317 – Earth’s Tree News

Today for you 32 new articles about earth’s trees! (317th – USA – edition)
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–Washington: 1) Lost forest with waterfalls, 2) Identifying Mature and Old Forests in W. WA, 3) East King county preservation, 4) forest conversion at all time high, 5) Purchase of 4,000 acres of Weyerhaeuser land, 6) The passionate Logger,
–Oregon: 7) What’s wrong with AX men? 8) Roy Keene and industries’ most fashionable dishonest programs, 9) No logging protests after old growth is gone, 10) Experiences in wild places, 11) Freeway-wide clear-cut to slice through 73 miles,
–California: 12) Pete Wilson to ‘help’ Maxxam/PL, 13) Enviros help economy of busted timber town, 14) W. Shasta Resource Conservation District, 15) Another Wolverine,
–Idaho: 16) Examining management programs
–Wyoming: 17) Stop Beetle logging in Medicine Bow NF
–Wisconsin: 18) Tauers cut the last of the land’s big old trees
–Illinois: 19) Save Ackerman Woods
–Texas: 20) Photo book of logging giant pines 100 years ago
–Ohio: 21) State’s largest chestnut tree
–Indiana: 22) Save Morgan-Monroe / Yellowwood state forests
–New Hampshire: 23) Protection for 3,429 acres in Carroll & Hillsborough counties
–Massachusetts: 24) Developer of Beaver Brook Estates may give up logging rights
–Vermont: 25) Questioning crooked logging schemes in the town forest
–Maryland: 26) Maryland to lose federal tree funds
–USA: 27) Speak out for the roadless, 28) Sears Catalog protests, 29) More speak out for the roadless, 30) FS firefighting is ecologically and financially bankrupt, 31) 5 Former FS chiefs write a letter, 32) More DC Shuffling of FS oversight,

Washington:

1) Olympia – We’ve all been to the lovely Deschutes River waterfalls by the old brewery. But did you know that 20 miles upriver there is another park, covering 154 acres and sporting two waterfalls, a 75 foot gorge and a mystical forest dripping with moss? And that you are absolutely not allowed to go anywhere near it? This natural wonder is off-limits to the public, surrounded by a fence for the last 15 years. Legend holds that too many beer addled teens were cliff-jumping to their demise. And to be fair, it is a very slippery and steep slope by the falls. Thurston County Parks did a cost assessment of reopening the park sometime in the future, but for now the park’s fate is unknown. Deschutes Falls County Park (not Tumwater Falls Park), east of Yelm near the Bald Hills, was purchased by Thurston County in 1993. At the turn of the century it was actually a private park, but decades have passed since it was actively used. Exploring it now, you will find picnic tables rotting back into the earth, collapsed latrine-style bathrooms, and illegible rain-bleached signs of yesteryear. Down past the picnic area roars the Deschutes, pouring over two waterfalls, and dropping finally into a majestic gorge. The river banks reveal old growth logs polished by time, beached upon stunning rock formations. The surrounding trees are draped with a bewildering array of moss and lichen, as if adorned for a primeval celebration. The park speaks to an earlier time, not only of the land, but also of our forebears who picknicked and frolicked here decades ago. http://olyblog.net/top-secret-county-waterfall-revealed-words-and-pictures
2) In connection with the Definition and Inventory of Old Growth Forests on DNR-Managed State Lands project, we have produced a document titled Identifying Mature and Old Forests in Western Washington, by Robert Van Pelt. A companion guide for Eastern Washington forests is currently being developed. The purpose of these guides is to help readers interpret the ecology, disturbance history, and age of a given stand or tree using environmental features, including the physical characteristics of the trees themselves. A working ecological understanding of the major tree species, the environments where they grow, and the dominant disturbance regimes at play in a given stand is required when reconstructing stand history and making determinations of tree and stand age. These guides are designed to provide the tools needed for such determinations. http://www.dnr.wa.gov/ResearchScience/Topics/ForestResearch/Pages/lm_oldgrowth_guides.aspx

3) Drive around anywhere in decreasingly rural east King County and look out over the land. If instead of seeing bulldozers clearing lots, or new homes being framed, you see green forests, alder-lined streams or towering cottonwoods along riverbed, chances are that land is public. Over the past 15 or more years, thousands of acres in dozens of plots have been acquired all over the county. Today the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks manages 180 parks totaling 5,000 acres, plus 20,000 more acres of open space, 175 miles of official trails. Soaring Eagle Park is spread across 637 acres — one square mile — between Sammamish and Fall City, with 12 miles of trails. Recently it was the subject of a hot little controversy between local horse riders, mountain bikers and hikers and the city of Sammamish. The city is in the process of acquiring 30 acres of the park from the county for ball fields; the group Friends of Soaring Eagle Park was formed by park users who want its forests left as is. Nearby Duthie Hill Park is a 120-acre forest where the county is working with Seattle-based Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club to build a mountain bike park. Pinnacle Peak Park’s 173 acres embrace a prominence in Enumclaw long hiked by locals for its views. Ridge Park is not really a park at all, but rather 190 acres of little-used forest along Interstate 90 between High Point and Preston, with no facilities at all. “I think this is a good example of the greening of the Mountains to Sound Greenway,” Kimmett says about Preston Ridge during a recent tour of several of these lands. “For now that’s enough. We’re basically baby-sitting this land. In another generation, someone might come along and say, ‘There has to be a trailhead here.’ “It might come sooner than that. Just across Interstate 90 is the incredibly busy Tradition Lake trailhead in the state’s popular Tiger Mountain State Forest. Yet few people explore the forests of Preston Ridge, which has no real trails, and not many people even hike the trail network of nearby Grand Ridge Park, which can be reached via the High Point trailhead less than a quarter-mile from the Tradition Lake trailhead. On a recent Saturday I hiked from the High Point trailhead to a new trail on Grand Ridge built by the Washington Trails Association, and followed it up onto the ridge near the expansive new planned community called Issaquah Highlands. There might have been 100 cars at Traditional Lake trailhead, but none at High Point.We followed the new trail through a grove of towering, thick and very old Douglas fir to the top of the ridge, then followed the main Grand Ridge Trail back down to what’s known as the Coal Mine trailhead along an old railroad bed that is now the Issaquah to High Point Trail. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/356352_openspaces27.html

4) Conversion of forestland is at an all-time high and accelerating. The main force behind this is the difference in the value of land for development, versus growing timber. The problem is most acute in the gentrifying counties around Puget Sound, where the average lot value is about $250,000, while timberland per acre is around $2,000. Even with this vast difference, many private landowners continue to farm timber — and deserve the public’s support. They continue in their work for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is their love for the land and forestry. Land remaining in the forest base provides environmental benefits for all to enjoy. Practicing forestry requires infrastructure: loggers, truckers, sawmill operators, marketers, and others who support these businesses. The forest industry is not a robber baron or cut-and-run affair of past reputation. Today, logging is highly mechanized, with sophisticated processes incorporated into many applications. Large-log mills have given way to high-speed, computerized, small-log mills. The timber industry is threatened by an economic perfect storm. The subprime-mortgage mess has destroyed the domestic lumber market. Fuel prices have soared. Shippers to Asia have just substantially raised their freight rates. Add to that the storm we had in December that blew down 600 million board feet (150,000 truckloads) of timber now hitting a market that doesn’t want it. The industry already has been tested by the spotted owl, mechanization, recessions and regulation. Ordinarily, I would say this is going to be a year that separates the men from the boys. But the boys are already gone. What forest owners and the industry do not need is more regulation. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2004305558_prestondrew26.html

5) In early January, the purchase of approximately 4,000 acres of former Weyerhaeuser land just north of Mount St. Helen’s National Volcanic Monument, an area known as the High Lakes, caused a flurry of activity from the county planning commissions in both Skamania and Cowlitz; the counties where the property is situated. Currently there is a six month moratorium on building permits on all unzoned land 20 acres or more in Skamania County. The area, home to five lakes popular with anglers and recreationalists, is being labeled as an “excellent mountain getaway” by the listing agent Colliers International Natural Resource Group. Currently the listing by Colliers states that there are 19 parcels ranging from 38 acres up to 107 acres; 11 have already sold. For years Weyerhaeuser allowed public access to the High Lakes area for public recreation. Selling this property may not only lead to more development in the area around Mount St. Helens, but it could also close public access to those who currently recreate among these lakes. This area is a highly prized recreational area and sentiment to keep it in public hands is growing. We would like to see this area protected for the benefit of the public. For more information please call Jessica at (503) 221-2102 ext. 101. We will keep you posted on the status of the High Lakes area. julia@gptaskforce.org

6) Forestry and logging has been a part of our state’s culture since the mid-1800s. This industry helped build our economic base at statehood and still contributes to the prosperity of our state. Our vision is long-term, and we plan on practicing forestry for centuries to come. A broad-based study group is now looking at the facts to determine what contributedto the extraordinary damage that occurred in Lewis County. Our conclusions need information and must be based on science because they will have long term impacts on landowners. Unfortunately, there are some people who refuse to wait for the facts. Instead, in an attempt to advance their political agenda, they immediately point fingers. Eager to draw attention, they have tried to focus blame on timber harvesting and have asserted that the logging was inappropriately approved by our state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR). http://www.wfpa.org

Oregon:

7) While standing in a clear-cut a few minutes from my home in Philomath, Oregon, I pondered the role of your new show, “Ax Men.” Once a forest, gone are ancient trees, replaced by rows of Douglas Firs replanted to be cut again in a few decades, maybe less. Exotic weeds now grow on eroded soils and a native forest will not regrow in this monoculture farm of trees. I watched “Ax Men” hoping to see an articulate and honest assessment of forestry in Oregon: does a tree farm mimic a forest? Will disease and fire danger increase as we alter the ecological succession of these forests? Do the timber multinationals truly worry themselves with the sustainability of Oregon’s rural timber towns? Why cut native forests when “Ax Men” could cut timber grown on private, industrial forest lands targeted for wood production? Should logging even occur on public held forests (state and federal), lands held in trust by taxpayers to filter the air of carbon dioxide, hold medicinal treasures, provide habitat for our nation’s endangered species and provide underground reservoirs of the purest water in the nation? After watching three episodes: the answer is a clear-cut no! Ms. Dubuc, your program has the opportunity to illuminate millions of viewers of the true history of logging here in the Pacific Northwest and you fail to even broach that subject in the most miniscule fashion. Even a greater tragedy is the absence of documented facts about the liquidation of forests here in Pacific Northwest. “Ax Men” celebrates hard work and that is admirable, but by ignoring the word that your own “channel” is prefaced by: history, your viewers are left with the impression that forests are little more than fiber farms and humans can magically grow forests. This is a dangerous and false precedent. John F. Borowski is a teacher of 27 years in Oregon and can be reached at jenjill@peak.org

8) Roy Keene has walked a distinguished path as a forester, an advocate for sustainable forest practices and a businessman. His Feb. 12 guest viewpoint offered a productive and clear alternative to current logging practices. His knowledge is current, and his honesty is widely known. The logging industry chose to slam him personally instead of responding constructively. They have lobbied to have all severance taxes removed from industrial forest tracts of more than 5,000 acres. They pay almost no property taxes. They do not pay their share. Taxpayers subsidize the removal of each precious tree from our public forests. These trees are not just about a Sunday afternoon hike. They clean our water and support spawning beds critical to the survival of the fishing industry. They hold and enrich the soil upon which we depend. The forests are a potent weapon in the battle to stabilize our climate. They are the lungs of the planet, and without them we will not survive. Yet we pay the logging companies to liquidate them. This is what they do not want you to know. The industry even developed a whole new set of dishonest programs and institutions with which to continue the destruction, including: 1) Fuels reduction. The real goal is to eliminate nutrient competition for their mono-crop fiber plantations. 2) Collaborative forestry and stewardship. These are covert ways of re-naming logging to avoid litigation. The stewardship authorities have been effective in seducing environmental groups into becoming plantation managers. 3) Biomass and cellulosic ethanol. These are new and destructive ways to mine the nutrients of the soil, depleting it to the point where it will not grow forest. — So the next time you hear the logging industry come out swinging at people of honor and conscience, go look at what’s left of your forest. Glance out the window on your next flight over the Northwest. It does not take long to see why they cannot speak to the real issues; the truth will force them to change, if not destroy them. Help us stop them. Help start us on a path to rebuild our nation instead of tearing it down. http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=82731&sid=5&fid=1

