083OEC’s This Week in Trees

This week we have 34 news items from: Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon, California, North Dakota, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Maine, Russia, Congo, Uruguay, India, China, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Alaska:

1) HOLLIS, POPULATION: 137 (2004) LOCATION: On the east side of Prince of Wales Island, on Twelvemile Arm, 19 miles east of Craig by road and 35 miles west of Ketchikan by water. DESCRIPTION: A non-Native community where most employment comes through logging operations on Prince of Wales Island, state ferry services and the U.S. Forest Service. Hollis is the location of the state ferry landing for the island. There are no central community facilities. The school is attended by about a dozen students. The island has a system of logging roads that provide access to surrounding communities. HISTORY: Hollis was a mining town at the turn of the century with a population of more than 1,000. Gold and silver were mined until about 1915. In 1953, Hollis became a logging camp when a long-term timber contract was enacted with Ketchikan Pulp Co. The camp served as the base for timber operations on Prince of Wales Island until 1962, when the camp was moved 45 miles north to Thorne Bay. The area was permanently settled in recent years through a state land sale. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7601850p-7513148c.html

British Columbia:

2) The Liberal government will spend $10.5 million to promote B.C. wood around the world, Premier Gordon Campbell announced Thursday. Fifteen per cent of the money will be earmarked specifically to develop market opportunities for lumber taken from trees killed by pine beetles. “We have to do more to market our wood, even when it’s pine, even when it’s beetle-enhanced pine,” Campbell said, using a term that drew a laugh from delegates to the Council of Forest Industries conference in Kelowna.
The distinctive blue shadings in lumber from trees killed by pine beetles have potential appeal in the global marketplace, Campbell said. The premier also held out his hope that the long-running softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the U.S. might be settled through negotiation within two months. One reason for his optimism was the government’s intention, also announced Thursday, to move toward a market-based system for determining lumber prices in the B.C. Interior. Critics in the U.S. have complained B.C. sets artificially low stumpage rates, thus giving lumber producers here an unfair competitive advantage. After Sept. 1, 20 per cent of timber from Crown land will be sold at auction with the prices used to determine stumpage rates charged to forest companies. “The market-based pricing system bolsters our position as we continue softwood discussions with the U.S.,” Forests Minister Rich Coleman said. “The province will be able to show it is charging market prices for timber using auctions to measure the market value of the timber,” he said. Speaking to reporters, Campbell acknowledged the new pricing system will create new volatility in lumber prices. “What it means, number one, is fairer prices that will reflect the real value of the wood base that we’ve got,” he said. http://209.115.237.105/kelowna/publish/article_1602.php

3) VICTORIA – The Ministry of Forests and Range is inviting public comments until June 7 as part of an urgent timber supply review for the 100 Mile House timber supply area in response to the expanding impact of the mountain pine beetle infestation. The review is exploring the implications of different harvest levels and strategies on the current and future timber supply in the 100 Mile House timber supply area. As part of the review, a range of scenarios was analyzed and described in a public discussion paper that was released today. The scenarios include: 1) increasing the current allowable annual cut of 1.334 million cubic metres by about 40 per cent, to 1.87 million cubic metres, from 2006 to 2015; and 2) increasing the cut to 2.6 million cubic metres for the first five years, then reducing this to 1.6 million cubic metres for the next five years. Detailed timber supply modelling for the 100 Mile House timber supply area was completed for 20 years rather than the usual 250 years, because of the size and scope of the infestation. The analysis also looked at different harvesting scenarios and the impact each might have on the future timber supply. The scenarios all consider other forest values, such as mule deer winter range and scenery, and most assume the harvest will focus on forest stands most affected by the beetle. The chief forester will consider these scenarios along with many other sources of information when determining the allowable annual cut. Visit http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hts for information about the timber supply process, and http://www.gov.bc.ca/pinebeetle to learn more about mountain pine beetles.

4) KELOWNA — Japan’s economy has entered a period of sustained economic recovery, opening up new opportunities for B.C. lumber producers, Canada’s ambassador in Tokyo, Joseph Caron, told a forest products convention Friday. “The economic turnaround we are seeing in Japan is real and it’s going to have a real economic impact on the housing sector,” Caron told Council of Forest Industries delegates. “The private sector in Japan has cleaned up its act, paid off its excess debts, eliminated excess capacity, and is now entering the kind of expansion that we were familiar with in the 1970s and 1980s.” Incomes are rising, job vacancies are appearing, and the economy has lost its dependence on large public works, Caron said, adding that these are all positive indicators that the recovery is long term. Housing starts have grown for three years in a row, topping 1.2 million in 2005, and more importantly for Canadian sawmillers, starts for two-by-four houses hit a record high of 96,000. The growth of two-by-four housing is fuelled by new changes in the Japanese building code that permit larger wood-frame structures to be built. There has also been a cultural change: Young Japanese families want the design flexibility they can only get from wood-frame construction. Even though they have been receiving no interest on their bank deposits, Japanese have been saving. They now have the equivalent of $15 trillion in savings, and over the next decade Caron expects there will be a huge transfer of assets from the old to the young, which will sustain housing starts. But it won’t be easy for B.C. producers to return to Japan if they do not recognize the depth of the changes that have taken place, Caron said. It’s a different Japan that will be wanting a different bundle of wood products, creating a whole new challenge for sawmillers, he said. –Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun

5) British Columbia is a colony of the forest industry. The inability to develop a forest-based manufacturing economy, the control of the vast majority of the forest by offshore companies, the current rush to lower municipal taxes for the pulp mills, the alienation of the First Nations native peoples, — are all part of this deep colonialism, as was the willingness of workers to be intimidated (or fuel) the SHARE movement for their corporate bosses. It is very very ugly. I thought Ontario’s manufacturing core, which by 1970 was largely US-owned, was a good example of colonialism, but this BC stuff is so raw it is much more like Africa or the Rainforest in Latin America than any European economic model. The only difference is that our serfs have been largely controlled and contained by the (Loggers) Unions, and they get to drive big trucks. And we in BC, labour or social justice or enviro have not developed any useful social analysis to deal with this economic serfdom, as the Latin Americans have, and our environmental movement has merely danced around the edges of this beast, while many if not most of our efforts were directed by offshore money too – whether it be Greenpeace international priorities or US Foundations’. I include myself and my work in this critique. Delores Broten, Senior Policy Advisor, Reach for Unbleached!
http://www.rfu.org

Oregon:

6) TILLAMOOK COUNTY — A two-day tour of the forests and wetlands throughout Tillamook County and the North Coast was held Sept. 27 and 28, as a way to open a dialogue between environmental, industry, labor and community leaders. The group spent time touring both the Siuslaw National Forest and the Tillamook Bay watershed, beginning in the Hebo Ranger District, through private dairy lands and ending in the Tillamook estuary where the Tillamook Performance Partnership is doing much of its work. Forest and wildland restoration was a central topic of discussion for the group. Jasmine Minbashain of Bellingham, Wash., who works with Pacific Crest Biodiversity Project and other groups protecting old growth and late-successional forests, added that they wanted to “bring more restoration job opportunities to rural counties. The three main points of the tour were to look at ways “to develop new industry, restore damaged ecosystems and to encourage better stewardship,” according to Tim Sullivan of E&S Environmental Restoration of Corvallis. Forest labor groups were represented by labor manager Juan Mendoza. “One of the things we’ve been asking for is for them (the federal government) to tell us what the forest work force will look like 10 years from now,” he said. “If we knew what kind of work force they want, we could use it as a tool. Then we could have a plan, and train highly experienced labor, so we know what we need to do. Then we can convince the public to invest in their forests.” The group agreed the tour was a positive experience and a step in the right direction for forest and land-use management. “There was some honest discussion — but very little disagreement. Everyone had diverse interests, but it was really good,” said Susan Jane Brown of the Gifford Pinchot Task Force. The event was organized by a coalition of Northwest environmental groups, such as the Oregon Natural Resource Council from Portland, Cascadia Wildlands Project from Eugene, Pacific Crest Biodiversity Project from Seattle, Northwest Ecosystem Alliance from Bellingham, Wash., and many others. http://oregonmag.com/TillaForest1101.htm

7) Oregon State University’s College of Forestry faces scrutiny from state senators who will hold a hearing today to examine whether the college’s longtime ties to the timber industry undermine its research. Today’s hearing comes as OSU has begun releasing hundreds of pages of e-mails that show interaction between College of Forestry administrators and timber industry leaders in reacting to Donato’s research. “If there are no quality controls in place why give the college more money to keep doing more of this?” he asks in an e-mail to college administrators. Fred Swanson, a scientist with the U.S. Forest Service who holds a faculty appointment at the college, cited examples of hostile treatment of students and women. He also recalled the college’s cancellation of a lecture by Gary Snyder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and environmentalist, after Snyder’s son, an OSU student, was questioned about his father’s forestry politics. “The common theme is that senior college faculty ‘take on’ junior people and women in some impolite and ineffective ways to achieve particular ends,” Swanson wrote. Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; michaelmilstein@news.oregonian.com The Oregonian

8) The Siuslaw National Forest is proposing to use the Wyden Amendment to provide the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 15 trees for use in a stream restoration project on private land. Under the plan, in the fall of 2006, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife would use a helicopter to remove the trees from National Forest land and place them in Fall Creek, a tributary of Alsea River. In 1998, Senator Ron Wyden added an amendment to a Senate appropriations bill allowing Forest Service money to be spent on non-federal lands as long as the projects benefit the fish, wildlife, and other resources on National Forest lands within an affected watershed. This law allows the Forest Service to partner with other entities for projects that benefit resources on both public and private lands, so long as the project’s goals are to restore and enhance watersheds. Trees 28 to 36 inches in diameter at breast height would, under the proposal, be selected under the direction of a Forest Service biologist from road and timber stand edges. To help with planning of this project, the Forest Service is providing an opportunity for public comments. Comments should be submitted by April 20. Written comments should be sent to: William Helphinstine, District Ranger, 4480 Hwy. 101 N., Building G, Florence, OR 97439. http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2006/04/07/news/news19.txt

Oregon:

9) Five of the six Senators, in one way or another, demonstrated their fealty to the OSU (de)Forestry School and/or Big Timber. One of the Senators, Sen George, destroyed any integrity the hearing might have had as he exposed his pro-timber bias with obsolete arguments, set up false dichotomies with ignorant questions and clearly demonstrated his advocacy for big timber. We heard witnesses Salwasser (obfuscate, prevaricate, equivocate & apologize); both Profs, Jim Karr of UW and Wayne of Idaho do a great job of demolishing the pro-salvage logging justifications and OSUs role as a taxpayer funded henchman/advocate for industry. — TGH / Stumpslist http://www.forestcouncil.org

10) It threatens 1,680 acres (nearly 3 square miles!) of beautiful forest in the North Fork of the Clackamas River. As discovered on the March Bark-About to No Whisky, the current proposal includes illegal logging next to streams. Since then Bark has raised these concerns with the Forest Service and they have asked us to re-mark areas proposed for logging that we believe threaten riparian areas (streamside habitats). So please join Bark THIS Sunday to learn about logging in Mt. Hood National Forest AND to help us protect the beautiful tributaries of the North Fork Clackamas River! Last year Bark’s door-to-door canvass reached 30,000 Oregonians with a message of protecting Mt. Hood National Forest. These contacts increase our membership, which allows us to stop timber sales like No Whisky and challenge our representatives to do better than HR 4200 (see above). Unfortunately we are in dire need of transportation. We are currently using Tri-Met, which despite our love of public transportation is costing Bark a lot of money and takes time…time that we could be using to talk to more people about Mt. Hood… So if you have a minivan that can help Bark spread the word about Mt. Hood, please call A.J. Marks at 503.331.0374, or aj_marks@bark-out.org, and we will make sure that receive a well-deserved tax deduction. http://www.bark-out.org

