Forest Policy Research

–China: 14) New bird species discovered in limestone rainforest, 15) Farms to forest,
–India: 16) Model Mills are cutting trees, 17) Silent demo opposes logging near Kaifi Azmi park, 18) Turning smugglers into tour guides via “Trekking for Trees,” program,
–Bangladesh: 19) Tiger kills 3 villagers, 20) Save 1000 trees, stop Dhaka city,
–Philippines: 21) Flooding in Western Visaya is because of forest loss, 22) Choice between water for farms or for mining, 23) Protest of cutting permit for Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park, 24) Lucrative corn production a new threat to forests, 25) Forests need to be more clearly defined,
–Malaysia: 26) Golden Pharos ready to destroy 129,000ha in Terengganu,
–Indonesia: 27) Government needs to trust community to protect forest, 28) Alas Kusuma’s illegal logging in Protected Forest Mt Lawang, 29) Michael Sheridan video about forest destruction, 30) Bell Gully is Saving White Rhinos, 31) Orangutan Survival’s rescue and rehabilitation centre, 32) West Java air is warmer now and a teacher is reforestating to change that,
Australia: 33) Save Kimberly Wilderness coast, 34) Aussie’s biggest bank getting in on carbon credits,

China:

14) It prefers to walk, flying only when frightened. It often feeds on worms and insects in the gaps between rocks. Meet the new species of bird discovered by Chinese ornithologists on a small patch of limestone rainforest on the Sino-Vietnamese border. No ornithologist had sighted the myna-sized bird before probably because of its plain looks and skulking habit. Zhou Fang, of the College of Animal Sciences and Technology, and Jiang Aiwu, one of his graduate students, first saw it during a survey at the end of 2004. It took almost four years of studies and fieldwork to confirm it’s a new species. Zhou’s college is affiliated to Guangxi University in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. “After seeing the birds a few times during our survey, Professor Zhou told me it’s probably a new species,” says Jiang. “I have been studying birds in the region since the 1970s,” the 59-year-old ornithologist says. “But I had never seen it before.” Zhou and Jiang caught two of birds on January 21, 2006, to conduct a thorough study. As the bird is seen only in and around the Nonggang Natural Reserve of Guangxi, only 18 km southeast of the Vietnamese border, it has been named the Nonggang Babbler (Stachyris nonggangensis). The global scientific community has confirmed their finding, and the Auk, the world’s leading journal on ornithology, published their study in its 125th issue recently. This is the second time Chinese scientists have found a new species of bird in the country. The first was in the 1930s. Zhou and his student have become the first Chinese authors in the US-based journal too. “During the past two years, we had to face four tests set for us by Auk’s expert teams,” Zhou says. It’s easier to find a new species of plant or bug, he says. “But finding a new bird is once-in-a-lifetime achievement for even a leading ornithologist.” Though the bird has been seen only in and around the nature reserve, it could exist in the limestone region of Vietnam’s northern highlands too, Zhou says. “Till it is seen there, it can be considered a species endemic to China.” About 100 pairs of the birds have been observed in Nonggang. “Their habitat in the reserve is protected,” Zhou says. “But as they could also exist in the Karst rainforest outside the reserve, logging and burning wood to make charcoal pose a threat to their wider habitat.” http://english.people.com.cn/90001/6432881.html

