220 - Earth's Tree News

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Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com .

 

--Alaska: 1) Logging behind McDonald's, 2) Tongass Truth by NatGeo

--British Columbia: 3) Colonization kills everything, 4) Spotted Owl

captive breeding begins, 5) San Juan river destroyed by logging, 6)

Hollywood outs BC criminal leaders,

--Pacific Northwest: 7) Feds find mass funds for logging, mass cuts

for all other uses

--Washington: 8) Pratt river wilderness proposed, 9) Port Gamble trail,

--Oregon: 10) Representative Defazio on Mark Rey, 11) Wilderness nun,

--California: 12) Direct action camp, 13) Maxxam fraud lawsuit, 14)

20,000 acre clearcut for grapes funded by state retirement fund, 15)

Warming is killing Sierra Nevada trees,

--Tennessee: 16) Time is right to reduce pine plantations

--Maine: 17) Students map / measure forests for state database, 18)

Lynx lawsuit,

--Canada: 19) Permafrost and Carbon-Methane emissions

--UK: 20) A old coppiced forest now an ancient woodland, 21) Truffle ability,

--EU: 22) Agriculture plans to scrap land set-asides for the 2008 season

--Congo: 23) New species in Misotshi-Kabogo Forest, 24) Town of Pokola,

--Ethiopia: 25) Benefits of forests,

--Kenya: 26) Ogiek squatters, 27) Butterflies will save Kakamega

forest, 28) Kakamega,

--Haiti: 29) Making charcoal from plants instead of trees

--Belize: 30) Punta Gorda officials thieving the forest

--Brazil: 31) FSC certification for the most corrupt of all the loggers

--Argentina: 32) Greenpeace: Making a Stand

--India: 33) Judge saves 4,000 mangrove hectares, 34) 1,200 hectares

of Korean steel,

--Australia: 35) Carbon sequestration stats, 36) Baw Baw National

Park, 37) Murray River protections resisted by 'forest users'

 

 

Alaska:

 

1) Well folks, the logging has started behind McDonald's off Egan

Drive. The logs are stacked up about 10 feet from Jordan Creek and

clear-cutting is occurring about 15 feet away from a recovering salmon

stream. If it were a Native corporation logging this, government would

require no logging within 100 feet of the salmon producing stream

under the Forest Practices Act - but not in Juneau. The Juneau

Assembly, the mayor and the Planning Commission just ignore the law

and let the owner do what he wants. If it were a Native corporation

doing this, the U.S. Forest Service, the Environmental Protection

Agency, the city of Juneau, the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council

and the Juneau Chamber of Commerce would be up in arms about the

clear-cutting and advocating the maximum fine. The Assembly adopted a

new Comprehensive Plan a few weeks ago stating the values they would

like to see in the borough the next few years. Some of the values

included respecting the environment; protecting the integrity of the

streams; providing affordable housing; and many others. The area

behind McDonald's is the first area developed following the adoption

of the document and by going through with the development, the

Assembly is telling us the document is not worth the paper it is

written on. You need only look at this development to see that run-off

from this clear-cutting will set back the recovery of Jordan Creek for

decades. And, what will be built on one of the big plats? A huge

building for storage - storage of our things we cannot keep in our

homes. The area was a perfect place to build affordable housing. It is

close to water and sewage, schools, bike paths, shopping, the airport,

a great subdivision nearby, and many other things that would make this

a great place to live and compatible with the area.

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/080707/opi_20070807021.shtml

 

2) Every river, every stream, quivers with salmon thrashing upcurrent

to spawn like rapids running in reverse. Big trees, big birds, big

fish, big bears, immense peaks wrapped in great glaciers that break

off into bays where great whales spout: This is Southeast Alaska, the

state's panhandle. It separates northern British Columbia from the

open Pacific with a chain of misty, fjord-footed mountains and a

jigsaw puzzle of more than a thousand islands. Known as the Alexander

Archipelago, the islands help explain how a region less than 500 miles

(800 kilometers) long can have 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) of

shoreline (almost all wild, whereas the longest stretch of undeveloped

coast in the contiguous states is 30 miles (50 kilometers), more than

10,000 estuaries, and 13,750 river miles (22,130 kilometers) that host

oceangoing fish. About 5 percent of Southeast Alaska is owned by

native tribes or the state. Another 12.5 percent makes up Glacier Bay

National Park and Preserve. All the rest—16.8 million acres (6.8

million hectares)—is the Tongass National Forest. The basic truth that

lies behind the Tongass controversy is threefold. First, big-tree

old-growth forests flourish on less than 4 percent of the land.

Roughly one-third of the national forest isn't woodland at all but

bare rock, glaciers, tundra, open muskeg, and slopes shorn by

avalanches. Much of what remains is too high and cold or too soggy to

support more than stunted or average-size trees. According to some

experts, more than 90 percent of the giants among giants—trees

exceeding ten feet (three meters) in diameter, " the big pumpkins " as

sawyers say—are gone. In an average year, the agency spends some 30

million dollars overseeing timber programs. Many of the logging sales

it puts up for bid have no takers. Others stay in limbo because of

lawsuits filed by conservationists. For the approximately 50 million

board feet (118,000 cubic meters) the Forest Service does manage to

sell annually, it receives about $750,000. The deficit therefore comes

to $29,250,000. Dividing that by 200 Tongass timber jobs, the

government could pay each logger and mill worker $146,250 a year to

stay home and let the rain forest be. " Under the latest Tongass

guidelines, clear-cuts are supposed to be restricted in size, "

Carstensen said. " But as soon as the trees growing back average five

feet tall, it's legal to clear-cut the area next door, and so on. It's

a prescription for what we call creeping mega-cuts. They lead to huge

tracts of closed-canopy second-growth. "

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0707/feature4/

 

 

British Columbia:

 

3) " The root cause of indigenous peoples' spiritual, emotional, mental

and prevailing poverty is colonization. The legacy of colonization

lies in the enduring ramifications of the reservation and residential

school system, systemic governmental, educational, judicial and

societal racism. Under colonial rule, our ancestors were persecuted,

imprisoned, and hanged for not subjugating themselves or the rights to

our lands. They were persecuted for being in the way of progress. The

legacy of colonization, lies in the prisons, skid rows, mental health

wards, on the highway of tears, in addictions, alcoholism, those of

our people living and working on the streets, and in our children

being taken away from their homes, the legacy of colonization lies in

the suicidal hearts of our youth. The legacy of colonization lies in

the destruction of our earth due to globalization, ensuing pollution

and physical destruction, clearcutting, pollution of our waters

killing our ecosystem and creatures. It's time for us to recognize our

rights as indigenous people. Our rights to our land and our rights to

protect it's resources. Our very survival has been an uphill battle as

we are still a marginalized race. Yet the legacy of colonization has

been unsuccessful because we are still here! Still marginalized but we

are working hard to show the beauty and strength of a beautiful

culture. Our reality is very different from what we learned as

children in school but we are a testament to the strength of our

great-great grandparents. In terms of reconciliation and treaties, the

government will only treaty when their best interests are in hand, not

at heart. The government will only settle when it serves them for the

future. " --Kat Norris, Coast Salish, Indigenous Action Movement,

indigenousactionmovement

 

4) In April 2006, the B.C. government announced a $3.4-million plan to

rebuild the dwindling population, focusing on captive breeding and

release initiatives. At Mountain View, they've tried to recreate the

dark seclusion of an old-growth canopy -- or what Beier calls a

" little Hilton. " The Langley facility is waiting on final approval to

be part of the breeding program, and has already started building a

half-million-dollar new home for the owls. " It's unfortunate we have

to bring them into a captive situation, but if we leave them any

longer they're going to be extinct, " Beier said. " The areas that they

are taking them out from the wild are areas that are being logged

right now, " he explained. " We're in a situation right now that I think

we don't really have much choice. " Conservationists are unsure if

captive breeding will be successful and whether the birds will even

have a habitat to return to. " These are the first spotted owls in the

world that have ever been captured and taken out of the wild

specifically for captive breeding and the scientific community is

extremely divided, " said Western Canada Wilderness Committee staff

scientist Andy Miller. " [breeders have] never run into this situation

where they've been asked to do captive breeding but there's no habitat

left to release these babies into and the government is actually on a

plan to liquidate the habitat where they're taking the owls from, "

Miller said. Miller said some conservationists are cautiously on-board

with the captive breeding plan -- on the condition that their

old-growth habitat in southwestern B.C. is protected. But others worry

that breeding the birds in captivity won't work, or that it could

signal the end of the fight for the forests while the spotted owl is

kept " on life support, " Miller said. Government documents obtained by

The Vancouver Sun last month revealed that the plan to save the owl

will involve " no impact to existing cutting permits " and " no net loss

of timber supply. "

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=92c78d03-df7b-406d-8f29-46\

c6e4daf163

 

5) Destruction inflicted on the San Juan River by logging companies,

documented in detail in a scathing 1995 report to government, was so

severe that it was doubtful the river could ever recover. The report

blamed forestry companies for denuding hillsides, causing more than

428 landslides over 40 years and ruining salmon habitat through

siltation and log-jams. Now, some Port Renfrew residents and

environmentalists want government to take another look at logging

practices on privately managed forest lands draining into the San Juan

River valley, which they believe have contributed to massive log-jams

on the river. The Provincial Emergency Program is picking up a bill of

about $180,000 to clear jams on the north and main arms of the San

Juan. It was feared debris could knock out bridges and flood homes in

Port Renfrew and on Pacheenaht First Nations land if the jams broke

free all at once when the rain starts. Rosie Betsworth, who runs a

fishing charter company by the San Juan River, said forest companies

should at least be paying half the cleanup bill. " They say it's Mother

Nature. What a bunch of bull. Everyone points the finger at the forest

companies and their poor logging practices. We are still having this

stuck down our throat, " she said. A recent clearcut by a small logging

company near Fairy Lake, which has " left all sorts of garbage on the

ground " is an example of what is going on in the area, Betsworth said.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=3970a90a-d302-415\

5-ab7a-d07dab34

4ca2 & k=62173

 

6) B.C. eco-warrior Tzeporah Berman is taking her fight for the

forests to Hollywood, where she's set to walk the red carpet today at

a gala premiere for Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary The 11th Hour. The

long-time conservation activist appears briefly in the film to warn

that Canadian logging practices are contributing to the death of the

world's forests. Ms. Berman said she ended up in the film - narrated

by Mr. DiCaprio and including commentary from such heavyweights as

environmentalist David Suzuki, physicist Stephen Hawking and former

Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev - by pure chance. She was at a

conference in California last October when she overheard a couple of

people frantically talking about needing someone who knows about the

state of the world's forests. " I turned to them and said, 'What you

really need is some of the satellite data that shows that 80 per cent

of the world's intact forests are already gone and there are only

three countries left - Canada, Russia and Brazil - that have enough

forest to maintain ecological integrity and biodiversity,' " Ms.

Berman said yesterday from the Vancouver airport as she waited for a

flight to Los Angeles. One week later, Ms. Berman was on a flight to

L.A to be interviewed for the film. Produced and narrated by Mr.

DiCaprio, The 11th Hour explains how humans have changed the climate

and how to fix the damage. Mr. DiCaprio, who debuted the film at the

Cannes Film Festival in May, is one of several high-profile figures

who have joined the environmental movement of late. Former U.S.

vice-president Al Gore won audiences and critical acclaim last year

for his Oscar-winning eco-documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. Ms.

Berman, who rose to prominence as a leading figure in B.C.'s massive

Clayoquot Sound protests of 1993 and who is one of the founders of

ForestEthics, says she's pleased to see Hollywood embrace the cause

she's dedicated her life to. " I'd much rather see celebrities working

on environmental issues and that being reported in the media than many

of the other things that we're barraged with every day, " Ms. Berman

said.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070808.ECOWARRIOR08/TPStory/E\

ntertainment

 

Pacific Northwest:

 

7) Northwest national forests are hurriedly boosting federal logging

to the highest levels in years with a new infusion of cash, even as

they close campgrounds and other recreation sites because money for

them is drying up. The push for logging came so fast that some forests

could not accelerate cutting as rapidly as top officials wanted,

according to documents obtained by The Oregonian through the Freedom

of Information Act. But dollars for other work in public forests

remain scarce. As a result, U.S. Forest Service is likely to renege on

its promise to fix existing, poorly maintained roads in Washington

that violate clean water laws, for instance. Roads torn apart by

storms last winter remain closed, cutting off access to trailheads and

campgrounds. The new logging money is drawn from forests in other

parts of the country and will underwrite new roads that will carry

trucks loaded with freshly cut trees. Now, flush with more money than

they have had in years, forests are scrambling to hire forestry

technicians, engineers, timber appraisers and others. They are also

contracting with private companies to carry some of the load their own

workers cannot handle. In April -- halfway through the budget year --

forests in Washington and Oregon received an extra $24.7 million to

boost logging levels, raising the timber budget about 32 percent over

what they first received and nearly doubling it from last year. The

doubling of money for logging contrasts with declines in other Forest

Service funding. For instance, money for recreation programs in Oregon

and Washington has dropped nearly 25 percent, from $28.7 million in

2003 to $21.4 million this year -- and the Bush administration is

proposing a further cut to $19 million next year. National forests are

now looking at closing recreation sites they can no longer afford.

Washington's two U.S. senators and four congressmen, all Democrats,

wrote to the Secretary of Agriculture in June, saying that plans to

put extra money into logging while cutting road maintenance " reflect a

serious misallocation of resources. "

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/118662993461110.xm\

l & coll=7

 

Washington:

 

8) Washington has scant federal wilderness acreage in lowland valleys

or close to its urban core and little that hasn't involved political

warfare between conservationists and industrial and private-property

interests. But Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., and a host of leaders of

environmental and outdoor-recreation groups are optimistic about

developing a plan to protect the wild Pratt River valley, less than 50

miles from downtown Seattle, and nearby lands along the South and

Middle forks of the Snoqualmie River. " It's not contentious, and I

don't expect it to be, " the Republican congressman said as he, state

and King County officials and hiking, mountain-biking and wilderness

advocates unveiled their work-in-progress proposal to add the U-shaped

Pratt valley to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. It is within Reichert's

8th District. Reichert said he hopes to introduce legislation in

September or October after his staff and outdoor groups get public

comment and work out the precise boundaries. The additions are

expected to amount to between 20,000 and 25,000 acres, mostly in the

Pratt River drainage. One of the factors likely to make the new plan

less controversial than many is that it wouldn't include private

property. All of it is within the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National

Forest, and none has been logged for more than a half-century. It

contains old-growth cedar, hemlock and Douglas fir.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/326880_alpine09.html

 

9) Along a trail among towering cedars, Jim Trainer points deep in the

woods. " You see this area that's dark? " he asks. " That's perfect owl

habitat. " That's the kind of information that soon will grace a trail

being built in the woods in Port Gamble. Olympic Property Group, which

owns and operates the former mill town, has begun building a short

nature trail with interpretive signs with the help of Trainer, a local

tree expert, and labor from the Kitsap County Juvenile Department's

Alternatives to Detention program. The half-mile trail will have 14

signs that will highlight the natural features, such as a bear den and

root structure of a fallen Douglas fir. It will also teach visitors

about the cultural significance of the woods to Kitsap's first

inhabitants, Native Americans, and the area's logging heritage,

evident by the springboard notches in large cedar stumps. " It's an

opportunity for people to learn a little bit about the history here, "

Hood Canal Tree Farm area manager Patrick Raymond said. Much of the

forest is around 100 years old — about twice that of an average

forested area, though Trainer said some trees are 200 to 300 years

old. During the Forest Festival in town Sept. 9, guides will lead

tours of the area, Raymond said. While miles upon miles of trails

cross Olympic Property Group's land in North Kitsap, this is the first

to connect directly to the town site, Raymond said. Those involved in

the project hope to finish by the end of the year.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2007/aug/07/port-gamble-trail-carved-to-connect-fo\

rests/

 

Oregon:

 

10) Under the George W. Bush regime, our federal forestlands have

suffered greatly. Not as much as Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark

Rey first dreamed, due to (1) aggressive and effective use of the

federal courts to achieve some semblance of justice for these forests;

and (2) a continuing revolution in most parts of the Forest Service (I

cannot say the same about the Bureau of Land Management) that is

moving away from commodity production and toward ecosystem protection

and restoration—albeit with fits, starts, backsliding, diversions and

incompleteness. Though I can imagine no worse president than this

Bush, it is also possible imagine the next one being no better. Our

victories in the courts to stop the rollbacks are based, for the most

part, on statues passed by Congress in 1948, 1969, 1972, and 1976. We

now have the opportunity to enact new and stronger statutes to

conserve and restore the federal forestlands of the Pacific Northwest

for this and future generations. The Pacific Northwest forest

conservation community is at the proverbial crossroads. From

1995-2006, with the Republican control of Congress, with very few and

minor exceptions (Opal Creek Wilderness, Bull Run Watershed, etc.), no

good came from congressional legislation pertaining to Pacific

Northwest federal forestlands. During the 102nd Congress (1991-1992),

I was in the hearing room in Washington, DC, when the late great Rep.

Jim Jontz' (D-IN) effort to move the Ancient Forest Protection Act

through the House Agriculture Committee was stopped by key members of

the Northwest Congressional Delegation. The 110th Congress (2007-2008)

has brought not only the Democrats to power, but also a changed

Pacific Northwest Congressional Delegation. Today, the most effective

champions in Congress for Pacific Northwest old forests come not from

elsewhere but are homegrown. How much they have changed and how much

they will either resist or acceptably mitigate political realities

(county payments, the last old-growth mills, etc.) opposed to the full

conservation and restoration of these forests remains to be seen.

http://www.andykerr.net

 

 

11) Wouldn't you like to meet a 66-year-old former nun who spends her

days drawing a cross-cut saw over downed trees - sans pay - so people

half her age can have access to trails in the Three Sisters

Wilderness? And what if this woman has such great veins that the blood

bank harvests her platelets every six to eight weeks as if she were

some super-fit 20-year-old? And what if she explains her motivation by

saying: " I don't have any money, so I can't really give money to

anybody. I can give my blood, and I can give my time. " Whatever

Mitchell does, she tends to give it her all. As a young woman, she

chose the religious life and spent a decade as a Roman Catholic nun.

Even after Mitchell decided the convent wasn't for her, she remained

another 15 years with the church, serving as an educational director.

At midcareer, Mitchell made the switch from cathedral to cathedral

forest. She went to work for the U.S. Forest Service as the wilderness

manager in the Willamette National Forest. She threw herself into the

job, getting llamas to use as pack animals as she traveled deep into

the Mount Jefferson, Mount Washington and Three Sisters wildernesses.

She led work parties to clean campsites, educate recreationists and

help maintain more than 3,000 miles of trail. The latter work required

annual hikes to clear trees blown down in winter storms. Engines of

any kind are forbidden in the federal wilderness, so tree clearing

crews must use hand saws on smaller specimens and cross-cut saws on

downed trees as much as two- or three-feet thick. " She can work a saw

and work a trail with the best of them, " said Gary Guttormsen, a

Springfield resident and forest volunteer. Mitchell loves the forest.

You can see it in her gold, tree-shaped earrings and in the surplus

Forest Service van she drives. She will travel to a trail-clearing

project the night before and watch and listen to how the sky fades to

black and to stillness and then to an owl's call. " So quiet, " Mitchell

said. " Her soul is out there, I think, " Levine said. " It's not

anywhere in the town or city. It's out in the woods. "

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/08/07/a1.ranger.0807.p1.php?section=cityr\

egion

 

California:

 

12) A direct action camp will be taking place September 6th-9th.

Non-Violence, Solidarity, Back-woods and Climb trainings will be

offered. The camp is free, but donations are needed and appreciated. A

broad spectrum of people are expected, and the focus of the camp is to

prepare activists to be affective in non-violent forms of direct

action, including all areas outside the redwood curtain. We are

brought together with the common goal of preventing old-growth

logging, clear cutting, the use of herbicides and non-sustainable

forestry in all areas of the region, the nation and the planet.

Organizers are needed in guiding the next generation of activists

through peaceful protest and solidarity, their skills are both welcome

and appreciated. To volunteer time and skill, or to help support this

opportunity to inspire and guide future generations of activists,

please call 707-845-9046 or email spooner.

 

13) Maxxam has never before displayed any sort of shame, so we'd be

disinclined to think that CEO Charles Hurwitz, the last of the great

robber barons, had a sudden pang of conscience on behalf of the

company and the community he has bankrupted. But you never know, we

suppose. There was one other spicy bit of news to emerge from the

first few minutes of Tuesday morning's hearing. That is, that the

Maxxam family of companies has reached an agreement with Humboldt

County District Attorney Paul Gallegos. Their agreement concerns the

great issue that has defined Gallegos' career as a prosecutor -- the

massive fraud suit he filed against the company shortly after taking

office, which led to the dirty Maxxam-financed recall attempt against

him, which led to his enshrinement as the untouchable figurehead and

heartthrob of all good, right-thinking people. Then the suit itself

was thrown out of court, after an out-of-town judge ruled that it had

no basis in law. Gallegos appealed, but the appeal was automatically

stalled when Pacific Lumber went belly-up. Well, at Tuesday's

bankruptcy hearing, it was announced that Maxxam had magnanimously

consented to allow the Gallegos appeal to proceed.

This move can be read in two ways. Perhaps the company wishes to atone

for its past sins against Gallegos -- and, by extension, the people of

Humboldt County -- by allowing itself to be eviscerated by the DA's

righteous pursuit of justice. Or perhaps it believes that Gallegos

doesn't have the slightest chance in Hell of prevailing. You be the

judge. http://www.northcoastjournal.com/080207/towndandy0802.html

 

14) A $100 million investment in vineyards by the California Public

Employees' Retirement System is sour grapes to environmentalists, who

claim the project violates the pension plan's own campaign against

global warming. In partnership with Premier Pacific Vineyards of Napa,

the nation's largest public pension plan in 2004 purchased a

20,000-acre tract of forest in the coastal mountains of Sonoma County.

The venture wants to clear-cut 2,000 acres to plant premium grapes

like the popular pinot noir and then sell the land at a profit to

winemakers. Called Preservation Ranch, it would be the largest

conversion of forest to vineyards ever in California, according to the

the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It also symbolizes a

growing consumer thirst for premium wine that has driven recent

forest-clearing projects along California's North Coast, where

conditions are ideal for wine grapes. Environmentalists say the

project will fragment habitat and contribute to climate change by

eliminating coastal forest that could absorb carbon dioxide from the

atmosphere. The spectacular and remote Preservation Ranch property

lies near the town of Annapolis and covers much of Sonoma County's

northwest corner. It includes sweeping ocean views, forested ridges,

deeply shaded river canyons and oak woodlands. John Holland, president

of Friends of the Gualala River, said the project conflicts with

CalPERS' oft-stated desire to invest in ways that don't cause climate

change or environmental harm. In March, CalPERS joined a coalition of

institutional investors to urge the federal government to adopt

mandatory greenhouse gas curbs. It also presses corporations to

disclose environmental risks posed by their operations, particularly

on climate change. http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/309420.html

 

15) Trees in the Sierra Nevada are dying at a rate nearly double that

of two decades ago, and scientists say global warming is likely to

blame. A federal study released this week says that one-time

evergreens have turned brown and brittle because of drought, a

condition that may become more frequent and more intense as the

climate changes. While small trees are most at risk, the death rates

have increased for a range of species at just about any elevation, the

study by the U.S. Geological Survey says. Environmentalists said the

news should reinforce the serious consequences of global warming by

providing visual proof for the thousands who visit Lake Tahoe or

Yosemite National Park each year or, closer to home, drive through the

Stanislaus National Forest. " It's not as simple as saying temperatures

will be a little bit warmer and you won't have to put on a sweater.

The impacts reach much further than that, " said Jason Barbose, an

advocate with the global warming watchdog group Environment

California. USGS scientists in 1983 began monitoring more than 21,000

trees in 21 locations at Yosemite and Sequoia national parks. Annual

visits to each tree showed that death rates were climbing an average

of 3 percent each year, while the rate of new growth didn't change.

The die-offs seemed to coincide with periods of drought, which

typically make trees more susceptible to bug infestations or

pathogens. Many fir and pine trees appeared to be most at risk; giant

sequoias were too sparsely located to detect any trends. Climate

change can bring about both drought and drenching rain, but in the

arid Sierra Nevada, temperatures are warming without a marked increase

in precipitation.

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070808/A_NEWS/708080323

 

Tennessee:

 

16) With timber companies such as Bowater selling and the state buying

124,000 acres, Bredesen said the time is right to reduce pine

plantations in Tennessee. " This is not a pine state, it's a hardwood

state, " Bredesen said. " I think any time you have monoculture you have

enormous disease potential. I'd like to see some of these areas move

back to native Tennessee forest, which is a mixed hardwood forest. "

David Haskell, chairman of the University of the South's biology

department in Sewanee, said he would welcome state efforts to convert

pine plantations to hardwoods but there is no clear method to do that.

" Over the very long term they might be able to, " Haskell said. " But

measured over the length of human generations, it takes several. "

Wayne Clatterbuck, an associate professor of forestry with the

University of Tennessee at Knoxville, said areas that have been pine

plantations will eventually return to hardwood forest. He said

virtually the entire state, with the exception of some hard-to-reach

gorges, already has been logged at least once. Most forests in

Tennessee are areas that already have been logged several times, he

said. " If you have a pine stand and leave it alone, it will regenerate

to hardwood at some point, " Clatterbuck said. He said there are 12

million to 13 million acres of hardwood forest in Tennessee, but fewer

than 1 million in pines.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/aug/06/bredesen-tired-pines-embraces-mixed-har\

dwood-fores/

 

Maine:

 

 

17) UNITY -- Tell a kid about a forest and he may remember just long

enough to pass the next test. Take a kid to the forest, have him touch

it, analyze it and monitor it, and you may spark an interest in

learning that will last a lifetime. " It prepares kids to be future

citizen-scientists, " said Jay science teacher Rob Taylor during a

break from Tuesday's Forest Inventory Growth reunion at Unity College.

A program of Maine Project Learning Tree, which uses forest studies to

help students understand environmental issues, FIG is designed to give

high school students hands-on experience collecting information over

one-tenth acre of forest. Students do everything from calculating the

volume of the wood to documenting the different soils, mosses and

wildlife in the area. The same area is monitored each year and the

information serves as a reference point for future students.

" It's an ongoing outdoors lab, " said Lois Ongley, assistant professor

of chemistry at Unity College. " You can establish a culture in your

school of studying a piece of land for generations. " That forest facts

are not just kept in-house, however. The information is posted on a

Web site managed by the Maine Forest Service. Using the Web site,

students at Washington Academy in Machias can discover how their facts

compare with what is found by students at Nokomis High School in

Newport. The process is similar to water quality studies students have

undertaken across the state, Taylor said, but this is the first

program of its kind that allows students to study the forest. " When

kids collect real-world data and actually get it published, that is a

very special thing. It really piques their interest, " Taylor said.

" This is an opportunity to collect data and publish it and actually

use it in a much more global fashion. " Thirty-seven middle and high

school teachers in at least 30 schools in Maine have taken part in the

FIG training over the past three years, said Pat Maloney, state

coordinator for Project Learning Tree.

http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/4161695.html

 

 

18) RESTORE: The North Woods, the Wildlife Alliance of Maine, and the

Natural Resources Council of Maine announced today that they are

joining with Defenders of Wildlife and other conservation

organizations from across the country that plan to sue the U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to force the agency to designate critical

habitat for Canada lynx. The groups want the federal wildlife agency

to throw out a 2006 decision that the Fish and Wildlife Service now

admits was improperly influenced by political pressure. RESTORE Jym St. Pierre said a recent scandal which resulted in the

resignation of a Bush Administration appointee in the Department of

Interior provides an opportunity to get lynx protection in Maine back

on track. According to St. Pierre, Maine has the only breeding

population of Canada lynx in the entire eastern United States. In

2005, the USFWS proposed designating critical habitat in an area

covering about 10,000 square miles in Maine and 8,000 square miles in

the West. But in November 2006, following extensive public comment in

favor of habitat designation, the Fish and Wildlife Service said it

would not designate a single acre as critical habitat for lynx in

Maine. We knew the original proposal was watered down from what

biologists said was needed and the decision was a travesty. Now we

know why. Interior Department deputy assistant secretary Julie

MacDonald, a political appointee who oversaw the USFWS, resigned in

May following the release of a report by the Inspector General of

Department of the Interior. The report documented that she had

bullied, insulted, and harassed the professional staff...to change

documents and alter biological reporting. Contact: Jym St. Pierre,

RESTORE: The North Woods, 207-626-5635

 

Canada:

 

19) Permafrost serves like a platform underneath vast expanses of

northern forests and wetlands that are rooted, literally, in melting

permafrost in many northern ecosystems. But rising atmospheric

temperatures are accelerating rates of permafrost thaw in northern

regions, says MSU researcher Merritt Turetsky. In the report, " The

Disappearance of Relict Permafrost in Boreal North America: Effects on

Peatland Carbon Storage and Fluxes, " in this week's online edition of

Global Change Biology, Turetsky and others explore whether melting

permafrost can lead to a viscous feedback of carbon exchange that

actually fuels future climate change. Working closely with researchers

from Southern Illinois University, Villanova University and the

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Turetsky, assistant professor of

crop and soil sciences and fisheries and wildlife, found that

permafrost degradation has complex impacts on greenhouse gas fluxes

from northern wetlands. Permafrost collapse in peatlands tends to

result in the slumping of the soil surface and flooding, followed by a

complete change in vegetation, soil structure, and many other

important aspects of these ecosystems, Turetsky said.The study showed

that vegetation responds to the flooding with a boost in productivity.

More vegetation sequesters more carbon away from the atmosphere in

plant biomass. " This is actually good news from a greenhouse gas

perspective, " Turetsky said. However, the report also cautions that

this flooding associated with collapsing permafrost also increases

methane emissions.Methane is an important greenhouse gas, which is

more powerful than carbon dioxide in its ability to trap heat in the

earth's atmosphere. Turetsky said it seems the permafrost degradation

initially causes increased soil carbon sequestration, rather than the

large releases of carbon to the atmosphere originally predicted.But

over time high methane emissions will balance – or outweigh – the

reduction of carbon in the atmosphere.

http://newsroom.msu.edu/site/indexer/3138/content.htm

 

UK:

 

 

20) In my village there is an ancient wood: now in your imagination

this wood might be full of enormous gnarled old oak trees, but not so.

It's full of spindly chestnut and hazel trees that have been coppiced

for hundreds of years. Many of our high forests are the result of

woodland management - such as coppicing – no longer being carried out.

Coppicing – the word comes from the French word couper, to cut - is an

ancient art that can be traced back to 4000 BC: it involves the

cutting of trees and shrubs back to ground level on a regular basis to

give a sustainable supply of timber. When the trees are cut back they

are known as stools: stooling results in vigorous re-growth that

produces multi-stems known as poles. These poles are then harvested on

a regular basis – anything between 6 and 25 years - depending on the

species and the product required. However, some wood is removed on an

annual basis: if the trees have been planted close together they'll

grow tall and straight and the wood used for bean poles (hazel) and

the brush for 'dead' hedges. Coppiced ash was traditionally used for

tool handles, oak and chestnut for fencing. Ancient or semi-ancient

woodland is defined by the number of 'indicator' species: generally

this is the number native flowering plants - ferns, lichens and native

conifers -that are present on a particular site. The greater the

number of these species present the more likely it is that the wood is

ancient but, obviously, these species differ depending on the area. In

Kent there are, amongst many, primroses, wood violets and sorrels

growing in the woodlands; lichens, fungi and insects live on the dead

wood and nightingales and dormice are resident. If the wood is too

dark these species won't survive and eventually the woodland floor

will become dense scrub: coppicing prevents this.

http://lucyannwrites.blogspot.com/2007/08/butterflies-and-coppicing.html

 

21) There's an awkward pause on the phone when I suggest to Roger

Jones that he might just be kidding about the blindfold. " We'll have a

very nice one, " he coaxes. " We won't do a hood.It wouldn't be right to

have you driving round the countryside wearing a hood. " As the

alternative proves to be a Draconian five-page, non-disclosure

agreement, this is how I come to be sitting blindly in the back of

Roger's car, head tightly bound in a pashmina, as we bump and scratch

along the narrow lanes of Berkshire and Wiltshire. Our destination is

a ten-hectare patch of woodland whose exact location is a strictly

guarded secret, because it is home to a valuable and extremely rare -

if not unique in England - crop of that revered delicacy, the truffle.

" I don't think there's anywhere in the world where you can find

truffles in such a glut, " says Roger. Last year, about 75kg (165lb) of

useable truffles were harvested and they can sell for up to £200 a

kilo, depending on their quality, which can vary enormously. This

year, even more are expected. Truffles are a serious business, and not

only because of the prices they can fetch - last year, a Hong Kong

tycoon paid £85,000 for a single white Piemonte truffle weighing

1.51kg (3.3lb). Roger, the chef-owner of The Harrow Inn in Little

Bedwyn, Wiltshire, is joined by his 11-year-old son, Richard, who has

an uncanny knack for finding the biggest and finest specimen among the

tree roots. " I can feel them with my feet through the soles of my

trainers, " explains Richard, dodging about on the edge of a track

where I have finally been allowed to remove my blindfold. " But mainly

it's just that I can see them better than everyone else, I think it's

because I'm shorter so closer to the ground. "

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=4741\

44 & in_page_id=1

770

 

EU:

 

22) Europe's bird and insect populations, as well as heavily stressed

terrestrial ecosystems, face decimation as the European Commissioner

for Agriculture plans to scrap land set-asides for the 2008 season.

This unexpected move is a response to rising grain prices – caused by

the growing biofuel sector and worsening climate change impacts.

Europe's common farmland birds have declined by nearly 50% since

1980... 45% of Europe's butterflies are at risk of extinction and a

recent study found 80% declines in bee diversity and 70% declines in

the diversity of wild flowers dependent on pollination on hundreds of

sites in the UK and Netherlands... the future Europe's ecosystem

functionality such as pollination and provisions of food supplies may

be at risk as pollinators are driven into extinction. Biofuel

expansion for the European market is already causing massive

deforestation, biodiversity losses, displacements of local communities

and loss of food sovereignty in the global South – now Europe's

wildlife and remaining terrestrial ecosystems are likely to become

another victim. Please send the letter below to ask Europe's

politicians not to scrap land set-asides until they are substituted

for a more sustainable EU agricultural policy based on organic

agriculture and biodiverse mixed farming system. Biofuel targets and

incentives must be abolished now, to protect biodiversity and food

supplies worldwide.

http://www.climateark.org/blog/2007/08/alert_please_tell_the_eu_dont.asp

 

 

Congo:

 

23) An expedition to a remote forest in the Democratic Republic of

Congo has uncovered six new animal species. Conservationists

discovered one new bat species, a new rat and two new species each of

shrews and frogs. The region, which is in eastern DR Congo, near Lake

Tanganyika, has been off limits to researchers since 1960 because of

instability in the area. The survey, led by the Wildlife Conservation

Society (WCS), was carried out between January and March 2007. It

covered one square kilometre of forest. WCS researcher Dr Andrew

Plumptre said: " If we can find six new species in such a short period

it makes you wonder what else is out there. " The block of forest has

probably been isolated from the rest of the Congo forest block for

about 10,000 years. " Of the two new amphibian species discovered, one,

a small bright green frog, is in the Hyperolius genus, the other, a

1-2cm-long black frog may belong to a completely new genus. The

conservationists believe they might also have found several new plant

species in the forested region, which includes the Misotshi-Kabogo

Forest. The expedition's botanists were unable to identify about 10%

of the new plant samples they collected. The specimens will now be

examined by specialists to confirm if they represent new species. Dr

James Deutsch, director of the wildlife organisation's Africa Program,

said: " The survey has found that the Misotshi-Kabogo region is

biologically important enough to conserve in the form of a protected

area. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6936799.stm

 

 

24) A siren is heard blasting over the town of Pokola in the northern

part of the Republic of Congo, warning hordes of passers-by to

immediately clear the way for a rapidly approaching airplane. When not

being used for arriving and departing flights, Pokola's makeshift

landing strip in the middle of town serves as an important

thoroughfare and gathering point. Originally, the landing strip was

situated outside of town in a clearing in the dense tropical

rainforest. But as the settlement grew from a small timber camp to a

bustling town of over 13,000 inhabitants, houses and markets started

to spring up around the strip. Today, business in Pokola is booming,

especially its forestry sector, which exploits the rich natural

resources of the Congo. Many wonder how long the economic growth can

continue. " Timber companies are not always out to empty the rainforest

of trees, " said Jacob Sterling, Conservation Director at WWF-Denmark.

" In spite of all the hurdles, there are some companies working on

ensuring that the industry is sustainable and can benefit the local

community and contribute to the development of the national economy. "

Today, the company harvests on average only one tree per hectare over

a 30-year period. By any tree-felling standard this practice is

considered very cautious, giving the forest the right conditions to

regenerate after the chainsaws are silenced. If too many trees are

cut, not only will the forest degenerate but it would mean an end to

CIB's timber business, and by extension, an end to the town's improved

social

benefits.http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=110780

 

Ethiopia:

 

25) One wonders why, given their manifold munificence to us, we

continue to consider forests as something easily dispensable and

worthy only of our divided attention, merely worthy as photo op for

dignitary's spouses during publicized seedling plantings. Let's have a

look at the largess which by no means is exhaustive, of course, and

perhaps realize once again, what we are missing out on every time we

cut forests. We can start with the seemingly mundane; charcoal and

firewood that we harvest from forests and burn. Without felled trees,

how would millions cook their meals? From the mundane we go to the

sublime. Forest environs are reputed to sooth your nerves and enhance

your spirituality. A walk in the forest, some say, makes one admire

nature and whoever was responsible for its being, if one have a

religious bent. It makes one appreciate more one's country too. That

is, as opposed to a walk in a busy street, that reminds you of car

manufacturers and rising prices. In between the mundane and the

sublime, you have so many things that trees are famous for. For

starters, they give you your mahogany office furniture. They protect

farmlands from being washed away. They make clean water possible. They

increase evaporation. Increase evaporation, is that good? You bet. The

more evaporation, the more likelihood for rain to occur and the whole

system becomes wet as a result.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200708080781.html

 

 

Kenya:

 

26) Recently, Rift Valley provincial commissioner Noor Hassan Noor

dashed hopes of resettling Ogiek squatters in their former homes when

he said the Government would not resettle anybody in forest land. The

PC said having land was not the only sure way to a successful life and

instead asked the squatters to explore other income generating

activities. " Water catchments, land under forest cover and the general

ecosystem must be safeguarded against any form of depletion.

Therefore, it's absolutely necessary to conserve our forests, " said

the PC. He assertively said that the Government would only consider

purchasing land elsewhere to resettle squatters and told them to

forget the issue of returning to the forest. But, the Ogieks say they

are willing to cope with new life only if the Government identifies

the alternative settlement for them. " Why are we being treated as if

we are not Kenyans? It's not our mistake to have found ourselves in

the forests. We were born there and we don't know any other home, "

said area resident Samwel Laldim, 39. He added that during their stay

in the forests, they used to conserve the forests and could not allow

anyone to cut trees for charcoal or any other purpose. This, they say,

is because they knew trees were homes for the bees and destroying them

also meant flowers, which are sources of nectar for bees, could be

ruined as well. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708071162.html

 

27) Countries that are poor but rich in flora and fauna are

increasingly seeking new ways to save wildlife from poverty and

population pressure. Most rely on visits from dollar-bearing

eco-tourists. For the people of western Kenya's Kakamega forest,

though, there is more than one way to make money from your wilderness.

Besides tourist lodges and tree nurseries growing valuable species of

timber and herbal medicines, they set up a farm which cultivates

butterflies for export in 2001. Buyers range from European scientists

studying the behavior of forest-dwelling creepy crawlies to fashion

designers and New York socialites wanting to spruce up their parties.

" We get orders from Americans wanting 400 butterflies to look pretty

around their wedding reception, " says Roseline Shikami, a project

founder. " I don't know why butterflies. In Kenya, we use balloons. "

Shikami says scientists in Europe request species to study their

diets, anatomy or mating habits. A fashion designer ordered some to

match her dress at a function. " Her outfit is black-and-white, so she

wanted the butterfly to match the color of her dress, " she says,

pointing to a black-and-white patterned insect flitting around an

enclosure. Successful butterfly farming is tough. First, you have to

catch at least two members' of the species you want — different sexes.

Then you have to persuade them to mate.When the eggs hatch, you feed

the caterpillars on their favorite forest leaves until they wrap

themselves in a cocoon. The insects have to be exported in pupa form

or they will not last the journey.

http://www.trustedlog.com/2007/08/05/new-ideas-butterflies-on-your-wedding-party\

/

 

28)Kakamega is the eastern most patch of what was once a vast

rainforest stretching from the jungles of west Africa across the Congo

into modern day Kenya, before much was chopped down. Kenyan

authorities are keen to halt the retreat of forests in a country

mostly characterized by dry savanna and semi-desert. The Kakamega

National Reserve is a 36 km2 reserve, situated at the north end of the

Kakamega Forest, in Western Province, Kenya, at an elevation of about

1560 m, along the northeastern edge of the Lake Victoria basin. Along

its eastern edge rises the partially forested Nandi Escarpment which

runs along the western edge of the Rift Valley. The Kakamega Forest is

generally considered the eastern-most remnant of the lowland Congolean

rainforest of Central Africa. Faunally and florally, Kakamega is

dominated by central African lowland species, but due to its elevation

(predominantly between 1500 m and 1600 m) and proximity to the

formerly contiguous Nandi Forests it also contains highland elements

and is thus unique. The forest boundary (including the reserves)

encloses about 238 km2, of which less than half is still indigenous

forest. Throughout the forest are a series of grassy glades, ranging

in size from about 1 to 50 ha, with a few larger clearings. The

origins of the glades are uncertain. Some are certainly recent

clearings, but others predate recent records. These may have

originated from past human activity such as cattle grazing or may be

the result of herbivory and movements by large mammals such as buffalo

and elephants (both now extirpated from the region). The glades vary a

great deal in structure, some being open grass and others having a

considerable number of trees or shrubs. A number of streams and small

creeks run through the reserve. The larger creeks are usually bordered

by a few to tens of meters of forest on either side which divide the

glades, while the smallest creeks flow through open grasslands, often

forming small marshy patches. No complete floristic studies have been

done at Kakamega. The forest hosts about 160 tree and shrub species,

many of Congolean lowland forest affinities, including a number of

endemic plant species, mostly ferns and orchids. The flora of the open

areas and glades has not been well studied. The glades often have

small trees.

http://www.trustedlog.com/2007/08/05/new-ideas-butterflies-on-your-wedding-party\

/

 

Haiti:

 

29) According to officials at MIT University, student Jules Walter, a

Haitian national, joined with other students to create charcoal

briquettes from organic material such as sugarcane waste. The students

have now created a company called Bagazo and plans to produce these

briquettes as cooking fuel for Haitians to help battle deforestation.

Walter has seen firsthand the impact of deforestation in his native

Haiti with nearly 98 percent of the island's forests gone and more

trees being cut down every year. Deforestation is not only an

environmental problem in that country, but it also makes life

difficult for Haitians who rely on wood to cook their food. Walter and

other students, Amy Banzaert and Kendra Leith, and Haitian community

organizer Gerthy Lahens, recently won $30,000 in seed money from the

MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. Walter, a computer science

major who will be a senior at MIT this fall, is traveling to Haiti

later this month to conduct a market study and meet with potential

investors. He hopes his business will appeal to those who want to

invest in something that is both profitable and socially responsible.

" Traditionally people think you can either make money or help people, "

said Walter. " But this is a project where we really think we can do

both, and do both well. "

http://www.hardbeatnews.com/editor/RTE/my_documents/my_files/details.asp?newsid=\

13349

 

Belize:

 

30) " From June 15th the logging season should be closed but here in

Punta Gorda, it is not so. Friday August 3rd,there was heavy logging

going on here in Armado area here in Punta Gorda.What was shocking was

that the forest officer was assisting and he went even after the time

when I called Belmopan,he went and left something like over a hundred

trees that have been pulled from the ground.The place was flood.I

crossed the floods to go over to check a piece of property I have

behind there and when I got up there,there was heavy logging

operation.So I called Belmopan to report the matter because everybody

has been stopped,even the poor man has been harassed and when I went

there now,this operation was going on.On Saturday the rainforest

officer came down and verified what I am saying here.That indeed

yes,there was over a hundred trees,not logs,that were pulled out.They

were freshly stomped and on Friday I called and spent like two hours

on the phone and when we went back there on Saturday,the logs were

stomped.So they stomped the logs between twelve the afternoon on

Friday and Saturday morning and I went their with some witnesses.I

think that it is unfair and because he is under the government.I think

that man should be dismissed.It is a total disgrace.On the weekend

Mr.Novelo goes with the BDF and police from village to

village,harassing people about logging for one tree and keeps taking

away and taking away and takes him to court and charges him.And the

one that's been doing this now is the same one that's caught doing the

same thing that he should be protecting.The worst is,he's still

sitting in his office there and has not yet been suspended and I would

say I am not going to rest until Mr.Novelo is dismissed because that

is a shame and disgrace upon the government because logging continues

to happen in Punta Gorda. " http://www.lovefm.com/ndisplay.php?nid=6201

 

Brazil:

 

31) We have recently learnt that Veracel has launched a process to

obtain FSC certification for its plantations. It has hired the

consulting company SGS for this purpose. Veracel ? which belongs to

the Swedish-Finnish company Stora Enso and the Norwegian-Brazilian

company Aracruz Celulose - is attempting to obtain certification for

its plantations established over 78,000 hectares in the extreme south

of the State of Bahia and its impacts are causing major local

resistance. As part of the certification process, SGS undertook the

main assessment during the week of 23 to 27 July. In the attached

letter our Brazilian companions provide us with sufficient arguments

(both related with the impacts of the plantations and with the

consultation process carried out by SGS for certification), to show

that Veracel should not receive certification. This letter will be

sent to FSC and SGS on Tuesday 14 August. Those wishing to join us in

this rejection may do so by sending their name and organization BEFORE

MONDAY 13 AUGUST, to the following e-mail address: wrm

 

Argentina:

 

32) With dramatic action footage, still photographs, lively interviews

with unforgettable characters, evocative period and contemporary

music, Greenpeace: Making a Stand explores what inspires people to

risk their lives for their beliefs - to sail a ship into a nuclear

test zone, to get between a pod of whales and an explosive harpoon, or

to block bulldozers mowing down a forest. The film features Greenpeace

pioneer Rex Weyler, a photojournalist on the campaigns to save whales

an seals in the 1970s. Thirty-five years after the birth of

Greenpeace, much of its daring edginess has been lost. However, Weyler

rediscovers the original spirit when he joins Greenpeace Argentina in

a fight to save vast tracts of virgin forest from being clear-cut. As

determined individuals pursue their passions and dreams, one group

will taste defeat - and the other, victory. What will those believing

in Greenpeace experience? You'll have to tune in to find out!

Knowledge Network encourages you spread the word about this important

documentary by forwarding this message or displaying the attached

poster. christinal

 

 

India:

 

33) MUMBAI: The state government's failure to declare about 4,000

hectares of mangroves as protected forest land has irked the Bombay

high court. The state has decided to keep out around 4,000 hectares of

coastal mangroves from the protective ambit of the Forest Act. A

division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice Dhananjay

Chandrachud on Wednesday directed the state to explain why the areas

have not been notified as " protected forests " . " What is the reason for

excluding more than 50% of the areas from the notification? " asked the

judge, while hearing a petition filed by the Bombay Environmental

Action Group (BEAG). Assistant government pleader Niranjan Pandit

informed the court that it was in the process of declaring the areas

as 'protected forests' but had held back due to the demands by various

government departments that they needed the plots for implementing

various infrastructure projects.The court clearly unhappy with the

move, asked the state counsel to file an affidavit on three

aspects—the exact mangrove areas that have not been declared as

protected forests, how much of the remaining area is required for

public infrastructure projects and what percentage of the mangrove

plots were being earmarked for private projects (apartments and golf

courses). Earlier, advocate Navroz Seervai launched a blistering

attack on the state's tardy implementation of the high court orders to

declare mangrove areas as protected forests. Seervai pointed out to

records gleaned from Cidco, which had asked the state to retain over

250 hectares of mangrove areas (out of the total 1,741 hectares in its

jurisdiction) for development projects.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/HC_raps_state_on_mangrove_move/article\

show/2266828.cm

s

 

34) Charging the Orissa Government with " favouring " South Korean steel

giant POSCO, the CPI today asked the Centre to reject the

" dereservation " of forests proposal of the state government. In a

letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party Secretary D Raja sought

his intervention saying the Centre " should reject the dereservation of

forests proposal of the Orissa government immediately " . Observing that

the state Forest and Environment Department had sought diversion of

1,253.225 hectares of forest land near Paradeep for establishment of

the Rs 5,200 crore POSCO steel plant, he said, " unmindful of the

concerns of the people, the state government is bent upon clearing

everything in favour of POSCO. " This was " absolutely contrary " to the

stated position of the Centre with regard to the conservation of

forests and environment. " The allotment of such vast tract of forest

land near the coastline is also contrary to the objections " raised by

the Defence Ministry, he said.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200708061862.htm

 

Australia:

 

35) One hectare of mature, tall, wet forest can store the equivalent

of 5500 tonnes of carbon dioxide. This is about the same as the annual

carbon dioxide emissions from 1300 cars. Even less productive dry

forests and woodlands store significant amounts of carbon. Most of the

carbon in a natural forest is stored in the woody biomass of big old

trees, dead wood on the forest floor, and in the soil. It is easy to

forget about the carbon below ground: in the tree roots and associated

fungi, other micro-organisms and decomposed plant material. These

represent significant stocks of carbon that are continually

replenished through natural ecosystem processes. Forests contain about

three to four times more carbon than is now in the atmosphere. About

half the world's forests have been cleared for agriculture and human

settlement. Much of what is left is commercially logged for timber

products; especially woodchip for pulp-based products. Forests that

are commercially logged store about 30 per cent to 40 per cent less

carbon than unlogged forests. If we were to halt further deforestation

and allow the world's forests that have been logged to naturally

regrow, the amount of carbon taken up and stored in these ecosystems

would make. If global warming really is the mother of all

environmental problems, then perhaps the time has come to bring to an

end the clearing and logging of natural forests. This will make a

significant and cost-effective contribution to solving the global

warming problem. We must not forget that the laws of science apply

universally and do not recognise political boundaries. Whether a

natural forest is in Tasmania, Victoria or Papua, it performs the same

kind of role in the global carbon cycle and in helping to regulate

atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/save-the-forests-they-are-crucial-to-reduc\

ing-carbon-dioxi

de/2007/08/06/1186252625010.html?page=2

 

36) On Sunday we went for a walk through a beautiful forest and also

checked out the logging situation. The forest in the Baw Baw National

Park are amazing; I cannot find words to describe them. We didn't go

all the way down to the logging site but you could see the smoke

rising from the areas being logged. It is an absolute disgrace that

this is occurring. Honestly it really was beautiful and its such a

shame that profits are being put before this natural wonderland and

environmental gem.

http://misspoliticsaustralia.blogspot.com/2007/08/week-that-was.html

 

37) An alliance of Murray River forest users has been formed to fight

a recommendation to turn the forests into national parks. The

Victorian Environmental Assessment Council says river red gum forests

are suffering from a severe lack of water and need protection from

logging and stock grazing. But the new alliance of farmers, shooting

and timber groups, and fire brigades are protesting against the plan.

Under this proposal 9925 hectares of State parks will be lost to

National parks. The total area of National parks will increase

threefold from 52,120 to 151,761 hectares. On ABC radio today, it was

suggested that the proposal will allow up to 50 tonnes of light fire

fuel per hectare. This is far beyond the capabilities of the CFA to

fight fires safely and I can understand why fire brigades are

protesting. DSE firefighters do not assist CFA brigades fighting fires

on freehold property. They only become involved when the fire enters

public land. Yet, they expect CFA volunteers to assist them on public

land. If the Alliance of forest users campaigned CFA volunteers to

refuse to fight fires on public land, the state government might take

a lot more notice of the protesters. You can hear more about the river

red gum forest draft plan at a series of forums to be held throughout

the region. Watch for the one to be held in Wangaratta next week.

http://kingvalley.wordpress.com/2007/08/06/alliance-to-fight-murray-national-par\

ks-plan/