California:

11) A new crop of trees is sprouting throughout the urban forest: the fake pine, the fooled-you palm and the sorta-elm. They’re actually cell phone towers. A growing number of cities, weary of dropped calls as well as ugly, utilitarian towers, are making cell phone companies install “stealth towers,” some complete with bark and forever-green leaves to camouflage antennas. “This is a future trend that’s just getting rolling,” said Dave Dockter, a city arborist in Palo Alto who has been inspecting the tree towers to make sure they look like the real thing, or close to it. “The reason the Bay Area has bad cell phone services is the providers can’t put up towers due to NIMBYism,” said Los Altos Hills Councilman Dean Warshawsky, referring to cries of “not in my back yard.” Warshawsky, who has been pushing for better cell phone coverage in his town, gets more e-mails demanding better coverage than on any other issue. Tree towers cost significantly more — about $1,000 per foot compared with $300 to $350 per foot for conventional poles, according to T-Mobile’s Sullivan. The trees tend to stand between 60 and 100 feet tall. It takes a lot of ingenuity to build a good fake tree, said Vito Milano, vice president of Preserved TreeScapes in Oceanside. The company started out making faux trees for casinos, hotels and airports, but has branched out into stealth towers. They now account for half of the firm’s business. So far, the company has made pines, Italian cypress and two types of palms. It also makes a tree with broader leaves that can be used to mimic an elm, oak, avocado or other type of tree. Other companies have made faux cacti, which are more popular in the Southwest. The trees are crafted so they won’t fade under constant sunlight and tested to ensure they can endure 125 mph winds. Milano’s company is experimenting with adding arms and branches — purely ornamental — so it can better make trees with umbrella canopies. Still, there are limits. Despite requests, the company can’t create trees that change with the seasons or suddenly bloom in spring. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/14276619.htm

North Dakota:

12) In the past few years, aspen harvesting (cutting standing trees) has become more prevalent throughout the northeast and north central parts of North Dakota, particularly in the Pembina Hills and the Turtle Mountains. The northeast has also seen an increase in the harvest of other species, such as cottonwood in windbreaks and bottomland areas. Much of this increase can be attributed to the demand for these trees to be used in the pulp and oriented strand board industries. The Forest Service and North Dakota State University Extension Service recently put on a series of timber harvesting workshops designed to educate landowners on how to prepare for a timber harvest. Writing a timber contract was one of the main items discussed. The contract is designed to document aspects of the sale, including when a timber sale should start and finish; what should be done with the tops of trees; where the logger can set up their landings (log holding areas) and build logging trails used to haul the logs from the forest to the landings. More significantly, it can set liability levels to protect the landowner as well as the logging firm. Visiting a nearby site that has been logged or is currently being logged can also be beneficial. There are plenty of great logging firms out there that have excellent references. It just takes a bit of homework and patience to find them. http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/living/14296931.htm

Ohio:

13) A dozen people, including members of City Council and the tree commission, among others, gathered at Oak Grove Cemetery, Washington and Eighth streets Friday just after 1 p.m. to honor several significant “champion” trees. The trees are giants of their kind. The actual focus Friday was a towering Mockernut Hickory tree — the Ohio state champion tree. It is easily recognized by thousands of nuts at its base and is located in section seven of the cemetery, near the chapel. “A lot of people don’t even know these trees are here,” Lazer said. “That’s why we (as a committee) are so happy to have the new plaques up in front of the special trees.” The hickory tree is estimated to be 150 years old, and measures 105 inches in circumference and stands 75 feet tall. “It may not seem huge or tall, but for its species, it is the largest in Ohio,” she said. “It was also judged best for its incredible full canopy.” Mayor Michael Mullen offered a proclamation in honor of the event. “Our urban forest is special,” Mullen said. “If we didn’t have anything else in the city, we have a real resource in the work of our tree commission. The best trees in this part of the state are here in Marietta.” A nearby Sawara False Cypress, next to the chapel and west of the hickory tree, is co-state champion among the type of cypress. It has been judged second largest in the state by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry. Every day of the week, thousands of local residents pass by the National Champion Chinkapin Oak, a 200-year-old tree along Muskingum Drive near WASCO. http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/new66_48200622755.asp

Pennsylvania:

14) In this special eight-part series, seven distinct, well-recognized natural communities have been described and their dominant plants identified and specific examples noted: mixed oak forest, northern hardwood forest, barrens, boreal bog, hemlock ravine, river floodplain and swamp. What makes each of these living communities distinctive is not only its physical appearance, but also the dominant plants that characterize it. This series has been confined to terrestrial communities and hasn’t included lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and other open-water environments. http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060409/NEWS01/604090311

New York:

15) Harvard University, among the first institutional investors to put money into timber, says it still has an appetite for trees. “We are under-allocated,” said Andrew Wiltshire, who oversees timberland investing for the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school’s $25.9 billion endowment, the biggest among universities. The fund has 10 percent to 12 percent of its assets in timber. Institutions including Yale University’s $15.2 billion endowment also are expanding timber holdings, attracted by returns that beat the U.S. stock market. The National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries’ Timberland Property index has climbed at an annual rate of 15 percent since its inception in April 1986, compared with an 11 percent return by the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. U.S. investors have lifted timber assets by 29 percent to $18 billion since the end of 2003 as lumber companies sold more land to pay debt. Tuesday, International Paper sold 85 percent of its timberland to two investor groups for a record $6.1 billion. “Fifteen years ago, there wouldn’t have been enough institutional investment capital to do a deal the size of the International Paper transaction,” said Charley Tarver, founder of Forest Investment Associates, one of the investors who purchased the land. Investors are turning to timber for the same reasons they have moved into hedge funds and real estate: less- volatile returns that are not tied to stock and bond markets. Timber also provides a hedge against inflation, which hurts equities and fixed-income securities. The timber index has posted just one losing year, in 2001, when it dropped 5.2 percent. The $14 billion Kentucky Teachers Retirement System is looking for a timber manager for a $150 million investment. “It’s a hard asset with a predictable growth pattern because trees grow,” said Gary Harbin, the fund’s executive secretary, explaining the decision to choose timber over alternatives like hedge funds. Timber generates returns from appreciation in the value of the land and from the sale of trees to buyers like lumber and paper companies. As trees approach maturity, anywhere from 25 to 50 years old, depending on the species, they produce more wood that is also more valuable. A small pine tree, for example, can be used only to make paper. It is not as valuable as a tree large enough to be turned into lumber, which might sell for two or three times as much. Every year, managers generate revenue by selling some of the larger trees, then planting new ones to take their place. On average, trees grow about 5 percent annually. As long as timber prices do not fall by more than 5 percent, timber portfolios generate income. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/05/bloomberg/bxinvest.php

North Carolina:

16) Anyone who’s lived in North Carolina for the past 30 years knows that the countryside has changed pretty dramatically during that time. Subdivisions, sprawling golf courses and big box shopping centers occupy landscapes home to tangles of blackberry briars and honeysuckle, fields of wildflowers and modest houses. Despite all the growth, we’re blessed to live in an area with significant tracts of public land that help preserve the region’s natural heritage. But it isn’t just public land that’s helped maintain the south’s rich natural ecosystems. Timber companies like International Paper have long owned millions of acres of southern land. They’ve managed the land for timber, but their lands have also protected important ecological systems and provided a home for wildlife, including some endangered species. That’s beginning to change.Earlier this week International Paper announced sales that divest it of 85 percent of its timber holdings. More than 77,000 of those acres are in North Carolina, mostly along the Roanoke, Upper Tar, and Chowan rivers and Juniper Creek in the eastern part of the state. More than 300 miles of rivers and streams will be preserved in their undisturbed state. Among other species, the protected areas are home to the red-cockaded woodpecker, neo-tropical songbirds, bald cypress, black bear and freshwater mussels. The largest single tract involved in the deal is a 26,668-acre peninsula between the Pee Dee and Little Pee Dee Rivers in neighboring South Carolina. http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060409/OPINION01/60407068/1123

Georgia:

17) Laura and Meredith Devendorf are the mother-daughter team who run the tree farm, bed and breakfast and community nature center that make up Melon Bluff and Palmyra Plantation. Their 9,500 acres of pine trees, marshland and maritime forest lie across the river from Hampton Island. Descended from Puritans, the family has owned land in the area since 1735, when King George II bestowed title. Straight-backed and straight-talking, the Devendorfs are working on a way to keep up with property taxes and permanently protect their land in a conservation trust long after they’re gone. They want to create their own; they don’t trust governments or established land trusts with their most treasured family heirloom. “We know what’s happening here on the coast with development, and we’re in the way,” said Meredith Devendorf, 35. The story of the changing Georgia coast is unfolding on the two riverbanks, with the luxury-laden allure of Hampton Island on one side and the rich ecological heritage of Melon Bluff on the other. Both sides seek to be caretakers of coastal Georgia, but on very different terms. One offers high-priced, careful development of an exclusive coastal retreat; the other offers permanent conservation, saving the land by limiting human contact. People on the way? In a state where bulldozers are as common as convenience stores, predictions that the six ocean-facing counties are about to get hit with a population tsunami might get scant attention. “We could easily develop quickly, without a pattern, and we would look back in 20 years and frankly be ashamed of what we allowed to happen to the Georgia coast,” said Ratcliffe, a member of the governor’s planning committee. Land values already have exploded. Property that went for several thousand an acre less than 10 years ago is selling for three and four times that much today — or more. In 1997, Union Camp, a timber company, sold 1,008 acres — part of the future Hampton Island — to Atlanta private money manager John Morgan for $3.1 million, according to Liberty County property records. Six and a half years later, Shealy and his partners bought the same piece of land for $14.9 million, along with Morgan’s alterations that included three houses. The same day, Hampton Island Preservation LLC sold two of the three houses, along with 83 acres, for $7.1 million to a limited liability corporation called Lay Down Easy. Those belong to actor Ben Affleck. For the Devendorfs, the rising property values mean rising taxes. Between 2003 and 2004, the assessed value of their land jumped 52 percent. They would love to get tax credits for growing trees, and subtly lobby for their contributions with homemade signs along I-95 at the edge of their property that say: “When you breathe fresh air … get down on your knees … and thank the farmers … who grow the trees.” http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/0409coast.html

Arkansas:

18) International Paper Co., the world’s largest forest-products company, announced Tuesday the sale to two separate investor groups of approximately 540, 000 acres of the 615, 000 acres of forestland that the company owns in Arkansas. The transactions are part of 5. 1 million acres of forestland that the company is selling to those buyers for approximately $ 6. 1 billion. At an average price of $ 1, 200 per acre, the sale could push total proceeds from all planned divestitures as high as $ 11 billion or more, rather than the $ 8 billion to $ 10 billion that were announced in July, International Paper said. At least one timber investment strategist said such good prices concern him. “I’m a little disappointed in the pricing because I think it continues a trend of really bidding up forestlands to levels that are just hard to rationalize against the underlying forestrybased economics,” said Jim Nicol, chief investment strategist for Forest Systems Inc., a timber investment management organization based in North Easton, Mass., which manages about 18, 000 acres in Arkansas. Matthew Pelkki, a forestry economist at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, said he was not surprised that timber investment management organizations were the buyers. http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/150860/

Alabama:

19) Seifried has published three books, “Alabama Canyons: The Bankhead Forest,” “Alabama: Simply Beautiful” and “Through the Garden Gate.” He is working on two more. One will focus on people “but my primary interest is landscapes,” he said, so the other will feature beautiful places in Alabama. His exhibit marks the third anniversary of the former library as an arts center. “We’re excited about this photography exhibit,” said Carnegie spokeswoman Kathryn Silvestri. “In the three years since this center opened and I began working here, I’ve had Charlie Seifried in mind for an exhibit.” http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/diversions/060409/photos.shtml

Kentucky:

20) KIMBERLING CITY – Opponents of a plan to sell two dozen tracts of the Mark Twain National Forest in Stone County say it would be as much an economic loss as an environmental one. “They’re right on the same page,” said Ray Jones, former director of Stone County’s economic development program. “The environment is the economy.” The federal government wants to sell about 300,000 acres of public land, hoping to raise $800 million to fund the Secure Rural School and Community Self-Determination Act. “Selling it is only a temporary solution,” Jones said. “What do we do for money for the kids once we sell the land?” And while tourism is important in Stone County, those who oppose the sale say they don’t want to see the area overdeveloped. “Even people who can afford to purchase land don’t seem to be interested in it because they feel the sale of the land will spoil the uniqueness of our area,” said Judy Elston, owner of Aux Arcs Realty. “They’re terribly afraid it will become much like Lake of the Ozarks.” Arlene Greski, another opponent of the sale plan, agreed. “Ever since we moved in here, we’ve seen more trees cut down,” she said at a recent Friends of Table Rock Lake meeting in Kimberling City. The county has 10,335 acres of the Mark Twain Forest, the most in the state. The Forest Service wants to sell almost a quarter of the land – 2,511 acres – but is still revising its maps.”I have a problem getting around any of it,” Jones said. “I focus on Stone County because of the tremendous percentage we are at risk of losing.” http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/14303741.htm

21) FRANKFORT, Ky. – A state agency has approved an electric cooperative’s plan to cut a 100-foot-wide swath across nearly 5 miles of the Daniel Boone National Forest, a project that environmentalists fear could open the woodlands to unwelcome species that would wage war on migratory songbirds. The Public Service Commission, in a decision filed Friday, gave East Kentucky Power Cooperative approval to construct power lines across the northern section of the national forest.The environmental group Kentucky Heartwood has argued that invaders, including the brown-headed cowbird that lays its eggs in borrowed nests, may use the passage to reach areas in the forest’s interior where migratory songbirds now raise their young. Paul Lovelace, executive director of Kentucky Heartwood, said the PSC’s decision doesn’t end the fight to keep the power lines out of the Daniel Boone. He said the issue could end up in federal court if the U.S. Forest Service accepts the proposed right of way instead of forcing the electric cooperative to choose a route around the public land. “This is a power line that is going to be cut through a national forest when there are alternative routes,” Lovelace said. Marie Walker, spokeswoman for the Forest Service in Winchester, said her agency is reviewing the PSC’s ruling. “We’ll make a decision next week on how we are going to proceed,” she said. Nick Comer, spokesman for East Kentucky Power, said the electric transmission line is critically needed. Without it, he said, residents in a 10-county area around Morehead could face blackouts because the existing grid is becoming overloaded.

Maine:

22) MILLINOCKET, Maine — In the vast north woods of Maine, hunters and hikers have stalked moose and marveled at Mount Katahdin for more than a century. The forests they explored were owned by paper companies, but in longstanding neighborly tradition, the land was kept open to the public. To many who spent time there, the deep woods felt familiar — almost like something that belonged to them. Now, some say that easy sense of belonging is threatened. Paper companies are selling off their land; developers recently announced plans to build 975 houses around Moosehead Lake. In the midst of growing fear about the future of the north woods, a current proposal for the state to buy 6,000 wild acres from a private owner for $14 million and add it to Baxter State Park, protecting it from future development, might have seemed like a sure bet. Instead, the plan has kindled fierce debate, revealing deep rifts between the state’s hunters and snowmobilers, who say protection from development should not mean loss of their right to use the land, and other conservationists who envision an undisturbed wilderness. Lawmakers must act quickly on the proposed land acquisition, before the current legislative session ends this week. ”People have figured out the value of putting up houses by these lakes and mountains. This is our moment.” If successful, the land purchase would complete the vision of the park’s founder, former Maine governor Percival Baxter. Located just east of the park’s existing border, the parcel now available includes Katahdin Lake, a remote, scenic pool 3 miles from the base of Mount Katahdin. Baxter, who pieced together the 200,000-acre preserve over three decades, first targeted the lake for protection 85 years ago. The small, unspoiled lake lies far from any roads, but can be reached from a 3 1/2-mile walking trail that starts near the main parking lot in Baxter State Park. Its isolated, visually striking location near the foot of the 5,268-foot mountain riveted American artists, including Frederic Church and Marsden Hartley, who immortalized the spot in landscape paintings. http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2006/04/09/hunters_in_maine_object_to_forest_plan/

Russia:

23) SYKTYVKAR – President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Syktyvkar. The main purpose of his working trip is to look into the current condition of the local timber industry and the prospects for its development. He is expected to watch the entire cycle of timber felling at one of the forest plots, to call at a wood-working complex, and to hold a conference on the problems of this sector of the economy. Putin will hold a separate meeting with Vladimir Torlopov, who heads the republic. During one of his meetings with cabinet members, Putin had sharply criticised the work of the timber industry complex of Russia. He ordered the ministers to promptly create conditions for woodworking in the Russian Federation. “We need conditions that would stimulate timber processing right here, on the territory of Russia, and the measures to achieve this end should be really vigorous,” the president stated. “Regulation of customs tariffs is one of the instruments to make effective use of our timber resources,” the president said at that time. “It is being proposed to consider the problem of lowering the export duties on thoroughly processed timber products and, vice-versa, to increase the duties on unworked timber,” he stated, explaining that the differentiation could be even more detailed. “Everybody agrees that this is correct, but, unfortunately, nothing or almost nothing has been done so far,” Putin stated. Putin also raised several other urgent problems of the Russian timber economy at the meeting in Petrozavodsk, including the problem of financing the reproduction and protection of forests from fires, diseases, illicit fellings, of attracting investments to develop this sector of the economy, as well as some legislative problems. “Unfortunately, the responsible sense of ownership in our country is not at the needed level yet. Therefore, today we can only consider the problem of long-term leasing in order to leave the state in the position of forest owner,” Putin stressed. “This will allow the lease holder to conduct long-term business transactions, and only in this case he will be economically motivated to invest money in the reproduction of forest lands,” he added. http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=5907624&PageNum=0

Congo:

24) LAKE TUMBA, Congo (AP) – Pygmy chief Mbomba Bokenu says he may soon let loggers cut his people’s forest, and all he expects in return are soap and a few bags of salt. “The Pygmies are suffering. We accept what we are given,” said Bokenu, draped in brown civet-cat skins and holding a slender carved-wooden shield. “Our children live in dirt, they suffer from disease. Soap and salt is a lot to our people.” The Pygmies, though, are entitled to demand much more under proposed government rules meant to ensure Congo’s forest communities benefit from the wealth around them. But experts question whether the Pygmies’ poverty and illiteracy – the result of years of government neglect and discrimination by ethnic Bantus – will prevent them from using the law to help themselves. “People who do not have money for clothes are not in a position to apply the forestry code in a reasonable manner,” said Richard Mboyo, head anthropologist at Congo’s Centre for Ecology and Forestry, a government research institution in the northwestern Equator province. “Some of the tribes are facing the modern world for the first time. They don’t understand the value of their trees,” said Mboyo, who has researched the vast Central African country’s forest communities for more than two decades. A 1998-2002 war left Congo’s economy in shambles, but with peace largely restored and democracy on the horizon, private businesses have returned, lured by a vast forest still largely intact. Congo has more than 121 million hectares of precious woodland – the world’s second largest rain forest, half of Africa’s total. Mboyo thinks it will take years of diligent work to teach Pygmies their rights and how to use the law. If Pygmies sign away their rights for soap and salt, the government may not be able to protect them, even if it wants to. Under current laws, timber companies, which are mostly Congolese, buy logging permits from officials in the capital, Kinshasa, and locals are left out of the loop. In the past, the government funneled little of the permit revenue to forest communities as much of Congo’s wealth was stolen or squandered by its leaders. Sudi, though, also hinted at other pressures on the government. “Congo needs its forests to start paying up,” he said, noting that international donors and Congo’s government view logging as a way to pay off billions in foreign debt accumulated during three decades of dictatorial rule and a decade of war. http://www.canada.com/topics/news/agriculture/story.html?id=4d243edc-15b3-4a25-8478-307a3c25485a&k=44956

Uruguay:

25) The precise instructions from President Tabare Vazquez are that “the Foreign Affairs Ministry retakes actions to defend the rights of the Uruguayan republic”, he added. Two decisions have already been adopted, “first we are going to request the immediate convening, April 18 or 20 of the Mercosur Council which is the block’s main authority. We will ask the Council to rule on Article 1 of the Mercosur founding Asuncion Treaty, which we are convinced has been repeatedly violated”. Secondly, “a letter will be sent to the International Court of The Hague describing the situation; indicating there has been a systematic violation of International Law and detailing all efforts undertaken by the Uruguayan government to overcome the conflict”. Mr. Gargano said both courses of action are “in process” but also cautioned that “political relations with Argentina, with the exception of this specific case, are absolutely normal”. Finland’s Botnia and Spain’s Ence are investing an estimated 1.8 billion US dollars in the pulp mills, Uruguay’s largest single investment in decades and closely linked to the development of the country’s forest and logging industries. The on going dispute about the environmental impact of the mills on the shared and jointly managed border river Uruguay worsened last December when Argentine residents on the opposite side of where the mills are being built mounted pickets temporarily blocking the access to two international bridges. Last February the interruption of traffic to Uruguay became permanent. High level contacts managed to work on a common ground: pickets would be lifted and construction in the mills suspended for a maximum 90 days during which both countries would jointly address the environmental challenges. http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=7616

India:

26) Himachal Pradesh draws thousands of tourists every year. Its one of the most beautiful spots on the tourism map of India. However, the natural look is under threat as state authorities have gone on an overdrive to develop power in the state. Naturally huge amount of deforestation is taking place much to the chagrin of environmentalists. According to official figures, 12,000 big trees and 13,000 saplings have already faced the axe. But, in the disguise of this drive, many illegal felling of trees has also taken place. While catering to the requirement of electricity in other parts of the country, many parts of Himachal Pradesh are either suffering long power cuts or have gone into darkness. And, to fulfil the ever-increasing demand, the deforestation drive is on. In Kullu district, the highest power production of the country is generated. For this project, a total of 4,100 trees have already been chopped off. But the recent action of cutting trees has not gone down well with the enviromentalists who are deeply concerned about the state of affairs in the wake of execution of such policies. After the cutting of forests, soil-erosion takes place, and due to the cold temperature of Kullu the situation worsens. This causes an ecological imbalance in the whole area. Our hills cannot stand the running of so many projects together, according to Dr. J.C. Kuniyal, scientist , G.B. Pant institute of Himalaya and Environment Development The State Government apparently seems unaware of the scale of deforestation. The State authorities say, any misuse or attempt to flout existing rules is punished appropriately time and again. But these are merely a lip service to preservation and maintenance of natural treasure of the country. http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/newsPopup.php?fileR=20060408163734059&dir=2006/04/08&secID=livenews

27) BANGALORE — In the grainy half-light just after 6 a.m., a few dozen men and women gather in a small park, greeting one another beneath a canopy of flowering trees. Ranging in age from 40 to 80, they clap, form a circle–and unleash a gale of uproarious laughter. “Ho ho. Ha ha ha. Ho ho,” they guffaw, sides heaving and heads thrown back to the sky. A passing jogger doesn’t give them a second glance, and why should he? They’re the regulars from the Mini Forest Laughter Club, commencing their daily ritual of smiles, giggles, chortles and belly laughs that–in combination with stretching and breathing exercises–make up the quintessentially Indian discipline of “laughter yoga.” Named for the park where it meets 365 days a year, even during the drenching summer monsoon season, the Mini Forest Laughter Club is made up of middle-class retirees, homemakers and businessmen, among others. It is one of scores of such clubs in this chaotic, high-tech city where beggars and street urchins coexist with eminent scientists and newly minted millionaires from the booming software and outsourcing industries. Invented by a Bombay physician, Madan Kataria, in 1996, laughter yoga is predicated on the idea that “laughter for no reason” can promote spiritual well-being and health benefits, such as lowered blood pressure. The concept has given rise to laughter clubs in India and a number of other countries, including the United States, and inspired a 1999 documentary by celebrated Indian filmmaker Mira Nair.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0604060175apr06,1,5787816.story?coll=chi-newsnationwo
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China:

28) Beijing, China – The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an independent, non-government organization aimed at promoting responsible forest management, has launched an initiative in China that marks the first formal steps toward the development of a forest certification scheme within the country. China is a major player in the global forest products market, both as a producer and consumer. Its market for industrial timber, pulp, and paper is the second largest in the world, outranked only by the United States. It has relatively limited forest resources and a great potential for increases in consumption of wood and paper products. http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=66040

29) ANSHAN, China (eTN): China has found a tourism gold mine in preserving and conserving its natural forest heritage, turning it into forest tourism. “The future of forest tourism is even more promising,” said Zhu Lieke, deputy director of China’s State Forestry Administration. In 2005, some 180 million domestic tourists visited China’s parks, an increase of almost 30 percent over the previous year. “By 2010, the industry will provide nearly 4 million jobs and we expect 400 million visitors in our parks, accounting nearly one third of the total domestic tourists.” China’s forest tourism, consisting of its state-owned forest parks, has developed rapidly over the last few years, covering nearly 1,900 forest parks built till the end of 2005. By 2010, the total number is expected to reach 2,800 parks. “The development of forest tourism should be carried out without damaging our natural environment.” “Forest tourism has generated almost US$1 billion income by 2005, helping rural farmers to shake off poverty.” Anshan, in northeastern Liaoning Province, will host the Third China Forest Tourism Expo from May 26-June 2. “We want to boost the growth of forest tourism, as well as improve the general public’s awareness of protecting our natural heritage,” said Gu Chunli, mayor of Anshan. At the expo, there will be displays of China’s national ‘forest scenery resources’, forums on investments in forest tourism, construction and development of forest tourism. “We also want to strengthen supervision and management of our forest parks.” For decades, lumber mills have cut down trees in the forests of Tianshan mountains, in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In the past two years, nearly half of the employees have switched to forest tourism. “The volume of trees cut has dropped to 1,000 cu meters. The volume will be further cut by 70 percent.” Its new forest tourism industry has seen almost 300,000 visitors. Its European-style two and three-story villas at Weihugou Park, offering 220 beds are fully booked. “Forest tourism will become the main industry in Xinjiang in the 21st industry. The state has built 40 forest parks.” Future plans include developing an ancient-theme Chinese resort, Zongchuan Park, a helicopter pad, and ski slope along the north slope ‘economic belt’ of Tianshan mountains. http://travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=8479_0_1_0_M

30) Where once the industrious Chinese were famed for their endurance at the world’s gold rush sites, now they are leading a timber rush on a scale not seen before. In only seven years, China’s timber product exports have tripled in volume and increased fourfold in value. Since China announced a domestic logging ban to save its countryside from precisely the destruction described above, Chinese wood and furniture exporters hungry for supply have found it in their neighbors’ backyards. The starkest examples of the plunder that now feeds China’s saw mills, floor manufacturers and furniture showrooms are just across the border in Burma. A neat nexus between the corrupt military junta in Burma (or Myanmar), the still-warring local armies of Kachin, Wa and Shan states in northern Burma, and Chinese businessmen greedy for wood and profit is spurring a booming industry. A succession of studies is also coming from the Washington-based Forest Trends group which has worked with the Beijing-based Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy and the Indonesian-based Center for International Forestry Research. These organizations are part of a concerted effort funded by the British Department for International Development and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Sometimes the logging is done entirely by and for Chinese firms, through Chinese middlemen, on roads built by Chinese, as in northern Burma. In other places, such as Indonesia’s Papua, the logging is carried out by Malaysian firms (who deny it) under military or local militia guard. What remains in common at source is that the local people see little benefit from the trade. Instead, factories in southern China and ports such as Shanghai are heaving with the business. Tens of thousands of Chinese are converting the rare woods into the chairs, tables, floor tiles, door and window frames demanded by cost- conscious consumers in the United States and Europe. One loophole which activists want changed is in the definition of “country of origin.” … “Once the timber has been `substantially transformed’ – for instance in the production of wooden furniture from logs or processed timber – its designated country of origin becomes the country where the timber was processed, not where it was logged,” notes the “Choice for China” report. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/weekend_news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=16073&sid=7323080&con_type=3&d_st
r=20060408

