site visits to properties in Esterbrook and other mountain communities, assessing structures for defenses against flame. Property owners received the assessment along with suggestions to increase defensible space, and information on a cost-share program. Money is made available to homeowners to hire contractors to mark trees for cutting and to clear away thinned or dead timber. While landowners address the interface zone from one end, the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are also lightening fuel loads where communities encroach. Cindy Allen, northeast Wyoming forester for the BLM, works on urban interface zones with landowners. “Every mountain top I work on, they are all becoming like this,” she said. On Casper Mountain, lodgepole stands are too thick to walk through at times. “People don’t want to thin. They want to keep the aesthetics of their cabin in the forest,” Allen said. Originally, the Beardins also fought thinning. They’d fallen in love with those trees. Even after the thinning, they still feel as if they’re in the thick of a forest. http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2006/01/22/news/wyoming/b69d46ab87dade42872570fd00269f4f.txt

Minnesota:

15) Foresters at the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest will take a broader look at the cumulative impacts of logging in the region on sensitive species, following orders last year from a federal judge. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service on Friday released its draft plan to consider how much habitat is available before and after logging projects for species such as the red-shouldered hawk, goshawk and the American marten. The agency said it has developed new models to better evaluate the impacts of logging on those species. The new environmental review comes after a federal judge last year blocked six timber sales on 22,000 acres of land in the northern Wisconsin national forest. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman of Milwaukee ruled that the Forest Service didn’t take into account the broader impacts on wildlife and the accumulative impacts of logging over time and across the region. Rather than fight the judge’s decision, Forest Service officials instead reworked their environmental review in hopes the new plan will satisfy Adelman’s concern.”We have come up with a (plan) that will take a serious look at the impacts from our planned (timber) projects as well as the impacts of past and future projects across the landscape, not just at the sale level,” said Anne Archie, forest supervisor. But the group that filed the lawsuit said the Forest Service’s new process still comes to the old conclusion — that cumulative impacts of logging in the area won’t harm the species. Dave Zaber, resource ecologist for Habitat Education Center, says that conclusion is wrong.”What the Forest Service is putting out today is like a Swiss cheese with many more holes than substance. It’s not the ‘hard look’ that is required by federal law,” Zaber said in a prepared statement. The timber sales in question include 8,800 acres near Lakewood in Oconto County and 7,740 acres in Forest County. Another sale, 5,600 acres near Clam Lake in Ashland County, will be handled in a different draft plan but is nearly identical to the other two, Archie said. http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/13685032.htm

Texas:

16) I am originally from West Virginia and have ties to Virginia. I must protest the disturbance of any trees in the Forest Hill Cemetery, especially for such a purpose as an airport expansion project. Many people in that area may not know that some of the trees in that cemetery were planted in honor of the people who lay there. In our modern society, sometimes we forget the meaning behind symbolism and ceremony. We dredge through holy land as if to say, “This place has no meaning.” The trees in the Garden of Christus must stand! If they are allowed to be cut, sooner or later, the graves themselves will be moved as well. Displacing 1,000 families to visit a land foreign to the people who lay there. This place was chosen by some in life to live in the shadows after their world had ended and another began. Can we really allow such a thing to occur? –R. Dale Biller, Austin, Texas http://www.tricities.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=TRI%2FMGArticle%2FTRI_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=112
8769448342

Arkansas

18) The drought has expanded “the tinder box” deeper into the woods and increased the potential for fires, a spokesman for a forest product company said. Timber harvesters are now able to reach timber previously restricted because of wet, muddy conditions in the region. But with the drought, safety is being stressed since “anything out of the ordinary can spark a fire,” said Max Braswell, manager of communication and government relations for Domtar paper mill in Ashdown. This also means timber previously immune to fire because of the wet ground is now susceptible to fire, said Braswell, who explained that planting contractors who help landowners plant tree saplings have stopped until additional rain. Weyerhaeuser, which has plants in Oklahoma and Southwest Arkansas, is experiencing a similar situation. For the first time in 35 years, Weyerhaeuser has ceased planting pine saplings during the winter months because of the drought. Southwest Arkansas and Southeast Oklahoma have now been declared to be under an exceptional drought by the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Neb. A national map shows this region as being the driest in the United States. The National Drought Mitigation Center monitors drought across the nation and considers the driest Arkansas counties to be Little River, Sevier and Polk and portions of Howard, Pike, Hempstead, Montgomery and Scott counties. Kathy Stacey, spokewoman for Weyerhaeuser, said the company had intended to plant 27 million saplings on nearly 70,000 acres in Southwest Arkansas and Southeast Oklahoma. http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2006/01/20/local_news/news/news03.txt