15) China is implementing the policy of retirement of cultivated land to forest and grassland. The forestry reform is full steam ahead across the whole country with a view to realize forestry economy to let rural people contract for mountain forests in order to achieve equitable distribution of wealth. However, in the course of implementation, there is often a lack of detailed planning and regulation which gives rise to profound problems such as ecological destruction and damage to the rural economy. A majority of contractors of mountain forests use the contracted land to grow eucalyptus that is of low ecological but high economic value. Eucalyptus is an economic crop of foreign origin characterized by speedy growth. It takes only a few years of planting to be ready for paper-making. In other words, it stands for a business of low cost and high profit. Imagine in various poor villages in remote places, some short-sighted greedy members of village committees would grant the land to a contractor at CNY$5 to $8 per acre and the latter would hire people to chop off the primeval trees or simply burn down the whole mountain forest. A significant number of the trees being so destroyed are valuable trees or thick old trees. The birds and animals dependent on the forest would be wiped out as well. Eucalyptus is described by ecologists as a water and nutrient sucking machine. Following the planting of eucalyptus, the soil will be sucked dry and lose all the nutrients in a period as short as one or two years. The water in the soil will even be caused to contain toxins and the land where eucalyptus is grown turn barren. This sort of monocultural plantation coupled with the characteristics of eucalyptus therefore cannot meet the aim of the slogan of %u201CReal benefits to the peasants, Protection of the ecology, Development for the forestry industry%u201D initially put forward by the Chinese government for the contracting of mountain forests. Retirement of cultivated land to forest and grassland cannot resolve the hardships of peasants. On the contrary it has increased their hardships. In the rural villages, the average annual income of peasants is still low. To contract for hundreds or thousands of acres of mountain forests often requires an advance contracting fee of a few years in the amount of over ten thousand or hundred thousand dollars. Only large business groups or enterprises can afford such a large amount in one go. As a result, the scheme of contracting for mountain forests has turned into a monopoly of large business groups. Sign the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/contract-for-mountain-forests-in-china-cause-ecological-destr
uction-and-damage-to-the-rural-economy

India:

16) Hundreds of trees have been cut on the Model Mills premises in Ganeshpeth without the requisite permission. The sprawling 30-acre mill land was bought by Gold Bricks Infrastructure Limited, Raipur for Rs 164 crore in what was termed as the biggest-ever mill deal struck by the National Textile Corporation (NTC) in the region. Till now hundreds of trees have been cut, it is alleged. The Model Mills was a rich habitat for rare birds like Night Heron, Little Cormorant, Indian Pond Heron and Indian Shag to state a few. Groups of city bird-watchers claim to have sighted over 400 of these rare birds in an heronary in the area last year. According to Raju Kasambe, an avid bird-watcher and expert, heronaries are bird colonies which are very uncommon. These are mostly found in protected areas like Navegaon and Nagzira. “Model Mills was perhaps the last resort for these birds. Now, with large-scale cutting of trees, which were planted many years ago essentially to curb pollution, their habitat has been destroyed,” he claimed. A visit to the area showed that hundreds of trees, mostly Subabul, were cut in patches on the mill premises. Bulldozers are being used to fell trees and the operation was being carried out clandestinely so that even visitors, who want to have darshan of two over 100-year-old temples, are not being allowed. Only select few can offer prayers. All these trees were cut over the past one month, after the owners took possession on May 22. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nagpur/Trees_cut_shelter_gone_rare_birds_virtually_homele
ss/articleshow/3158652.cms

17) MUMBAI: More than 200 residents on Sunday staged a silent demonstration to protest against the felling of trees in an open space adjoining Kaifi Azmi Park in Juhu to make way for the construction of a club. The residents, including senior citizens, children and slumdwellers, planted more than 30 trees in the spots where the trees were uprooted from a few days ago. They spray-painted the playground wall with messages like ‘We want more trees’ and ‘Who needs another club?’ They even painted an effigy that was symbolic of the builders while shouting slogans after having forced their way into the public ground that was locked up by builders. Mayor Shubha Raul, who visited the site on Sunday, promised the residents that she would convene a meeting with members of the Tree Authority, ward officer and municipal commissioner to find a solution to their grievances. Corporators Ashish Shelar and Adolf D’souza were also present on the occasion. “I’m very happy to see so many proactive citizens,” said Shelar. “Emotions were running high. There were several senior citizens who could barely walk but were planting trees. Ozne of them told me that she prayed that the civic body would give the garden back to the citizens before her death,” said secretary of Gulmohar Residents’ Association, Ashoke Pandit. The 3.5-acre ground, reserved as a playground, was given to Ronson Foundation for maintenance in 1990. But in 1998, an agreement was made between the BMC and the foundation, giving the plot to the company on a caretaker basis. Permission was also granted to construct a recreation centre on 15% of the land. The residents are now demanding that the BMC revoke the permission granted to Ronson Foundation. Sohail Kusumgar of Ronson Foundation said that the residents were earlier denied entry because they had stopped the work earlier. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Juhu_residents_protest_tree_felling/articleshow/31549
86.cms

