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Subject: [this-week-in-trees] 033OECs This Week in Trees
This week we have 35 news stories from: British Columbia, Oregon,
Washington, California, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Massachusetts,
USA, Canada, Romania, Russia, Nigeria, Kenya, Brazil, Solomon
Islands, China, India, Bhutan, Thailand, Philippines, and Australia.
British Columbia:
1) TimberWest Forest Ltd. put its Elk Falls sawmill up for sale
Thursday, saying the company no longer wants to be in the sawmilling
business. It is the fourth coastal sawmill to be closed or put up
for sale in the last four months, signalling to some industry
watchers that a coast-wide restructuring -- where only the best
mills would survive -- may be on the horizon. "If this isn't the
beginning, it should be," said Laurie Cater, publisher of Madison's
Canadian Lumber Reporter. The Elk Falls mill, which recently went
through an extensive upgrade, still requires more capital expenditures,
and TimberWest, which is an income trust, is not in a position to
make continued investments, the company said. Cater said a mill
with no accompanying log supply "is not an easy sell." He said he
does not foresee an end to the coastal industry's woes until one
of the surviving companies invests in a new "super mill" to grind
out dimension lumber from second-growth timber.
2) The Wild Spirit Places are called upon to do more than a park.
Besides protecting wild landscapes and animals, they have been put
in place to conserve and showcase the Squamish Nation's cultural
landscape too. Sacred sites, locations of traditional stories and
ancient plant gathering and hunting grounds, are just a few of the
treasures that the Squamish Nation has chosen to safeguard within
their Wild Spirit Places. But can the Wild Spirit Places survive?
So far, the government has not officially recognized the Wild Spirit
Place designations. Because it is the BC government that grants
permits for logging and other industrial uses the fear is that the
Wild Spirit Places could be developed and destroyed under BC
government permit at some future date. Currently the BC government
is conducting a landuse study process of their own in the
Squamish/Whistler area. If the government chooses to officially
recognize the Wild Spirit Places in law, then these gems can truly
be protected for all time. Today, there are five Wild Spirit Places
and two Sensitive Areas, which are proposed for Wild Spirit Place
status. All seven are located in the Squamish/Whistler area comprising
100,000 hectares of some of the most spectacular tracts of glacier
crowned mountains, cascading rivers and ancient forests to be found
anywhere in the world. They are home to grizzlies, wolves, eagles,
salmon, moose, deer and a host of the other wild creatures that
make this region famous amongst nature lovers.
Washington:
3) Two South Sound community activists have challenged the Port of
Olympia's environmental review of a proposal to move timber-giant
Weyerhaeuser's log export business from Tacoma to Olympia next year.
The challenge comes after the port entered into a five-year lease
for the project. Jerry Parker, a retired state Department of Ecology
employee and Jan Witt, a community activist, charge that the port's
review of the project's environmental effects was too narrow. They
have challenged the port commission's August decision to enter into
the agreement with Federal Way-based Weyerhaeuser and asked
commissioners to overthrow its staff's opinion that the log export
facility would pose no serious environmental threat. Estimates have
ranged from 75 additional log trucks visiting the port daily to 125
because of the Weyerhaeuser dock. The estimate is imprecise because
it's not clear how many smaller independent log haulers at the port
might have to move or decrease the size of their businesses to make
room for Weyerhaeuser on the port peninsula. The port plans to spend
nearly $4 million paving part of the peninsula to prepare for the
log export operation. The challenge alleges that the port circumvented
requirements in the State Environmental Policy Act."This certainly
would have impact on traffic, air quality and noise," Parker said.
Witt accused the port of having tunnel vision on effects of the
operation."They didn't look at the whole picture," she charged.
"They railroaded this through so quickly that there was little
opportunity for public involvement."
http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051008/NEWS/510080301
4) Ahtanum - has long been a hunter's dream and a management
nightmare. Now the nightmare part is gone. For most of that area,
checkerboard ownership is no more. A far-reaching land exchange
completed two weeks ago between the state Department of Natural
Resources and two timber companies - involving lands in Yakima,
Kittitas, Klickitat and Skamania counties - has consolidated the
bulk of the Ahtanum under DNR ownership. The land swap transfers
ownership of 3,364 acres of state trust land in Skamania, Klickitat
and Kittitas counties to Plum Creek Timber Company and a limited
liability corporation called Elk Haven. In return, the state receives
just over 12,000 acres, the bulk of it in the Ahtanum. Once a
checkerboard of one-mile ownership blocks alternating between public
and private ownership, the Ahtanum now includes a block of roughly
35,000 acres - about 55 square miles - that's all DNR land. "It
makes it a whole lot easier for game managers to manage a piece of
property, and for the public to have access to hiking or hunting,
or doing whatever you want out in the woods," said Gail Chapman,
chairman of the Yakima Valley chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk
Foundation. As part of the swap, the DNR also obtained three pieces
of land southeast of Cle Elum at the north end of the L.T. Murray
State Wildlife Area. The lands given up by the DNR are primarily
in Klickitat and Skamania counties, plus two one-square-mile tracts
in Kittitas County, one southwest of and one southeast of Easton.
The Ahtanum deal, though, could be just the start, said DNR district
manager Ken McNamee. "Basically, what the department wants to do
is try and eliminate, as much as we can, checkerboard ownership,"
McNamee said. "It's a management nightmare and the public doesn't
know whose land they're on in that kind of situation." The DNR is
already in preliminary discussions with Western Pacific Timber on
a land swap that, McNamee said, "would be far-reaching."
http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/284405753630020
Oregon:
5) For most of Portland's 162 years, this city's economic foundations
were obvious. It grew because it was the closest port to the
Willamette Valley farm country. It became a timber town because it
was headquarters for the companies that cut the trees. In the '80s,
the economy got taken over by high-tech hardware-silicon, oscilloscope
and circuit-board manufacturers were attracted to the Portland area
in large part because land, water, power and labor were cheap. The
latest stats show that high-tech manufacturing, which replaced
timber as the region's economic engine, peaked in 2000. Median
income in the city is down. In general, Oregon's unemployment rate
obscures its job growth, because people are moving here faster than
the job market can absorb them. Not only is Portland attracting
people, it's attracting some of the most economically desirable
people alive. Ever since Richard Florida's 2002 book The Rise of
the Creative Class, cities everywhere have obsessed over luring
young, smart, mobile professionals. In that respect, Portland is
kicking butt, attracting hordes of college-educated 24- to 35-year-olds
at a time when that group is shrinking nationally. "They're like
the spotted owl," says local economist Joe Cortright, whose study
of these phenomena is gospel among Portland boosters. "If they're
leaving, you've got a problem. If they're coming, you're doing
something right." "I think a lot of what's going on here is emblematic
of bigger patterns," says Seltzer. "What matters now is the completely
global and the intensely local. With your cell phone, email and the
Internet, you can acquire just about anything from anywhere. Once
you can acquire anything in the world, what then? People are looking
for a relationship with a place."
http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=6802
6) The Forest Service proposal includes planting Brewer spruce
seedlings and expanding the botanical area to include clusters of
the trees on Hungry Hill, bounded by Forest Service Road 4201-140
on the east and Road 4201-827 on the south. It also calls for
excluding the botanical area from fuel burning operations, leaving
slash from logging in place to allow for Brewer spruce regeneration
and surveying for invasive species within a half-mile perimeter for
at least five years. Cleanup from logging operations would involve
removing debris along Road 4201-864, dismantling log decks and a
landing and blocking off a temporary road spur. Environmentalists
said the plan does not go far enough to protect the rare species.
Barbara Ullian, conservation director for the Siskiyou Project, a
Cave Junction-conservation group, said the botanical area should
also embrace a population of Brewer spruce about a mile away on
Fiddler Mountain. "This plan is kind of putting a Band-Aid on what
the Forest Service did when the whole area needs a health-care
plan," she said. Dominick DellaSala, program director for the World
Wildlife Fund regional office in Ashland, said the plan fails to
address the reason for the logging mistake and how the Forest Service
plans to prevent it from happening again. "This is an opportunity
for the Forest Service to deal with public concerns about logging
in the Biscuit fire and put in place a moratorium," DellaSala said.
"The Forest Service can't put the trees back that were logged in
the botanical area, but they could stop logging in riparian (creekside)
areas, roadless areas and old growth reserves."
http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2005/1005/local/stories/04local.htm
7) I agree that Biscuit is coming to slow, a grinding stop. And
yes, the roadless sales (three, including Mike's Gulch) are the
only big wild-cards left. There are a few old-growth reserve sales
that haven't been completed. And that doesn't include the 10-15
mmbf logged as part of the roadside "safety" logging. That brings
the total Biscuit volume to about 80 mmbf. I think it is a good
idea to start paying more attention to other sales like Fischer and
B&B. I also agree that we should celebrate principled, dedicated
efforts to slow and stop Biscuit logging. Whether these efforts
ultimately stopped logging or not, they inspired people across the
nation and the world, drew attention to the threats facing our
public lands, and taught the Bush administration that they will be
held accountable for their actions. That said, there are some reasons
to not declare victory at Biscuit: 1) No Forest Service sales were
stopped by legal action or protest 2) 80mmbf and 3,657 acres of
logging is hardly something to celebrate 3) Roadless sales could
still be auctioned (Mike's Gulch is relatively accessible, even
through the winter, and off-season waivers could be granted to
facilitate logging there) 4. The 370 mmbf FEIS logging plans were,
I believe, intentionally hyper-inflated beyond the capacity of the
local Forest Service to administer and beyond even the timber
industry's hunger for Biscuit wood. In other words, this project
was set up to fail. It collapsed under its own monstrous weight.
Even though enviros have done little to stop the project, folks
like Senator Smith and "Communities for Healthy Forests" are citing
"lawsuits, protests and red-tape" as the reason Biscuit didn't hit
the 370 mmbf mark. Rolf Skar [ mailto:ro...@siskiyou.org ]
8) Before logger Joe Pariera starts dropping trees on national
forest land, he walks the ground to find the best route for dragging
the trees out. He watches for steep grades, rock outcroppings and
other natural barricades. And, because of U.S. Forest Service rules
for logging on the east side of the Cascade Range, he also has to
figure out how to get the logs out while leaving trees with diameters
of 21 inches or more undamaged. "It definitely changes how we log
and how they manage forests," Pariera said. The 21-inch rule is
designed to produce stands of mature timber like those that stood
before settlers came west. Environmentalists say the larger trees
have more benefits for wildlife. Loggers say the result is a crumbling
of the timber industry. Smaller trees are less valuable and yield
less lumber, factors that contributed to the closing of sawmills
over the last decade. Gary L. Johnson, contract manager and log
buyer for Fremont Sawmill in Lakeview, said he would like to see
the tree size rule changed. "All the mills are starving for material,"
he said. There used to be three mills in Lakeview. Now there is
only Fremont. Although there still is logging on federal forests
near Lakeview, the amount of timber coming from each sale produces
has dropped. Before the screens the average sale would produce 5,000
to 6,000 board feet of wood per acre, Johnson said. With the screens
in place, the sales produce 500 to 2,500 board feet. "That is just
too low of a volume for equipment," Johnson said. "You got a million
dollars plus worth of equipment getting four to five loads per day
- it just doesn't cut it." To cut trees smaller than 21 inches in
diameter, loggers prefer to use mechanized feller bunchers, skidders
and limbers that can quickly topple, move and ready the trees for
the haul to the mill. And what about the possibility of going back
to the plans that were in place before the eastside screens came
into being? "That's never going to happen," Anderson said.
http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/10/08/news/top_stories/top1.txt
California:
9) In 1999, Pacific Lumber agreed to the Headwaters Forest settlement
in which it would sell 5,600 acres of land to the state as a public
trust for $480 million. In return, the company would be allowed to
log the remaining 211,000 acres, although it would have to follow
a strict set of environmental restrictions. However, it was later
discovered that the company had lied to state officials about the
risk of cutting down trees on unstable slopes in order to make an
additional profit of $40 million per year. Richard Wilson, the
Department of Forestry's director, stated that if he had been given
accurate information, he would not have sanctioned the company's
logging plan. A panel of seven scientists who were employed by the
North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board also issued a
scathing condemnation of the company's blatant disregard for
environmental protection. According to the panel, the corporation's
logging had resulted in the degradation of water quality and the
destruction of habitats for salmon and other endangered animals.
In 1998 alone, Pacific Lumber had been cited for fourteen violations
of state forestry laws. However, since the corporation employed
many residents and retained an enormous amount of influence,
legislators and politicians turned a blind eye to the situation.
In 2003, a judge concurred with the Humboldt Watershed Council that
Pacific Lumber had violated environmental regulations, but refused
to penalize the corporation or even slow down its logging. Furthermore,
the California Fish and Game Department did nothing to punish the
company. Only six weeks after barely winning the local election
against the twenty-year incumbent, the new district attorney, Paul
V. Gallegos, risked his political career when he became the first
elected official to ever confront the timber giant. His office sued
Pacific Lumber on the grounds that the corporation had provided the
state with deliberately fabricated information regarding the potential
environmental impact of its logging. The six-coun!
t litiga
http://teenink.com/Past/2005/October/19389.html
10) Major environmental groups sued the Bush administration Thursday
over its repeal of a Clinton administration ban on road-building
and development in vast pristine areas of U.S. national forests.
The suit in San Francisco federal court by 20 organizations, including
the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, follows a
suit filed Aug. 30 by California and three other states. Both
challenge the government's decision in May that potentially opened
some of the forests' 58.5 million roadless acres to logging and
mining trucks and off-road vehicles.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/07/MNGNVF40EU1.DTL
Montana:
11) It's not just the land and trees. It's what's under the land
and trees that Plum Creek can profit from, President and CEO Rick
Holley explained recently. Plum Creek is increasingly finding mining
reserves on its land as well as timber value, Holley said last month
at the UBS Global Paper and Forest Conference in New York, NY. For
example, in an area where there is valuable sand under the company's
forest, the company would "first of all, cut all the trees down,"
then allow the sand to be mined over an eight- to 10-year period.
Then it would replant the trees, Holley said. There may be an added
benefit Holley said - the mining would create a lake. Right now
mining everything from rock to titanium is being eyed for some Plum
Creek lands. Mining is still a fraction of the company's overall
business strategy - about $13 million in 2005 - but Holley sees it
as a growing segment of the company's future. In Montana, Plum Creek
is developing quarries west of Kalispell. But the big word at Plum
Creek isn't trees anymore. It's real estate. Holley predicted real
estate will amount to $220 to $240 million in business this year.
Some of that comes through conservation deals, where the company
gets paid by a state or federal agency for development rights. In
Montana, the company has swung deals in the past for development
rights on land it owned in the Thompson and Fisher River Valleys
west of Kalispell. In those deals, the state, using a mix of funds,
bought development and subdivision rights for about $30 million.
It is eyeing similar deals for Plum Creek lands in the Swan Valley.
In that deal, the state is looking to acquire conservation easements
on about 7,200 acres of land, and outright purchase about 3,700
acres of land. The lands are in a checkerboard pattern throughout
the Swan River State Forest said Alan Wood, wildlife program officer
with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The entire deal is estimated
at $26.7 million, though the state has the funds that will likely
be needed to acquire the easements.
http://www.hungryhorsenews.com/articles/2005/10/06/news/news2.txt
12) Three local environmental activists, who were restricted from
attending a recent Forest Service press conference, held their own
news conference Tuesday to inform the public about their potential
legal action against the Forest Service and their request for a
Congressional investigation. "We see that we have a very basic
override of the public process," said Stewart Brandborg, a long-time
local activist for conservation and wilderness whose father was
once supervisor for the Bitterroot National Forest. On Sept. 22,
the Bitterroot National Forest held a press conference to announce
the release of the final Environmental Impact Statement for the
Middle East Fork Hazardous Fuels Reduction project. In the document,
the alternative developed by the agency, alternative 2, is identified
as the preferred option. Also analyzed in the document is alternative
3, which was developed by several environmental groups, including
Friends of the Bitterroot. This option would focus hazardous fuels
reduction work in an area 400 meters around homes in Middle East
Fork community, as opposed to alternative 2, which would be a variety
of fuel treatments on about 6,000 acres. Brandborg attempted to
attend the press conference but was kept out by Forest Service
public affairs officer Dixie Dies. Two members of Friends of the
Bitterroot, Jim Miller and Larry Campbell, were also kept out of
the conference. Miller, who is president of FOB, was appalled. He
was asked to leave the press conference after he had already been
let into the room by the receptionist, he said. "I was told the
meeting was for invited press only," Miller said. He was also
offended by the presence of three Forest Service law enforcement
officers, who were present at the press conference seemingly to
keep him and the other two men out. Miller related that he complained
to Dies about people were already at the press conference who weren't
members of the media but rather residents from the Middle East Fork
community who supported alternative 2. Because Miller !
feels it
http://www.ravallinews.com/articles/2005/10/05/news/news01.txt
Colorado:
13) A Colorado task force started grappling Friday with one of the
most contentious land-use issues in the West: the fate of millions
of acres of roadless areas in national forests no longer off-limits
to development. The panel appointed by Gov. Bill Owens and legislative
leaders launched its review of the use of 4.1 million roadless acres
a day after 20 environmental groups sued to overturn the federal
policy that opened land in Colorado and across the West to logging
and other development. Colorado's approach to the process is unique,
said Rick Cables, head of the regional Forest Service office. He
said he knew of no other state where the Legislature created a task
force to recommend how the roadless areas should be managed. "There's
a lot at stake here in Colorado," Cables told the 13-member task
force, which will hold meetings across the state over the next
several months. The group will present its recommendations to Owens,
who has until Nov. 13, 2006, to decide whether to ask the federal
government to protect the roadless areas.
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20051007/NEWS/110070045
14) The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation released an
88-page research compilation that the group says casts doubt on a
logging project in headwaters of the Rio Grande in southwestern
Colorado. The County Line project was proposed with the justification
that it would reduce the chances of a spruce beetle insect infestation
spreading across public forests. In September a coalition of citizens
and conservationists filed an administrative appeal of the logging
project with the Lakewood office of the U.S. Forest Service. The
research report, "Logging to Control Insects: The Science and Myths
Behind Managing Forest Insect Pests," is a synthesis of independently
reviewed research. It includes a summary of studies on the importance
of insects to forest function and the methods used to control forest
pest insects, and a compilation of summaries of over 150 scientific
papers and Forest Service documents. "The findings are very clear,"
said Scott Hoffman Black, executive director of the Xerces Society
for Invertebrate Conservation and author of the report. "A review
of over 300 papers on the subject reveals that logging is not the
solution to forest insect outbreaks and in the long run could
increase the likelihood of epidemics." Currently, the Rio Grande
National Forest is promoting a logging project that would remove
29 million board feet, over 7,000 logging trucks full, to control
spruce beetles. The logging project will have significant impacts
on water quality and soils in the upper Rio Grande watershed that
is so critical to the lives and well-being of the San Luis Valley,
the conservation group says. Although insects have been a part of
the ecology of temperate forests for millennia, many in the timber
industry see them only as agents of destruction, the report points
out. "A century of fire suppression, clear-cut logging, road-building,
grazing, urban encroachment, and the selective removal of large
trees has upset the ecological balance in forests across North
America, often making them more vu!
lnerable
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2005/2005-10-06-09.asp
15) The meeting, organized by Eagle County's Democratic Congressman
Mark Udall, was aimed at coming up with ideas to deal with the bugs
turning trees rusty brown as they kill mountain forests. According
to Udall, a new bill he intends to introduce soon in Washington,
D.C. might help. "The federal government has a role to play. We
don't have all the answers, but we need to look at what's working
and what changes could be made," Udall said, explaining that he's
drafting what's tentatively called the bark beetle relief act. Udall
said the measure could authorize the Forest Service to hire additional
employees and increase funding to federal agencies to respond to
beetle threats. "This has been a terrible problem for Colorado,"
said Colorado Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, who represents
Summit County. "It's a visual problem and a safety problem. Maybe
there's some economic development that can come out of this. Maybe
we can take this problem and make it work to our best advantage."
Timber industry comeback? State timber industry officials were also
on hand Wednesday as officials acknowledged that addressing the
beetle problem will require extensive collaboration with private
businesses to cut and process the dead and dying trees, which are
more flammable than lives trees. In Summit County last month, a
small wildfire became more severe because it burned in trees killed
by beetles. Dead trees also played a role in a 20,000-acre-plus
fire in the Flat Tops Wilderness, which sprawls into northwest Eagle
County, in 2002. "Catastrophic fires in our watersheds could unravel
the fabric of life here in Colorado," said Mark Morgan of the
Colorado Timber Industry Association. "You have to have an economic
engine to keep this kind of work affordable, and you have to have
sustainable, long-term forest management policies so you're not
managing from crisis to crisis."
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20051007/NEWS/51007025
New Mexico:
16) The Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Tajique Watershed
Restoration project is getting ready to go out to the public. The
Tajique Watershed was identified two years ago as one of the highest
priority watersheds for treatment in the Southwestern Region of the
Forest Service. Concern over the high fire risk both to forest lands
and surrounding communities is great, since the number of trees
within the area is extremely high compared to historical levels,
high incidence of lightning strikes have occurred in this area,
development on private land around and within public land has
increased, and road access to many areas within the watershed is
limited. The decision to treat this area is based on natural resource
concerns.
http://www.mvtelegraph.com/mountain/opinion/396478mtnoped10-06-05.htm
17) A U.S. Forest Service official who voiced concerns about alleged
pesticide misuse in forests across the Southwest has been fired.
Doug Parker, who worked as the pesticide coordinator and assistant
director of forestry health for the agency's Southwestern region,
told The Associated Press that he was removed from his duties last
week because his supervisor said he failed to follow instructions.
Parker, who has not spoken publicly about his case, worked for the
agency for nearly four decades and said he was proud to wear the
Forest Service uniform. "The whole reason behind this is I reported
some significant pesticide misuse problems to the regional forester
and they don't want to have controls over this process," he told
the AP. "They want to be pesticide cowboys and go out there and do
what they want to do without consideration of compliance with their
own policies, regulations and environmental laws." Parker filed a
whistleblower complaint earlier this year that pointed to what he
called a "systemic problem" when it comes to proper pesticide use
across several forests in New Mexico and Arizona. He accused some
managers of not preparing environmental risk assessments and failing
to get approval from agency officials who have the authority to
make decisions about pesticides. Parker is concerned that not
following agency policies or laws such as the National Environmental
Policy Act -- which serves as the basis for federal management of
public lands -- could lead to public safety and environmental
threats. "When it comes down to it, besides the violation of policy
and law, it's a betrayal of the public trust," Parker said. "If
we're going to use toxic chemicals out in the environment, we need
to assure the public that what we're doing meets our policy, which
is ensuring the proper use of pesticides."
18) The supervisor of the Santa Fe National Forest says a project
for the northern New Mexico forest to provide this year's Capitol
Christmas tree is moving forward despite a court ruling that prompted
the Forest Services to put hundreds of projects on hold. As long
as no substantive objections are raised during a 30-day public
comment period that started Monday, the tree could be cut and shipped
to Washington in time, a forest spokesman has said. The holdups
stem from a July 2 ruling by U.S. District Judge James K. Singleton
Jr. in California that found the Forest Service was improperly
approving projects. without public comment or appeals under a process
known as categorical exclusions. New Mexico's two U.S. senators
said earlier this week they were concerned that the U.S. Forest
Service's reaction to the recent court ruling could jeopardize the
cutting of this year's Capitol Christmas tree, an 80-foot spruce
in the Santa Fe forest. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said it's clear
there's nothing preventing the Forest Service from moving ahead
with plans to cut down the tree. "I urge the agency to stop looking
for impediments where there are none," he said. And Sen. Pete
Domenici, R-N.M., said the ruling and the Forest Service's response
"would be like the grinch who stole Christmas for the many New
Mexicans who have worked well over a year to prepare for the tree's
state tour and eventual trip to the nation's capital." bThe Christmas
tree is to travel throughout New Mexico before being taken to
Washington, where it will be lit in a Dec. 8 ceremony at the U.S.
Capitol. New Mexico also is supplying 65 smaller trees for other
federal offices.
http://www.lamonitor.com/articles/2005/10/07/headline_news/news03.txt
Massachusetts:
19) Dwyer argued that much of the land that is now being developed
was donated to the school with the expressed condition that it be
maintained as protected woods. "The Middlesex trustees are now going
back on that agreement. That's why people are all stirred up about
it," she said. Friday's more conventional protest was followed up
on Saturday morning with a more theatrical demonstration by a group
of current and former Middlesex students calling themselves Middlesex
Graduates For Estabrook. Gathering in front of the dining hall on
the Middlesex campus, the protesters staged a mock funeral, complete
with a larger than life puppet of Henry David Thoreau who strolled
through a cemetery representing all that would be lost if the woods
were cut down. Some of the protesters dressed all in black, while
others donned tree stump outfits and pretended to play tennis,
signifying the destruction of the forest to make way for outdoor
tennis courts. This weekend's protests marked the latest round of
a battle that has been raging on and off for more than 13 years.
The controversy began in the early 1990s when the school proposed
a major construction project to build new athletic facilities
including eight tennis courts on school-owned land in Estabrook
Woods. After many years and many legal challenges, construction
finally began in July and is scheduled to continue for the next
several years. Middlesex School Headmaster Kathy Giles said that
while she disagrees with the opposition, she respects the passion
of their convictions. While the project appears to be moving ahead,
neither of the opposition groups are ready to give up on their cause
just yet. "Everybody is still just as engaged as they were 13 years
ago. It's a real up for us that there's still that much concern,"
said Dwyer.
http://www2.townonline.com/concord/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=339922
USA:
20) To get a sense of the Bush administration's antipathy for the
act, one need only look at how the U.S. Forest Service - overseen
by Bush's undersecretary of Agriculture, Mark Rey - has implemented
it. In June 2003, for example, the agency decided that logging done
in the name of hazardous fuels reduction on up to 1,000 acres of
land, as well as logging in burned areas up to 4,200 acres, was as
benign environmentally as clearing brush. It claimed, shockingly,
that logging of such magnitude would have no significant impact and
therefore needed no environmental review or public comment. This
week, the Forest Service is expected to apply such "streamlining"
yet again. A proposed rule change would exempt its entire
forest-management planning process from environmental review. That
means that the agency can put together a plan for logging, mining,
off-road vehicle use and more on public lands without having to
consider environmental effects or deal with citizen input. That
process, instead, would kick in as each piece of the plan is
implemented. But as more and more kinds of actions are made exempt,
fewer and fewer reviews will actually take place.