Philippines:

31) LOCATED in north Mindanao, Camiguin Island, is the smallest island in the Philippines currently known to support unique species of mammals (Heaney, 1986) and is smaller than any island previously known to support an endemic bird (Peterson et. al, 2000). Measuring only 265 square kilometers, it is surrounded by deepwater (more than 125m) with moderate rain forest. Climate is dry from March to May, wet from October to January and moist during the rest of the year. The original vegetation was tropical rainforest at 800 masl with montane and mossy forest to the peaks but by the mid 1990s virtually no original vegetation remained below 200m and little from 300 to about 800m. There are at least 24 species of mammals and at least 54 species of birds (additional fieldwork is likely to document new species) on the island, thus, making it very important for conservation. Most of the lowland forest had been replaced with coconut plantations, agricultural areas and grassland. The latest discoveries that he and Prof. Blas Tabaranza, Haribon’s operations group head, have are a new species of the hanging-parrot or colasisi and a forest mouse. The bird is now named Loriculus caimiguinensis, or Camiguin Hanging-parrot, while the forest mouse is called Apomys camiguinensis. These are endemic or can be found only on the island of Camiguin. These two new species were discovered as a result of recent and earlier field studies. Because of the rate of deforestation in Camiguin Island, Heaney and Tabaranza recommend to expand the enforcement efforts to protect the existing forest, expand reforestation projects using only native trees, cancel existing salvage cutting permits for dead and fallen trees because they have often been abused and for the local government to actively participate in the conservation measures. At this point, we may think that these animals do not have any use for us but as what has always been said, we are all part of the web of life. Each living thing is unique and has a role to play. And just like the fine strands of a spider’s web, if one is broken, the web is not a web anymore. http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/apr/08/yehey/opinion/20060408opi5.html

Indonesia:

32) The government is defending its much-criticized decision to revive issuing forestry concessions to timber companies in Aceh, saying the plan was vital to support the reconstruction of the tsunami-ravaged province. The move has drawn strong criticism from environmental groups, which said it would only accelerate the deforestation of the province, where more than 30 percent of forests have been lost from land clearing and illegal logging. The government has granted concessions to five timber companies and the Forestry Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) over the deal last month. Based on the ministry’s data, Aceh has 3.3 million hectares of forest areas, including more than 638,000 hectares designated as production forests. Thirteen timber companies have already acquired forest concessions in the province, totaling 500,000 cubic meters a year. However, the long-running conflict in the region, which ended last year, meant most of the concessions were never developed. Kaban vowed the government would ensure there would be no violations in the use of the concessions. Indonesia annually loses around 2.8 million hectares of forests from land clearing and illegal logging, an area the size of Belgium. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp

33) At Nahdlatul Ulama headquarters, Forestry Minister Malem Sambat Kaban told a story about an unnamed Mecca pilgrim (Pak Haji) who was arrested for financing illegal logging in a pristine forest. “I asked him why he did that” said Kaban, who leads the Islamic Star and Crescent Party. “Pak Haji replied: ‘The forests are Allah’s gifts. Men should make use of them’,” the minister said after signing a five-year agreement on forest conservation Thursday with the country’s largest Muslim group. Kaban said he was shocked by the pilgrim’s answer. Although God had given mankind abundant natural resources, people should not illegally exploit them to the detriment of future generations, he said. The misinterpretations of the pilgrim, Kaban said, were also common among religious leaders, who he said often failed to keep up-to-date with current affairs and modern standards of morality. “The whole world begs us to protect our forests because should we lose them, global warming will get worse. It will accelerate the melting of icebergs at the North Pole, which eventually will raise sea levels. Such conditions will cause massive floods and other disasters,” he said. The experience with Pak Haji, Kaban said, motivated him to sign the conservation deal with NU. He hoped the leaders of the organization of around 40 million followers, would encourage their members to become active conservationists and help rehabilitate the 59 million hectares of deforested land across the country. The cash-strapped government could not carry out the initiative alone because rehabilitation of one hectare of land cost about Rp 4 million (about $440), he said. “It means that we need about Rp 200 trillion to treat all the damaged land.” http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp

34) The Indonesian government recently announced it was abandoning plans to destroy 1.8 million hectares of rainforest by establishing oil palm plantations in prime orangutan habitat. While political maneuvering continues by those supporting the project, this strategic victory is encouraging and important. We believe the Indonesian government should be taken at its word, even as we work to consolidate this initial victory and to otherwise protest the state of Indonesia’s rainforests which are in dire crisis. Ecological Internet asks that you send the Indonesian President a congratulatory email making further policy requests. It is important the project cancellation is formalized and permanently laid to rest, and the ancient rainforests that were threatened are given permanent protected status that is effectively enforced. Please also express support for the Indonesian government’s recent preliminary announcement of its participation in the “Heart of Borneo” tri- country conservation initiative which aims to preserve one of the most important centers of biological diversity in the world, covering approximately 220,000 km2 of rainforests and numerous wildlife species including the critically endangered orangutan. To be maximally effective the rainforest movement must acknowledge progress, however tentative and inadequate, even as we intensify our efforts. http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia