Guest guest Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Today we have 39 news items. Number and Subject of each is listed below. Condensed news item is further below.--British Columbia: 1) Last days of the BC Spotted Owl, 2) 31 wildfires started by loggers, 3) No more water for city due to tree cutting opposition--PNW 4) MODIS Satelite research and late Pliocene history--Washington 5) Governor Gregoire seek comment on roadless defense --Oregon: 6) Rep. Walden's blunder, 7) Governor's roadless hearing, 8) Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy --California: 9) Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy, 10) Two New Northcoast Farm and forest easements, 11) South Lake Tahoe city settlement for illegal logging, 12) USFS is primary manager of Tahoe Basin, 13) Desolation Wilderness Managers earn Aldo Leopold Award--Montana: 14) court of appeals blocks commercial logging in the Bitter root. 15) Wild Rockies Wild Rendezvous weekend 9/22, 16) Community money comes from recreationlists, 17) History of North of Butte Lowlands, --New Mexico: 18) Santa Fe National Forest to thin 8,200 acres--Michigan: 19) Comden Towle Model Forest cuts to much--Minnesota: 20) Boundary Waters roadless protection --Ohio: 21) Buckeye Forest Council files appeal with 7th district court--Indiana: 22) State ups the cut at Yellowwood Lake--New York: 23) Seven loggers busted for defrauding landowners--USA: 24) Red powder firefighting planes use, 25) Economics of recreation --South Africa: 26) Nation's Sawlog supply--Brazil: 27) Tupinikim and Guarani Indians blocked the state road--South America: 28) largest source of greenhouse emissions, deforestation.--Madagascar: 29) Madagascan fossa --China: 30) Deforestation is no longer poverty --Nepal: 31) Monarchy cause of deforestation--Thailand: 32) public land encroachment with 31 wrongdoers--Laos: 33) confiscated 1,664 logs from a illegal transnational logging network --North Korea: 34) got Google-Earthed big time --Philippines: 35) Natural Resources strongly approves log ban in Southern Leyte--Indonesia: 36) Palm Oil value rises--New Zealand: 37) Forestry officers seize more illegally-harvested rimu --Australia: 38) paid by the taxpayer to manage native forests--World-wide: 39) Bamboo to stop deforestationBritish Columbia:1) One may be the loneliest number, but 17 is rapidly becoming one of the saddest. That's how many northern spotted owls are left in Canada, and a recent decision by the federal environment minister all but guarantees that they will be the last of their kind in our country. Logging has pushed the spotted owls into a few pockets of old-growth rainforest in southwestern B.C. - and even these last vestiges of their homeland are on the chopping block. Earlier this year, environmental groups petitioned Rona Ambrose to intervene under the federal Species at Risk Act and protect Canada's remaining owls. Last week, she declined. Her response is more than merely absurd, it's disturbing to the extreme. First, it proves what many ecologists have feared all along - that SARA is weak to the point of being almost useless. This piece of legislation was supposed to protect species at risk - species like the northern spotted owl. After all, the owl is more than merely at risk, it faces imminent demise and soon. Yet instead of requiring the federal government to step in and take action, the act allows Ambrose to condemn the species with the flick of a pen. Since its inception, critics (including myself) have argued that SARA is fundamentally flawed because of this massive loophole. Rather than protection being based on a scientific assessment, it's based on political will. If the minister deems a species worthy of saving, she may act. However, if it is politically expedient to ignore a species in peril, then she may choose to do just that. Ambrose's decision sets an ominous precedent. If 17 individual creatures in the entire country is considered plentiful and not in need of protection, then how low do populations need to drop before the federal government will act? A dozen? Six? One?2) Kelowna -- The B.C. Forest Service is warning logging operators to be extra cautious in the woods. Officials at the Kamloops Fire Centre say 31 wildfires have been started by industrial harvesting operations this season, four of them in the past two days. Forest fuels have been drying all summer, and officials say recent rain and cooler weather reduced the fire threat only temporarily. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060829.BCBRIEFS29-2/TPStory/National3) Just as the beach resort was preparing for the Labour Day weekend, one of its most lucrative of the summer tourist season, Mayor John Fraser dropped the bombshell his town is running dry. " All lodging, food service businesses are asked to shut down prior to Friday, Sept. 1, 2006, until further notice, " said the announcement on the town's website. " Other commercial water users must not consume any water whatsoever. " There is still enough emergency supplies for the town's 1,700 residents. However, they are being warned to boil the water being diverted from a local creek, which the province warned is untreated, as well as water that is expected to be brought in by tanker truck from the nearby community of Ucluelet. But that won't be enough to solve the tourist town's crisis. Fraser, a longtime advocate for digging a bigger reservoir to store some of the three metres of annual rainfall that falls during Tofino's long rainy season, believes the state of emergency could go on for weeks. There was also concern about expanding the town's reservoir on Meares Island, a spot closely watched by environmentalists. " There was concern about cutting down trees, to dig a bigger hole for the reservoir, " said Mayo Fraser. " We were lucky last summer, it rained. But we haven't had a major rainfall since June. " Under Fraser's leadership, Tofino's new council did pass a bylaw to expand the reservoir from 450,000 gallons to ten million gallons, enough for about a 20 to 30-day supply. But the multi-million-dollar expansion wasn't completed by March, as originally hoped. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=ea3cef72-7986-4a31-acdc-2e7596c94c57 & k= 55460PNW: 4) Woody Turner, Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters, Washington, said " this research confirms that MODIS can provide detailed, accurate information on forests over vast regions in a simple, straightforward manner, essential for forest managers in a period of changing climate. " In the past, scientists predicted the productivity of forests from computer models using climate data. Gross primary productivity is a measure of plant photosynthesis and the ability of forests to " inhale " carbon dioxide. Net productivity is the amount of energy left for plant growth following the conversion of carbon dioxide into new plant tissue. " Such methods relied heavily on costly ground measurements and on mathematical computer models that require extensive soil and climate data, which is often imprecise, " said Waring. " The data from MODIS used here may also be helpful in sorting out changes in forest health caused by land conversion or pollution rather than climate change. " The study relied on a sophisticated data product from NASA's MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites called the " enhanced vegetation index, " a measure of forest productivity that can also be used to gauge the total number of tree species in a region. A look at the area's evolutionary past suggests that about two to three million years ago, during a period known at the late Pliocene, the region rather suddenly turned cooler and drier, leading to a major die-off of many species, many of which still have not recovered. " Overall, the Pacific Northwest now supports about 60 tree species, but if not for the abrupt climate shift millions of years ago, it is likely the region's current climate would support twice that number, " Waring said. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/NASA_Satellites_Can_See_How_Climate_Change_Affects_Forests_ 999.htmlWashington:5) Governor Gregoire today announced that her office will conduct two informal, informational workshops to solicit public input on how to protect nearly 2 million acres of roadless areas on national forest lands in Washington. "Roadless areas in Washington contribute to our quality of life and our economy by providing clean water, fish and wildlife habitat along with recreational and business opportunities," said Governor Gregoire. "Washingtonians have twice spoken overwhelmingly in favor of their protection. I hope they continue to speak up on this important issue." When President Bill Clinton adopted the roadless rule in 2001, a public comment period yielded overwhelming support for the rule. Washingtonians submitted over 80,000 comments and of these, 96 percent supported complete protection of all roadless areas on national forest lands in the state. A public comment period in 2004 again reiterated strong support by Washingtonians for the 2001 rule. In May 2005, the Bush administration repealed the rule and replaced it with one that asks Governors to petition the federal government for roadless area protection. Governor Gregoire is seeking public input before submitting a petition in November. Governor Gregoire recognizes that many Washingtonians are interested in this statewide issue and she supports local collaborative forest planning efforts. She wants to hear from all interested citizens, including outdoor recreationalists, local governments, tribes, businesses, conservation organizations and others as she develops her petition. http://www.governor.wa.gov/roadlessOregon: 6) A waterfall flashes on screen as U.S. Rep. Greg Walden asks viewers of a new television commercial to support his bill that would protect more Mount Hood wilderness -- " so generations to follow will see things like this. " Only thing is, his bill would not protect the picturesque waterfall as wilderness, putting it off-limits to logging, roads and development. The bill that he co-authored with fellow Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer excludes Tamanawas Falls south of Hood River even though environmental groups pushed for its designation as wilderness. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/115691011329200.xml & coll=7 7) There was a great turn-out for the Governor's Medford roadless hearing on August 16th. More than 120 people showed up to let Governor Kulongoski know how they feel about Oregon's roadless lands, and the overwhelming majority of people spoke up for the protection of these special, and rare, places. Click here to read the Mail Tribune article on the Medford roadless hearing. The Governor is still accepting public comments through September 8th. Oregon's pristine wildlands are vital parts of what makes our state such a special place to live, work, and raise a family. They provide our communities with safe drinking water, scenic beauty, wildlife habitat and world-class opportunities to hike, camp, fish, and hunt. But many of the roadless areas in our National Forests are threatened by the Bush administration's ill-advised plan to open them to logging, mining, and road-building. When the President repealed the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, he put 58.5 million acres of America's public lands at risk for development, including two million acres here in Oregon! Fortunately, Governor Kulongoski is opposing this reckless policy and is preparing to petition the federal government for the protection of roadless wildlands in our state. But before he does, he wants to hear from you! Please submit a public comment by Sept. 8th to: Governor Kulongoski, Natural Resources Office; 900 Court Street NE, Salem, Oregon 97301Online comment form: http://nrimp.dfw.state.or.us/roadless/comments.aspx8) Wildfires are an awe-inspiring natural phenomenon that have shaped landscapes since the dawn of time. They are a force that we cannot really control, and thus understanding, appreciating, and learning to live with wildfire is ultimately our wisest public policy. With more than 150 dramatic photographs, " Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy " covers the topic of wildfire from ecological, economic, and social/political perspectives, while documenting how past forest policies have created the tinderbox of problems we face today. More than 25 leading thinkers in the field of fire ecology provide in-depth analyses, critiques, and compelling solutions for how we live with fire in our society.Join us for a book-release celebration about one of the hottest environmental topics in the western United States. Book contributors Dr. Timothy Ingalsbee, Andy Kerr, Les AuCoin, Dr. Dominick DellaSala and editor George Wuerthner will speak and take questions, followed by a dessert reception and book-signing October 2nd at 7pm at Carpenter Hall, 44 S. Pioneer Street, in Ashland. Dozens of free books will be distributed. " Wildfire " is published by the Foundation for Deep Ecology and distributed by Island Press. For more information, contact the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center at lesley or 541.488.5789California:9) On July 11, Republican Congressman Devin Nunes of California's 21st District introduced bill HR 5760 titled the " Giant Sequoia National Monument Transition Act of 2006, " which would allow expired timber sales to be implemented in the Monument. The purpose of the bill is to arbitrarily counteract the court decisions of 2005 that halted timber sales grandfathered in by the Proclamation and to forestall a protective ruling by federal Judge Breyer. The bill states: " Effective upon the date of the enactment of this Act, implementation of the timber sales described in subsection (a) may proceed immediately and to completion, notwithstanding any previous or future amendments or revisions to the Sequoia Land and Resource Management Plan or the Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan. " HR 5760, which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture as well as the Committee on Resources for review, could be voted on in the Resources Committee in the House of Representatives by the Resources Committee in the House of Representatives any day. Please call your members of Congress TODAY and ask them to vote NO on the Giant Sequoia National Monument Transition Act of 2006 (HR 5760), and to support The Act to Save America's Forests (S. 1897). There are only 16 congressional legislative days remaining before Congress goes on recess for reelection campaigning so call today! http://www.sequoiaforestkeeper.org10) Two ranches in Kneeland and Rio Dell are now protected from subdivision or development, while their owners will be able to keep the land working for cattle and timber production. Easements have been secured by the North Coast Regional Land Trust, which spearheaded a four-year effort to broker agreements with the ranchers, state and federal funding sources and private conservation groups. The 4,700-acre Iaqua Ranch in Kneeland is owned by Francis Carrington, and the 1,280-acre Price Creek Ranch outside Rio Dell is owned by Arlin Grandy. The easements will also restrict most road building, large clearcuts and home building. Should the current owners or their heirs choose to sell, the easement and its protections remain in place. "It's definitely a partnership and a partnership approach," said land trust Executive Jim Petruzzi. The state