Alabama:

19) Here in mid-winter, a hot July hike comes to mind. Every plant was leafy, the power line easement almost impassable. The Moist Riparian Forest portion of the Homewood Forest Preserve was not moist. This is the area preferred by the spotted salamander. It is one of the mole type salamanders that prefer to be underground in the coldest and hottest weather. So they were underground the day of our hike. Our guide, Carl Sloan, pointed out one of the ponds where they would lay their eggs in late January or February, at the time of the first heavy rain when the temperature is above 40 degrees. The people of Homewood hope the publicity surrounding the migration of these salamanders will draw attention to the other inhabitants of this natural preserve and make development there less likely. Located across Lakeshore Drive from Samford University adjacent to Homewood High School, the property once belonged to the university, and was the site of a nature trail. Through land swaps and sales, the city became owner to 66 acres on the slope of Shades Mountain. The preserve includes three major habitats: dry upland forest, steep sloped forest and moist riparian forest. A mountain top trail leads across the upland forest; to get there, be prepared to climb the steep slopes of the inner area of the preserve.http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/113792490264710.xml&coll=1

Tennessee:

20) “There is an emotional fallout from the families we represent,” Sonya Farris said. “We are taking care of families’ most precious memories.” It also would mean the removal of 20 of the cemetery’s trees, including the pin oaks, because they’d be a collision hazard. Airport officials have been working for 10 years to lengthen the runway from 4,471 feet to 5,500 feet. The extension would allow more corporate jets to land, and that could help drive economic development. Jets can fly into the airport now, but some pilots won’t do so because their insurers require runways of at least 5,000 feet. The Farrises and other local residents want to stop the expansion and have voiced their concerns to local leaders. Earlier this month, a group of about 15 people attended the Abingdon Town Council meeting. Officials told them they have no control over the airport. The group now plans to go before the Washington County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The airport has offered to replace the cemetery trees with a type that wouldn’t grow as high, Deloney said.http://www.tricities.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=TRI%2FMGArticle%2FTRI_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid
=1128769400747&path=/news/localnews&s=

Indiana:

21) Thousands of ash trees in Carmel and surrounding towns could die in coming years as the larvae of an Asian beetle munch their way through the area, state Department of Natural Resources officials said Friday. The emerald ash borer is so deadly, foresters and bug experts fear that if it’s left unchecked, it eventually could wipe out every ash tree in the United States. The half-inch-long beetle doesn’t affect other trees.The discovery of the bug was confirmed in Carmel this week. It also may have made its way into adjacent townships in Marion County.With its rounded crown and vibrant gold fall color, the ash is a popular street and yard tree. Since the bug was discovered in Detroit in 2002, infestations have led to the destruction of more than 15 million ash trees in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. In an effort to slow the insect, the state imposed a quarantine Friday on Clay and Delaware townships in Hamilton County and Washington and Lawrence townships in Marion County. The move means no ash trees or firewood of any kind can be moved into or out of the townships. A less-stringent quarantine for the counties, which would let people move ash out of the area with state permission, also is likely, said Robert Waltz, state entomologist. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060121/NEWS01/601210439/1006

Ohio:

22) In the heart of Ohio’s logging country lies one of the most unique and fertile grounds for oak trees. Preservationists say research it provides may someday tell us how to keep oak forests like it from dying off. The 2,500 acres are considered treasured ground because researchers believe it may hold the key to the state’s forestry future. “These forests are not coming back as oak. They’re coming back as other ecosystem that never existed in the past. That’s bad news for wildlife,” Dan Yaussy of the U.S. Forest Service said. The Vinton County land is called the Experimental Forest. Established by the Mead Paper Company it was recently sold to another private owner. While the new owners say this forest will remain as it is, the future forest around it is unclear. The story of this forest land is one of preservation versus profit. Conservationist would like nothing more than to leave this forest free from development. But in a county that has the lowest tax base in the state, the land could provide an economic boost they desperately need. “Vinton County is a, if not the most, economically challenged county in the state,” county development director Ken Reed described. Turning some of the forest land into development could mean thousands of dollars in added tax revenue. “Taking 10,000 acres off the tax rolls is a concern for the county,” said Reed. What ultimately happens to this forest remains to be seen. People like Dan Yaussy say studying the trees could influence forestry for the next 120 to 150 years. It could also play a role in the economic health of Vinton County. The Experimental Forest has always been open to the public. It is not clear if that will continue under the new ownership. http://www.10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4390821&nav=LUESMuat