9) After years of courtroom fights over logging in the Clackamas River basin, environmental watchdogs and the U.S. Forest Service have learned to work together. The result is Clackamas Stewardship Partners, an award-winning program that uses proceeds from timber-thinning projects to improve fish and wildlife habitat, create healthier forests and restore damage from off-road vehicles. “There were tree-sits, there were lawsuits, there were protests,” said Erik Fernandez, wilderness coordinator with Oregon Wild, one of several environmental groups that participate. “It’s amazing,” he said. “You stop logging the old growth, and the lawsuits and the protests seem to disappear.” Congress authorized stewardship contracts in 2002 as a way of trading small-log federal timber for environmental improvements. Clackamas Stewardship Partners formed in 2004, bringing a wide range of organizations into discussions of forest management in the Clackamas River watershed. The partners meet once a month to review thinning proposals, identify restoration needs and recommend projects, such as restoring fish passage, decommissioning unused roads, improving campsites, thinning plantations and ensuring clean drinking water. “Before, almost every (timber) sale was being appealed or litigated,” said Jim Rice, stewardship contracting coordinator for the Mount Hood National Forest. “Since we started using stewardship contracting, we haven’t been in the courts.” This year the Clackamas Stewardship Partners were recognized with the Two Chiefs’ Partnership Award, given by the U.S. Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for outstanding collaborations in forest conservation. “What used to be almost all timber sales are now being advertised as stewardship contracts,” Rice said . As recently as 2005, he said, all logging in the Mount Hood National Forest was done through traditional timber contracts. The first Mount Hood stewardship contract went to High Cascade, a Carson, Wash., plywood veneer manufacturer. The Forest Service gave the company about two years to thin 107 acres of second-growth fir, harvesting about 1 million board feet of timber and completing a series of wildlife habitat and other improvements. The environmental jobs included killing two firs per acre by girdling, leaving the trees to become standing snags for birds and other wildlife. Two more trees per acre were felled and left on the ground, also for wildlife. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1206498320101840.xml&coll=7

10) Growing up as a kid in the Portland area, I did a lot of backpacking with my parents. We went on a week-long trip every summer. Some years I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic; it was cold, my equipment was heavy and I was a teenager. But those experiences in wild places that only exist in Oregon instilled in me a lifelong appreciation for the beauty of our state’s old growth forests. Nowadays I spend my free time backcountry skiing, climbing and hiking in Central Oregon, trading the Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce for juniper and Ponderosa Pine. But I still get my old growth fix from an annual camping trip on the Oregon Coast. Folks like me who have lived in Oregon for most of our lives have witnessed the ups and downs of living in a timber-dependent economy. We’ve also seen another path to prosperity when it comes to managing our public forest lands. Today, our trees are worth a lot more if they’re left standing for recreational purposes. I’ve made my living in the outdoor industry, working for the past 20 years with equipment and clothing manufacturers and distributors. In that time I’ve watched as the economy of Oregon has shifted to create new business opportunities, for the timber industry among others, and moved away from the divisive, controversial practice of clear-cut logging. Outdoor recreation is a major economic contributor to local communities. Americans spent $120 billion hunting, fishing and bird watching in 2006. That’s more than what was spent at casinos, theaters, golf courses, professional sports arenas and amusement parks combined. For our state, the big draw is old growth forests. It has become scarce— only about 5 percent of America’s old growth remains, much of it found in Oregon. The many manufacturers and retailers of outdoor equipment based and doing business in Oregon depend on these public lands. Currently the Bush administration is trying to roll back protections for old growth forests, clean water, salmon and wildlife. On March 13, our representative in the Senate, Ron Wyden, convened a hearing on old growth forest management, continuing the important dialogue on how best to care for this rare resource. Congress should permanently protect what little remains of our irreplaceable old growth forests for current and future generations of Americans. Northwest old growth forests are a national treasure, home to countless species of rare animals and plants, some found nowhere else on Earth. Untrammeled old growth draws people from all over the United States to enjoy world class hiking and camping. Here in Oregon, we’ve got some of the best. I hope we can look forward to legislation protecting our old growth heritage in the near future. http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080324/OPINION/803240316/1049

11) The latest maps of a natural gas line proposed for Oregon show a freeway-wide clear-cut slicing through 73 miles of public forest and the pressurized pipeline crossing about 50 rivers and named streams. At peak construction, Palomar Gas Transmission plans to employ up to 1,000 workers to clear brush and trees along a 120-foot-wide path, level terrain and bury the pipe in a trench 7 feet deep, according to the latest draft of a report filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Until now, environmental opposition to the Palomar project and a similar, competing proposal centered on concerns about possible pollution or spills from tankers crossing the Columbia River bar and transferring huge quantities of fuel at an estuary upstream from Astoria. New details about Palomar’s proposed route expand the debate to include communities throughout northwest Oregon. In all, the pipeline would extend 210 miles, feeding into a natural gas network east of the Cascades. Work crews would cut through public and private land using backhoes, rock cutters, tractor-mounted mechanical rippers and blasting tools. Palomar officials say they would minimize environmental damage while providing Oregonians with jobs and a reliable source of energy. Critics say the project would degrade wildlife and fish habitat, destabilize soil, kill endangered species, spread invasive weeds, destroy patches of old-growth trees and open public forest to all-terrain vehicles. Palomar would ship supercooled liquid natural gas imported on tankers from Russia, Indonesia, Australia and the Middle East to a terminal near Wauna, on the Columbia River. The fuel, warmed to a gas state, would flow through a high-pressure line, providing enough energy to supply thousands of West Coast homes and businesses. Proponents say the Pacific Northwest must develop more energy sources and that natural gas is cleaner than coal. They estimate the project would pump $75 million into local economies each year and provide $8 million in annual taxes. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1206159922292990.xml&coll=7

California:

12) Former Gov. Pete Wilson has signed on to guide the reorganization of the Pacific Lumber Co.’s timber-holding subsidiary if a creditors’ plan is approved in April by the U.S. Bankruptcy Judge presiding over the case. A principal of the Bingham Consulting Group, Wilson said in a statement that he believes the plan submitted by the creditors of Scotia Pacific best protects jobs and the environment. ”We will manage the company in accordance with all its existing environmental obligations and economic commitments to the region, and we have built in conditions that enable the company to continue to be operated in this manner in the years to come,” Wilson said in a statement. Wilson was involved in the late 1990s negotiations over the 7,500-acre Headwaters Forest. That deal cost taxpayers $480 million for the forest and two smaller groves, and put in place a long-term logging and habitat conservation plan, which have been fraught with controversy and litigation. Wilson served as governor from 1991 to 1998. The noteholders’ plan deals only with Scotia Pacific, and contemplates an auction of the timberlands as a whole unit. Any buyer would have to keep employees other than top management for at least a year and agree to sell logs to the Scotia sawmill operation. It doesn’t deal with Palco, which holds the sawmill, the town of Scotia, other assets, and the lion’s share of the employees working for the current company. If the noteholders’plan is approved, a plan that deals solely with Palco would also have to be confirmed, or the judge could convert it to a Chapter 7 liquidation case. The plan is competing with three plans submitted by Palco, which consider in various forms splitting off some land for real estate development and selling protected redwood groves, as well as continuing timber and lumber operations. It is also competing with a plan by Mendocino Redwood Co. which looks to consolidate the timber and lumber operations, seek Forest Stewardship Council certification, and preserve many of the employees currently employed by Palco and Scotia Pacific. http://www.times-standard.com/ci_8718128

13) Today, Hayfork is staging a surprising rebound — and this time, the environmental movement is providing some of the lift. A mill has opened to process tiny trees, scrap timber and other wood that many environmentalists don’t mind seeing turned into lumber because it is considered harmful to the forest. The 55 jobs added in the process have spawned demand for more local services. A gas station has reopened after being shuttered for years, and a boarded-up tavern where lumberjacks used to brawl has been converted into a coffee shop called Northern Delights. Even a natural-foods store has sprung up. The town of 1,800 residents still hasn’t made up the jobs it lost, but the mill’s operators say they expect to nearly double the work force over the next two years. And local officials say more businesses are contemplating moving to or beefing up their presence in Hayfork. “It’s little things like this that bring a town back, not dramatic things,” says Bryan Redd, chief executive of Upstream 21 Corp., the Portland, Ore., holding company that last year bought Hayfork’s Jefferson State Forest Products mill for an undisclosed amount. The resurgence in Hayfork is part of a larger trend across the U.S.: Eco-friendly, or “green,” businesses are breathing new life into small towns that used to depend heavily on logging big trees that are now protected. The trend is particularly evident in the West, where environmental restrictions in the national forests and other public lands have virtually shut down traditional logging in many places. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120605512503353159.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

14) While its name might not seem familiar, the projects of the Western Shasta Resource Conservation District probably are. Run by the state as a special district, akin to a fire or water district, the conservation district covers 1.7 million acres in Shasta County. It is funded entirely by grants and contracts. The conservation district’s 28 employees are involved with environmental projects around the county like fuel thinning aimed at decreasing fire danger and stream restoration designed to increase salmon runs. Often projects include working closely with a landowner, said Mary Mitchell, district manager. “There’s been a lot of development and people don’t always know what’s the right thing to do,” she said. She said the district is there to help people determine how to manage resources on their land. And it will do the work. Such is the case in a fuel thinning project on the property belonging to Ron and Bea Nevins near Shingletown last week. The job included trimming brush, taking out a tree and other tasks that were too much for the couple in their 70s to do, Bea Nevins said. Doing the work on contract, for $525 per day, the crew of four did it fast. “They knew just how to go about it,” Bea Nevins said. The conservation district also works on projects on publicly held land, including its current flagship project — the rechanneling and restoration of Clear Creek in south Redding. This summer, work crews will be doing two big construction projects along the creek. “We are moving the channel and putting in thousands of tons of spawning gravel,” Mitchell said. They’ll also put in more than 10 miles of trail and an overlook, giving hikers a place to see some of the best spawning habitat along the creek. Since 1995, she said, about $28 million, mostly federal money, has been put into projects and land purchases along the creek. In recent years the work on Clear Creek has ratcheted up, said Jack Bramhall, the conservation district’s assistant projects manager. “It has a taken over a lot of our energy over the last half dozen years,” he said. To keep projects like those on Clear Creek going, the conservation district depends on grants. This year, the district’s budget is $3.4 million, Mitchell said, with the bulk of that money coming from state grants. http://www.redding.com/news/2008/mar/24/conservation-district-saves-land/

15) Wolverine: I am not impressed at all with the ability of the US Forest Service to preserve wildlife in general, not to mention sensitive or endangered species. I spent years monitoring the Sierra National Forest and the workers I met with were some of the most corrupt and dishonest people I have ever dealt with. The entire mentality was devoted to resource extraction, and even wildlife biologists, botanists and fisheries specialists routinely issued “no significant harm” on virtually every single Environmental Assessment Report I ever saw. Long term, the DFG plans more studies of wolverines in the Sierras, and hopes to combine them with studies of the extremely rare Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator). The existence of the Sierra Nevada red fox has recently been confirmed by a team led by John Perrine of UC Berkeley. The team has located a small population of 10-15 Sierra Nevada red foxes existing in and around Lassen National Park in the Cascades Range. A later study proved that these were Sierra Nevada Red Foxes and not Eastern Red Foxes, which are abundant at the lower elevations in California. A good description of the Lassen study, along with several rare photos of the foxes, can be found here. In the Sierras, the Sierra Nevada red fox was typically found at about 9,000 feet, with one record at 4,000, another at 5,500 and another at 7,000 feet. In the the Cascades, they are usually found at around 6,000 feet, dropping down to 4,000 feet in the winter and moving up to 8,000 feet in the summer. A report by the DFG in 1987 said the Sierra Nevada red fox was endangered, but noted that sightings continue in the rest of the Sierra Nevada outside the Cascades within the traditional range of the species. I believe that they probably still exist in the Sierras. I am aware of some recent sightings on the East side near Mammoth Mountain at high elevations. Even less impressive is the California Department of Fish and Game, though at least their heads are in the right direction. Individuals working with the DFG are good people, but the Commission is run by political clowns. http://robertlindsay.blogspot.com/2008/03/more-california-wolverine-photos-in.html