Canada:
21) As you read this message, Kimberly-Clark is clear-cutting ancient
forests to make Kleenex and toilet paper. As the world's largest
manufacturer of tissue products, K-C is in a unique position to
damage or destroy entire ecosystems. Only 20% of our ancient forests
remain and they are too precious to throw away or flush down the
toilet! Join Greenpeace to take on the tissue tyrants: Greenpeace
is working with folks throughout North America to protect these
endangered forests and the people and wildlife living in them by
mobilizing pressure against Kimberly-Clark. Take action today Send
an email to Kimberly Clark CEO Thomas Falk at
http://kleercut.net/sendamessage?lst . Read more about the campaign
at http://www.kleercut.net Host a House Party - Host a Greenpeace
House Party on October 27th and join activists around the country.
Meet other people who care about our environment and learn how you
can help! Greenpeace will provide a video for your party to watch,
and will host a conference call. Email mailto:u...@kleercut.net for
more information.
November 3rd Day of Action Mark your calendars! November 3rd is an
international day of action to save the Boreal Forest, North America's
largest wilderness tract, the size of 13 Californias! Join campuses
and communities around the world to stop K-C from trashing the
Boreal. Check out the Kleercut Action Pack at
http://kleercut.net/en/actionpack?lst for ideas on what you can do
on November 3rd. Download stickers, posters and fliers, and join a
local Kleercut Group (http://kleercut.net/en/getlocal?lst) . Email
mailto:u...@kleercut.net with any questions.
Romania:
22) Authorities are prosecuting more than 1,000 people for logging
illegally in Romania, police said Wednesday. The crackdown began
in June after the country was hit by devastating floods this year,
with some recently deforested areas suffering heavy damages. Police
have issued 7,000 fines, totaling 5.2 million lei (US$1.73 million;
?1.45 million), and 1,057 people were being criminally prosecuted
for cutting trees illegally, Police Commissioner Cornel Ciocoiu
said. The chaotic logging "was one of the causes for this year's
floods," he said, blaming a lack of personnel to guard state and
private forests. Since 1991, there was little enforcement of laws
protecting forests, he said, adding that the Ministry of Agriculture
employs just one-fifth of the rangers needed. Among those facing
criminal charges was the Runcu town mayor, who allegedly gave away
part of a public forest to a private company. He is charged with
abuse of power. Other local officials have been accused of abusing
their positions by approving deforestation projects or allegedly
failing to protect public property. Floods this year caused more
than ?1.5 billion (US1.8 billion) in damage and killed 74 people.
http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2005/10/05/64540.html
Russia:
23) she starts to describe the magnificent black fir (Abies holophylla)
forests around her home in Vladivostok. "It is a unique forest
formation in the basin of Peter the Great Bay," she said. "They are
the biggest trees in the forest, up to 60 meters, and two meters
in diameter. But there is a lot of illegal logging. It is a big
problem." The trees are rapidly disappearing, she said, explaining
that there is a huge need for environmental education in her region.
Chipizubova is a research assistant with the Far East branch of the
Pacific Geography Institute, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
She said many school children in Vladivostok can't recognize black
fir trees because they've never seen one or even a picture of one.
As chairperson of a grassroots group in her city called the Center
for Ecological and Civil Initiatives (ECOGEA), she hopes to change
that. Working with funding from several international organizations,
she hopes to tackle a slew of issues including sustainable development,
ecological resource protection and restoration and environmental
education.
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20051007/NEWS/51007012
Nigeria:
24) Officials of the Ogun State Ministry of Forestry have impounded
eight lorries belonging to illegal loggers in government forest
reserves in the state. A statement by the ministry said on Tuesday
in Abeokuta that the Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Dele Odulaja,
gave the order during a tour of Aworo forest reserve in Yewa North
Local Government Area. The statement said three farmers had been
charged to court for cultivating cocoa in government forest reserves,
adding that several other persons had been penalised for some illegal
acts. On the recent attack on officials of the ministry by the
Temidire community in Ijebu-Igbo, the commissioner announced police
reinforcement to protect forest guards against such incidents. He
noted that the ministry had done well in its revenue generation
drive during the first two quarters of the year and stressed the
need for timber contractors and other stakeholders to ensure that
the ministry realise its target for the year.
http://www.independentng.com/news/nnoct050517.htm
Kenya:
25) The Eco Challenge estimates that Kenya needs to plant 100 million
trees per year to meet demand and restore forest cover from its
present denuded and declining state to the target of 10 per cent
of national land area. Outgoing managing director Lamine Kane said
the exceptional planting achieved in the past one year was 330
million better than nothing, but 70 million less than enough. To
increase the number of people planting trees, with even more vigour,
the Eco Challenge is now adding an extra campaign called: "One
person, One Event, One Tree". Kane said: "We need to harness something
that already happens at least 100 million times a year and to
celebrate each of those events - by planting a tree. One person.
One event. One tree. 100 million times." And with each planting of
each tree, let the person say: I am changing the world for the
better; I am saving and building Kenya's future.
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=30&newsid=58669
Brazil:
26) Large parts of the Amazon rainforest are at their driest in
living memory, a direct consequence, scientists say, of the severe
hurricane season off the US Gulf coast. Rainfall has been significantly
below average this year along the Rio Solimoes and the Rio Madeira,
two of the major Brazilian tributaries that flow into the Amazon,
causing water levels to drop to record lows. Rivers and lakes are
drying up, revealing huge sandbanks and making navigation difficult
for boats. Since many towns are only accessible by river, medicine,
food and fuel are running out in some communities. "There is no
rain here because the air is descending, which prevents the formation
of clouds," said Ricardo Dellarosa, of the Amazon Protection
Organisation (Sipam) in Manaus. "The air is descending here because
the air is rising very intensely in the north Atlantic, creating
storms and hurricanes. What goes up must come down." Gilvan Sampaio
of the National Institute of Space Research said the north Atlantic
was slightly warmer than usual, which had shifted the tropical
weather system further north. A secondary factor, he added, was
that cold fronts that usually came from the south of Brazil at this
time of year had not been arriving. "These cold fronts have been
heading straight into the ocean, instead of heading north towards
the Amazon." In towns such as Humaita, 400 miles south of Manaus
on the Rio Madeira, the lush landscape has drastically changed. "A
beach has been born in the middle of our town," said Jose Edmee
Brasil, the president of the town council. "Before this year I'd
never seen the river less than 10 metres deep - now its only 2
metres. This is the biggest drought in our history."
http://www.ecobc.org/newstoday/2005/10/todaysnews1049/index.cfm
Solomon Islands:
27) The fact remains that the earth's natural resources are very
important to us. They contribute towards world food supplies and
are source of employment for hundreds of Solomon Islanders. Social
and economic factors are directly related to these pressures on our
natural resources. The quest for money led many stakeholders and
middlemen to sway away from the need to conserve the forest in a
sustainable manner. Western Province had a large concentration of
logging operations in the country. May be because of the forest
quality and density and the topographic characteristic. Most part
of Western Province composed of lowland forests packed with suitable
hardwood. Thus all the major islands have operational logging
concessions with a direct focus at large scale extraction of timber
resources regardless of the environment consequences or ensuing
long term ecological and social problems. Pollution due to logging
will result in material entering the rivers and streams and used
by the oxygen. As a result most of the organism in the waters cannot
survive and disrupted the food chain. Marovo once a proposed World
Heritage has been heavily exploited by loggers. Due to the vast
exploitation of its forest, if nothing is done to halt and at least
manage its environment then the lagoon may never recover from
extensive damage that is already started. From an aerial view you
can see the snake of roads made by loggers through the islands.
Even the smaller islands near Bareho were not spared as roads were
built and forest slashed down as part of the forest harvesting.
From air it was obvious how the sediments from the soil being washed
down into the sea that made the coastal areas look muddy. Definitely
the taste for money had brain damaged so many locals within the
area. While there are alternative ways to get money such as through
sustainable logging, many people in the lagoon have resort to
fast-money by allowing foreigners to log for them. Although many
of these people have enjoyed fat money very little have they real!
ized the
http://www.solomonstarnews.com/drupal-4.4.1/?q=comment/reply/5213
China:
28) China has made significant strides forward in protecting its
natural forests by reducing 130 million cubic meters of logging.
The State Forestry Administration says China has been carrying out
a Natural Forest Conservation Project for seven years at the upper
reaches of Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. During the project's preliminary
phase, logging for commercial use was banned completely. Throughout
the rest of the project, the aim has been to restore and develop
natural forests with a view to balancing forest conservation and
the obvious economic functions of logging. The timber output of
state-owned forest regions in northeast China and north China's
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has dropped. With the reduction
of timber output, a large number of workers have become 'forest
guardians'.
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2238/2005-10-6/1...@275352.htm
Bhutan:
29) In May, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation made
a $700,000 grant to a World Wildlife Fund program to protect the
Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in Bhutan. According to a 2003 report
in National Geographic, the sanctuary was created to protect Bhutan's
version of "Bigfoot," which is about 5 feet tall, covered with hair
except for its face, smells horrible and disguises its four-legged
tracks by carefully making sure to leave only two prints.
India:
30) Mr. Radhakrishnan said the measures taken by the Government to
check plunder of sandalwood had yielded results. Following the
formation of a new sandalwood division and posting of additional
staff in July, the felling of sandalwood trees had come down, on
average, from seven to one a day (78 trees lost in 79 days). About
150 forest brigands had been arrested. More than 1,000 cases were
in different stages of filing. Besides, the Department had seized
553 kg of sandalwood. This was equivalent to half of the 78 trees
felled after July 18. The Government, he said, proposed to strengthen
the intelligence wing of the department and the local forest
protection councils. The remuneration of informers would be increased.
Southern States would take steps for joint action to check poaching,
ganja cultivation and sandalwood smuggling. The Minister said that
the course of action the Government would take on the report of the
empowered committee of the Supreme Court on encroachment on Cardamom
Hill Reserves would be taken after discussion with the Revenue
Department. Mr. Radhakrishnan said that as many as 23 unauthorised
sandalwood factories had been closed down. Altogether 110 personnel
had been posted additionally to the sandalwood division at Marayur
and the wildlife division at Munnar. Forest stations, he said, were
opened at four places. Arms, wireless and other equipment were
provided to the forest staff. A rapid action police force was also
functioning at Marayur.
http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/08/stories/2005100812410100.htm
Thailand:
31) The price of imported teak and hard wood from Burma has risen
in Mizoram due to recent increases in transportation costs. The
Mizoram State Government recently banned the logging of teak and
hard wood in Mizoram in an attempt to preserve the state's forest.
Last month they began importing teak and hard wood from Burma.
According to the Mizoram State Forest Office, the price of teak is
about US $200 a ton with the state having imported 500 cubic feet
so far. The teak is being traded in Kale on Indo-Burma border at
more than Ks. 300,00 a ton. (The unofficial current exchange rate
is Ks. 1,350 a US dollar.
http://www.mizzima.com/mizzima/archives/news-in-2005/News-in-Oct/08-Oct-05-29.htm
Philippines:
32) BACOLOD CITY-BACOLOD BISHOP Vicente Navarra has asked President
Macapagal-Arroyo to personally look into what he believed was the
questionable dismissal by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez of an
illegal logging case filed against Don Salvador Benedicto Mayor
Cynthia de la Cruz, her husband Nehemias, and eight others. "As
shepherd of my flock in the Diocese of Bacolod I personally register
my indignation with the manner with which the Secretary of Justice,
Sec. Raul Gonzalez, dealt with the illegal logging case," the prelate
said in a letter to the President yesterday. "Please allow our
judicial courts to decide on the merit of the case, lest it appear
that the exercise of justice is a farce and your government lacks
sensitivity to the continuing degradation of our forests and
mountains," he told the President. "I join the sentiment of the
enlightened citizens and together with them ask you to look personally
into the case and let the issue take its just course," the bishop
added in the letter.
http://news.inq7.net/regions/index.php?index=1&story_id=52530
33) The Provincial Development Council (PDC) asked yesterday President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to order the Zamboanga Economic Zone and
Free Port Authority ( Zambo EcoZone ) in Zamboanga City to stop the
cutting of trees in upper Malayal, Sibuco, this province and punish
those responsible for denuding the remaining forest of the municipality.
PDC's request was embodied in two resolutions it adopted during a
special session called yesterday by Gov. Rolando Yebes. At least
21 of the 25 town mayors in the province attended the special
session. Also in attendance were members of the religious sector
and some-non government organizations (NGO's) whose concern is to
preserve the remaining forest of the province. The twin resolutions
asked President Arroyo to order Zambo EcoZone chairperson Georgina
Yu to stop the cutting of trees at Sitio Kasilangan, Upper Malayal,
Sibuco, this province and punish administratively the people found
to have violated the implementing rules and guidelines of the zone
and the total log ban imposed by Environment and Natural Resources
Secretary Mike Defensor. Sibuco Mayor Norbi Edding delivered a
privilege speech during the session, disclosing the many violations
that the zone has allegedly committed. These include encroachment
on territorial jurisdiction of the town, illegal cutting of hardwood
trees and maintaining a checkpoint manned by armed men of the zone
at Sitio Kasilangan, Upper Malayal.
http://www.mb.com.ph/PROV2005100746161.html
Australia:
34) The Member for Collie-Wellington, in south-western Western
Australia, says a local environmental group has raised valid concerns
about plans to log the Arcadia forest and he will take the matter
up with the Environment Minister. Mick Murray met representatives
from the group this week, where they explained their opposition to
the Forest Products Commission's proposal to log the forest as part
of next year's harvest plan. The group is concerned the logging
would increase salinity problems around the Wellington Dam and
affect the biodiversity of the area. Mr Murray says the group wants
the area included in the Wellington National Park and to be used
for tourism purposes. "My job is to take their concerns to [Minister]
Judy Edwards with some costings that they have there," he said.
"It's not a win-win situation because they say it won't pick up a
great deal of dollars out of the logging of that area."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1475982.htm
35) There's been an angry reaction from conservationists over a
decision that will allow logging in the latest Australian region
to be granted National Heritage status. At issue is a pocket of
land at Recherche Bay on Tasmania's southern coast. The Federal
Government this afternoon announced that the region warranted
inclusion for its historical significance on the National Heritage
List, but conservationists are furious. Already some conservationists
are dismissing the protection as "Claytons protection" - the
protection you have when you're not having protection. Greens leader,
Senator Bob Brown goes even further: "What a washout that on the
same day the minister gives this heirloom of Australia National
Heritage status, he also gives the go ahead to the bulldozers to
log the forest in the centre of the peninsula. It's the Minister
for the Environment who should be the protector of our nation's
environment giving his imprimatur to the destruction of a core piece
of this nation's cultural and national heritage. It's just awful.
It's more than money for woodchips, it's our cultural, our historic,
our natural heritage, which we should pass on to the next generation,
not logged out to line the pockets of a woodchip corporation. Ian
Cambell says: "I should make the point that in National Heritage
areas around Australia, for example the Great Barrier Reef, there
is significant multi-use in these areas. There is no reason why
sound forestry practices and the protection of heritage cannot take
place side by side, and that is likely to occur here." But that
argument doesn't wash with the local Recherche Bay Protection Group,
which says there's been very little logging in the area.
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/s1476488.htm
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