Wildlife Conservation Board, the U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program and the California Department of Forestry contributed $3.5 million to the Iaqua Ranch easement's purchase. Carrington donated an additional $635,000 to the effort. The same agencies, and the California Coastal Conservancy, funded the Price Creek easement to the tune of $1.6 million. "This ranch has been in my family for three generations, and this agreement helps me keep the ranch in one piece for my grandkids," Grandy said in a statement. Two county roads run through the scenic Iaqua Ranch, part of a larger effort called the Six Rivers to the Sea Initiative, which would place easements on some 25,000 acres, keeping them as working ranches. The Price Creek Ranch butts up against the 3,660-acre Howe Creek Ranch Conservation Area, under its own easement. It also is next to Pacific Lumber Co. timberlands, which connect to Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Other ranches in the area are parts of conservancies or have shown interest in being part of the land trust project. http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_426003011) The city of South Lake Tahoe has reached a settlement that absolves it of any fines or litigation from the California Department of Forestry over the May cutting of 387 trees at the Lake Tahoe Airport. But the bistate Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, which is charged with protecting Lake Tahoe's environment, is still considering action against the city over the matter. TRPA maintains the city violated the conditions of a permit issued by CDF limiting the cut to 100 trees under 10 inches in diameter. The city also is accused of removing trees larger than allowed. In June, CDF gave notice of its intent to impose a $10,000 fine for the city's alleged failure to hire a certified forester to cut the trees. The city says the trees had to be removed for flight visibility and safety reasons to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The city also claims the permit not only allowed for removal of 100 trees, but for all trees deemed a " hazard " by the FAA. CDF agreed to forego the fine on several conditions, including the city's hiring of a certified forester and performing of restoration work. http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/aug/27/082710907.html12) The threat began to take shape in the 19th century, when the lake was ringed with open ponderosa pine woodlands maintained by frequent low-severity fires. Beginning in the 1850s, the big pines were logged to provide timber for mines and railroads, and fires were suppressed with growing efficiency. The forests that grew back were dominated by dense stands of white fir, many of which have succumbed to drought and insect attack in recent decades. The U.S. Forest Service manages 80 percent of the land in the Lake Tahoe Basin, some 165,000 acres. We work closely with partners, and our coordination has improved in recent years with help from Pathway 2007, a collaborative process that charts a mutual course for the future of the basin. Pathway partners include the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. Since 1987, the Forest Service has worked to restore forests in the basin. So far, we have thinned about half the area at greatest risk; about 42,000 acres still await initial treatment. Some people have opposed our work to reduce forest density, citing noise, truck traffic, smoke from prescribed fires and other concerns. A possible source of additional funding is the material culled from thinned forests. The Forest Service's approach is to leave all the trees that a healthy forest needs and to remove the excess, selling what we can to help offset restoration costs. Our research-and-development staff has found a number of uses for the small trees and woody biomass that we typically remove, ranging from structural lumber, to flooring and paneling, to pulp and biofuels. Local biomass, for example, will go to Lake Tahoe High School, which received a grant for a new boiler to convert woody waste into heat. Of course, there is far more material on the ground than can be cost-effectively removed; we will still need to safely burn some biomass in piles to reduce fire danger. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/28/EDGMFKNPKD1.DTL 13) Managers of Tahoe's Desolation Wilderness have earned a national award for wilderness stewardship and " leave no trace " techniques. The Aldo Leopold Award for Overall Wilderness Stewardship Program is given out annually to national forests for excellence in wilderness management. The award recognizes two arms of the Forest Service jointly responsible for Desolation Wilderness: the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and the Eldorado National Forest. The award will be presented Sept. 13 in Washington D.C. Desolation Wilderness was designated by Congress in 1969 and comprises 63,475 acres, or about 99 square miles. Because of its proximity to the Sacramento and Lake Tahoe areas, the wilderness area is one of the most heavily visited wilderness areas in the U.S. for its size, with approximately 120,000 visitors annually. " The credit for the national award for wilderness stewardship should also go to the people who visit this outstanding scenic area located between Lake Tahoe and Sacramento, " said Jennifer Ebert, a Forest Service manager of Desolation Wilderness. " We are grateful for the people who come to Desolation who value wilderness and know how to use Leave No Trace techniques for both day and overnight use. " Criteria for the award include: effectively protecting and enhancing the area's wilderness character, resource planning that reflects the multiple-use mission of the Forest Service, public involvement and education, active research supporting management, active field presence of agency staff, and inclusion of fire as a component of the area's ecosystem. http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20060829/NEWS/108290025Montana 14) MISSOULA - A federal court of appeals has blocked commercial logging on some U.S. Forest Service land in the Bitterroot Valley, a project a federal judge in Missoula twice refused to halt. Small trees in the project near Sula may be removed as a way of reducing wildfire fuel, but trees 8 inches in diameter or larger must be left until a court case filed by environmental groups is settled, two judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. The WildWest Institute and Friends of the Bitterroot filed the case challenging the Middle East Fork Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project. Arguments before U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula are scheduled for this fall. The project was prepared under a Bush administration measure - the Healthy Forest Restoration Act - advanced as a way to improve forest health through tree thinning and other management. WildWest and Friends of the Bitterroot say the East Fork project is not sound scientifically and was prepared with inadequate public involvement. The 9th Circuit decision is commendable because it allows important reduction of fire fuels near homes while merits of the appeal are considered, said Matthew Koehler of WildWest. http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060829/NEWS01/60829003 15) An Inspirational Weekend to Keep the Wild Rockies Wild! September 22-24, 2006. The Rendezvous will be held at the Birch Creek Center near Dillon, MT in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The Rendezvous brings together citizens to discuss the future of wilderness, wildlife, restoration and collaboration in the Wild Rockies.More Info: nfpa, 406.542.7565 **If you would like to join one of the carpools heading to