Idaho:

16) In the western United States, forest management programs struggle to strike a balance between encouraging vigorous rural economies and maintaining sustainable forest environments. With funding from USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), scientists in Idaho examined different forest management programs in order to develop a program that finds this balance. Timothy Link and colleagues at the University of Idaho, in partnership with Potlatch Corporation, conducted research at the Mica Creek Experimental Watershed in northern Idaho. Their work focused on how different forest management practices affect the surrounding watershed. As forest harvest intensifies, water flow increases in intensity and timing, which can impact surrounding communities. This study examined water flow in the watershed of three different forest management types: no harvest, thinned and clearcut forests. Understanding how different management practices affect water flow will result in more effective best management practices that support both forest production and the surrounding community. In the study, watersheds in forests that have been clearcut by 50 percent experience an increase in annual flows by approximately 30 percent. The same analysis in forests that have only been thinned by 50 percent show an increase in annual flow by roughly 20 percent. The results of the study suggest a combination of thinned and cleared areas provides a greater volume of runoff to the surrounding communities. In addition, the water flow is sustained into the summer dry season when water is most needed downstream by communities and for maintenance of aquatic ecosystem health. This research should help municipal watershed managers develop and adapt current plans to compensate for future environmental fluctuations caused by climate change. Future research on this topic will provide further guidance on how to manipulate the forest canopy to help buffer the impacts of weather variability and warming trends as climate changes. The results from the Mica Creek study area are being used in an upper-division watershed science and management course and a graduate-level physical hydrology course at the University of Idaho. http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/impact/2008/nri/03241_sustainable_forests.html

Wyoming:

17) LARAMIE – Environmentalists want Medicine Bow National Forest to halt logging until foresters can better understand how an epidemic of pine beetles could affect wildlife. An epidemic of pine beetles is killing trees across the region. Some say the epidemic results from global warming: More beetles are able to survive from year to year because several winters in a row have been warmer than usual. The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance says the pine beetle epidemic, coupled with clear-cutting, have greatly disrupted wildlife habitat and that logging should be halted. But a timber industry spokesman, Tom Troxel, with the Intermountain Forest Association, says logging should be increased, not halted. Troxel says logging beetle-killed trees would allow more room for new trees to grow. The Forest Service says it’s reviewing the environmentalists’ petition and will respond soon. http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=8079550&nav=menu554_2_2

Wisconsin:

18) North Woods logging has come to be dominated by sophisticated mechanical harvesting equipment that can cost $1 million. In the grip of a machine, a towering red pine seems more like a stalk of corn. An operator can topple a 60-foot tree, strip off the limbs and chop it into 8-foot sections in a minute. But the Tauer brothers are different. They use a chain saw to cut high-value hardwoods such as cherry, maple and oak, leaving much of the cutting of pulpwood to mechanical harvesters. The tools of their trade are a $750 chain saw and a used skidder that would cost $150,000 to replace. The Tauers are called hand-cutters, and “there’s probably only a handful of them in the north,” said Mona Craig, vice president of Loggers Insurance Agency in Sparta. The story is different in southern Wisconsin, where the hills in the southwest favor chain saws. So do the smaller woodlots. But in the north, where generations of families have earned their paychecks from the forest, strict reliance on the venerable chain saw is fading fast. “It’s hard work,” said Terry Mace, forest resource specialist with the state Department of Natural Resources. “It’s also the most dangerous. Most of the kids that get into the business don’t want to work that hard.” These days, with a poor economy and declining housing sales, the forest products industry is slumping. Still, the brothers are in the woods most mornings by 7 o’clock and don’t leave until almost 5. Even in lean times, Wisconsin forests can be frenetic in March: It’s break-up — when the loggers and truckers are in a rush to get the timber out before the snow melts and towns reduce weight limits on the roads. After making the notch, he used the end of his chain saw to gouge a slice into the middle of the trunk, then made a final straight cut close to the snow line. The cuts took about one minute. Then the maple cracked, wobbled like a prizefighter and crashed to the ground. In his red insulated boots, Bill Tauer walked nimbly over the trunk, taking mental notes on the width, taper and the knots and crooks along the way. “He is deciding what he can get out of it,” observed Jeff Niese, a senior forester with the Bureau of Commissioners of Public Lands, which owns the parcel. “The sugar maple is a bread-and-butter product on trust lands.” The agency reported that revenue from timber sales fell from $988,455 in the state’s 2003-’05 fiscal cycle to $770,991 in fiscal 2005-’07 because of the fall in housing starts and home prices. The bureau is among the oldest agencies in state government. It was created in 1848, with holdings coming from land that the federal government granted to the state. Most of its original holdings were sold to settlers and timber companies. Today, the agency owns 77,000 acres. Here, the Tauer brothers take their time. http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1237451/

Illinois:

19) We are writing in protest of the planned storm water retention and soccer field construction in Ackerman Woods. This plan includes cutting over 340 trees up to 2 feet in diameter. These woods should be preserved, not destroyed. Planning, bidding and construction on this property should be halted immediately. The two reasons stated by the village and the park district for the destruction of Ackerman Woods are 1) the need for water detention for 5-Corners (because of the plan to sell the existing water detention land to develop a strip mall) and 2) the need for additional soccer fields. We should not trade our woods for a strip mall. There has been vacant retail space in that area for years. Additionally, there is no justification for new soccer fields without a facilities usage study. The park district does not know what the current demand is or whether existing facilities are being fully utilized. Simply stating that many children are involved in the soccer program is not an analysis. The park district has also not studied alternate locations for fields, if they indeed are needed. We ask the park district to suspend support for the plan to destroy Ackerman Woods. The village of Glen Ellyn says that it is deeply committed to tree preservation, as evident by the “Gems of Glen Ellyn” brochure and the numerous environmental awards the village has received. The village code states: It is the stated public policy of the village to add to the tree population within the village, where possible, and to maintain, to the greatest extent possible, existing trees within the village. The planting of additional trees, preservation of existing trees, and proper maintenance of trees in the village will improve the quality of life in Glen Ellyn. (Ord. 4925, 3-26-2001.) This project does not reflect the desires of the Glen Ellyn community. We request that the village halt work on this plan immediately, and call a public hearing to discuss the long-term plan for Ackerman Woods. David and Melissa Creech, Glen Ellyn http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=159577&src=

