Guest guest Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 Today for you 38 news items about Earth's trees. Location, number and subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed further below.Can be viewed on the web at http://www.livejournal.com/users/olyecology or by sending a blank email message to earthtreenews---British Columbia: 1) Malamute busted, 2) Tribal bribes, 3) Bear Mtn. Tree-Sit, 4) Logging the park, 5) Leading in log exports, 6) Rasmussen Forest overcut, --Washington: 7) Whidbey Camano Land Trust--Oregon: 8) fires after a fire in logged / unlogged areas, 9) Save Elk River,--California: 10) UCSC to clearut 150 acres of redwoods, 11) ecosystem loss, 12) Levee maintenance logging, 13) SPI to clearcut millions of acres, --Idaho: 14) Unroadless plan preaches roadless protection--Missouri: 15) Ozark logging operation has complaint filed--Ohio: 16) Columbia Gas illegally cuts more than 300 trees --West Virginia: 17) Save the Northern Flying Squirrel--Massachusetts: 18) ORVs argue for more land to wallow in--Alabama: 19) US Forest Service planning scam exposed--Southeast forests 20) Invasive grasses take over most logging sites --USA: 21) Eye on congress, 22) Bush appeals roadless ruling, 23) Collaborate or fight? 24) Save the forest by eating PB & J, --Canada: 25) Bribes from the industry, 26) Beetle-mania, --Finland: 27) Russia limits logs to Finland --Congo: 28) 150 new contracts to clearcut 52 million acres, 29) 20 illegal contracts cancelled, 30) World Bank's neo-colonialism, 31) forest liquidation data,--Uganda: 32) Deadly forest saving demonstration, 33) More on demo, 34) Speak out, 35) Bloggers fighting for forest may be arrested,--Brazil: 36) Data from the Violence Map--Paraguay: 37) Save the Amotocodie rainforest--Peru: 38) Uniting exporting companies and native communities to destroy forests,British Columbia: 1) Rumour has it that the owner - Malamute Holdings Ltd. – cut down the trees through the night to avoid detection. He has allegedly been lobbying the municipal council for some time to rezone the area from green space to commercial / residential to allow for a large development for which he would gain in the millions of dollars. Apparently he is up on charges and stands to absorb fines of up to $20K per tree cut. The logging occurred without notice, or a required municipal permit. Neither the Ministry of Transportation & Highways nor the Sea-to-Sky Highway Project contractor has any responsibility for what happened. The logging aroused considerable concern in Squamish, the climbing community, and the news media. At a special meeting on April 10th, Squamish Council unanimously decided to further investigate, so it can decide what it will do. A professional forester will inspect the area for it, and report. The Access Society is gravely concerned by what happened. The Logging took place near the Squamish Chief Regional park and was part of the Recreation area set aside for the park. The whole story was in the Squamish Newspaper. This is was a diliberate clear cut. A corporate political move. How it play out will set a precedent on future corporate political moves. Our goal has long been that the upper Malamute, at the heart of Squamish, should be protected for public benefit and use, particularly for climbing, walking, nature viewing, and sightseeing. There has been a lot of work toward that goal over the last few years, and it remains the desired result. We'll continue working toward it. dlrubin 2) In recent decades, anger and frustration turned into blockades and court cases until a series of legal decisions pushed the province into a corner. In two separate decisions in 2002, the court said that when it came to resource extraction on Crown land, B.C. had to consult with First Nations and seek to accommodate potential Aboriginal rights and title. So in 2003, then forestry minister Mike de Jong announced that for the first time ever, B.C. would share revenue and access to the forests with First Nations. The offers the province put on the table contained two parts: there was cash (a small share of the stumpage fees B.C. collects every time a forest company falls a tree on Crown land); and there was timber (the chance for First Nations to do some logging). Called forest and range agreements or FRAs, the deals cut First Nations a fraction of the action in exchange for peace in the woods. With treaties remaining elusive, these interim measures were touted as achieving the dual objectives of giving economic opportunities to First Nations, and creating a stable operating environment and better investment climate for the forest sector. In January of 2006, the Leq'á:mél became the 100th First Nation in B.C. to sign a forest agreement. They received $760,000 to be paid out over five years, and gained access to 45,000 cubic metres of timber. The press release issued by the province repeated several times that forestry agreements were bringing jobs and economic prosperity to Aboriginal communities. So what about jobs? One of the things she has learned, Leggat says is that " with the amount of timber we've got, we can't promise any long-term jobs at all, but when we work the agreement out to harvest the timber, we can request that one or two members get hired for the season. " Logging doesn't involve legions of men with chainsaws anymore. It's highly mechanized these days, so while there will be work for a couple of loggers for a season or two and perhaps a few temporary jobs created in the replanting that follows the harvest, the significant job creation, if there is any, will be a result of what the Leq'á:mél do with the revenue. http://thetyee.ca/News/2007/04/13/ForestShare/3) LANGFORD — Concerned citizens have erected a 'Tree Sit' adjacent to the 40-metre-long Langford Lake Cave, at the location of the proposed Bear Mountain Interchange on the Trans-Canada Highway. They are refusing to leave until the City of Langford abandons the controversial highway project. " We want ethical development now and oppose the Bear Mountain Interchange, " says Ingmar Lee, a member of the Coalition to Protect Goldstream Watershed. " Bear Mountain has blasted out the first phase of its " Mountain-top-removal " development plan with the existing access infrastructure. They now require a second access route to build out Phase 2, or The Son of Bear Mountain. " The massive Bear Mountain project epitomizes the worst sort of crude, unsustainable development, " says Lee. " This hideous example of mountain-top-removal development in the beautiful Highland Hills near Victoria is totally unacceptable. The destruction of ecosystems and increased car travel is unethical at a time of climate change and other catastrophic environmental problems. " The decision to establish the Tree Sit reflects the lack of transparency about the project. The BC Ministry of Transportation is demanding $2650 for 7800 pages of documents, requested through a Freedom of Information Request. Residential properties along Leigh Road have been purchased by the City of Langford to make way for the interchange; they are currently being rented on the condition that tenants vacate the premises on two-months notice. Lee says that the Douglas Fir forest in the vicinity of Langford Lake Cave is festooned with flagging tape, survey stakes and spray-paint, including the entrance to the speleologically significant cave. Lee finds this particularly disturbing in light of the desecration of a sacred cave near the Skirt Mountain summit by the Bear Mountain developers last December. http://www.pacificfreepress.com/content/view/1013/81/ protectgoldstream4) In a briefing yesterday, officials with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation laid out a $9-million plan to remove most of the uprooted or shattered trees, to relocate a road and parking lot that contributed to slope instability above the seawall promenade and to plant some 20,000 trees to regenerate the badly damaged forest. But Mr. Robertson said the reconstruction work will be focused in specific, damaged areas, so the peace and quiet that makes Stanley Park's 391 hectares a green refuge will still be there in places. " Your sights and sounds will be quite different, depending on where you are, " he said. Mr. Robertson described Stanley Park, which was established in 1888, as " the collective link to our past and our future, " and promised that 100 years from now the park will still provide " the green solitude " it is famous for. Mr. Lowden said the goal is to restore the mixed coastal forest that covers most of the park, so that in time, Stanley Park will look much as it does in pictures taken a generation ago. He said that while heavy equipment will be used and many downed trees will be cut up and hauled away, the essential nature of the park will not be changed. " We will not add to the gravel surface and we will not add to the paved surface in the park, " he said. He said that machine tracks will inevitably be left behind when equipment is pulled out of certain areas. The public will be consulted to see if any of those temporary roads should be developed into trails, but if they are, other less popular trails would likely be closed, he said. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070411.BCSTANLEY11GTA/TPStory/National 5) A record $11.5 million of provincial funding is being invested this year in marketing initiatives to maintain British Columbia's position as a world leader in forest product exports, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today at the annual meeting of the Council of Forest Industries (COFI). " Fully 85 cents of every dollar of sales of forest products comes from customers outside Canada, " Campbell said. " Maintaining our competitive edge in foreign markets is critical to protecting the thousands of jobs and resource communities that depend on the forest economy for their livelihood. " B.C. is investing $9.9 million in a range of marketing, product development, and research activities through Forestry Innovation Investment (FII), a provincial Crown agency. http://www.gov.bc.ca6) A Salmon Arm mill, Teal Cedar Products, has won the bid to log the forest we call Rasmussen Forest, just north of Lund. The mill is part of a larger company, the Teal-Jones group, headquartered in Surrey with about 1,200 employees, according to their website. BC Timber Sales (BCTS) told me they haven't heard when logging will start. We know how devastated the forests are in the Interior. Scientists say much of that problem stems from humanforest practices and climate change, and in an April 1 report on the CBC, it was stated that loggers there are not simply harvesting the infested pines (their mandate), but clear-cutting every healthy tree of other species. We may never see forests on those Interior lands again in our lifetimes. We are losing our healthy coastal forests at an alarming rate to clear-cut logging. Even where so-called areas of retention are left, they are minor to what is taken. Even the Association of British Columbia Foresters is uneasy these days, acknowledging that this is at a time " when climate change issues require foresters to have more up-to-date information. " This is information that Paul Knowles, the president of the foresters, states they don't have. They no longer have an up-to-date inventory of timber resources in this province. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18198614 & BRD=1998 & PAG=461 & dept_id=460503 & rfi=6 Washington:7) The news of a recent 40-acre forest clearcut near Honeymoon Bay cast a stark light on what can happen when landowners feel backed into a corner to log or subdivide because of daunting tax pressures. The swift clearcut last month is a glaring reminder that wildlife habitat and open space can legally disappear almost overnight if no alternative is perceived. But, there often is an alternative. It is voluntary. It is flexible. And, it offers a way to significantly reduce estate, income and property taxes. It also respects much of what islanders value, including rural character, wildlife habitat, scenic views and property rights. These are not conflicting values. Owners don't have to make a choice between sustainable forests and clearcuts or between family farms and subdivisions. A conservation agreement (conservation easement) is a legal agreement between a landowner and the Land Trust. It permanently limits future uses and development of the land in order to protect its important conservation values. It allows property owners to continue to own and use their land and to sell it or pass it on to heirs. By limiting the land's development potential, the conservation agreement lowers its market value, which in turn lowers the estate tax. According to news articles, high estate taxes presumably drove the need to clearcut the Honeymoon Bay property. The donation of a qualifying conservation agreement could have reduced the value of the estate and also qualified the heirs for an additional estate tax relief measure. And, the wildlife habitat and the tall trees would remain. For more than 22 years, the Whidbey Camano Land Trust has protected the islands' natural habitats and rural lands by working with private landowners, community groups and public agencies. http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=84 & cat=48 & id=869736 & more= Oregon:8) The study examines fuel accumulation with and without logging after a large wildfire in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon. Three treatments were examined: commercial logging that removed only dead trees with value for wood products, commercial logging plus thinning that removed all dead trees larger than 4 inches in diameter, and unlogged sites. The year after logging (3 years after the fire), sites that were logged and thinned had four times more fine fuels on the ground, as a result of logging residue, compared to unlogged sites. Those same sites also had fewer snags- which provide habitat for woodpeckers, owls, and other animals that nest in tree cavities - and contribute to large woody debris on the ground. However, logging activity caused no change in the litter or duff, the upper soil organic layers that also affect how a fire burns. The computer simulation showed that the difference in surface fuels between logged and unlogged units would persist for about 15 years. The simulation also showed that if a fire did start during this time, it would likely kill most young trees as the fire carried through either logged or unlogged stands, even though the logged stands had higher slash fuels. This is because other components of the fuel bed (grasses and shrubs) would contribute significantly to fire conditions, whether sites were initially logged or not. " The exact nature of fuel accumulation over time is the key to understanding fire hazard, " explains Ottmar. " Each forest, each fire, and each logging operation affects fuels differently, and variation exists within any forest stand. It is also important to consider the whole fuel bed when thinking about fire hazard in the future. " Model projections indicated that large fuels will increase over time in the unlogged forests as dead trees fall over, with up to three times greater fuel accumulation as compared to a wildfire area that has been logged. Although it would seem that any extra fuel would be a cause for concern, these large fuels do not carry fire well on the surface, and so do not tend to create conditions for crown fires. Rather, they will tend to cause long periods of heating on the ground. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Light_Shed_On_Long_Term_Effects_Of_Logging_After_Wildfire_999 ..html9) " I was in charge of most of the logging in the Elk River watershed back then, " he recalled. " But I saw what we were doing to it and started to realize the values we were destroying. I knew we shouldn't destroy this place. " Here was this wilderness river right near Highway 101, " he added. " Everything to the north and south has been pretty much logged. But here was this intact watershed so close to civilization. " Rogers, now 65 and sporting a white beard, has another mission: to help create a 12,000-acre Copper-Salmon Wilderness Area in the Elk River drainage about 14 miles as the crow flies east of Port Orford. The longtime local resident, who has a forestry degree from Syracuse University, has been joined by more than 10 fishing and hunting groups as well as the Port Orford Chamber of Commerce, the City Council, the Curry County Board of Commissioners and Gov. Ted Kulongoski in supporting the wilderness proposal. The short river, whose champagne-clear water flows into the Pacific just north of Port Orford, is known as a world-class stream for silvery steelhead and lunker salmon. In a letter to U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, whose 4th Congressional District includes Curry County, Port Orford Mayor Jim Auborn noted he was aware of no opposition to the proposal. A member of DeFazio's staff was touring the proposed wilderness on Thursday. " The main reason this should be a wilderness is to protect the watershed, " explained Jerry Becker, 56, a local sports fisherman. " It needs to be healthy for the fishery. That's what it is all about. " I look at this watershed as the infrastructure that supports our ecotourism and sports fishing as well as commercial fishing, " he added. " The only way to have water quality is to have a healthy watershed. We get the most benefit out of this land by keeping it intact so it supports our fisheries. " http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2007/0413/local/stories/coppersalmonwilderness.htm California:10) The next TreeSpirit photo, as usual open and welcoming to tree huggers of all ages, sizes, colors and shapes, will be made on the campus of UC Santa Cruz, on Sunday, April 22nd, 2007. Exact time, which will be confirmed, is 10am. Details to follow later this week. Email me if you know already you'd like to be on the guest list and want to be emailed about the exact time and other details. This will be both a celebration of Earth Day and an event designed to celebrate trees and also bring attention to current UCSC university development plans to log over 150 acres of woods, including redwoods. Ignoring pleas to enlarge the campus at a wiser pace of growth, current state plans are out of sync with the majority of students, faculty, the community, the city of Santa Cruz, the vision of the rural campus' founders themselves, and the very environment the makes UCSC such a jewel of a campus. Please spread the word and save the date on your calendar. I hope to see many of you there. for the trees, and for our own humanity, Jack http://www.TreeSpiritProject.com11) In my own experience, which is mainly in the San Francisco Bay Region, I have a pretty good idea of the original indigenous ecosystems from being an avid hiker, amateur botanist and 12 years of work on my forthcoming book, Secrets of the San Francisco Bay Area's Environmental History (UC Press, 2008). Over this roughly seven million acres, the only really intact ecosystems are a few small preserves of ancient redwood forest like Muir Woods, and one larger preserve of about 3,000 acres at Big Basin State Park -- less than 2% of the region's original redwood forests. But few people can see this because there's plenty of second-growth and third-growth redwood forest -- which look nice but are missing fish and wildlife species that depend on old-growth redwoods. Even in Muir Woods, in a watershed owned and managed almost entirely by state and federal park agencies making every effort to protect indigenous flora and fauna, sensitive indigenous species like the coho salmon and steelhead trout barely survive California's recurrent droughts -- a natural phenomenon whose impacts are far more threatening due to earlier watershed degradation by agriculture and cattle. The huge flats surrounding the Bay, like Silicon Valley and the other coastal plains and valleys surrounding the Bay -- once oak savannah with native bunchgrasses interspersed with hundreds of other native plant species -- has been entirely, and I mean almost 100%, converted to agriculture and urban areas with no native species except for a few oak-lined creeks that still remain (most Bay Area urban creeks are now cement culverts). Schmidt.David12) An Army Corps of Engineers policy is threatening trees and shrubs on 1,600 miles of Central Valley levees. The policy requires levees to be cleared of all vegetation to preserve channel capacity and allow access for inspections and repairs. It is based on conditions along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, where levees were built back from the rivers and there is ample wildlife habitat between the levees and the water's edge. But levees were built close to the water in California to create high water velocity to wash mining debris out of the rivers after the Gold Rush. Removing trees and shrubs from the California levees would create barren culverts, critics of the federal policy say. ''Let's not forget we are a proud city of trees,'' said Gregory Kondos, a Sacramento artist whose paintings of tree-lined levees have earned a following. ''We are going to lose a landmark. It's not going to be anything we can be proud of.'' Spokesman Dana Cruikshank said the corps is drafting a new national policy that would allow small trees and shrubs to remain. ''Mostly very small brush, very small trees in some circumstances could remain, but not anything beyond a very small tree,'' he said. Brig. Gen. John McMahon, a regional commander for the corps in California, said he hopes to persuade officials to tailor the new national policy to meet California's needs. ''There is no doubt in my mind our headquarters would like one standard applied broadly across the full spectrum of levees,'' he said. ''I personally don't think that's the right tack to take in this situation. Not all vegetation on levees is bad.'' http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/17047079.htm13) The company owns more than 1.5million acres, mainly in the Sierra Nevada. Each year it clear-cuts thousands of acres of forest. Its logging techniques damage watersheds throughout the Sierra. And most Californians have never heard of it. Meet Sierra Pacific Industries, a privately owned company led by billionaire timber baron Red Emmerson. SPI could eventually clear-cut a million acres in one of the most beautiful mountain ranges on earth. Perhaps we should take notice. Clear-cutting is, to say the least, controversial. It's the method of timber extraction where every tree on a given plot is cut, the land is scraped into a barren moonscape, the site is sprayed with toxic chemicals, and a sterile tree plantation is installed. The rich ecological values of a diverse forest are stripped away. A Sierra forest is worth much more than the value of its timber. No one knows the true costs of a clear-cut landscape: the loss of wildlife, scenic beauty, eroded topsoil, polluted streams, changing climate, increased fire risk, decreased recreation and tourism.Check the pictures for yourself at Google Maps on the Internet. Search " Arnold, California " — a town about 80 miles from Modesto — and click the tab for the satellite view. The dark green area to the east is Calaveras Big Trees State Park, where two groves of giant sequoias are protected. But look at the bare patches north, south and east of the park. Those aren't sand traps at the country club. They're some of the hundreds of clear-cuts just in Calaveras County, and nearly all belong to SPI. Scroll to the east. Zoom in on the devastation. That isn't war-torn Iraq; it's the Sierra Nevada. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection enforces state laws regarding timber harvests on private lands. Its job is to encourage sound forestry management, to ensure that watersheds and wildlife habitats are protected, but they're not stepping up. One theory is the CDF is conflicted by a revolving door with the timber industry — officials and lobbyists rotating between public and private positions. Our elected officials could pressure the CDF, but they're conflicted, too. In just the 2003-2004 election cycle, the Emmerson family and other SPI affiliates contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some of our local representatives received donations: Reps. Dennis Cardoza and George Radanovich, Assemblyman Dave Cogdill (now a state senator), State Sen. Mike Machado and others. Gov. Schwarzenegger received more than $30,000. That means it's up to us, the consumers of wood products, to do something. http://www.modbee.com/opinion/community/story/13469577p-14080205c.htmlIdaho:14) The U.S. Forest Service will begin rulemaking today to turn into law Idaho's plan to keep 8.8 million acres of roadless national forest in its current state. The federal agency will do an environmental analysis of Idaho's petition for managing 9.3 million acres of roadless national forest. Should it become law, it would be the first time a state gets to determine the destiny of much of its pristine backcountry. Colorado could follow, officials there say. The Idaho petition, developed by former Gov. Jim Risch, would protect most of the state's unroaded backcountry as well as — or better — than former President Bill Clinton's controversial 2001 roadless rule. But it has the support of the state's timber industry and local leaders because of specific exemptions to protect forest health. About 550,000 acres of the roadless lands would be opened to logging, mining and road-building. Environmental groups have been split about the proposal. The Idaho Conservation League encouraged people to get involved in the process. " The Idaho Conservation League is encouraged that the Forest Service and Gov. Otter seem to recognize just how valuable Idaho's roadless backcountry is, just the way it is, " said Jonathan Oppenheimer, an ICL conservation associate. The public has until May 10 to comment on what the environmental assessment should consider. Send comments to IDcomments. http://www.idahostatesman.com/102/story/79055.htmlMissouri:15) The Sierra Club has filed a complaint with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over state logging practices that it says will result in erosion runoff into the Jacks Fork, a federally protected river in the Missouri Ozarks. Tom Kruzen of Mountain View is a Missouri Water Sentinel volunteer for the Sierra Club, which runs the national program to monitor water quality. He said Thursday he was aghast to see 100 acres of state-managed forest west of Eminence in the Ozarks had been clear-cut or denuded of its old-growth white oak stands. State forester Lisa Allen responded that the Missouri Department of Conservation has contracted with timber companies to do so-called " regeneration harvests " on 20-acre tracts in the Ozarks. She said it's being done to improve forest health and create a more diverse wildlife habitat, and that the state ensures that soil and water quality is protected. The section of Angeline State Forest is on a slope, and Kruzen fears eroded land that used to be held back by the trees will run down the Jacks Fork basin into the pristine river a quarter mile below. The spring-fed Current and Jacks Fork rivers - along with 80,000 acres of forest, field and glades that straddle four counties in south-central Missouri - make up the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. A 1964 law preserved the rivers and springs and created the nation's oldest federally protected river system. " All we need is one gully-washing rain, and that would wash the soil into the Jacks Fork, " he said. Even if erosion doesn't occur, he said, such severe forest management is ruining the scenic beauty of a place where tourism and outdoor recreation drives the economy. " This is what Shannon County lives on - clean water and beautiful trees, " he said. " If we don't have them, why would anyone want to come? They scarred the earth. It looks like hell. " http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/17068907.htmOhio: 16) Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. crews began work Monday to mitigate what the company called the accidental cutting of trees in the Mohican Memorial State Forest.The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said it is continuing to investigate the April 2 incident as a criminal act. Reports on the number of trees involved range from the 60 that Columbia Gas initially noted to the 100 logs cited by David Lytle, chief of ODNR's Division of Forestry, to a citizens group's estimate of more than 300. " We're going to handle this by the book, " said Andy Ware, ODNR's assistant chief of forestry. He said the agency would collect facts and then decide on a course of action. He wouldn't speculate on how long the investigation would take or whether any criminal charges filed would be against the corporation or the individual crew involved in the cutting. An ODNR forest technician discovered the cutting Friday. Columbia Gas Transmission said its maintenance crews were to clear a natural gas pipeline right-of-way on private property and mistakenly crossed over into the forest. Lytle said Saturday that Mohican's boundaries are clearly marked with bright yellow paint. When three members saw the site, Miller said, " Some of the stumps had already been dug out and removed, making it difficult to prove the extent of the crime. ... We applaud ODNR's effort to gather evidence. " Questioning the utility's assertion that 60 trees were cut, Miller said a more accurate guess " is more than 300 trees of varying ages, some much older than the pipeline they supposedly threatened. All companies tell the truth when it benefits them to do so. Is Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. capable of telling the truth when a lie would suit them better? " http://www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070410/NEWS01/704100303/1002 West Virginia:17) Take Action: The Fish and Wildlife is proposing to remove the West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel from the Endangered Species list, taking away all federal protections from this rare mammal. "Ginny," the endangered West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus), needs your help – right now! High in a treetop nest in West Virginia's scenic Highlands, Ginny, the flying squirrel, is nursing her newborn babies. Ginny doesn't know that she and her family are on a "hit-list," created by Washington officials who want to gut the Endangered Species Act! Please click here now -- for more information, and to send your e-comment. By making your voice heard now, you can make a difference. The final comment deadline is April 23! Please take a moment now and send an e-message here, telling the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to withdraw their absurd and illegal proposal to remove all federal protection for Ginny and her wild mountain home. http://www.saveoursquirrel.org/Massachusetts:18) Off-road enthusiasts, whose turf has been shrinking steadily because of development and restrictions established by utility companies and state agencies, may find by the end of this week that even more of their favorite spots will be off-limits when the season begins on May 1. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation is to announce which state parks still would be open to off-road riding under a set of newly approved assessment criteria. Those rules are aimed at protecting the environment against damage and balancing the rights of off-road fans with those of neighbors who are bothered by the activity. Enthusiasts in Southeastern Massachusetts are hoping the new standards would not bar them from the two parks in which they have been riding -- the Freetown State Forest and the F. Gilbert State Forest, which is in Foxborough, Franklin, and Wrentham. Frank Frey, president of the New England Trail Riders Association and a member of the state committee that drew up the new assessment criteria, said he is fairly certain that both parks will remain open to motorized dirt bikes. But they are expected to remain off-limits to all-terrain four-wheelers, which have not been allowed on those trails for several years. " It looks as though Freetown and Foxborough are fine, " Frey said. " We have the 30 miles of trails they are requiring in each one, and both the King Philip Trail Riders and Pilgrim Sands Trail Riders [two off-road clubs in the area] have a memorandum of agreement with the state to help maintain the trails. " http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/05/trail_riders_on_edge_as_they_await_new_rul es_at_state_parks/?p1=email_to_a_friendAlabama:19) The U.S. Forest Service secretly and illegally inserted provisions into the new Alabama Forest Plan that will allow over 90 percent of Alabama's national forests to be leased for oil, gas and mineral development. In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that 8.5 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas is within the Black Warrior Basin Province. This includes the Bankhead National Forest. Opening the Bankhead to gas production would destroy it with a network of pipelines, power lines, new roads, noisy compression stations, contaminated waste-water, and methane contamination of shallow aquifers. According to the 60 Day Notice to Sue written by Ray Vaughan of WildLaw (see attached document): " The environmental impacts from such a level of drilling activity in the Oakmulgee Division of the Talladega National Forest have simply NEVER been identified and analyzed by these agencies, as NEPA requires. Furthermore, there is NO environmental analysis and documentation in the Plan for federal oil and gas leasing. The Plan consents to oil and gas leasing anywhere it is allowed under the plan, which is 92.2% of the Forests. " John Wathen, a resident and activist in the Black Warrior Basin who has been fighting coalbed methane drilling for years, explains that " fracking " (the fracturing of coal seams) is a process whereby liquid nitrogen is pumped under extreme high pressures and subfreezing temperatures into the coal seams, causing a fracturing of the coal seam. "While the cracks are opened, a slurry of sand and water, laced with surfactants and emollients, is pumped into the cracks to 'prop' the cracks open. This sand is also laced with radioactive isotopes in some cases to allow satellite tracking of the fluid underground. This ensures 'total' coverage of the coal seam. Most of the coalbed methane is removed from seams as deep as 2,500 feet. http://www.wildsouth.orgSoutheast forests:20) M. vimineum, commonly called Nepalese browntop or Japangrass, was first identified in 1919 near Knoxville, Tennessee, where it was inadvertently introduced in packing material for porcelain china. Since then, the grass has spread across the southern States, flourishing on floodplains and streamsides and displacing native vegetation " Microstegium can invade and persist in the low-light conditions of interior forests, making excellent use of short bursts of sunlight, " says Chris Oswalt. " It can also flourish in the full light conditions that follow many canopy disturbances. " While working on a larger oak regeneration study at The Ames Plantation in southwest Tennessee, the researchers noticed a dramatic increase in Microstegium after silviculture treatments that opened the forest canopy. To test whether the grass would negatively impact the regeneration of native woody species, they conducted a separate set of studies nested within the silvicultural study with treatments that ranged from no disturbance to complete canopy removal. After a season of monthly vegetation measures on a total of 720 plots, the researchers found that although Microstegium biomass did not differ significantly among silviculture treatments, there was a significant difference between treated and undisturbed plots, with Microstegium biomass 2 to 10 times greater in disturbed plots. They also found that the species richness of native woody species on the disturbed plots declined as the percent of Microstegium cover increased. " We found that when exposed to sunlight, Microstegium can grow rapidly, often forming thick organic mats on the forest floor that directly impede the regeneration of native woody species by blocking sunlight, and indirectly by blocking seeds from reaching the soil in order to germinate, " says Chris Oswalt. " This grass, which can be easily overlooked in the understory, should be given more attention by both researchers and land managers. " http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Invasive_Grass_May_Impede_Forest_Regeneration_999.html USA:21) For up-to-the-minute news, reports, and analyses of congressional events, please visit http://www.americanlands.org and click on Eye on Congress. This portion of our web page is still in development, but will soon include reports of congressional hearings of import, calendars of events, newly introduced legislation, and other news about what is happening on Capitol Hill and how actions in Washington, DC will affect our national forests. American Lands Alliance is in the process of meeting with the staff of freshman Members of Congress and educating them about the importance of protecting roadless wild forests, upholding the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and our concerns about the Bush Administration's attack on public involvement in public land decision making by recklessly using Categorical Exclusions (CEs). Click here for materials included in our Congressional Education Packet. You are welcome to use these materials in your district meetings with Members of Congress and their staff or with the press. For more information, contact Caitlin Hills at Caitlin or 202-547-9105.22) The Bush administration and the timber industry are appealing a federal court ruling that struck down a policy to allow logging and oil and gas drilling in large undeveloped sections of national forests. Last September, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Laporte reinstated a 2001 rule created by the Clinton administration, which prohibited most logging and oil and gas drilling in 50 million acres of national forests known as roadless areas in order to protect clean water and fish and wildlife habitat. The judge found that the Bush administration had failed to conduct necessary environmental studies before it instituted a process in May 2005 that required governors to petition the federal government to protect roadless areas in their states. Conservation groups and attorneys general from Oregon, Washington, California and New Mexico challenged the Bush policy. "Time and time again Americans have spoken up to oppose logging and development of our last unspoiled roadless wildlands, but the Bush administration refuses to listen." said Steve Pedery, conservation director of Oregon Wild, a Portland conservation group. The three-page notice of appeal signed by U.S. Justice Department attorney Barclay T. Samford was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. It gave no grounds or reasoning behind the appeal. http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/news/2007/04/news04-10-07-02.shtml23) There has been a significant amount of debate within the conservation community over the last few years about if, when and how groups should engage in collaborations with diverse constituencies to protect and restore public lands. Some groups are currently involved in collaborative processes while other groups are trying to figure out how to or whether to engage, especially since collaboration is required by the Healthy Forest Restoration Act and other laws and regulations. Still some groups do not think that conservationists should engage at all. Additionally, concerns have been expressed about the lack of transparency and inclusiveness of some collaborations. American Lands Alliance held the National Meeting on Collaboration: Cooperative Quagmire or Conservation Coup? in November 2006 near Portland, Oregon, bringing together 69 conservation leaders from around the country with a diversity of perspectives on collaboration to try to crystallize this discussion. Participants shared experiences with collaborative efforts, and discussed concerns and opportunities with participating in collaborations to protect and restore public lands. Participants agreed to the creation of guidelines based on the discussions at the meeting and published resources on collaboration. Collaboration Best Practices for the Conservation Community