Massachusetts:

23) Results of the meeting will be used to create management goals for the town forest using a $5,745 Urban Forestry Planning and Education grant awarded in October by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, said planner Jessica Allan. The resulting Town Forest Management Plan will help the town identify forest land for watershed and habitat protection, timber management and recreational opportunities. The goal would be to create a self-sufficient maintenance plan, with the possibility of selective logging and selling timber to support the program, officials have said. The Conservation Commission got permission last year to pursue the forest stewardship and watershed health planning and education. One plus of the grant is that, while it requires a match from the town, the match may be made in services and not necessarily money, officials said. The study could involve a Geographic Information System analysis and inventory of the 66-acre town forest, which is within the bounds of North Street, Greenwich Road and Old Gilbertville Road. The land has not been used for decades. There is the possibility the town could make some money in the process of cleaning up the land, through selective logging, officials said. The public is being solicited for ideas concerning trails and other recreational use of the land, officials said. http://www.masslive.com/springfield/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1137833655225080.xml&coll=1

New York:

24) At the center of the forest of controversy are the trees in Moore’s Woods. During last month’s village board work session, Trustee George Hubbard said that he and Trustee Ben Burns had taken a walk through Moore’s Woods and noticed many fallen trees. The board decided that red ribbons would be used to indicate which trees could be used. In addition, a starting and ending date would be determined, and the process would be supervised. News of the plan spread like wildfire, and soon, the Southold Board of Trustees and the North Fork Environmental Council stepped up to express their displeasure. In a letter written to Village Administrator David Abatelli, former board of trustees president and current Southold Councilman Al Krupski said that the trustees were concerned. “Moore’s Woods contains many sensitive freshwater wetlands areas,” he wrote. Under Chapter 97 of the wetland code of the town, Krupski pointed out, “these areas are non-disturbance, protected habitats where every tree, dead or alive, contributes to the cycle of life. The definition of non-disturbance is that no activity of any kind be conducted in this area.” All well and good, except that Moore’s Woods is village, not town property, and therefore does not fall under the jurisdiction of town trustees, said Greenport Mayor David Kapell. The mayor explained that the program of chopping dead wood was put in place during past recession years when residents were staggered by the high price of heating their home, just as they are today. “I got a $500 oil bill for one month,” said Kapell, adding the program could help residents without heat this winter. Trustee Jamie Mills said that the program was not only good for residents, but for the resource itself. Clearing the dead trees, he said, would help Moore’s Woods. Mike Domino, president of the North Fork Environmental Council, disagreed, pointing to the wetlands in the area. “Trees, living or dead, are part of the ecosystem,” he said. Domino said that it seems unfair for business owners to pay taxes on a piece of land and not be able to use the fallen trees on their own property, while, on the other hand, he said, residents would be able to use fallen trees in Moore’s Woods for firewood. “Moore’s Woods is supposed to be a sanctuary. Now you’re going to use it as a resource?” http://www.indyeastend.com/cgi-bin/indep/news.cgi

Maine:

25) So what’s wrong with several days of 50-degree weather and rain in January? Plenty, if you try to make your living harvesting trees in the Maine woods. “It’s getting critically serious,” Ron Lovaglio, director of wood resources for Sappi Fine Paper, said Thursday. “The woods are soft and people can’t operate. It’s too wet to go in there.” Each year the months of January, February and March typically are the busiest for loggers, who take advantage of the frozen ground to harvest trees that are then shipped to pulp and paper mills and to biomass plants, according to Lovaglio, former commissioner of the Maine Department of Conservation. Not only do subfreezing temperatures make it easier to get equipment into the woods, he said, but they minimize the amount of environmentally damaging mud and runoff that is created during harvesting. “The impact is that production is off 35 percent,” he said of the mild weather. “There are families behind those loggers. They are basically out of work.” Stephen Hanington, a logger who operates his company out of Macwahoc Plantation, said rainy weather last fall put a dent in Maine’s logging industry for all of October and half of November. He was able to stay busy through December, he said, but now the rainy weather is holding up his ability to transport his harvested wood. Either roads are too soft for trucks to drive on or the repeated combination of snow and then rain has made them too icy. Lovaglio said the weather this month was part of a “triple whammy” that has hit the logging industry recently. Not only was the weather also bad last fall, but it was bad for much of 2005. “It was the rainiest year on record ever since they started keeping records in 1871,” he said. The third part of the whammy is fuel costs. One truck driver who regularly delivers to Sappi’s Somerset Mill in Skowhegan told Lovaglio that on average his fuel costs for each delivery are about $48 more costly than they were a year ago. “This problem, frankly, is all across the north,” Lovaglio said. “[Minnesota loggers] are seeing the same thing.” http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=127397&z=12%20class=