Texas:

20) “The House of Thompson” was first printed in 1908 by “The American Lumberman” and a reprint has just been published from a scan of the original volume. This historical book contains over 90 pages of rare photos that show the woods as they looked when the early settlers arrived in East Texas. Anyone associated with the timber industry, the history of East Texas, and family histories will find this book a treasure. It belongs in community libraries, schools, industries and individual homes and offices. This historical document recounts the story of the Thompson brothers, John Martin Thompson and William Wirt Thompson, and the series of sawmills they built in East Texas towns including New and Old Willard, Doucette, Grayburg, and Trinity. They and their mills played a major role in the development of East Texas lumbering. Great-great grandchildren of John Martin Thompson, Lucile Slocomb Thompson and John Guy Slocumb, gave the Texas Forestry Museum a copy of “The American Lumberman” along with the original photographs taken for the publication. The book features pictures of virgin pine forests taken by the photographer from “The American Lumberman” in 1907 while traveling in East Texas. In 1881, the Thompson Brothers moved their company office to Willard and built a mill. When they surveyed the available forests along with proposed railroad course, they thought there was timber standing to supply the mill for its lifetime. In 1887, the railroad reached the area, so Thompson and partner Henry Tucker bought a tram steam locomotive and crews built tramways into the areas that were to be cut. Loggers cut the huge trees with crosscut saws. Trees less than 12 inches in diameter were left standing. The scaler determined the most efficient lengths to cut the logs. The buckers and shoppers trimmed the limbs and cut the timber into correct lengths. As much of the log as possible was used. $30 plus $7 shipping and handling made out to “House of Thompson” to: Jane Baxter, 4641 Chalmers Drive, Nashville, TN 37215. call 615-594- 4642. http://www.dibollfreepress.com/news/2008/0326/history/039.html

Ohio:

21) The state’s largest existing chestnut tree — known only to a few until last week — is in Sheldon Marsh, a 465-acre state nature preserve about midway between Toledo and Cleveland. The tree stands 89 feet tall and has a 5-foot circumference. “To our knowledge, we don’t have any that come close to this size,” Obermiller said. Most surviving chestnut trees are small, sprouting from the roots of trees killed by the fungus. Steve Maurer, the new chief of Natural Areas and Preserves, decided the public should be told about the tree, Obermiller said. “He realized this was a very special tree,” Obermiller said. Maurer has asked the American Chestnut Foundation if it wants samples of the tree to determine if the tree is resistant to the chestnut blight, Obermiller said. The tree produces fruit, but the seeds aren’t viable because there isn’t another tree to pollinate it, he said. Natural resources director Sean Logan let it slip last week that the tree exists. He said during a meeting of the Ohio Lake Erie Commission that he was going to visit it later that day. But the exact site is still protected. State officials want to make sure the tree remains, and there is an eagle’s nest in it. http://www.coshoctontribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080324/UPDATES01/80324030/1002/NEWS
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Indiana:

22) Less than an hour’s drive south of Indianapolis is a rare and wonderful recreational treasure that is now under threat. Located in Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood state forests, the Back Country Area was established in the early 1980s in many people’s minds as equivalent to a wilderness area in a national forest, such as the Charles Deam Wilderness Area in the Hoosier National Forest. The original documentation states that the Back Country Area is “to be enjoyed by the wilderness seeker as a place of solitude and repose” and that “it will offer an experience of visiting a forested area looking much the same as it may have appeared a century and a half ago.” For nearly three decades the Back Country Area has been off limits to commercial logging and has been a favorite place for hikers and backpackers. I have enjoyed many backpacking adventures in this area with my son, having chosen it because of its proximity and its exceptional beauty, and because I assumed it would be one of the few places in Indiana where my son could watch the trees grow bigger without the threat of them being logged. All of that, however, is about to change: The Indiana Department of Natural Resources plans to sell trees to commercial contractors and send in heavy equipment to cut them down and haul them off. http://cmonletsplantatree.blogspot.com/2008/03/save-our-forest-from-tree-cutters.html

New Hampshire:

23) CONCORD – More than 3,429 acres of forest in Carroll and Hillsborough counties will be protected under federal funding announced yesterday. Mark Rey, U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for natural resources and environment, made the announcement at the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests headquarters. The Ossipee Pine Barrens will receive $2.3 million and Crotched Mountain will get $1.9 million from the 2008 Forest Legacy Program. In Grafton Notch, just over the state line in Newry, Maine, the program will protect 3,454 acres and an additional 42,000 acres will be covered as well in the Lower Penobscot Forest in northeast Maine. Rey unveiled the plans one week before the rest of the nation gets the news on the 35 projects chosen for the $54 million available funding under a program the Bush administration plans to eliminate next year. Many in New Hampshire’s conservation and logging communities have voiced distressed that the program, which has protected large tracts of private land for both logging and recreation since 2001, is facing a 76 percent reduction under the President’s budget. “This program has become very important land management tool in this state, and we are very concerned about it getting cut,” said Jasen Stock, executive director of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association. http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=3%2C429+acres+of+NH+forests+protected&articleI
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Massachusetts:

24) NORTHAMPTON – The developer of Beaver Brook Estates said yesterday that if logging 27 acres of land that he is considering donating to the city is going to create problems, he won’t log it. “I’ve been a forest steward for 30 years. I’ve gotten awards for forest stewardship. If they are going to make a thing about it, I’m going to cave on it,” said developer Patrick J. Melnik, a city lawyer and forester. Some neighbors of the Beaver Brook project and City Councilor Raymond W. LaBarge have questioned whether Melnik should be allowed to donate the land and retain logging rights. It will be the subject of a Planning Board hearing tonight at 8:30 in City Council chambers. Already, 40 of the approximately development’s 54 acres off Evergreen Road in Leeds have been placed under a conservation restriction that allows Melnik to do logging overseen by the Conservation Commission, according to Melnik and Planning Director Wayne M. Feiden. “This whole thing is a partnership,” Melnik said of the agreement with the Conservation Commission. Melnik is now proposing a 25-home cluster development on about 14 acres. The 27 acres that will be kept as open space meet the city’s requirement for a cluster subdivision, Feiden said. Melnik said that he will give up the logging rights for the 27 acres if no conditions are placed on the project beyond those recommended by the Planning Department. “I’m going to wash my hands of it,” he said. Conditions recommended by the Planning Department include Melnik paying $50,000 for “traffic mitigation,” installation of three speed bumps on existing roads, putting sprinkler systems in each dwelling and that improvements to the water systems be made. It is up to the Planning Board what conditions are imposed, including whether the logging is allowed, Feiden said. If the land is donated to the city, it must be approved by City Council, he said. The idea for the land donation came from the Conservation Commission, which said it would prefer the city owned the land, Feiden said. Melnik said he is hopeful the Planning Board will approve the cluster development. He already has approval for a traditional subdivision on the property. However, because of the uncertain economy, Melnik said he was uncertain when the project would begin. “I have a long time horizon,” he said. http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-13/120660241298000.xml&coll=1

Vermont:

25) In reading the March 5 Times Argus article “Marshfield Approves Budgets, Discusses Future of Town Forest,” I have some remarks and questions about the town forest. Marshfield town land in that area has been logged this winter. Another portion of town land, also on Folsom Hill, was logged a few years ago. Is either of these logging jobs in Marshfield town forest? Was either job let out by bid? The article says the town forest has not been logged recently. How recently? Very importantly, how can the town of Marshfield sell or log land when nobody can figure out how much land is involved or where the boundaries are? How does Marshfield tax adjoining property owners if the boundaries are unknown? It clearly appears adjoining land owners could be getting taxed for land the town owns or the town may have been letting out logging jobs on adjoining private property. How did the botanist determine the quality or species of the timber of the town forest when nobody can figure out where the town forest boundaries are? If the town determines to sell or log town forest land, the town should first establish undisputed boundaries for that property and it looks as though that could be a very expensive project that would still leave doubts in some people’s minds about the accuracy of any survey. The article implies that a survey can not be made because known records are too vague. This looks like a real “Pandora’s Box.” http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080327/OPINION02/803270305/1022/OPINION02

Maryland:

26) The Bush administration’s proposal to significantly cut the U.S. Forest Service’s State and Private Forestry Program would harm communities throughout Maryland by virtually eliminating nearly 100 years of federal-state cooperation in forest conservation. Congress must not allow the federal government to leave state and local communities behind at a time when federal assistance is needed most. The Bush administration’s fiscal 2009 budget proposal calls for reducing Forest Stewardship funding by 83 percent and Urban and Community Forestry funding by 82 percent, with smaller reductions to the State Fire Assistance and Volunteer Fire Assistance programs. The Forest Stewardship program provides guidance to forest landowners to help them manage their lands better, while the Urban and Community Forestry program helps local communities, including Baltimore, to improve the health and quality of their trees. For example, the Urban Tree Canopy program offers cities and counties information on matters such as what types of trees are best to plant in particular areas, how to maintain them and how much water they require. Together, these cuts add up to an estimated 60 percent reduction in federal funding for the State and Private Forestry Program’s work in Maryland – $700,000 annually, which the state matches dollar for dollar. It’s a small amount of money that provides huge benefits to all Marylanders. The proposed cuts could not come at a worse time for Maryland, as the state’s budget picture continues to darken. The cuts threaten the ability of the Maryland Forest Service to continue providing much-needed services: 1) Safeguarding Maryland’s forests from the crippling threats posed by invasive insects such as gypsy moths and emerald ash borer, as well as diseases. 2) Improving the tree canopy and enhancing beauty in community forests and urban areas. 3) Protecting Maryland’s forests from the threat of wildfire. 4) Planting trees to improve the health of local streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay and to mitigate climate change. 5) Keeping Maryland’s forests as working woodlands supporting local communities and businesses.http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.forestry27mar27,0,6651685.story

USA:

27) One-third of America’s national forests are protected from road-building and other industrial development by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. But now the Bush administration is working state-by-state to open these treasured places to logging, mining and other development. Without your help, their future is at risk. As they get ready to head out the door, the Bush administration seems intent on handing the keys to our national forests over to the timber and mining industries. Currently at stake: 1) Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, where the administration has proposed to increase logging in the world’s largest remaining temperate rainforest. 2) Idaho’s Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, where the administration has announced plans to open the largest swath of wild forest in the Lower 48 states to logging and mining; 3) Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, where the administration plans to open to development a majestic landscape with trout streams, rock-ribbed trails and diverse wildlife that make it a premier destination for outdoor recreation. 4) The Roadless Area Conservation Rule currently protects these special places from logging, road-building, and other industrial development. — The Bush administration has attempted repeatedly to undo this popular policy – with little success – because Americans, like you, stood tall and took action. Our national forests should be our gift to future generations not a giveaway to corporate special interests. Please, go to: http://www.roadless.org/action/Future/GPTF to send them your comments now!

