192 - Earth's Tree News

[Guest guest]

Today for you 36 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---Alaska:

1) Logging Subsidies in the Tongass --British Columbia: 2) Log Exports

protest, 3) Forest Ethics' Caribou video, 4) Industry land scams, 5) A

logger's lament, 6) Ministry scolded, --Washington: 7) Family-owned logging firm sold to Canada, --Oregon: 8) Stumpqua Bank protests continue, 10) Measure 37 profits for industry,--California: 11) Maxxam trial will be in Texas, --New Mexico: 12) Gila history according to Dave Foreman--Illinois: 13) 300 million year old forest--Florida: 14) Sign the Panther petition--USA: 15) RIP: Jim Jontz, 16) Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, --Canada: 17) An Ojibway women wins the Goldman award--North America: 18) Eviction notices to catalog industry--Kososvo: 19) Forest fires used to intimidate--South Africa: 20) Informal settlements harm largest remaining forest

--Brazil: 21) McDonald's and Enviros float their boat--Peru: 22) Peruvian forest defenders wins Goldman award, 23) Shipibo forest defender,--Honduras: 24) Unpunished assassinations of two environmentalists

--China: 25) China to investigate illegal logging, --Vietnam: 26) Report on Biodiversity--Nepal: 27) Maoist forest destruction,--South East Asia: 28) Forest fires haze tough to solve--Philippines: 29) building model communities that protect forests,

--Malaysia: 30) 8 companies charged for not reporting their logging, --Indonesia:

31) Company banned from log exports, 32) Earth day forest protection

demands: 33) Belum and Temenggor forest reserves in Perak,--Borneo: 34) Four members of a tribe burn down a logging camp,--Australia: 35) Bigger roads for pulp mill, 36) Australian Forest Certification Systems,

Alaska:1)

Members of the timber industry are just about the only people in the

world for whom money does indeed grow on trees. What's more, if you're

logging in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, Uncle Sam will pay

millions of dollars to build roads to give you access to his money

trees. Money trees and roads paved with someone else's gold — for

Alaska's timber industry, things can't get much better. For taxpayers,

things could hardly get worse. Subsidies to the timber industry are

nothing new. The U.S. Forest Service routinely builds roads through our

national forests to give timber companies access to new sources of

profit. In doing so, they spend an enormous amount of taxpayer money

for little or no return. Since 1982, the Tongass timber program has

lost almost $1 billion. The Forest Service receives in revenue from the

timber industry less than 1 percent of what it spends providing

services. During the past 25 years, the result for taxpayers has been

an average annual loss of $40 million. Despite these continued losses,

the Forest Service is once again ramping up Tongass roads and timber

sales. In the face of a worldwide timber glut, demand for Alaskan

product has plummeted. Between fiscal years 1998 and 2005, almost 50

percent of the Forest Service's timber offerings went without a single

bid. Of those that sold, almost 80 percent received only one bid.

Instead of responding to a declining market, the Forest Service

continues to ignore the economic realities. Its annual-demand estimates

are comically exaggerated, ranging from three to seven times the

average annual logging level of the previous five years. Last year, the

House of Representatives voted to end this enormous corporate subsidy,

passing an amendment that prohibited further road building subsidies in

the Tongass. Unfortunately, the amendment fell victim to Congress'

failure to complete the annual spending bills. This year, Congress

should finish the job by making the Tongass amendment law. Taxpayers

deserve better than to have their money squandered on corporate

handouts. This is the opinion of Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers

for Common Sense, a nonpartisan federal budget watchdog. http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007104230030 & template=printart

British Columbia:2)

NANAIMO -- A coalition of unions, politicians and environmentalists

marched through downtown yesterday, protesting the export of raw logs.

Chanting " ban log exports, " the 300-member strong crowd started its

rally at the Pulp Paper and Woodworkers of Canada Local 8's office and

eventually stopped in front of Island Timberlands headquarters.

Sentiment was fuelled by an incident last week in which a ship bound

for Asia loaded raw logs at the now defunct Island Phoenix Sawmill --

now owned by Island Timberlands. " We need to make a statement on this

issue, " Arnie Bercov, vice-president of Local 8, told the crowd. " The

export of logs, whether from public or private lands, has got to be

stopped. If we allow the export of this wood to other countries, we are

not only exporting jobs, we are exporting energy and quite frankly the

future of our young people. " Two buses filled with Communications,

Energy and Paperworkers Union members travelled to Nanaimo from

Campbell River to protest along with the PPWC members. They were also

joined by members of the United Steelworkers from Duncan, the Youbou

Timberless Society and Western Canada Wilderness Committee. Don

Bouchar, a CEP vice-president, told the crowd that labour " demands a

forestry summit " with the provincial government to try to halt raw log

exports. Speaker after speaker blamed the crisis in the coastal forest

industry on the B.C. government's 2003 changes to the provincial

Forestry Act. Steve Lorimer, spokesman for TimberWest, which on

Vancouver Island operates largely on private land, has said that

exporting logs allows his company to employ people in falling and

transportation. Coastal mills are not competitive on a world basis,

Lorimer said, adding that they are not paying the same prices as mills

outside B.C. are willing to pay. http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=0b6bc8e9-d345-48

1b-859f-eb1b27d4d9703)

The environmental group ForestEthics has turned to YouTube and Google

maps to spread their message to a new audience about logging practices

they oppose. In a campaign against forest giant West Fraser Timber,

ForestEthics has produced a video that features a fly-over of logging

in B.C. and Alberta forests created from satellite images downloaded

from Google. The logged-over areas are juxtaposed with images of

caribou, wolves and grizzly bears. The video details what the eco-group

claims is clearcut logging in endangered mountain caribou habitat. The

video has been released in advance of West Fraser's annual general

meeting, in Quesnel Wednesday. A biting commentary accompanying the

images urges shareholders and consumers to " disown " the B.C. forest

company for not taking adequate steps to protect caribou. West Fraser

is logging more caribou habitat than any other forest company, the

eco-group claims on its YouTube video. " If you own West Fraser shares,

divest them. If you buy West Fraser products, stop buying them, " the

voice-over says. West Fraser officials were not available for comment

Monday, but the company said Feb. 22 that it would voluntarily protect

caribou habitat in the Alberta foothills by deferring harvesting in all

caribou range in the Hinton area while wildlife management plans are

developed. That move earned the company praise from ForestEthics for

considering caribou habitat in its plans, but it was not enough, said

ForestEthics campaigner Tzeporah Berman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmBcOpX2imQ4)

TimberWest Forest has brought on a new vice-president of real estate

whose job will be selling off some of the forest company's prime

Vancouver Island holdings. John Hendry, who was previously with a

central Florida timberland and real estate company, joins TimberWest

May 14, the company announced Friday. " John will help us unlock the

value of our portfolio of real estate assets on Vancouver Island. His

appointment is a very positive step for TimberWest, " company president

Paul McElligott said in a news release. TimberWest is the province's

largest landowner, with 334,000 hectares, mostly on Vancouver Island.