http://americanlands.org/documents/1176314811_Final%20Collaboration%20Guidelines%203-07.pdf was developed with the input of the National Meeting on Collaboration attendees. The purpose of the Collaboration Best Practices for the Conservation Community is to: 1) help groups decide whether or when to collaborate; 2) guide the development of effective collaborations; and 3) help groups at the table and those not at the table better communicate with each other. Please let us know if you have any feedback: Anne Martin, National Field Director, annem24) I'm sure you've heard about eating lower on the food chain in the past, but we at Groovy Green recently heard about a new initiative that is underway that is similar. The PB & J Campaign. Essentially the idea is to replace one meat based meal with a simple meal of a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. One stat from the website that stood out to me is: Have a PB & J and save 12 to 50 square feet of land from deforestation, over-grazing, and pesticide and fertilizer pollution. It seems like a simple way to make an impact on the world. And you could take it even further by baking your own bread, making your own peanut butter from locally grown peanuts (or your own garden fresh peanuts), and buying or making your own jelly. Then you could take the mass produced food industry completely out of your meal, if you wish. http://www.pbjcampaign.org/Canada:25) An investigation released today by Greenpeace revealed that Jean Charest's Liberals were the big winners in political donations from senior executives connected to member companies of the Conseil de l'industrie forestière du Québec (CIFQ). " It's clear that Premier Charest and CIFQ spokesperson Guy Chevrette are thinking more about forest companies than they are the health of the Boreal forest, " said Mélissa Filion, forest campaigner with Greenpeace. " But the Boreal belongs to all Quebecers, not those writing big cheques. This ancient forest isn't for sale. " " In the end, whether Liberal or Péquiste, Quebec governments manage the forest in the interests of industry. How else to explain the delays in creating new protected areas? Why are intact forest areas still being fragmented? Why are we losing woodland caribou habitat at a great rate? These excessive financial ties are part of the reason, " said Filion. Donations from people linked to the CIFQ made up almost one per cent of all contributions to the Liberal Party in 2005. " With less than four per cent of the Boreal forest protected, and most of this in small parks, Quebec is a laggard in forest conservation. Liberals are not managing the forest in an independant conservation-based fashion, " concluded Filion. http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/boreal26) The voracious beetle has infected about three million Alberta pine trees -- up from only 19,000 last year -- with the infestation stretching south all the way to Kananaskis country and the eastern slopes of the Rockies.With that in mind, Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton sought and received approval from cabinet to declare an emergency to Alberta's forest health. " It's a question of being ready, " Morton told reporters Wednesday in Edmonton. " We anticipate some pretty serious additional costs. " The move will allow the provincial government to tap into its emergency Sustainability Fund -- which totals more than $7 billion -- but Morton won't reveal how much he's seeking until after the release of next week's budget. The Alberta government has already spent about $50 million in the past year dealing with the infestation, and Morton previously asked the provincial Treasury Board to approve roughly $23 million in additional funding. The declaration also ratchets up the pressure on the federal government to meet Alberta's outstanding request for $100 million over three years to fight the serial tree killer. Ottawa has pledged $1 billion over 10 years on a national scale -- including the recently announced first instalment of $200 million -- to combat the infestation and fight the bug's eastward spread. In late March, the federal government announced it's making $24.8 million available immediately to British Columbia to fight the spread of the ravenous pine beetle along the B.C.-Alberta border. No specific dollar amount has been promised to Alberta, but federal Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said Ottawa is treating the infestations in B.C. and Alberta as a single entity and won't be coughing up " a $100-million cheque " to the province. " This infestation isn't about B.C. It isn't about Alberta. It's about an infestation as a whole, and all decisions will be based on that, " Lunn told CanWest News. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2007/04/11/bettle-emergency.html Finland:27) Standing atop a 160-metre high tower amid foul-smelling gases from the chemicals used to make paper, Jorma Ignatius, a burly manager at the Stora Enso mill in Imatra, eastern Finland, points to a nearby factory chimney. " That's Russia, " he says. Imatra is closer to St Petersburg than it is to Helsinki and its location allows a constant stream of 50-carriage trains loaded with logs to roll out of Russia's forests before being fed into Stora Enso's ravenous mill 10km from the border. The Finns have been steadily making paper there for seven decades, but now the remote landscape of frozen lakes and dark forests is in crisis. Imatra finds itself at the centre of a trade row, which erupted after Russia announced plans to increase taxes on timber exports 10-fold by 2009, a move that threatens to undermine Finland's vital pulp and paper industry. The way the Finns see it, the Russians are trying to do with timber what they have already done in oil and gas - take control of production. " There is no economic reason for this - it is nationalism, " says Anders Portin, director of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation. What Finland's forestry experts find so bemusing - and infuriating - is that Russia has more than enough timber to supply Finland with exports as well as build up its own domestic pulp and paper industry. Russia, which accounts for 22 per cent of the world's forests, can sustainably cut 600m m3of forest a year but fells barely one-third of that. " You could build 100 mills in Russia and still export to Finland, " says Mr Johansson. For the Finns, who have long learnt to live in Russia's shadow, this is further proof that the motivation is political. " We know Russia is targeting a more nationalistic foreign policy and they have become more and more interested in natural resources, " says Mr Karjula. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/613b065a-e892-11db-b2c3-000b5df10621.htmlCongo: 28) Vast tracts of the world's second-largest rainforest have been obtained by a small group of European and American industrial logging companies in return for minimal taxes and gifts of salt, sugar and tools, a two-year investigation will disclose today. More than 150 contracts covering an area of rainforest nearly the size of the United Kingdom have been signed with 20 companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the past three years. Many are believed to have been illegally allocated in 2002 by a transition government emerging from a decade of civil wars and are in defiance of a World Bank moratorium. According to the report, the companies, mainly from Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Singapore and the US, are already stripping from the 21m hectares (52m acres) of forest, primarily to extract African teak, which sells for more than £500 a cubic metre and is widely used for flooring, furniture and doors in Britain. According to the 100-page study, compiled by Greenpeace International working with Congolese ecological and human rights groups, if all the forests identified for logging are felled, it could " release " up to 34bn tonnes of carbon - nearly as much as Britain has emitted in 60 years. To gain access to the forests for the next 25 years, the European companies have made agreements with village chiefs, offering bags of salt, machetes and bicycles, and in some cases promised to build rudimentary schools, the report states. http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,2054146,00.html?gusrc=rss & feed=1 29) The new government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) cancelled more than 20 illegally-granted logging contracts which covered nearly three million hectares (7.4 million acres) of forest, according to a report from AFP. The announcement came at the "International conference on the sustainable management of the forests in the DRC (ConForDRC)" held February 26-27 in Brussels. At the conference policymakers agreed that Congo should maintain its moratorium on new logging and provide legal recognition for the rights of indigenous forest dwellers. There was wide support for Congo's participation in the Coalition of Rainforest Nations' proposal to seek compensation for forest conservation. The initiative would involve direct payment for carbon sequestration and biodiversity protection. The conference also saw the release of a World Bank-CIFOR-CIRAD publication entitled "Forests in Post-Conflict Democratic Republic of Congo: Analysis of a Priority Agenda" [PDF]. The study reported that peace and unmanaged road-building can increase pressure on forests but that Congo basin countries have created over 6 million hectares of new protected areas in the past five years. The publication recommended that the government of Congo DRC " include wildlife protection as a standard obligation of forest companies under all contracts. " http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0409-congo.html30) Lamoko, 150 miles down the Maringa river, sits on the edge of a massive stretch of virgin rainforest in central Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On February 8 2005, representatives of a major timber firm arrived to negotiate a contract with the traditional landowners. Few in the village realised that the talks would transform all their lives, but in just a few hours, the chief, who had received no legal advice and did not realise that just one tree might be worth more than £4,000 in Europe, had signed away his community's rights in the forest for 25 years. In return for his signed permission to log thousands of hectares for exotic woods such as Afromosia (African teak) and sapele, the company promised to build Lamoko and other communities in the area three simple village schools and pharmacies. In addition, the firm said it would give the chief 20 sacks of sugar, 200 bags of salt, some machetes and a few hoes. In all, it was estimated that the gifts would cost the company £10,000. It was the kind of " social responsibility " agreement that is encouraged by the World Bank, but when the villagers found out that their forest had been " sold " so cheaply, they were furious. They complained to the local and central government that there had been no proper consultation, that the negotiations had been conducted in an " arrogant " manner, and that people had been forced to sign the document. They demanded that the company pull out. Since February 2005, logging roads have been driven deep into the forests near Lamoko and the company has started extracting and exporting trees, but the villages have yet to see their schools and pharmacies. " We asked them to provide wood for our coffins and they even refused that, " said one man who asked to remain anonymous. http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2054098,00.html#article_continue 31) The Congo rainforest is the world's second largest tropical forest after the Amazon and one of the planet's essential defences against global climate change. Global emissions from tropical deforestation alone contributes up to 25% of total annual human-induced CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. The DRC rainforest contains 8% of global carbon stores. It is estimated that forest clearance in the DRC will release up to 34.4 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2050, roughly equivalent to the UK's CO2 emissions over the last sixty years. (4) " It's crunch time for the DRC's rainforests. The international logging industry operating in the country is out of control. Unless the World Bank helps the DRC to stop the sell off of these rainforests, they'll soon be under the chainsaws, " said Greenpeace International Africa Forest Campaign Co-ordinator, Stephan van Praet. In spite of a national moratorium on logging titles since 2002, 100 logging contracts covering 15 million hectares of rainforest have been issued to the logging industry (5), an area five times the size of Belgium. Much of the rainforest already allocated for logging is critical for conservation and for the survival of our closest animal relatives, the bonobo and chimpanzee. 40 million people depend on the DRC's rainforest. Few benefit from logging. The World Bank admits that in the last three years, none of the forest area taxes paid by companies have reached forest communities. Greenpeace has obtained contracts (6) between logging companies and communities, some offering gifts such as bags of salt and bottles of beer, worth less than $100 in exchange for logging rights worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. People reported that promises to build schools or hospitals are rarely fulfilled and that intimidation tactics are used when they try to protest against the companies. " These contracts are a shameful relic of colonial times. Millions of hectares of the Congo rainforest have been traded away by local communities to the logging industry for gifts like salt, machetes and crates of beer while logging companies and their taxes do next to nothing for local development, " concluded van Praet. http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=32135Uganda:32) A MOB stoned to death an Asian man in Uganda yesterday and two other people were killed during a protest against plans to cut down nearly a third of a rainforest reserve to grow sugarcane. Troops in armoured cars were deployed in central Kampala after police fired tear gas and bullets to stop rioters attacking Asian businesses and a Hindu temple, angered by moves to expand an Indian-owned company's sugar plantations. As scores of demonstrators threw stones at police, officers rescued more than 100 Asian men besieged in a Hindu temple and elsewhere, and rushed them to a police station. Dozens were arrested. " We were inside the temple and the protesters started attacking us, " said Dipaul Patel, 50. " It was frightening. " The scenes were a sharp reminder of 1972, when the late former dictator Idi Amin expelled Uganda's Asians. Thousands have returned, but are viewed with suspicion by some Ugandans. One Indian supermarket owner said rioters pulled him from his motorbike and beat him. " I am blaming the police for this, " he said. Police chiefs had approved yesterday's march against plans by the sugar company Scoul to cut down thousands of acres of Mabira Forest. Frank Muramuzi, the march organiser, said it began peacefully, before a " misunderstanding " with police. " All of a sudden, they opened fire with tear gas and live ammunition, " he said. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=56656200733) Ugandan police have opened fire at hundreds of Mabira rainforest protection campaigners in Uganda protesting against government plans to allocate forest land to a sugar company. Ecological Internet is sad to report that two local rainforest conservationists, protesting to save the Mabira protected rainforest from being 1/3 cleared for sugar cane have, were shot dead when protesting according to BBC. Stopping the " Great Mabira Rainforest Give-Away " has been something the Ecological Internet Earth Action Network has been deeply involved with internationally (media coverage below). This in support of one of Africa's first grassroots modern ecological protest campaigns - with local peoples organizing boycotts against the sugar company involved, setting up cyber-petitions and text messaging via cell phones to organize protests. Efforts to save Mabira rainforest are a spontaneous, home-grown rainforest conservation protest that deserves our continued support. Search " Mabira " : http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/search/welcome.aspx?searchtext=Mabira Ecological Internet's 25,000 strong global campaign community must let the Ugandan government know that shooting protestors is unacceptable, that the authoritarian efforts to give away Mabira's rainforests are undemocratic and corrupt, and once again emphasize that Uganda needs more protected ancient primary and old-growth forests and restored buffer zones and corridors to ensure national ecological sustainability including water, climate, soils and local development options. http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=uganda35) Ugandan bloggers have responded forcefully to the story that the Ugandan cabinet was considering giving away 7,100 hectares of Mabira Forest to private investor to turn into a sugarcane plantation. Mabira Forest is prominently located on the Kampala-Jinja Road and is Uganda's largest tropical forest. I Have Left Copenhagen for Uganda reports that a boycott of Lugozi Sugar, a brand owned by the company intent on developing Mabira Forest, is being promoted via text message: Congratulations to the Ugandan civil society for reacting! This is a fine example of a non-violent action, which in no time has created massive attention among the population, not just on individual basis, but also institutions and organisations are reacting. And not just within Uganda, it is going global. Campaign-wise this is a very interesting tool; any person with a mobile and airtime can participate However, no one said it should be easy; Police Spokesman Asan Kasingye is now hunting the originators of the text messages encouraging the sugar-boycott. He states that this kind of boycott is economic sabotage, claiming probably rightfully, it is illegal in the country. He is prepared to carry out arrests. In my opinion this man's reaction is proving that the campaign is working! Guess the Uganda goverment is to learn about modern non-violent campaigning methods…(hopefully before it runs out out teargas). http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2007/04/08/uganda-blog-awards-digital-activism-to-protect-rai nforest-and-more/Brazil:36) The title of this article may suggest the relation between the clearing of forest and its effects on global warming and human life. But in the Amazon forest in Brazil, there's a more direct relationship between the destruction of trees and the death of people -- murder. In the Amazon region, 61 percent of the 100 cities with the largest deforestation index are also found among the most violent of the country. This conclusion was reached by the Brazilian journalism agency Agencia Brasil. Aloisio Milani and Sabrina Craide, agency reporters, cross-referenced data from the Violence Map in Brazil, produced by the Organization of Ibero-American States, with a satellite monitoring project of the Amazon Forest. " The idea, " wrote the reporters, " was to identify the relation between the clearing of forest and violence in the towns of the Brazilian Amazon. " The information brings an essential question: why? In many ways, deforestation is related to jobs. Forest cutting is very exhausting and debilitating, but for poor people, any kind of work is worthwhile. Worst, many of the workers are slaves. Jose Batista Afonso, from the National Coordination of Pastoral Land (CNPT), an organization related to the Catholic Church engaged in the defense of human rights, points out that in the cities where deforestation and murder rates are high, there is slavery. Recently a group of government agents set free 27 slave workers in three cotton farms in the state of Maranhao, which has seven cities that rank high on the deforestation and violence index. According to the workers, they were there since January this year. They were living in precarious conditions, with lack of food and water. Afonso calls attention too to the organized crime in the country, especially in the deforestation regions. Groups of professional killers act in many of those cities. Almost every crime in rural zones is committed by those gangs. Land is the cause of conflict in many regions of Brazil. Workers without land invade properties often. The owners hire militias of gunfighters to protect themselves and their properties. The invaders use stones and others primitive forms of weapons. And that's how the war is made; not in the field, in the country. Enviromentalist activists, known as " eco-fighters " are another potential target. Gisele Neuls, a journalist friend of mine who moved from South Brazil to an Amazon state describes the kind of pressure they suffer. " I saw a poster in a wall which read: 'Save your job, kill an eco-fighter.' It is very scary. " http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=354917 & rel_no=1 Paraguay:37) The rainforest of Amotocodie in Paraguay is home to isolated groups of Ayorèode. The company UMBU S.A. has bought 40,000 hectares of virgin rainforest right in the centre of Amotocodie, in order to establish cattle ranches. The authorities have granted them a permission to destroy that forest, and logging could start any time. This planned deforestation contravenes the human and land rights of the indigenous population, who have lived there since ancestral times. They have pledged to resist the destruction and lives could be lost. The Initiative Amotocodie (IAM) has exhausted all legal avenues trying to stop the planned forest destruction. The Ayoreos themselves have made representations to the authorities via their organization, UNAP (Uniòn de Nativos Ayoreo de Paraguay). They are determined to fight to protect their home, which is part of the ancestral land of the Ayoreo people. Please send sign on to the protest letter to the president of Paraguay. http://www.regenwald.org/international/englisch/protestaktion.php?id=159Peru:38) A future economic model handling the logging industry in Peru's Amazon rainforest will unite exporting companies and native communities with new profit-sharing regulations, announced Peru's Exporters Association (ADEX) on Monday. "According to this model, the exporting company assumes the responsibility of wood utilization, transformation and commercialization whereas members of native communities and the proprietors of the timber resources are put in charge of monitoring and supervising deforestation with the assistance of designated technical, professional experts", ADEX detailed. According to the association, this model tries to consolidate one of the more viable economic alternatives for improving indigenous life quality and the fight against illegal deforestation. "Establishing private investment in inaccessible, poverty-stricken areas where the population doesn't have sufficient capital and infrastructure to take advantage of their sustainable forest resource, will help to reach these objectives", ADEX emphasized. The new model may also boost chances for the approval of pending U.S. Free Tade agreements with Peru and Colombia. The democratic majority in the United States Congress has always demanded amendments or renegotiation of paragraphs related to this subject so that "both countries adjust to international standards for the protection of biodiversity". A first example of this new model is exporting company Forestal Venao which received a certificate by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for its efficient handling of 82,853 hectares of forest pertaining to the native communities Sawawo Hito 40 and Nueva Azuaya, located in the district of Yurua in the Atalaya province (Ucayali). "By issuing this certificate, this company becomes the first in receiving such recognition in Peru", ADEX said. Forestal Venao has made a short-term commitment to incorporate other native communities such as Santa Rosa, Nueva Victoria, El Dorado and Flor de Shengari, all located in Peru's Ucayali region, with which they would incorporate 86,300 more hectares of rainforest. http://journalperu.com/?p=823 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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