28) Did you know that Sears Holding Corporation sends out 425 million catalogs a year from Endangered Forests? This is enough catalog paper to wrap the Sears Tower six times a day! Sears is the largest catalog company that has refused to take significant action to ensure that their catalog paper is sustainable. Will you help convince them to change? I recently took action on ForestEthics’ campaign to get Sears to stop destroying Endangered Forests for catalog paper, by writing an email to the CEO of Sears and I’m asking you to take action as well. Our Endangered Forests are paying the price, and it’s past time for Sears to change the way their catalogs are made. Tell them its time to protect our Endangered Forests! To find out more and take action go to http://www.catalogcutdown.org

29) A letter is circulating in the US House of Representatives, led by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), asking cosponsors of the Roadless Area Conservation Act to sign a letter opposing recent attempts by the Bush administration to weaken protections in some of our nation’s most pristine and intact national forests – Idaho, Colorado, and Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. The Roadless Area Conservation Act would permanently protect 58.5 million acres of pristine forest lands in 39 states, including 9.3 million acres of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. This letter will be submitted as a formal comment by Members of Congress in the national rule-making process to remove protections for more than 6 million acres of roadless areas in Idaho. If your Member of Congress has cosponsored the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007, please call them today and ask them to sign Rep. Inslee’s letter asking the Administration to abandon rulemakings that would remove current roadless area protections. To look up your Member of Congress, go to http://www.congress.org

30) “Stopping the war on fire won’t be as sexy as saving God’s ancient forests – that’s like saving Yosemite or Grand Canyon – but everyone knows the Forest Service’s whole war on fire is ecologically and financially bankrupt,” said Andy Stahl, executive director of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics and a former Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund resource analyst who helped end old-growth logging in the Pacific Northwest. FSEEE, an Oregon-based watchdog group, contends a century of aggressive wildfire suppression has drastically changed the health, structure, characteristics and fire behavior of Western forests, resulted in thousands of injuries and hundreds of deaths and wasted billions of dollars. The group wants the Forest Service to stop putting out wildfires unless they threaten people and property, and to focus on fire prevention around communities. That will create healthier forests, safer conditions and allow the agency – which devotes nearly 50 percent of its budget to fire suppression – to spend more on recreation, wildlife habitat and other needs on national forests, FSEEE says. The group also wants local and state governments and insurance companies to enact tougher standards for new construction in the West’s fire-prone forests, just as they have restricted building in the East’s floodplains. But the Forest Service says its stop-all-fires policy ended long ago, giving way to a more sophisticated strategy that reflects the latest in fire science, land management and public expectations. George Weldon, deputy director of fire, aviation and air for the Forest Service’s Northern Region, said managing fires as a natural force has to be balanced with protection of people, property, infrastructure and natural resources. “It’s more complicated than people think,” Weldon said. Depending on fuels, weather and topography – the three primary drivers of fire behavior – “a fire that’s 30 miles from a community can be more dangerous than one that’s a quarter of a mile away.” In recent decades, Forest Service officials have come to agree that fire is essential for America’s ecosystems, where frequent low-intensity and occasionally severe blazes once maintained a mosaic of open and dense woodlands. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/03/23/news/local/news03.txt

31) Fire funding is approaching 50 percent of the Forest Service budget. As a result, staffing for basic stewardship of the National Forests is well below that needed to protect and manage these valuable public lands. In the last six years, the available staff on the National Forest System has declined 35 percent. The number of resource specialists available for basic inventory and monitoring has declined 44 percent; the number of personnel to provide services to the 192 million annual recreation visitors have declined 28 percent, and the number biologists and technicians available to manage some of the most important fish and wildlife habitat in the nation has declined 39 percent. Loss of these essential personnel is intolerable. The purpose of the FLAME Act is to create a budget mechanism for funding wildland fire suppression without penalizing the rest of the USFS land management programs. Last year we wrote to you of our concern about the way funding of fire suppression on the National Forests was handled in the Federal budget. We pointed out that it was putting the Forest Service in an untenable financial position. We urged you to find a way to finance emergency firefighting costs outside of the agency’s discretionary budget. Our nation must find a way to fund the increasing costs of protecting these lands from fire without decimating the organization needed to protect and manage them for the American people. We also appreciate the recognition by the Agriculture Committee of the need to solve the problem. If money is appropriated for the FLAME Fund, we believe this will create the opportunity to rebuild the capability of the Forest Service to protect and manage the resources of the National Forest System for the benefit of the American people. We urge enactment of HR5541 – the FLAME Act. Sincerely, R. Max Peterson, Chief, Forest Service 1979 – 1987 F. Dale Robertson, Chief, Forest Service 1987 – 1993 Jack Ward Thomas, Chief, Forest Service 1993 – 1996 Michael P. Dombeck. Chief, Forest Service 1997 – 2001 Dale N. Bosworth, Chief, Forest Service 2001 – 2007 http://westinstenv.org/sosf/2008/03/24/letter-to-congress-re-flame-act-from-former-usfs-chiefs/

32) At the request of the House Appropriations subcommittee on interior, environment and related agencies, the Government Accountability Office this month began examining whether it would make sense to move the Forest Service to Interior’s purview. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over both agencies. “The public perceives them as being very similar,” said Robin M. Nazzaro, director of the Natural Resources and Environment group at GAO, which is conducting the study. “They’ve just asked us to look at, could any money be saved, and would it result in a more efficient, effective and coordinated management of federal lands and the natural resources?” One argument in favor of such a move is that the Forest Service no longer is chiefly devoted to managing the harvesting of timber. “Today the evolution of our forests has gone away from production and more towards preservation, and it seems to me that the natural move has made it over under the umbrella of the Department of the Interior rather than the Department of Agriculture,” Rep. Todd Tiahrt (Kan.), the top Republican on the subcommittee, said at a Feb. 12 hearing on the agency. Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), the panel’s chairman, believes such a move would help shore up the Forest Service’s budget and align agencies with similar missions, said his spokesman, George Behan. “You have more recreational campground areas in the Forest Service than you do even in the Park Service,” Behan said. “So there’s a logical reason for considering it. However, the question has to be asked, ‘Is it the best thing for each agency and for land management?’ ” But transforming bureaucracies is easier said than done, and one reason is that the mere talk of it often generates anxiety among entrenched interests with something to lose, said Don Kettl, director of the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. In this case, moving the Forest Service to Interior might send a symbolic message that national forests are to be preserved and enjoyed, not harvested and developed, Kettl said, which could be perceived as a threat to the timber industry. “Changing organizational structure creates political battles among people who will worry about the role and nature of the organizations,” Kettl said. “Moving these organizations around is never an easy thing. . . . Different organizational structures can make things better, but the process of moving boxes is a lot harder than just drawing organization charts.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/24/AR2008032402510.html