the Rendezvous, please call 542.7343 or email skindle. http://www.wildrockies.org/rendezvous 16) Communities near national parks in Montana and Wyoming reap hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits annually and support thousands of jobs thanks to the parks, according to a new National Park Service study. Montana's national parks, excluding Yellowstone, had 2.5 million visits in fiscal year 2005, stimulated benefits of $111 million to local economies and supported 2,631 local jobs, the study showed. Yellowstone was assigned to Wyoming because that is its official mailing address. Wyoming had 6.8 million visits to its national parks in fiscal year 2005. Its parks sparked $438 million in benefits and supported 10,065 local jobs, the study said. The study found that the nearly 273 million recreational visits to national parks nationwide during the 2005 fiscal year generated more than $10.3 billion in benefits to local economies and supported more than 236,000 jobs, including Park Service staff. Those figures don't include the Park Service's central offices, including the national office in Washington, regional offices and program centers throughout the country. Taking those offices into account, the economic benefits are close to $12 billion and the number of jobs hits about 246,400, Park Service spokeswoman Elaine Sevy said. http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/08/15/news/local/45- parks.txt17) The general district north of Butte in southwest Montana is called The Lowlands, probably because of its comparatively pleasant elevation as the Continental Divide meanders through at about 6,200 feet. It is an ideal place for lodgepole pine. Consequently, today it is under a devastating attack by the mountain pine bark beetle. I grew up at play in these forests and fields of the Lord during the late '60s and early '70s. The trees then seemed healthy, but that probably had less to do with fire and pine beetles than it did with the copper mines in Butte. Underground mining, as it was practiced out West a century ago, had a huge appetite for lumber. Underground mines required incredible quantities of timber to support drifts and shafts, to mount rail track, and for charcoal to fire-process the ores. With mine shafts extending to 5,000 feet, the equivalent of an entire national forest today lies buried under the Butte mining district. That timber came off of nearby forests first. Most of the lodgepole, spruce, and fir from the surrounding portions of the Deerlodge National Forest was cut by 1900 or so. The outlying forests couldn't have lasted much longer. By World War I, most of the Clark Fork River drainage above Missoula was scalped. Little historical data survives of what those forests looked like ahead of the axe. What is known is that those early logging operators cleared the land by horse, oxen, and by hand. It was clearcutting on a scale not seen today. Every useable tree was harvested. Slash was broadcast burned. Then the lumberjacks casually moved on to the next big stand of virgin timber. But lodgepole likes it rough, and the second generation forest grew in strong and healthy.I spent much of the first half of my life under the rich canopy of healthy lodgepole forest. It isn't easy to see the stands of fire-blackened trees that dominate the north portion of the Elkhorn Mountains outside of Helena. It's also hard to watch the forests turning red along the borders of Elk Park on my commute to Butte. Clearcuts aren't eye candy, either. A lot of what I see is evidence of hard choices, natural and otherwise. What I don't see is that tiny little pine bark beetle that I know is out there, cruising the lodgepole canopy looking for a date. http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/11071/New Mexico:18) In an effort to reduce the potential for large, hot wildfire in the Gallinas Watershed, the Pecos-Las Vegas Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest this spring submitted a plan for forest thinning. The plan is to thin about 8,200 acres of the 33,000 federally held acres in the Rio Gallinas watershed. Much of the national forest is wilderness area that is protected from logging by federal law. An additional 20,000 or so acres of the watershed is private or state-owned. The Forest Service issued the 225-page assessment in May, which several local citizens appealed on grounds ranging from methods to motives. Retired Highlands University physics professor Kim Kirkpatrick said the plan does not follow environmental law, is unnecessarily damaging to the environment, and that it is irrelevant to the protection of the city's water supply from catastrophic forest fire. He said he appealed the government's plan because it fails to take into account the best available science, though this is required by environmental law. " Much of their analysis doesn't make sense; in too many places, they don't even do an analysis, " Kirkpatrick said. " For example, it doesn't make sense for catastrophic wildfire to be introduced as a treatment alternative, rather than being included in each treatment alternative as a risk. And they never calculate how much their work will reduce the potential of catastrophic wildfire in the watershed, even though that is their stated purpose for the project. " Kirkpatrick said, " The proposed treatment is irrelevant to protecting the water supply… It's a diversion that keeps us from doing the difficult things we need to do to protect our water. " The idea that we can prevent or significantly reduce a major fire in the watershed by thinning 1,000 acres per year is an illusion. " The Citizens Restoration Plan proposed by the Gallinas Watershed Council restricts cutting trees to less than 16 inch diameter, and proposes contour felling, using many of the thinned trees as a barrier to post-fire erosion. It calls for training local people as skilled certified restoration practitioners who can then earn a living wage doing low-impact thinning, managing fire, replanting fire-resistant riparian areas (near streams), removing unneeded roads and felling small trees to control erosion and protect water quality.http://www.lasvegasoptic.com/articles/2006/08/28/news/news01.txt Michigan:19) Developing and implementing a forest management plan for the Comden Towle Model Forest near Entrican was not a decision the Montcalm Conservation District took lightly. Board members got serious about the initiative in February 2004. At that time they appointed a forestry committee charged with developing a plan for the best way to manage the forest. The district has been the target of attacks from the Comden family, friends and forest neighbors since thinning the forest, which began in mid-December 2005 and was finished last February. Professional forester Sam Chansler of Fremont was one of the professional foresters hired to assist the district with its plan. He said the district's long-term goal was to ensure the forest's future. "It's disheartening to hear the comments from people about devastation here," Chansler said. "This is actually done correctly for the long-term health of the woods." The district expects to realize "wildlife improvement with the browse that is coming up," Noll said. "And the forest floor will provide a habitat that animals like. "We were looking at losing high value trees" to disease and other damage, he said. "We are capturing some of that now and improving growth for the future. "It's a long-term management goal," Noll said. Income from the timber harvest totaled $75,600. The district paid Chansler and another professional forester $4,096 for a total of $8,192. Other expenses incurred such as money for district operations to implement the plan were paid out of the district's general operating