The company conducted a strategic review of its property in 2006 and

identified 38,000 hectares of forest lands -- an area more than three

times as large as the City of Vancouver -- that have greater value as

real estate. Rising land values on Vancouver Island have generated

solid profits for the forest company; in 2006, real estate sales

contributed $32.9 million -- almost one third -- of total distributable

cash of $103.8 million. TimberWest intends to sell the 38,000 hectares

over the next 10 to 15 years. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=69e3d9e5-0174-4ccb-b056-418cd56

2f9865)

The tracks of the animals and birds were a language I learned to read

and understand. My summer job as a sixteen-year-old was driving a Cat

bulldozer, building logging roads in the mountains above Sugar Lake in

the North Okanagan region of BC. I learned how to carve rudimentary

one-lane tracks in the bush with my 'dozer, and sometimes, just to pass

the time, I would put the steel 'dozer blade against an old-growth fir

or cedar and, rocking it back and forth, push until it fell. The

destruction of the tree was unnecessary, but to a boy of sixteen it was

an act of immense power. What my father and the other men of his time

did for a living was what I imitated. The logging trucks that hauled

the forest away to the mills were simply an aftermath to my

destruction. I delighted in the crash of the tree as it fell. The sight

of the branches as they rushed through the air was a breath I loved.

The trunk and limbs took with them the smaller trees nearby and left a

gaping hole in the forest. I gave no thought to the sun as it poured

through and seared the mosses and fragile plants that lived in the

shadowed understory of the trees. The loggers who followed me did far

worse to the forest with their chainsaws, cables, and Cats. The waste

of what had once been the forest was left to grow again as best it

could from under the trashed and broken trunks of smaller trees. Left

behind was the raw detritus of stumps, roots, and branches. Gouts of

alluvial gravel and stone were heaved up and small creeks buried.

Fifteen years later, I went back to that country to visit my father's

grave. On an impulse of what I know now was loneliness, I drove up into

the mountains where I had built those bush roads. Here and there were

patches of young trees. Most of what I saw was scrub brush and raw

stone. The forest had not returned. How can I be a responsible and

compassionate man and still take part, however peripherally, in the

destruction of the forests I have loved all my life? This question

beggars my mind. How tired this world grows. I know there is a grace in

every living thing. I must remember that. The past will not suffice and

the future is an illusion I create to ease my conscience. To dwell in

either place is not to act. I touch the grass, the needle of a spruce,

lichen on a stone, and that is enough. Each word I write is an emblem

to my thought. This, I can preserve this: water, tree, stone. http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2005.05-environment-the-forests-edge/

6)

The provincial environment ministry has been scolded by the independent

Forest Practices Board after dawdling five years over an Anderson Lake

resident's application for a community watershed licence. The

ministry's treatment of the resident -- who is not identified in a

board report on the incident -- was unfair and unreasonable according

to the board. The watershed application was requested by the resident,

who represents the owners of 17 strata title lots on a 146-hectare

development on the lake located between Pemberton and Lillooet. The

community watershed designation was requested to protect the residents'

water supply from a proposed logging operation on Crown land where the

residents had a water license. The application " was kept in abeyance,

then misplaced for a time, then resurrected, " the report states. " The

complainant has waited five years and deserves a timely answer. " The

board, a watchdog agency that investigates complaints, requests that

the ministry decide one way or another on the application by July 31.

The government failed to act on the request to protect the water supply

through a community licence, but proceeded with approving the logging

plans. In its investigation, the board determined that the application

was given a low priority because the ministry was more interested in

phasing out community watersheds rather than creating new ones. Then,

the ministry was re-organized and the file transferred to a staffer

whose responsibilities had changed as a result of the ministry shuffle.

At one point, the application was actually lost, only to surface years

later in Surrey. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=565418c1-f4ed-4904-bca4-1a2026b9

4c42Washington:7)

After 80 years as a family-run company, Longview Fibre Co. succumbed

Friday to a buyout from a Canadian private equity firm that will break

it in two. Brookfield Asset Management, based in Toronto, bought

Longview, Wash.-based Longview Fibre in a deal valued at $2.15 billion.

The company's 588,000 acres of timberland in Oregon and Washington will

be owned by a real estate investment trust called Longview Timber,

which will be led by Blake Rowe, who runs timber operations for

Longview. The company's seven box plants -- it announced the sale of

eight others last month -- and its giant pulp and paper mill near

Longview will be owned by a conventional corporation called Longview

Pulp and Paper Inc. More than two-thirds of Longview shareholders

agreed to the buyout in a vote Thursday, and the transaction closed

Friday. With Longview-area employment totaling 1,800, the pulp and

paper company is believed to be the largest private employer in

southwest Washington. " We're very excited, " Carter said. " We're very

pleased with what we've seen so far and excited about the opportunity

to improve them further. " Since its founding in 1927, Longview Fibre

was controlled by the staunchly independent-minded Wollenberg and

Wertheimer families, even in its decades of publicly traded stock. The

company's last chief executive, R.H. " Rick " Wollenberg, inherited the

title from his father and grandfather, who were the company's only two

other chiefs. The company followed the trajectory of the Northwest

forest products industry. In the late 1980s it ranked in the Fortune

500 list of largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue. The Wertheimers

and Wollenbergs gave mightily to regional charities, including millions

toPortland's Reed College. But in the past decade or so, Longview fell

out of favor with Wall Street. Rising costs and low prices for its

commodity paper products frustrated investors, fueled takeover attempts

and shrunk the company's footprint. http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1177124174294020.xml & coll

=7Oregon:8)

On Thursday, April 19 Cascadia's Ecosystem Advocates (CEA), Cascadia

Forest Defenders (CFD) and the UO's Forest Action held a citizen

demonstration outside Market of Choice in Eugene to urge Market of

Choice to stop banking with Umpqua Bank, whose board of directors is

personally responsible for clearcutting and herbiciding hundreds of

thousands of acres of Oregon's forests. Members of CEA and CFD held a 9

foot banner outside of the store saying " Save Oregon's Ancient Forests:

Boycott StUmpqua Bank " and other signs, as well as passing out leaflets

(on tree free, sugar cane based paper) to Market of Choice customers.

Leaflets asked customers to call Market of Choice and urge them to do

the right thing by withdrawing their accounts from Umpqua Bank and

placing them in an environmentally responsible local bank. Postcards

addressed to Market of Choice owner, Mr. Wright, were passed out as

well as brochures explaining Umpqua Bank's ecocidal practices. Hundreds

of customers were made aware of the issue and dozens of individuals

approached protesters to learn more about it. Despite one " friend " of

Market of Choice owners and Umpqua Board of Directors who thought

native forests were an " unpicked crop " and who didn't believe in global

warming, the public was almost entirely supportive of the rally and

expressed surprise and concern about Market of Choice's decision.

Despite Market of Choice's green, eco-friendly image, by continuing to

bank with Umpqua Bank, they are complicit in the destruction of

Oregon's precious forests and watersheds. http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/04/358148.shtml9)

People who paid to pass Measure 37 are putting it to use. Donors to the

2004 campaign have filed at least $637 million worth of claims under

Oregon's property rights law, a study by the Money in Politics Research

Action Project shows. Big names such as Stimson Lumber Co. and Aaron

Jones of Seneca Jones Timber Co. were joined by small businesses and

individual landowners. Measure 37 supporters say virtually every

political cause attracts donors with a personal stake in the outcome.

Environmentalists say this study shows the law is helping large

companies, not just farmers and small landowners. Both sides can agree

on this: It's not surprising to see a correlation between Measure 37

contributors and claimants. This is simply the first analysis to match

the two lists. Money in Politics is a nonprofit organization that

tracks campaign and lobbyist contributions in Oregon. The group

compared 180 donors to the Measure 37 campaign against the state's

database of nearly 7,000 applications to waive land-use rules. More

than two dozen company and individual donors from the campaign have

gone on to file applications. They say Oregon land-use rules have

reduced their property value by a combined $637 million. That's about 4

percent of the nearly $15 billion total value placed on the state's

Measure 37 claims. " I think there are people out there who

ideologically feel land-use laws ought to happen in a different way, "

said Sarah Wetherson, research and outreach coordinator for Money in

Politics. " But it's clear there are also people -- some with the

wherewithal to make very large contributions -- with an economic stake

in the outcome. " Philosophy and profit aren't mutually exclusive, said

John McGhehey of Stimson. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/11772879144910.xml & coll=7

California:10)

A protest on earth day was held at Tree nine in the UC Santa Cruz

campus. People were protesting against the supposed plans of the

expansion of the UC campus. The plans for adding an additional two

colleges was decided back in 1988. Today, UC Santa Cruz is still

undecided whether the new colleges will be built in the upper campus.

It's great that we're trying to keep the forest in good, healthy

condition, but at this point, protesting in the forest is futile.

George Blumenthal, the acting chancellor of UCSC says that the

expansion is still in the early planning process and it's possible that

the new colleges won't be built. One of the locations they are planning

to build is north of the Kresge college, over the trailer park. There

were rumors that were going around saying that Tree 9 would be

destroyed for the expansion of the campus, but from what I've heard

from UCSC's acting chancellor, there are no plans for the destruction

of Tree 9 at the moment. This for all UC students: if you have any

concerns about the subject of the UCSC expansion, just email the

chancellor for any questions. He will respond. Protesting at the base

of Tree 9 will be much more difficult to get your voice heard and I

recommend you to directly contact the head of UCSC or their Long Range

Development Plan if you are concerned about the future of our natural

forest environment at UC Santa Cruz. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/04/24/18404340.php11)

A federal Bankruptcy Court judge in Corpus Christi, Texas, said the

reorganization of the Pacific Lumber Co. should be argued in that

state, rejecting pleas by major creditors and the state of California

to move the case here because of the environmentally sensitive issues

involving the company's redwood forests. Pacific Lumber, based in

Humboldt County, and several of its corporate kin filed for Chapter 11

protection in Texas in January. In a 29-page order issued Friday, Judge

Richard Schmidt said that while the company may cut trees and mill

lumber in Northern California, key corporate officials and at least one

of the bankrupt entities are in Texas and, by his reading of the law,

that decided the matter. " The Boards of Directors of the (Pacific

Lumber) Debtors are the persons that will make the important management

decisions regarding the financial restructuring, " he wrote, " and the

Southern District of Texas is much more convenient for their

participation than the Northern District of California. " Pacific Lumber

chief executive George O'Brien said the ruling would speed

reorganization and help the company " emerge quickly from bankruptcy as

a strong, ongoing business. " Mike Neville, the deputy attorney general

who had argued that the case should be moved to a Bankruptcy Court in

California said his office " is reviewing the order and our options. "

Pacific Lumber was acquired in 1986 by Houston financier Charles

Hurwitz and his Maxxam Corp. in one of the storied junk bond takeovers

of that era. Schmidt described the bankrupt entities as the forest

products group of Maxxam. " It is clear that they act as a group of

Maxxam, are controlled by Maxxam and ... are supported by the corporate

staff of Maxxam, " he wrote. The order includes some assurances for the

company's environmental critics, saying the bankruptcy case does not

void state or federal rules that pertain to its logging practices. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/21/BUG52PCQ0D1.DTL

New Mexico:12)

In 1952, the Forest Service issued their recommendations for the Gila.

Already cut down from its original near-million to 560,000 acres, Gila

NF managers proposed to further reduce it to 300,000 acres by lopping

off over 100,000 acres in the east alongside the North Star Road where,

said the Forest Service, the gentle topography made defense against

vehicles impossible. In perhaps the most grievous cut of all, another

100,000 acres of towering old-growth mixed-conifer and ponderosa-pine

forest around Iron Creek Mesa in the north would be pulled out for

full-on, industrial logging and roading. The Forest Service's

silver-tongued flimflam justifying the "slight" boundary adjustments as

removing lands that didn't have (scenic) wilderness qualities almost

won over the far-away Wilderness Society and Sierra Club. But local

hunters, fishers, hikers, and horse-packers knew better. Veterans of

Foreign Wars, American Legion, gun clubs, women's clubs, gardening

clubs, chambers of commerce, and service clubs from southwestern New

Mexico didn't just say no. They said, "Hell, No!" and they drew a line

in the sand. The Forest Service quickly backtracked and came out with

their revised proposal in 1953: a 429,000-acre Gila Wilderness Area

(including Iron Creek Mesa), and a 130,000 acre Gila Primitive Area for

further study. In 1972, Gila NF staff combined their study of the Gila

Primitive Area with an overall boundary revision of the Gila

Wilderness. Their new proposal totaled 543,474 acres of wilderness. We

conservationists proposed 614,000 acres. While Congress dragged its

feet during the 1970s, conservationists and the Forest Service enlarged

their recommendations. The enlargements were significant for the

conservationists (with total proposed acreages of around 400,000 acres

for the Aldo Leopold Wilderness and around 700,000 acres for the Gila

Wilderness) and slight for the agency. In 1980, Senator Pete Domenici

and Representative Manuel Lujan Jr. were ready to move on a New Mexico

wilderness bill for national forest areas. We ended up with a

570,000-acre Gila Wilderness Area and a 211,300-acre Aldo Leopold

Wilderness Area. http://wolverines.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/dave-foreman-on-loving-the-wild/Illinois:12)

Dr Howard Falcon-Lang said the study of the forest " was an amazing

experience. We drove down the mine in an armoured vehicle, until we

were a hundred metres below the surface. The fossil forest was rooted

on top of the coal seam, so where the coal had been mined away the

fossilized forest was visible in the ceiling of the mine. " We walked

for miles and miles along pitch-black passages with the fossil forest

just above our heads. The tree roots were just hanging down. We were

able to make a map of the forest by the light of our miner's lamps. " Dr

Falcon-Lang added: " As there is nothing like it around today, before

our work we knew very little about the ecological preferences and

community structure of these ancient plants. This spectacular discovery

allows us to track how the species make-up of the forest changed across

the landscape, and how that species make-up is effected by subtle

differences in the local environment. " The study reconstructs a

Carboniferous rainforest at the largest scale ever attempted. The

fossils show that the Earth's first rainforests were highly diverse and

that the kinds of tree species changed across the ancient landscape.

The forest is unveiled only days after another study of the crown of a

prehistoric tree found in a sandstone quarry in Gilboa, New York

revealed the world's earliest forests that dated back to the Devonian

period between 360 million and 397 million years ago. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS & grid=A1 & xml=/connected/2007/04/23

/ecforest23.xmlFlorida:13)

Florida's Endangered Cat… Less than one hundred panthers still remain

in Florida, making this one of the rarest and most endangered mammals

in the world. The tawny Florida Panther is a subspecies of cougar that

has adapted to the subtropical environment of Florida. By far the

greatest threat to the Florida Panther is loss of habitat. Reduced

space to live increases the chances of encounters between cats leading

to fatalities. Auto collisions also claim many lives which is why speed

limits are reduced on some roads at night. Environmental contaminants

like mercury also threaten panthers. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/607920770USA:15)

RIP: Jim Jontz --- Jim had a fierce dedication to protecting forests

and wildlife. Many forests slated for the chainsaw still stand today

because of his tenacity and courage. Jim was a visionary - he was

always ahead of the curve. He made his mark as someone who changed

political reality, during his career in Congress, as former executive

director of American Lands Alliance, and in the many other issues he

championed. The 1991 Almanac of American Politics described Jim Jontz

as "one of those incredibly hardworking and gifted natural politicians

… who has routinely done the impossible." As a Congressman from

Indiana, Jim took up the mantle to fight for the Ancient Forests of the

Pacific Northwest. At the height of the destruction of old growth

forests in Oregon, Washington, and California Jim introduced the

Ancient Forest Protection Act in 1991. That was when I met Jim, coming

back to DC for one of the many lobby weeks he helped organize. The

ensuing campaign brought national attention to the liquidation of old

growth forests. Jim's deep commitment to these forests earned him the

support of celebrities and others who shared his love of America's

national treasures. It also won him the enmity of powerful logging

interests and their supporters in Congress. Jim's fight to save old

growth forests probably ended his career in Congress. The timber

industry targeted him for defeat when he ran for a fourth House term in

1992, and he lost that bid. But that didn't stop his work. He took up

where he left off as executive director of the Western Ancient Forest

Campaign, now known as American Lands Alliance, in the fall of 1995. As

executive director, Jim helped convince Representative Elizabeth Furse

to introduce the Rider Repeal bill in 1995 and then led the effort to

document all of the roadless area sales under the Rider. It was a

massive project that involved documenting more than 150 pending

roadless sales. Thanks to the hard work of forest monitors across the

country the campaign published a report, which Jim, with the help of

allies in the national environmental groups, used to convince then

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman to issue a directive canceling 157

Rider roadless sales. One of Jim's political principles was getting the

public to tell their stories directly to Members of Congress. Through

his leadership, American Lands brought countless activists to

Washington, DC to press the case for protecting national forests, and

the clean water, wildlife habitat, and spectacular recreation

opportunities they provide. http://www.americanlands.org/index.php16)

WASHINGTON - Two East Coast lawmakers introduced a bill Friday with 73

co-sponsors that would designate as wilderness 23 million public acres

in five Northern Rocky Mountain states, including Montana and Wyoming.

Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Christopher Shays, R-Conn., wrote

the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act. It would give the

government's strongest protections to areas of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho,

Washington and Oregon. They announced the measure along with songstress

Carole King. A panel spokeswoman said the committee is reviewing the

legislation now and may hold hearings on it, although there are no

immediate plans for one.The bill would designate as wilderness all

20 million acres of inventoried roadless lands in the states and

another 3 million acres in Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton

national parks. It includes 7 million acres in Montana and 5 million in

Wyoming.http://www.trib.com/articles/2007/04/21/news/top_story/4c33b7799dd843a4872572c30082ea37.txtCanada:

17)

Another Goldman honoree is 47-year-old Sophia Rabliauskas of Canada.

She is being recognized for helping to get a Manitoba province to

protect two million acres of boreal forest within her Ojibway tribe's

territory from logging and planned construction of a hydroelectric

transmission line. The forest has remained untouched under a temporary

agreement by the government that is set to expire in 2009. Manitoba

officials have said they plan to grant permanent protection to the

forest, where the tribe has hunted and fished for generations. Sophia

Rabliauskas saw the bald eagle first, as she led a string of cars along

a gravel road in the northern Manitoba Poplar River Asatiwisipe Aki

First Nation. But the 47-year-old wife, mother and grandmother did¬n't

point it out to the media crew driving with her to Onagyam, a place in

the boreal forest that means First Rapids. She waited. She wanted the

media to spot it for themselves. She figured it would mean more to them

that way. The eagle circled around and around the rapids, high in the

sky for nearly an hour. The CTV news crew finally spotted the majestic

raptor, grinned like kids who discover a treasure and tipped the camera

lens straight up at him. It was a mild spring day, a bright blue sky

and the rapids were whipping water into a whirlpool black as pitch

against the soft white ice on Poplar River, 400 kilometres north of

Winnipeg on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. Jack pine and spruce rose

above the granite ledges of the boreal bedrock, shot through with veins

of glittering white quartz and patches of rock the colour of raw red

salmon. Iron pyrite, fool's gold, glowed in the gentle warmth of the

sun. This is a land where old Indians, the ones with braids, who tanned

moosehide for clothes and lived in the forest, are still within the

living memory of elders today. http://www.goldmanprize.orghttp://www.winnipegfreepress.com/life/story/3949035p-4560654c.html

North America:18)

Today we're delivering our eviction notice to the catalog industry --

they've got 30 days to get out of our Endangered Forests. From

California to Massachusetts, activists and concerned citizens have

planned over 80 events and are hitting the streets, doing everything

from delivering mock eviction notices and performing street theater to

holding rallies at the storefronts of the industry's worst offenders,

like J Crew, JC Penney, Sears/Lands' End, LL Bean, and Eddie Bauer.

Join them in solidarity by sending a message to industry leaders. Tell

them it's time they stopped making catalogs from Endangered Forests!

Every year, the catalog industry sends out 20 billion catalogs --

that's more than 70 catalogs for every man, woman, and child in

America. Our Endangered Forests are paying the price, and it's time the

industry changes the way catalogs are made. We are asking the catalog

companies to stop making catalogs from Endangered Forests by adopting

strong environmental policies and by using recycled and sustainable

paper. Industry leaders Victoria's Secret, Dell, and Williams-Sonoma

are making great progress. Send Your Eviction Notice NOW! http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/forestethics/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1

1076Kosovo:19)

"Locals fear it may lasts two more days and devastate more than 600ha

of forest," the statement read. "In only four days Albanian extremists

set fire on Poljana and BogaÄe forests owned by local Serbs, ravaging

more than 100 hectares. The same happened yesterday in TuÄep where the

fire has not been put out yet. According to locals, more than 200

hectares of Serb forests has so far been ruined," the Coordinating

Center speculated. "When two similar incidents happen in a short period

of time, we are obliged to suspect that an organized action aimed at

intimidating and banishing Kosovo Serbs is underway," Istok

municipality coordinator Radoš Vulić told the press Saturday. He said

that " fires have been intentionally started for the last eight years " ,

adding that the locals were "persistent, dealing with hardships and

remaining in their homes." The Coordinating Center remarked that "KFOR

and UNMIK representatives failed to respond to numerous appeals to

protect Kosovo Serbs." http://www.b92.net/eng/news/comments.php?nav_id=40836South Africa:20)

One of the world's largest remaining indigenous forests in St Lucia in

KwaZulu-Natal has been damaged, because of informal settlements. Now

the race is on to protect part of the Dukuduku forest, which remains

untouched and once a haven of plant diversity, animal species and water

resources. Landless subsistence farmers occupied the forest in the late

1980s. Inhabitants were relocated to a new settlement a decade later

but many refused to leave. Violent protests and court battles over the

land ensued and it was left unattended. Vusi Kubheka of the water

affairs forestry department, says South Africa has laws, people have

rights in terms of occupation of the land and government has certain

laws that they need to apply to be able to make headway in terms of

resolving this problem. He says they are currently rehabilitating the

land, and are aware in terms of the studies that have been done with

various other stakeholders that it could take up to 20 to 30 years to

rehabilitate the forest. However it is too late to lobby as the damage

has been done and it will be too costly to revive it. But on the other

side, environmentalist want government to protect this section before

it is invaded. Plans are in the pipeline to protect it, giving South

Africa's heritage a better chance of survival. http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,147741,00.htmlBrazil:

21)

It was an unusual group to be sharing a small boat making its way up

the Amazon River. There were four environmental activists from

Greenpeace -- Brazilians and others who flew in from Europe for the

trip. And there were four corporate leaders of McDonald's, the world's

largest fast-food chain, from its Chicago headquarters and from Europe.

The eight were in the rainforest together on a mission to see firsthand

where farmers were cutting down virgin forest to grow soy beans for,

among other customers, McDonald's. And though Greenpeace had not long

ago been accusing McDonald's of complicity in the deforestation, by the

time of the Amazon trip in January, the eight officials were calling

each other partners. Those weren't just words. The ubiquitous fast-food

company and the global environmentalists had already jointly pressured

the biggest soy traders in Brazil into placing an unprecedented

two-year moratorium on the purchase of any soy from newly deforested

areas. Officials at Cargill, the huge multinational company that

supplied McDonald's with Brazilian soy for chicken feed and ultimately

pushed fellow soy traders to accept the moratorium, confirmed that the

odd couple of McDonald's and Greenpeace made it happen. " McDonald's

and, yes, Greenpeace, were the catalysts, " said Laurie Johnson, a

spokeswoman for Cargill. " They brought together a wide range of people

and created a sense of real urgency. " The tale of how the two

heavyweights came together reflects the complexities, pressures and

ironies of the globalized economy. It also illustrates how

once-unthinkable partnerships can become forces for addressing

environmental and social problems that governments cannot handle. With

Brazilian soy, the problem at least partially grew out of an unrelated

dispute over genetically modified food products. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/23/AR2007042301903.html

Peru:22)

Cusurichi, 36, was awarded one of six 2007 Goldman Environmental Prizes

at a ceremony in San Francisco on April 23. The Peruvian Amazon is one

of the most remote places in the world. In its wildest corners, in the

Madre de Dios region along the Brazilian border, some indigenous

communities continue to live far from modern society. But their

solitude is eroding: Loggers are pushing deeper into the forest,

searching for increasingly rare stands of big-leaf mahogany, and oil

development is on the rise. Julio Cusurichi Palacios, an indigenous

leader in the region, has allied himself with these " uncontacted "

groups. For many years, he fought for the establishment of a forest

reserve in the Madre de Dios -- but when he succeeded, he found that

his battle had just begun. He's now training local people to guard the

boundaries of the reserve, where they monitor and document the illegal

logging that still occurs. Cusurichi and his allies have also turned

their attention to the United States, the main market for Peruvian

mahogany. They've sued three U.S. timber importers and several

government agencies, charging that the timber imports violate the

Endangered Species Act and international law. http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2007/04/25/nijhuis-cusurichi/23)

Boca Pariamanu Indian Village -- The muddy Las Piedras river rolls

quietly through a dense jungle where brilliant blue butterflies the

size of a large hand alight on verdant vegetation. It is difficult to

believe this is the site of a battlefield between Stone Age tribes and

the 21st century. For more than a decade, indigenous tribes in this

southern Peru rain forest have clashed with loggers intent on

harvesting old-growth mahogany in the tribes' traditional territories.

As the value of the wood has increased, so has the danger to those who

stand in the way. Julio Cusurichi, a 37-year-old Shipibo Indian, has

fought to defend the tribes and preserve their habitat. Five years ago,

Cusurichi and his organization, the Native Federation of Madre de Dios

-- a coalition of 27 indigenous groups known by its Spanish acronym

FENAMAD -- created a 3,000-square-mile reserve for tribes that choose

to have no contact with the outside world. Cusurichi says there are

hundreds of tribal members, while other estimates put their numbers as

high as 2,000. Cusurichi's efforts on behalf of three nomadic tribes

who live in the reserve (called the Territorial Reserve for Isolated

Indians) -- the Nahuas, the Masco-Piros and the Amahuacas -- are why he

won 2007 Goldman Environmental Prize for Central and South America.

" Changes happen little by little, " Cusurichi said. " You have to do your

work looking at the whole picture. You have to make sure the things you

do today won't hurt your people tomorrow. Keep that in mind and you can

be confident things will work out. " " Julio has been an outspoken leader

for some of the most neglected indigenous groups in Peru, " said Ari

Hershowitz, the director of the Latin American BioGems campaign for the

Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington. " If they (Cusurichi

and the native federation) had not taken up this issue, these people

would never have any voice at all. " The three tribes survive mainly by

fishing in one of the three major waterways. They are vulnerable to

disease brought in by loggers, as well as violence in which their bows

and arrows are pitted against firearms. In the past three years, at

least two Indians and two loggers have died in confrontations,

according to Cusurichi. A soft-spoken man, Cusurichi was raised in a

Shipibo village near the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado and studied

law at the Universidad Nacional Amazonica before becoming a community

leader. He tends to listen more than speak his mind, but his

persistence in keeping loggers out of the reserve is undeniable. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/04/22/ING7VPBAH71.DTL

Honduras:24)

The unpunished assassinations of two environmentalists in the Honduran

department of Olancho and the violations of a logging ban threaten a

tenuous truce in this area convulsed by forest conflicts. " This

relative peace could be interrupted at any moment because impunity

persists and the partial ban decreed to halt logging continues being

made a mockery, " human rights leader Bertha Oliva, Olancho resident and

founder of the Committee of Families of the Detained-Disappeared, told

Tierramérica. Since 1998, six environmental activists have been killed

in this department which extends across the east, central and northern

Honduras, covering an area about the same as neighbouring El Salvador,

with about 2.5 million hectares of forest with tree species prized for

their wood. More than half of the forested land has been cut down. The

elements that gave rise to years of protests by residents " are as valid

now as they were then. People resent that there is no justice for the

ones behind the shootings of two environmentalists, while illegal

lumber trafficking continues, " said Oliva. The activist pointed to the

pact signed in February by anti-deforestation groups and logging

cooperatives following the Dec. 20, 2006 assassination of Heraldo

Zúñiga and Roger Murillo, of MAO, the Olancho Environmentalist

Movement. The killings were attributed to four police officers, who

were detained by authorities in March in the wake of intense pressure,

including from abroad by rights groups like Amnesty International. The

lumber companies are associated in the Primero de Mayo cooperative,

whose membership has maintained an intense battle with MAO leader

Andrés Tamayo, who is also a Roman Catholic priest. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37438China:25)

China will investigate allegations that an Indonesia-based firm has

been engaged in illegal logging in the southern island province of

Hainan, an official at the State Forestry Administration (SFA) said

yesterday in Beijing. The China office of Greenpeace, an international

environmental group, last Wednesday accused Asia Pulp and Paper (APP)

of illegally clearing primary forest to build roads and plant a " large

area of eucalyptus pulp and paper forest " in Yinggeling, a nature

reserve in Hainan. " China welcomes foreign investment in forestation on

the condition that it protects the local ecosystem, " said Jin Zhicheng,

an official in charge of news releases at the SFA. " But any actions

that destroy the ecosystem and biodiversity are not permitted and will

be firmly punished. " He said the SFA had asked the Hainan provincial

forestry bureau to investigate the case, though there had not been any

results as yet. " The Yinggeling area is the largest tropical rain

forest in Southeast Asia, growing a rich spectrum of tropical species, "

Jin said. Liu Bing, Greenpeace forestry project director, addressed the

allegations at a news conference. " APP crudely opened roads in the

protected area by destroying natural forest, " Liu said. " This not only

harmed a large area of the natural forest, but also caused significant

water losses and soil erosion, and could lead to reduced biodiversity

and the destruction of an ecosystem. " Meanwhile, APP told China Daily

that " the accusations are definitely not true " . However,

environmentalists from Greenpeace regularly accuse APP of illegal

logging in both Indonesia and at its pulp and paper operations in

Hainan and the Southwest China province of Yunnan. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/05/content_843721.htmVietnam:26)

A new environmental report shows Viet Nam's biodiversity, the number of

different plants and animals in its ecosystem, and water resources are

fading fast due to pollution and fewer intact forests. The report was

released by the National Committee on Clean Water Supply and

Environmental Sanitation in Ha Noi on Wednesday. Members said looking

at current rates of deforestation and clear-cutting, more than

three-fourths of the country's mangrove forests would be gone in the

next 50 years. Water resources are faring little better, according to

the report. Clean water will be harder to find as more reservoirs,

lakes, rivers and streams become contaminated by sewer runoff, harmful

chemicals and industrial pollution. That same day, the committee

announced it is launching a national public awareness campaign called

Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation Week from April 29 to May 6.

Committee members said they hoped the campaign would let Vietnamese

know about the importance of conserving Viet Nam's resources. The

committee plans to lobby for legislation to protect the environment,

reduce pollution, promote alternative energy and establish groups to

help save Viet Nam's ecosystems. http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01ENV210407Nepal:27)

DHANGADI – It took less than a week after the Maoists were given the

Ministry of Forests for the group's Seventh Division at Gorange in

Kailali to chop down 60 fully-grown sal trees ostensibly to build beds

for their cantonment. The Maoists hired local timber contractors to

illegally fell the trees in plots protected by three community forest

user groups in the neighbouring villages. Instead of being used for

camp furniture as stated most of the logs were taken to saw mills by

the contractors. But two trucks carrying the logs were stopped by

villagers who unloaded the timber and have kept them near the camps.

After complaints from the community forestry groups and orders from the

CDO, the police apprehended another truck at the saw mill in Dhangadi

and sent the timber to be deposited at the District Forest office. This

is not the first time that the Maoists have taken part in illegal

logging sprees in Kailali using the argument that they need timber for

camp construction. DFO Mohan Koirala said the Maoists had told him they

needed 3,000 cubic feet of timber to make beds, and said his office was

investigating the matter. Maoist Kailali deputy in-charge Shrawan said

the trees were felled with full knowledge of the DFO. Villagers say the

Maoists had asked for permission to fell trees in their forest, but

even before the users' committee could make a decision the Maoists had

already started felling. Kailali's forests have always been a source of

resource for the Maoists even during the conflict when they taxed the

timber trade. Now, they have stopped taxing timber but seem to have

directly chopped down trees to raise money. http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue/345/FromtheNepaliPress/13457South East Asia:28)

There is no easy solution to the Indonesian haze which has blighted

Southeast Asia every year for the past decade, a United Nations-backed

conference on climate change was told yesterday. Experts said the

problem, largely caused by using fire to clear land for agriculture, is

not simply about preserving the environment but also involves

addressing poverty and changing traditional practices. Smoggy haze from

the fires on Indonesia's Sumatra and Kalimantan regions sent air

pollution levels in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore to unhealthy

levels several times last year. " It is not just an environment problem, "

said Loh Ah Tuan, chief executive of Singapore's National Environment

Agency. " It is a social, political and economic problem. And if we try

to force an environment solution to a problem such as this, I don't

think we can get an answer, " he told delegates on the final day of the

Business Summit for the Environment. More than 600 executives and

environment experts attended the two-day gathering which discussed how

global business can help lessen the impact of climate change. Loh said

the Singapore government is formulating a master plan with Indonesia's

Jambi province on how to fight the recurring haze in part of Jambi, on

Sumatra island. If successful, this model could be duplicated in other

parts of Jambi, Loh said results can only be achieved in a few years'

time. This " grassroots " approach aims to complement other measures

taken by the Indonesian government, he said. Raman Letchumanan, head of

the environment and disaster management unit at the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) secretariat, said " this is a livelihood

issue... it is a fight against tradition and poverty " . Budidaya,

Jambi's forestry chief, outlined the enormity of the task, pointing out

that Jambi alone has a total land area of 5.1 million hectares, with

2.2 million hectares of forest. Farmers clear the land the cheapest way

they can because of poverty and unemployment. High costs are also

forcing many plantation firms to use fire to clear vast tracts of land

and dispose of wood residue, Budidaya added. Brad Sanders, head of fire

safety at Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited, a

developer of fibre plantations, said companies should be willing to

spend money to clear the land instead of using a slash-and-burn method.

http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=73217Philippines:29)

For starters, he proposed to Reyes to allow informal settlers now

living in watershed areas to build communities there under the GK's

housing program, plant trees, and grow organic crops there to sustain

themselves. "Give us a piece of land for us to build model communities

where the poor will live in dignity, and we'll have productive organic

farms. We can also be trained to be stewards of the environment,"

Meloto said. "Save the poor, save the mangroves so they will not cut

the mangroves and make them into a charcoal just to survive. Save the

poor, save the forest. Save the poor, save the rivers." Meloto said GK

was looking at setting up 30 communities in watershed areas in Negros

Oriental, Butuan City, Tarlac, Bulacan, Batangas, and even inside Camp

Abubakar in Jolo, Sulu, among others, in partnership with the

environmental community. US Ambassador Kristie Kenney urged Filipinos

to "reduce, recycle and reduce" to protect the country's "precious

environment.Rethink how you relive your life. Turn the water off

while brushing your teeth. Turn off the TV when nobody is watching.

Turn off the air-con if you aren't home. Turn off anything you can turn

off," Kenney said. Washington has provided $10 million in grant to

Manila to support local initiatives to protect the environment. On

Sunday, the environmental group Winner Foundation urged Manila Mayor

Lito Atienza to save the remaining trees at the Arroceros Forest Park.

"We implore Mayor Atienza that if he will not allow us to take care of

the forest, then he should be responsible for sustaining the trees and

keeping them watered during the summer season," said foundation

president Regina Paterno. In 1993, Winner Foundation entered into a

memorandum of agreement with then Mayor Alfredo Lim to cultivate the

2.2-hectare forest park. It was carrying out a 15-year development plan

when on March 31, 2005, Manila's Engineering Office began diggings for

the new building of public school teachers. http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=186 & a=19691Malaysia:30)

Eight companies will be charged for allegedly failing to report their

logging activities in northern Malaysia, where they are accused of

illegally clearing rain forests, a newspaper reported Monday. The

companies are accused of violating environmental regulations by

clearing rain forest in the Lojing Highlands in northern Kelantan

state, the New Straits Times quoted Sazmi Miah, an official of the

Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, as saying. The report did

not detail what types of companies were implicated. Sazmi was overseas

Monday and could not be reached for comments, said a ministry official.

Late last month local papers had reported that land clearing by 22

companies had endangered the highlands' forest reserves and damaged

ancestral graves and orchards belonging to local communities. Only five

of the 22 companies had the required approvals. Annuar Musa, an

official from the governing United Malays National Organization party,

or UMNO, in Kelantan state said charging the eight companies was " a

good start " though he hoped others would also be held accountable. " The

enforcement should be consistent, " Annuar, the state UMNO chairman,

told The Associated Press. " The damage is not related to just a few

companies. " http://www.chinapost.com.tw/latestnews/2007423/45671.htmIndonesia:31)

An Agriculture Ministry press release yesterday said the Chinese-owned

company, registered in Guyana, " was prevented from exporting round

logs, " since it was a move contrary to earlier commitments given by the

company to the government. The release said that unfortunately, Bai

Shan Lin did not comply with its commitment and after observing

requests for the export of logs, the company was advised that it was in

breach of its commitment. The release said no further export of round

logs would be allowed by the company and all relevant agencies have

been advised. The number of logs Bai Shan Lin exported contrary to its

commitments was not stated nor the types of logs exported. Bai Shan Lin

has been advertising heavily for the supply of logs to it. The company

had appealed to Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud to allow a grace

period of 12 months during which the export of round logs would be

allowed, but this was denied by the minister. " The minister with

responsibility for forestry has declined to grant this request, " the

release said, adding that the minister has reminded the company of the

commitment it had expressed to become engaged immediately in

value-added activities and encouraged it to move in this direction. The

ministry release said that during the past six months, senior personnel

of Bai Shan Lin held several discussions with government

representatives including Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Minister

Persaud, the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and the Guyana Office for

Investment (Go-Invest). http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=5651858332)

A leading environmental group asked the government Sunday to

temporarily halt logging operations in the country, insisting that if

measures are not taken to curb logging activities, Indonesia's forests

could be gone within 15 years. Indonesian Forum for the Environment

(Walhi) chairman Chalid Muhammad said the government should formulate

new policies to extinguish forests fires, reduce the haze and halt the

conversion of peatland. " We demand that the government enacts a

moratorium on logging and restores (Indonesia's) forests within the

next 15 years before depletion becomes unstoppable, " Chalid told The

Jakarta Post. The restoration effort should be interdepartmental,

involve local communities and be written into national policy, he said.

" The government should stop the exportation of logs and count how many

logs Indonesia needs for the industry. There should also be incentives,

such as tax incentives, for those importing logs, " Chalid said. About

400 Walhi demonstrators staged a rally near the Hotel Indonesia traffic

circle in Central Jakarta on Sunday morning, calling for the cessation

of logging activities. Chalid said that over the last decade, Indonesia

had assumed a place among the world's leading forest destroyers. In

2004, 3.4 million hectares of forest were cleared, compared with 2.8

million ha in 2005 and 2.7 million ha in 2006. " The figure is getting

smaller over the years not because there have been effective laws or

policies, but because the forest itself is diminishing, " Chalid said.

Walhi predicts that if effective measures are not taken by the

government to curb logging activities, forests in Sumatra will be gone

within five years, while those in Kalimantan will be gone within 10

years and those in Papua within 15 years. The group also estimates that

by 2022, all forests in Indonesia, a country already under threat from

serious ecological damage, could become history. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp33)

IPOH: The devastation of the Lojing Highlands and the steady

destruction of the nation's forests should serve as a wake-up call to

protect the world's oldest rainforest — the Belum and Temenggor forest

reserves in Perak. " We are steadily losing our natural heritage due to

unsustainable development, " said Dr Loh Chi Leong, executive director

of the Malaysian Nature Society. " Sadly, Malaysia is listed as having

the most plant extinctions by the International Union for Conservation

of Nature and Natural Resources. " The 130-million-year-old Belum and

Temenggor forest reserves, an area four times the size of Singapore,

has been identified in the Malaysian National Physical Plan as an

Environmentally Sensitive Area Rank 1 because of its vast

bio-diversity. " It means that Belum-Temenggor is nationally important

for flora, fauna and for a healthy environment. The plan notes that

this forest must be protected and left untouched. " Loh was

commenting on MNS' nationwide signature campaign to save the

300,000-hectare forest reserves, which collectively form the Belum

Valley. The campaign aims to educate people about Belum-Temenggor

issues such as protection of its bio-diversity and to encourage the

state and federal governments to protect this critical area. " Ideally,

this would entail putting an end to all logging in the Temenggor forest

reserve and putting in place permanent protection for both reserves. "

Loh said MNS had collected 80,000 signatures, locally and from abroad,

between April and September last year through special post cards. The

signed postcards, which include the signature of Natural Resources and

Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid, are expected to be handed

by the MNS council to Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli

Ghazali next week. Loh said the forest reserves are internationally

recognised as an important bird area by BirdLife International. It is

only in Belum-Temenggor that all 10 species of Malaysian hornbills are

found, compared with eight in Sarawak. http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/National/20070422080455/Article/index_html

Borneo:34)

Four members of a Borneo tribe are accused of torching a logging camp

in a region home to one of the world's oldest rain forests, officials

said Friday. The arrests illustrate frustrations among native

communities in Malaysia's Sarawak state over what environmentalists

describe as increasing threats posed by the timber and palm oil

industries. On Tuesday, police detained four Iban tribe members who are

suspected of torching camps belonging to local timber firm Kotasar on

April 12, said Nicholas Mujah, secretary general of the Sarawak Dayak

Iban Association. ``They were believed to have been upset because the

company entered the area and destroyed their fruit and rubber tree

gardens,'' Mujah told The Associated Press. Mujah said the firm had the

Sarawak government's approval to operate on state-owned land in

Silantek district. However, indigenous tribes have inhabited the area

for many generations and consider it ancestral territory. The men could

be charged in court with arson as early as next week, said Mat Jusoh

Muhamad, a district police chief. No one was injured in the fire, which

razed three mobile camps, because the suspects had ordered Kotasar's

employees to leave the camps before torching them, Mat Jusoh said.

``This case reminds us that our rights have been deleted as far as the

law is concerned,'' said Mujah, whose group lobbies on behalf of the

Iban people. ``Hundreds of loggers trespass on what should rightfully

be native land in Sarawak.'' http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6574008,00.htmlAustralia:35)

A regional forest industry group says more funding to upgrade roads

around Tumut will be essential ahead of the proposed expansion of the

Visy pulp mill. The Murray Riverina Softwoods Working Group says

traffic on regional arterial roads has increased fourfold in last 10

years as the industry has developed. The group's chairman, Peter Crowe,

says securing Government funding for the Gocup Road is a major

priority. " We're going at it as hard as we can and we think that

because of the size and the nature of the investment that Visy has

announced that this sort of funding for the South West Slopes network

has become very, very important to the state's economy. " The State

Government has yet to give official approval for the $450 million plan

to add a second paper machine. Visy says the development depends on

State Government approval as well as assistance for roadworks to meet

the increased traffic. Overall, the researchers measured a significant

drop in growth rate for 24 - 71% of species at Barro Colorado Island in

Panama, and 58 - 95% of species at Pasoh Forest in Malaysia (depending

on the size of stems included in the analyses). Both sites are

monitored under a research project by the Center for Tropical Forest

Science (CTFS), a partnership between the Smithsonian Tropical Research

Institute and the Harvard Arnold Arboretum. In total, CTFS monitors

some 3 million individual trees of more than 6,000 different species at

18 sites around the world. The results differ from earlier research,

based on surveys in the Amazon, which found that large fast-growing

canopy trees exhibited higher growth rates possibly in response to

rising carbon dioxide levels (Laurance et al. 2004, Lewis et al. 2004).

The researchers say that the discrepancy between their findings, which

are based on a wider range of species, and those in the Amazon, show

that the effects of higher temperatures differ regionally and cannot be

generalized for the tropics. http://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200704/1894151.htm?southeastnsw36)

The PEFC Council takes very seriously each and every complaint about

the certification processes of forestry schemes which it has endorsed.

It is for that reason that PEFC has been in close contact with The

Wilderness Society (TWS) and I am still awaiting its reply to my letter

of early February 2007 and, indeed, to earlier correspondence, asking

for " clear and concise evidence based arguments which clearly identify

whom [TWS is] complaining about within the certification process. " I

attach my letter for your information. For a copy of TWS's original

letter, I have to ask you to contact them directly, as it was sent to

me under password protection. PEFC has been active in trying to mediate

between stakeholders in Tasmania, and indeed I have recently personally

visited the forests there. It is disappointing therefore that our

efforts to facilitate the engagement of TWS with the Australian

Government have been similarly ignored. There has been no response from

TWS to a letter sent to them in February by the Minister for Fisheries,

Forestry and Conservation, Senator Abetz, inviting TWS to present its

case and offering to investigate any specific complaints. To move

things forward, I hope you will encourage The Wilderness Society

(info) to respond to the letters sent in good faith

by Senator Abetz and myself. PEFC is willing to continue its dialogue

with all interested stakeholders and groups and again extends its

invitation for an open and constructive co-operation. --PEFC Council

info