Canada:

26) MEADOW LAKE — You have to pay attention on the main roads heading in and out of this town of 5,000 people — Highways 4 and 55 — or you could easily get run over by a logging truck. Skirting the edges of the town and the adjacent Flying Dust First Nation, the trucks can be heard gearing up or down at any hour of the day or night, most of them on their way to deliver recently felled jack pine logs to the NorSask Forest Products sawmill or “hardwood” aspen to the Meadow Lake Pulp Mill. The two operations, about eight kilometres east of town, are located across the highway from each other. But in a forestry industry context, they are as different as night and day. The pulp mill was considered innovative when constructed just 15 years ago because it made use of the fast-growing aspen rather than more valuable softwood. However, the mill has been a chronic money loser, propped up by provincial government cash advances to cover annual operating losses since it opened in 1990. Its unusual ownership situation has been a non-stop burden to taxpayers. While a legal “partnership” with 50 per cent owned by the province’s Crown holding company, Investment Saskatchewan and 50 per cent by the privately held Millar Western company which operates the mill and markets the pulp, all operating losses are bankrolled exclusively by the province. http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/story.html?id=e9130786-7f88-4bf5-aa3e-3aa0f2a89759

27) January 19, 2006 to March 17, 2006 à Virtual Curitiba Biodiversity Conference (VCBC) The VCBC represents the first ever “mega” consultation process that utilizes internet communication technology to seek views and provide a framework for an electronic debate of the civil society prior to a meeting of a Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Through the CBD Clearing House as well as electronic linkage with existing networks (such as IWLEARN, UNEP.NET, Infoterra, etc), it will involve government and non-government organizations, indigenous and local communities, women, youth, scientific and expert networks, academia, business networks, local communities, and other interested segments and groups in an open dialogue. The outputs of the resulting discussion will be summaries and presented to the High Level Segment of the Eight Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. http://www.biodiv.org/default.shtml

Scotland:

28) PROTESTERS camping in trees in an attempt to stop a bypass being built through Dalkeith Park have made a call to arms for reinforcements to join them in their tree-top camp. Supporters of the campaign to block the £30 million A68 bypass are to be shipped from the city centre on a shuttle bus to the site at the park’s Sandyriggs Wood. Buses were scheduled to leave the Forest Cafe on Bristo Place for Dalkeith regularly from noon today to take people to join the protest. They are being urged to climb up into the trees to join campaigners still living in the camp – despite attempts by police and a specialist eviction team from Wales to force them out. Those who are unable to climb up into the trees were being urged to lend their support on the ground from a special “safe” viewing area. The call came as eviction teams prepared for a fifth day of attempting to remove the demonstrators from their network of tunnels and trees. And protesters hidden in the tunnels on the site have claimed they have enough supplies to last another week. One protester called for support from local people on a website. He said: “Now is the time to join us. We urge everyone who cares about the destruction of this beautiful park – and the destruction of this beautiful planet – to do whatever they can. “The Scottish Executive aren’t listening to reason, so we need to take direct action. If you can, join us in the trees, or show your solidarity on the ground.” A police spokesman would not say whether efforts would be taken to stop the buses. “We are aware of a bus taking supporters to the protestors’ site in Dalkeith.” A spokesman for the protesters said: “The three people who have been in tunnels at the middle site since Monday still remain and have enough food and supplies to carry them though at least another week underground. Experts from the National Eviction Team were drafted in from Swansea on Monday to help remove the protesters, who set up camp in the area in November. On Tuesday, officials were pelted with Christmas puddings, beans and custards when they attempted to evict the protesters. http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=99742006

Kenya:

29) Five suspected sect members were hacked to death by irate members of public on Thursday while a similar number was said to have escaped with various injuries after they attempted to take control of several matatu termini within Kabati and Kagundu-ini markets. Police said the gang arrived there in the morning from Nairobi and immediately begun soliciting for Sh1,000 from any vehicle that was plying the routes. The drivers and conductors who failed to comply, police added, were harassed and beaten up. Meanwhile, logging is still going on in Mau West forest in Bureti District despite a government ban. Loggers have invaded the forest felling indigenous trees, leading to wanton destruction of the forest. Squatters who were forcibly evicted from the forest in January last year have returned and established homes in the forest. The Bureti district security team, led by acting DC Francis Sila toured the area and told the squatters to vacate the forest today. He said the security would flush out the squatters if they do not take the warning seriously. Sila expressed concern over the rate at which indigenous trees were being destroyed and warned of severe action against forest officers found colluding with the loggers. He said a police camp will be established at Kapno trading centre to ensure the squatters did not return to the forest. http://www.timesnews.co.ke/23jan06/nwsstory/news2.html

Mexico:

30) The top environmental authority in North America recently released findings confirming widespread and longstanding allegations of Mexican government failure to enforce timber conservation regulations crucial to survival of the Raramuri, or Tarahumara, Indians. The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) made public the results of its investigation in response to the Chihuahua state human rights defense group Comisión de Solidaridad y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos on Jan. 9. The inquiry took six years to complete and constitutes the 11th in the history of the citizen submission process that the commission has carried to term in its mandated effort to improve compliance with environmental law in Mexico, the United States and Canada. Now it remains to be seen if people will take advantage of the outcome to demand that the Mexican legal system respond and that something gets done to protect the Raramuri and their forest resources in the future. The grievance, filed in June 2000, is about 28 citizen complaints that were filed in Tarahumara communities with the office of the Federal Attorney General for Environmental Protection (Profepa). It states that the authorities didn’t process and prosecute the cases as required. The report also recommended increasing public awareness of the right to appeal to the Auditor General or the National Human Rights Commission. The CEC noted that Tarahumara complaints had additional specific inertia to overcome. The commission’s factual record stated that both plaintiffs and authorities say bad relations between indigenous communities and government undermine effective law enforcement. http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/web_columnas_sup.detalle?var=27999

Trinidad:

31) ARIMA VALLEY – The nature center is world-renowned to bird-watchers, but was one of the pleasant surprises on a six-day trip to Trinidad and Tobago, located seven miles off the coast of Venezuela. “Standing in front of the building, you never would imagine what’s out back.” Harold Diaz is a guide at the Asa Wright Nature Centre and Lodge high in the rain-forest mountains overlooking the Arima Valley of Trinidad. But even he is impressed by what he sees each day out the back door. As you walked through the century-old estate house, following the hallway with its dark wood floors and glittering chandeliers, the airy rooms echoed with a cacophony of chirping. Outside, hundreds of gemlike tropical birds jammed the feeders hanging just feet from the faces and cameras of visitors on the veranda. Some 140 species have been counted on the estate grounds, including 13 species of hummingbirds that battle for the prime perches and the ornate hawk eagle that had been prowling the valley in recent days. All seemed hungry that day. After lunch, Diaz led a hike into the forest to find the species embroidered on his guide’s patch – the bearded bellbirds that have to be the noisiest creature on the planet, pound for pound. We stopped at a sign describing the habits of the pigeon-sized bird and, sure enough, a brown-and-white male with a scraggly beard demonstrated his clarion call from the limb overhead.”See, he can read,” Diaz said. But the big show is put on by the scarlet ibis, brilliantly colored large birds that fly in every evening by the hundreds to gather at their favorite roosting trees. Other birds also share the roosts, but there’s a strict pecking order – the snowy egrets were on the bottom, with the ibis in the high-rent district. Tobago bills itself as the “capital of paradise” and the Caribbean’s top eco-tourism destination. Still relatively untouched by commercialism and traffic jams, its rain forest came under legal protection in 1776, which many consider the world’s first environmental act. http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/living/travel/13671410.htm

Bhutan:

32) The Chelala forest (between Paro and Haa), which experienced two severe fir diebacks in the past three decades, needs proper management and protection to regenerate as a healthy forest say officials of the Renewable Natural Resource-Research Centres of the agriculture ministry. The forests of Chelela, Thrumshingla and Changkhaphug had been affected. Open spaces created as result of fir dieback in the 1980s exposed the land to direct sunlight and gave way to other fast growing plants like betula, rhododendron and grass. “While new fir growth were seen in between rhododendrons and betula, cattle that are attracted by grass makes it difficult for the fir to grow,” said D B Chhetri. “Cattle grazing, lack of humus and exposure to direct sun rays have contributed to moisture deficiency and the fir trees outside the tree line have suffered more from the drought,” he said. A 98-year old fir felled in Chelela revealed a severe loss of fir needles on the top. Re-growth was also observed but the needles were found to be short indicative of adverse environmental conditions. Damage from mining insects was not significant. While other trees like spruce and pine were also found in the Thrumshingla, Chelela and Changkhaphug forests, fir trees with its shallow rooting were sensitive to drought since it disrupted the steady moisture environment conditions. “Fir usually found in foggy areas maintains moisture balance by absorbing moisture from the fog but during drought period since the forest is dry the tree cannot get the required moisture,” said D B Chhetri. The primary root of the fir trees goes about 25 centimetres into the soil. Although forestry officials have planted fir trees in the affected areas they are worried about the survival of the young trees. “To recover the fir forest the affected areas must be recognised as environmentally sensitive areas and any kind of harvesting activities, even of dead trees should be restricted.” Setting up a meteorological station in the dieback zone was also recommended to monitor weather changes. http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6442

Australia:

33) A group opposing logging at South Sister Mountain in north-east Tasmania has questioned evidence given by Forestry Tasmania about the area’s ground water quality. Group spokesman David Clement says he has obtained Freedom of Information (FOI) documents that question the qualifications used by one of Forestry Tasmania’s experts. Forestry Tasmania gained approval to log South Sister after providing evidence that the mountain’s ground water system would not be adversely affected. Mr Clement says the report was flawed because the necessary testing and studies were not carried out. “They have carried out no monitoring, they have carried out no bores, they know nothing about the ground water system, so they can’t possibly protect it,” he said. Mr Clement says he his concerned logging would damage the water supply to the nearby township of St Mary’s. Forestry Tasmania says authorisation to harvest the coupe is a matter for the Forest Practices Authority. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1550826.htm

34) TEN anti-logging protesters will face fines of more than $6000 after police and Department of Sustainability and Environment officers swooped on a blockade in East Gippsland. The activists will be charged on summons under the new Safety on Public Lands Act. It is believed they will be the first people charged under the new rules, enacted in December 2004. The Act enables the DSE to exclude the public from areas of state forests for reasons including conservation and timber removal. Lawyers for Forests President Vanessa Bleyer said three declarations of the act had been to protect logging coops. The protesters were blocking a logging coop on the Errinundra Plateau, about 80km north-east of Orbost. Campaigner Fiona York said the act was outrageous. “These new laws mean the public cannot see what’s going on. “We are still going to try to stop them,” she said. “We will be here until Steve Bracks makes a commitment not to log old-growth forests.” http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17885036%255E2862,00.html

35) Entrepreneur Dick Smith has emerged as one of the financial backers of a plan to save a southern Tasmanian forest from logging by buying the land for more than $1 million. Several attempts are under way to persuade David and Robert Vernon, owners of the National Heritage-listed northeast peninsula of Recherche Bay, to abandon their plan to log the site. The spectacular bay, in Tasmania’s far south, has been called Australia’s “other Botany Bay”. It was the scene of extended visits by French explorers in the 1790s, during which they built vegetable gardens and observatories and had friendly exchanges with Aborigines. Tasmanian Greens senator Bob Brown is understood to be close to raising more than $1million to buy the land and transfer it to a land conservation trust. Mr Smith told The Australian he was among those who had pledged significant sums to Senator Brown, who is negotiating with the Vernons. The Australian is also aware of a rival plan being discussed with the Vernons and timber group Gunns to scale back the logging and set up a centre producing quality timber products from selectively harvested trees. It would aim to find a common ground between the competing interests of forestry, tourism and land conservation, while creating jobs and income for the Vernons. Both groups are discussing their ideas with the Vernons, who otherwise plan to log the area under contract to supply Gunns with 30,000 tonnes of woodchips and 5000 tonnes of sawlogs. If the Vernons agree to sell the land, they may first need to persuade Gunns to agree to change or scrap the contract. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17905170%255E30417,00.html