budget. However, throughout the years the district also has spent its general fund money on forest upkeep. From 1983 to 1991 the district spent $14,660, no records were available for expenses incurred from 1968 to 1982, and Cloer estimated the district has spent $4,000 to $5,000 since 1991 on maintenance. The district collected $37,008.19 in income and spent $33,389.03 on the programs since implementing its educational initiatives at the forest in 2002. The remaining $3,619.16 is earmarked for educational purposes. http://www.thedailynews.cc/articles/2006/08/29/news/news01.txtMinnesota: 20) We make too much noise, so thirty years ago Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness was founded to protect, preserve and restore a quiet, natural place for everyone. That is still our mission. Of concern is the ever-increasing commotion of civilization. That is why when the Superior National Forest Management Plan was revised beginning back in 2004, we insisted that it sufficiently protect the quiet of the wilderness. It didn't. Hence, Friends is a plaintive in a lawsuit, filed Aug. 15, asking the courts to help us keep the noise out. At issue in the Forest Plan is the absence of protection from logging commotion in Minnesota's roadless areas adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Though once wounded by turn-of-the-century logging, these roadless areas have recovered into a natural state such that they were included in President Clinton's vastly popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule. More than seven federal agencies and 180 Native American groups were consulted. Nationwide, the Forest Service held over 600 public meetings and received an unprecedented number of comments— 31,000 from Minnesotans.In Minnesota, this forest conservation policy was designed to protect 62,000 acres of roadless areas, most of which are adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Protecting these areas as roadless was not a new idea. In 1977, the Forest Service performed a Roadless Area Review and Evaluation known as RARE II. In Minnesota, 13 RARE II roadless areas were identified totaling almost 100,000 acres. As part of the 1978 BWCAW Act, portions of nine of these areas were added to the wilderness. The remaining 62,000 acres now constitute roadless areas designated under the Clinton Roadless Rule.The Bush administration, in May 2001, under pressure from Congress and the public, pledged to uphold the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. However, the administration has undermined that protection through obscure bureaucratic maneuvers forcing forest planners and even state governors to fight the U.S. government for protection of the roadless lands once fully protected by the rule. http://www.timberjay.com/current.php?article=2530Ohio:21) With an appeal already pending of a state permit that allows the Ohio Valley Coal Co. to mine under Dysart Woods in Belmont County, a Columbus-based forest advocacy group is now seeking a court order to block a planned expansion of mining near the forest. The Alledonia, Ohio-based mining company has labeled the legal motion by the Buckeye Forest Council a " rehash " of " tired and worn arguments " that have already been rejected by the Ohio Reclamation Commission. The company has also issued a not-so-veiled threat to stick the BFC with legal damages for any costs to the company resulting from its motion. The BFC, which recently moved its headquarters to Columbus from Athens, filed the emergency motion Thursday with Ohio's 7th District Court of Appeals. It already has an appeal of the OVCC's mining permit for Dysart pending in that venue. Owned by Ohio University, Dysart, located about 80 miles northeast of Athens, is considered probably the most significant stand of old-growth trees in Ohio. Mining opponents fear that mining too close to its old-growth core will lower groundwater levels and hurt or kill its centuries-old trees. OVCC experts dispute this. http://www.athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=25756Indiana:22) Members of a watershed advisory board for Yellowwood Lake are concerned about a timber sale there which highlights complaints they have about the state's new forestry plan. The 74-acre site in question, which is about one mile northwest of the lake and is in the watershed, was first marked for sale in 2003, Yellowwood property manager Jim Allen said. But last year, after the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Division of Forestry released a new strategic plan that calls for more state forest timber sales, the sale was re-marked to double the amount of timber being cut, Allen said. When the cut was marked earlier, it was " done with a lot of sensitivity, " said watershed group member Linda Baden. But the second marking includes two " regeneration openings " — areas where trees are clear cut — on about 3.5 acres of the tract. In other parts of the tract, trees were chosen individually for cutting. Baden and others are worried the watershed will suffer from the increased cutting. " No longer is the health of the watershed the primary motive, " said Jennifer Weiss with the Indiana Forest Alliance. " It's clear they're getting volume out of the sale. " Allen said the new strategic plan calls for more clear cutting to provide greater diversity for wildlife. The $26,914 contract was awarded to Morin Timber Co. in July. Allen said he expects the trees to be cut sometime in the fall. The new strategic plan calls for an increase in state forest timber sales from the present level of $1 million per year to between $3 and $5 million per year. That would be an increase from about 3.4 million board feet harvested annually to between 10 to 17 million, according to the plan.http://www.reporter-times.com/?module=displaystory & story_id=34957 & format=html New York:23) Seven people have been convicted of defrauding landowners by logging in four upstate counties after providing false names, references and insurance documents then leaving without sharing profits from most of the logs they took. While some timber theft has gone on for years, it increases with market prices, said Fred Stannard, a Department of Environmental Conservation investigator, who says he has probably handled more than 25 cases in his Adirondack region over the past six years. " We do more and more ... It's definitely a statewide problem, " added Stannard, who has two ongoing investigations. " Actually it's countrywide. " The investigation that ended with the seventh guilty plea last week in state court identified eight landowners in Washington, Warren, Saratoga and Dutchess counties who were cheated out of about $67,000 _ about half the value of the few thousand trees taken from their land between June 2002 and August 2003, according to DEC officials. Under the contracts, loggers were to split with owners the proceeds from sales to log yards. The ring centered on Shannon C. Dickinson, 33, of Fort Ann, who was involved in an earlier tree-cutting case on state land, Stannard said. Others logged or cashed checks. No truckers or log yards were charged. " The majority of the loggers are decent hardworking people, " Stannard said. " But you get those who are in it and they don't care about the profession. They just want to make money fast. " http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--timbertheft0828aug28,0,1323653.story? coll=ny-region-apnewyorkUSA: 24) The ingredients in slurry, according to the U.S. Forest Service, are " 85 percent water, 10 percent fertilizer (ammonia phosphate and sulfate ions), and 5 percent minor ingredients (iron oxide for color, clay, or bentonite). " But the exact mix differs a little each time. That's because a person called a mixmaster is in charge of mixing up each batch, then loading it onto an aircraft that will visit whatever raging fire needs to be quelled. Slurry's chemical base also includes things like stabilizers, thickeners, substances to inhibit corrosion, and that bright red dye. The dye reddens an area for about three months, so pilots and firefighters know where it's been dropped already. A soaplike substance helps the slurry stick to vegetation. About 15 million gallons of slurry hits the ground in the U.S. each year, but this weapon in the fire-fighting arsenal is not typically employed until things get especially bad, as it's an expensive one: the mixture itself costs about 70 cents per gallon, and air drops usually cost some $2 per gallon. http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2006/08/28/slurry/index.html?source=daily25) In the Pacific West region (Oregon, California, Washington, Hawaii and Alaska), the report estimates that outdoor recreation generates $81.7 billion in economic activity a year, accounting for more than 726,247 jobs and $9.4 billion in taxes. At the national level, outdoor recreation generates $730 billion, supports roughly 6.5 million jobs, raises $88 billion in federal and state taxes and accounts for nearly $290 billion annually in retail sales and services. Trade industry reports should usually be taken with several grains of salt, and the report doesn't take into account other economic benefits of outdoor recreation, such as the value of protecting watersheds that provide clean drinking water or the effects on real estate values that result from proximity to public lands that offer recreational opportunities. But the findings underscore the reality that recreation is a major player in the nation's economy - and that it plays an important and growing role in regions such as the Northwest, where traditional industry mainstays such as timber and fisheries have been in alternating states of stagnancy and decline. That merits reflection at a time when the Bush administration is exhibiting its disregard for both recreation and conservation by dismantling the landmark 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/08/28/ed.edit.outdoors.phn.0828.p1.php?section=opinion South Africa:26) A BIG issue for businesses riding the growth cycle is to keep up the flow of resources to ensure maximum benefit before the inevitable lean times arrive. So it is for forest-products group Yorkcor, which must view the growing shortage of sawlogs with a degree of apprehension. Industry body Forestry SA warned last month of a shortage of forestry products, including the softwoods in which Yorkcor specialises. Yorkcor said then it was irresponsible to speak of a long-term shortage, although the partial privatisation of state forestry operation Safcol meant long-term supply contracts, of which Yorkcor was a beneficiary, had to be dismantled. Yorkcor fought this threat tooth and nail, but eventually had to settle for R37,5m in compensation in 2003. Now it acquires its logs on the spot market. The general view, certainly that of government, is there is no suitable land left for new plantations in Mpumalanga. Unless Tucker and Mokoena know something the rest of us don't about the review of Safcol and its Komatiland asset, Yorkcor may have to look beyond Mpumalanga to secure its sawlog supply. http://allafrica.com/stories/200608290245.htmlBrazil: 27) 150 Tupinikim and Guarani Indians blocked the state road ES-010, close to Coqueiral, in the municipality of Aracruz, to protest the arrest of 15 Tupinikim Indians on the 9th of August. With this action, the women and indigenous families, the Chiefs and Leaders and their communities, demand the immediate release of the arrested Indians, accused of stealing wood from the Aracruz Celuylose company within the 11,009 hectares of indigenous lands that still wait for the official demarcation by the Lula government. Through this action, the indigenous peoples intend to denunciate the Judiciary of Espírito Santo, especially Judge Anselmo Laranja, who shows to be an authority who is attending Aracruz Celulose. Since 22 August, an appeal for a 'habeas corpus' is being analyzed by the High Court judge José Luiz Barreto Vivas, without any response. The Governor Paulo Hartung, supported by the company, keeps silent about the indigenous land rights and about the grave and violent land conflicts involving its police force, which should combat organized crime and the public insecurity that is devastating the Espirito Santo state. We, from the Alert against the Green Desert Network, want to denunciate the Aracruz Celulose company as the main violator of Rights and cause of the severe problems that the Indians are facing since Aracruz invaded their lands, destructed their forests and planted eucalyptus. We also demand that the Lula Government does not wait longer but already demarcates, totally, the indigenous lands in Espirito Santo. We also demand that governor Paulo Hartung defends the indigenous land in front of the multinational Aracruz Celulose. Rede Alerta contra o Deserto Verde 28 de agosto de 2006 We all ask you to send a message to the Tribunal of Justice (department: Ouvidoria Geral) " Fasees " <faseesouvidoriaSouth America: 28) Environmental groups are pushing for the use of market mechanisms to address one of the world's largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions—deforestation. Environmental Defense and the Amazon Institute for Environmental Research are among groups lobbying for the inclusion of one particular economic approach, known as Compensated Reduction (CR), in negotiations for the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Similar to carbon trading, the CR plan would award tradable "credits" to countries that voluntarily reduce their deforestation rates below historical baseline levels. Those countries could then sell the credits to other nations that are unable to meet their emissions reduction goals. By providing a monetary incentive for nations to preserve their forests, the strategy would encourage greater developing-country participation in the Kyoto agreement (which currently only applies to industrial countries), the environmental groups say. To ensure the validity of countries' claims, compensation would be given only after a specific period of time and after sufficient satellite and on-the-ground observation. The countries would also be committed to further decreasing or at least stabilizing their deforestation rates in the future. According to Environmental Defense and its partner groups, the clearing and burning of tropical forests is responsible for as much as 25 percent of human-created GHG emissions. South America's Amazon Forest alone holds some 60 gigatons of carbon that might otherwise enter the atmosphere—more carbon than all countries release from cars, power plants, and other human-related activities in a decade. The environmental groups say incorporating CR into the Kyoto talks is essential because at current rates of destruction, forest losses in Brazil and Indonesia alone will negate nearly 80 percent of the emissions reductions achieved under the Kyoto Protocol by 2012. Slowing deforestation has the additional benefit of preserving biodiversity in threatened tropical forests, the groups note. http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/004866.htmlMadagascar: 29) A zoo in Pembrokeshire, England has become home to a pair of Madagascan fossa - said to be a " critically endangered " species. Fossa, carnivores which resemble a cross between a dog and a cat, are found in rainforests on the island of Madagascar off east Africa. There are believed to be only about 2,000 fossa left in the wild due to loss of their habitat. The pair, named Aya and Orana - " Rain " and " Forest " in Malagasy - are being housed in a purpose-built enclosure. Fossa are a member of the civet family, and are closely related to mongoose. They have cat-like heads with large eyes, short muzzles and large rounded ears, and lithe bodies with long tails. Their coat is short and reddish-brown all over. They have retractile claws, for climbing and grabbing their prey, and webbed feet. Fossa are the largest carnivores found on Madagascar, and can live for 17 years. The species is said to be suffering from the effects of deforestation, with only 10% of Madagascar's original rainforest now remaining. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/5292752.stmChina:30) " China has already set a good example of poverty alleviation, " Carrad said. " And it is time to set a good example in improving the health of its soil and water. " Carrad said water and soil conservation is a highly complicated issue and needs an integrated approach. Thirty-seven per cent of China's total territory is suffering from land degradation, according to China's Ministry of Water Resources. Degradation including soil erosion, deforestation, salinity, reduced fertility and sand storms is affecting 3.56 million square kilometres and poses a threat to China's future economic prosperity, the ministry warned. Environment and law experts from home and abroad gathered with Chinese Government officials on Saturday in Beijing for a three-day symposium to discuss legal strategies to tackle these problems. The main topic was how to revise China's Water and Soil Conservation Law. " The present Water and Soil Conservation Law promulgated in 1991 has gradually become out-of-date and is in urgent need of revision, " said Liu Zhen, director of the Water and Soil Conservation Department under the Ministry of Water Resources, at the international symposium sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). " We started preliminary work revising the law in 2005 and are eager to draw upon laws in other countries, " Liu said. Guo Suoyan, an expert with China's Monitoring Centre of Soil and Water Conservation and head of the team of Chinese experts who are revising the law, said the law would get tougher on people or bodies that cause soil degradation. http://english.people.com.cn/200608/28/eng20060828_297354.htmlNepal:31) Monarchy will go, whether the Nepali Congress (NC) wants it or not, according to CPN-UML leader Bam Dev Gautam. He blamed the monarchy for the massive deforestation resulting in natural disasters such as floods. Innumerable trees were felled during the Panchayat system, according to him. He also critisised India for constructing embankments on Nepal's rivers to protect their own people. Nepal has had to pay a price for such embankments, which have triggered floods causing huge loss of lives and property, he said. He urged both India and Nepal to settle the issue of embankments so that people will no longer have to be victims of floods. He also urged the government and sectors concerned to intensify rescue and relief operations to save people from floods. He added that deforestation could be brought under control through effective measures. http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=aFanata0vdqzpa4a0Va3a8a.axamal & folder =aHaoamW & Name=Home & dtSiteDate=20060829Thailand:32) In the past months of July and August, the Phuket authorities have reported to have dealt with 25 cases of deforestation and public land encroachment with 31 wrongdoers. This includes the burning of public forest and encroachment on mangrove land. During a meeting with responsible officials in a provincial committee to prevent and suppress such activities, Phuket Vice Governor Worapote Ratasrima insisted that officials must pay special attention to the issue as it is one of the government's main policies for natural resources and environment conservation. http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=185137Laos33) The Lao embassy and forestry police yesterday confiscated 1,664 high-grade logs believed to belong to a transnational illegal logging network preparing to export them to China. The logs, which were kept in 11 containers at a Lat Krabang warehouse, were identified as the rarePayoong timber, which is one of the most expensive hardwood. In Southeast Asia, it is found only in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Chomwat Chinthai, of the Forestry Police Division, said the custom invoice showed that the logs were transported to the depot by a Thai freight company and destined for export to China by a Lao firm. But Pol Col Chomwat said Lao officials had insisted that since they had never issued a permit to export payoong wood to either Thailand or China, so it was possible that the seized timber was smuggled in from a neighbouring country and may have been illegally felled from a Thai forest. Police will today summon the companies' operators for questioning. They could be charged with smuggling timber into the country and occupying protected wood. National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department chief Damrong Pidet, said state officials from several agencies were involved in the illegal smuggling of the timber. He said the logs were likely to have been cut from a Thai forest, exported to Laos and then imported back to Thailand via the Mukdahan checkpoint as Lao timber. ''Illegal logging on such a scale could not be carried out without the help of state officials,'' said Mr Damrong. Police recently seized another shipment of high-grade timber in the same northeatern province believed to have come from a Thai forest and sent to Laos for re-export to the kingdom. http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/30Aug2006_news13.phpNorth Korea:34) I AM SOARING over North Korea, looking down on a denuded landscape and zooming in to hover over missile batteries, nuclear sites, huge palaces and prison camps. It's a cyber tour, courtesy of Google Earth. I once visited North Korea as a reporter, yet this virtual view is far more revealing than anything I was permitted to see. Has the Hermit Kingdom finally met its match? Software allowing users to cruise through satellite imagery of the world's most secretive nation, cost-free at this beta moment, has attracted a talented crowd of photo reconnaissance buffs from around the world. They have dotted the patchwork of satellite photos with notes, helpfully identifying fascinating landmarks for e-gawkers like me. And they're having a vigorous online debate over what some of the more mysterious looking items might be. (To join in, go to earth.google.com, download the program, click on Google Earth Community, then search for North Korea.) http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-efron29aug29,0,6304466.story?coll=la-home-commentary Philippines:35) The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Tuesday said that it strongly approves the log ban in Southern Leyte that was hit by a landslide last February and claimed the lives of many. In a position paper that he submitted to the committee, Sibbaluca noted that the ban on logging, however, should be subject to sound qualifications. " We have to balance our effort to preserve our forest area vis-à-vis, our effort to maintain the productive capabilities of forest in the provision of various tangible benefits that can be deriveed therefrom, " he said. Sibbaluca explained a sound forest management strategy basically dictates the division of forest into two management zones which are the protection forest and production forest. He said protection forest refers to all types of forest that, under existing laws and regulations, may not be utilized for timber production and which include old growth forest, mossy forest, sub-marginal forest, forest on slopes above 50 percent, forest at elevations of greater than 1,000 meers above sea level, all strips bordering river banks, mangrove areas along shorelines and other forest areas that are determined by DENR to be environmentally sensitive. Production forest, on the other hand, refers to areas with slopes from zero to 50 percent developed to supply both timber and non-timber products such as bamboo, rattan, horticultural crops, mangrove, gums and resins, spices or a combination thereof. " Moreover, in alienable and/or disposable lands, timber cutting or harvesting may be allowed. This will drive tree farmers to venture into the business of commercial tree plantation. Thus, ensures continuous supply of wood in our market, while at the same time protecting our forest cover, " he stressed. http://www.bayanihan.org/html/article.php/20060829195149645Indonesia:36) U.S. use of vegetable oils for fuel is increasing too. Nationwide, 65 plants have a total capacity to produce 395 million gallons of diesel fuel from soybean oil and other supplies, according to the National Biodiesel Board in Jefferson City, Missouri. An additional 714 million gallons of capacity is expected to be completed in the next 18 months. Carlyle Group, which oversees more than $40 billion of private-equity funds, and Riverstone Holdings LLC, the manager of $6.5 billion, have announced plans for a controlling stake in Green Earth Fuels LLC, which will build two plants in the U.S., each capable of producing 43 million gallons a year. Singer Willie Nelson set up Biodiesel Venture GP with Peter Bell of Distribution Drive and three partners in December 2004. Distribution Drive is a unit of Earth Biofuels Inc., whose shares have gained nine-fold in the past year. The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index rose 6.8 percent in that time, and the S & P Integrated Oil & Gas Index gained 18 percen. The growing use of palm oil as fuel may threaten virgin rainforest in Southeast Asia and quicken deforestation, raising the likelihood of legal challenges from environmentalists, say some investors. ``The biggest challenge to palm oil is sustainability,'' said Domenic Carratu, managing director of commodities at Rabobank Groep in London. ``Biodiesel aims to be environmentally friendly, but this would not be the case if the feedstock were only grown at the expense of virgin rainforest.'' Vegetable oils will meet some of the world's energy demand and may help curb growth in consumption of crude oil, say energy analysts. It won't solve a lack of refining capacity. ``There's a place for biodiesel,'' said John Baize, president of John C. Baize and Associates, an advisory company in Falls Church, Virginia. ``But it's not the solution because we don't have the feedstock'' to meet demand. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087 & sid=agcl8fIT4c9Y & refer=home New Zealand:37) Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officers have seized another large quantity of illegally-harvested rimu logs, this time from a property in the Waitotara Valley near Wanganui. Earlier this year MAF officials seized a large quantity of rimu in Wairoa, sparking an intensive investigation yet to be concluded. In the latest incident the logs again appear to have been harvested without obtaining approvals under the Forests Act and were being sawn using modified chainsaws. MAF is concerned about an increasing number of cases of suspected illegal native logging, which MAF's Indigenous Forestry Unit manager Rob Miller believes is being driven by the high prices obtainable for rimu timber. MAF had increased its enforcement capability to tackle this problem. Mr Miller said investigations into the Wairoa incident were almost complete and decisions were expected in the near future over charges and legal action. The ministry says that use of a chainsaw to produce sawn timber is milling by use of a portable sawmill. Such a mill, if sawing indigenous logs, must be registered with MAF and only timber from registered sustainable forest management plans or permits or other approved sources may be legally milled on it. The seized logs have been uplifted by MAF and moved to a secure location pending further investigations. Mr Miller said it was likely that charges would be laid in this case and in the Wairoa one. The timber seized in Wairoa had been sold to the highest bidder for an unspecified sum. http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article.asp?aid=6252 & iid=498 & sud=27 Australia:38) FARMERS and graziers would be paid by the taxpayer to manage native forests on their land under a radical proposal by a new coalition of scientists, environmentalists and industry. The Southern Cross Group is proposing conservation cropping, rather than mandatory targets, to breach an impasse between industry and environmentalists on the first code to regulate private native forests in NSW. Modelled on water's Wentworth Group, the SCG includes the World Wildlife Fund's Jeff Sayer, World Conservation Union chief scientist Jeff McNeely, forestry scientists and representatives of the farm and forestry industries. SCG spokesman Jerry Vanclay said paying landholders to regenerate forest, and to look after big trees and endangered species, would attach real value to such environmental outcomes. The NSW Government decided last week to restart consultations on the code of practice after 12 months of negotiations failed to break the deadlock. About a third of NSW's 27million hectares of native forest is on private land and is a significant source of timber and conservation habitat. The SCG proposal goes beyond a range of land management and tender schemes across Australia by seeking to institutionalise the value of private native forest management. World-wide:39) Scientists may have found a way to slow deforestation. Fast growing bamboo can help quickly replenish a forest stripped of timber. Forests are shrinking globally as people in developing nations seek wood for fuel and more land for farming. The Worldwatch Institute in Washington says Earth has lost one percent of its woodlands in the past five years, an area about the size of Germany. Ecologists say the environmental damage is alarming. Overlogging and failure to replant cause widespread soil erosion and loss of wildlife habitat. Deforestation also affects global climate. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Burning trees and rotting wood left by loggers are thought to add to global warming by emitting more of the gas into the atmosphere, where it traps the sun's heat.Experts say the loss of forests will continue unless alternatives to wood are found."Most of the forested areas have gone down by 70 to 90 percent, so we need a sustainable form of farming timber," said water specialist, Chin Ong, at the International Center for Research in Agroforestry in Nairobi, Kenya. He says one promising substitute for wood is bamboo, a grass with a tree-like appearance. Some varieties grow more than 25 meters tall and 20 centimeters thick. Ong points out that bamboo can be grown all over the world and has advantages over timber. One is its speedy growth."You can harvest after three or four years and then every year after that because it is a grass," he explained. "So when you cut a bamboo down, it will produce another shoot and it is ready for harvest in one or two years. Whereas if you grow a eucalyptus tree, you need five to 10 years before you can harvest again. Another reason is that bamboo has a very high water use efficiency, which is double that of any tree species." http://mensnewsdaily.com/2006/08/28/bamboo-planting-can-slow-deforestation/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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