18) Srinagar - At last the state government has responded to acts of vandalazation of forests in Jammu and Kashmir and this is being done by counseling the timber smugglers and makes them think green. The smugglers are being trained as tourist guides for trekkers. The authorities will test the move in the Varmul district where unbridled felling of trees, during past 18 years, has led to extensive soil erosion and water scarcity. With lack of employment opportunities seen as a major cause for felling and smuggling of trees in Varmul, the environmentally friendly poverty alleviation program envisages launching of trekking in its upper reaches for tourists and engagement of timber smugglers and villagers as their guides to check the menace. The program ‘Trekking for Trees’ has been devised by the Tourism Department with assistance of its tourism consultant under the Rural Tourism Circuit Development Scheme. The idea to launch the Trekking for Trees Program was conceived by tourism consultant to state government, Carin Jodha Fisher. “When I visited Varmul last year, I was shocked to see open felling of trees by the locals. After living with them, I found that they resorted to felling of trees to earn bread and butter as they had no source of livelihood. I decided to do something for saving the forests and provide employment opportunities to the locals,” Carin told Greater Kashmir. Fisher said she got the inspiration to start the program in Varmul from her successful eco-tourism project in Phaneng in Assam. Like in Varmul, she said people of Phaneng resorted to felling of trees for livehood. “I made them realize the ill-effects of deforestation and with their help constructed eco-friendly huts. Within two years, Phaneng become the favorites haunt of foreign tourists. The people of Phaneng have now become self-reliant and other villagers are taking on their footsteps. But they make it a point not only to protect forests but plant trees. Phaneng is now cocooned in verdant greenery,” Carin said. http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=23_6_2008&ItemID=52&cat=1

Bangladesh:

19) KHULNA - The tiger stormed into the village late on Friday, killing three people, then continued to roam the settlement until panicked villagers regrouped and lured it into a trap. The incident occurred at a remote village near Shamnagar Police Station, near the Sundarbans mangrove forests, 400 km (250) miles southwest of the capital Dhaka. The Sundarbans is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to the Royal Bengal tigers. “The angry villagers beat the tiger to death,” a forest official said. “It was not possible to save it and send it back to the forests as the people were agitated beyond control.” In March tigers killed six people in villages around the Sundarbans. Forest officials said tigers are probably being forced to hunt outside the Sundarbans because of a scarcity of food after Cyclone Sidr ravaged large parts of the mangrove forests in November last year. At least 60 percent of the 6,000 sq km (2,320 sq mile) mangrove forests are in Bangladesh, home to more than 400 Royal Bengal tigers. http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSDHA5766

20) Environmentalists and residents yesterday called on the government to come forward to save about 1000 trees that the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) is planning to saw down in order to make way for two new roads in Mirpur neighbourhood. They vented their concern over the DCC move at a press conference at the National Press Club, jointly organised by Save Environment Movement (Sem) and residents of Block D of Mirpur 12, where the proposed roads are to be constructed. Block D resident Matiur Rahman in a written statement said the city corporation plans to construct the two roads at Lane 17 and Lane 18 of the block even though there has been a road in between the two lanes since 1962. He said many trees that local residents planted there will have to be felled if the road-building arrangement goes ahead, which will have adverse environmental impact on the locality. Some vested interests with the connivance of a few city corporation officials are trying to construct the two roads instead of repairing the existing one, he alleged. Mentioning that the existing road is enough for local vehicular traffic, he said a planned children’s park should instead be constructed with the help of noted architects, sparing the tress for children. Sem president Abu Naser Khan said it would save money and the environment as well if the city corporation repairs the existing road. Underscoring the need for saving trees everywhere in the country, columnist Sayed Abul Maksud said they are against cutting down trees, no matter whatever the excuses for it are. “We’ll go for a movement if the city corporation goes ahead with its plan”, he said. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=42168

Philippines:

21) Experts blame the worst flooding experienced in Western Visayas mainly to the continued depletion of trees and the conversion of agricultural lands to subdivisions and commercial areas. Jerry Bionat, executive officer of the Iloilo Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, said logging activities should be investigated because rampaging waters that inundated entire villages carried logs. Mayor Isabelo Maquino of Sta. Barbara town, one of the hardest hit municipalities, told a meeting o0f the PDCC that the logs slammed into and destroyed or damaged bridges. Bionat noted that the flooding hit areas previously unaffected by flood waters and many residential areas. Water resource engineer Andrew Margarico said that while the intensity of the rainfall is a factor in the extent and magnitude of the flooding, deforestation is one of the probable main causes of the calamity. “If there are no trees to absorb rainfall, the water will go directly downstream,” said Margarico in a telephone interview. Scientist and environmentalist Jurgenne Primavera said the flooding showed the alarming situation of forest cover which has shrunk to less than a million hectares out of a total land area of 30 million hectares. “Water seeks its own level and unless it is held back—by soil, roots and trees and forests– it will go to lower areas,” said Primavera, a Pew Fellow. She said the abnormal amount of rainfall is also an manifestation of global warming, the phenomenon characterized by general increase in temperature blamed on increasing amounts of carbon dioxide emission. Scientists have said that global warming triggers abnormal weather patters including more intense storms and floods, longer droughts and other weather disturbances. http://www.thenewstoday.info/2008/06/25/experts.blame.deforestation.land.conversion.for.floodin
g.html

22) Sister Lascuna said that according to studies conducted by various environmentalist groups including that of University of the Philippines and Ateneo University’s geological societies claimed most if not all mining areas in the region where huge deposit of metallic including non-metallic mineral resources are found are within watershed areas. “It is a choice between water supply to irrigate farm lands and potable water supply of communities or money for owners of mining firms laughing all the way to the banks”, Lascuna who claimed mining in watershed areas will dry up irrigation and water wells for host communities said. The Bureau of Mines and Geo-Sciences have approved six Mineral Production Sharing Agreements or MPSA in Surigao del Sur involving six mining firms operating in large-scale mining activities at present covering an area of 15, 926.39 hectares. Commercial logging activities in the province alone doing large scale logging operations based on DENR records involved four big logging companies with approved Timber License Agreement (TLA) and Integrated Forest Agreement (IFMA) covering 241,305 hectares of public forest, timber lands. Under the law, IFMA and TLA holders are allowed to cut 82,000 cubic meters of logs or about 41,000 pieces of logs depending on sizes per year per title holder. In Surigao del Sur alone, there are about 27 applications and ready for MPSA issuance involving 27 mining firms ready to implement large-scale mining activities covering to a total of 115,349 hectares of land. There are also three applications for Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) under process at the Bureau of Mines and Geo-Sciences central office in Manila ready for large-scale mining operations involving 106,803 hectares in Surigao del Sur. According to the Diocesan Social Action Center of Surigao del Sur, the total land area of Surigao del Sur is only 455,567 hectares while consolidating approved mining claims and logging concessions including those under process or pending applications totaled all to 465,112.07 hectares. “Where are now the watershed areas where people’s potable water supply and irrigation water come from?’ Sister Lydia questioned. http://www.mindanao.com/blog/?p=3863

23) Green activists have asked Environment Secretary Lito Atienza to recall a permit allowing the cutting of more than 4,000 trees in Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park in Negros Occidental to make way for a geothermal project. “He should recall the permit,” Rustico Biñas, a member of the Save the Mt. Kanlaon Coalition, said in an interview. “It’s our moral obligation to stop cutting trees.” Atienza could not be reached for comment Saturday. The coalition has fiercely opposed the geothermal project of the Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp., and warned that the cutting of trees could be the start of the park’s destruction. The park used to have a 24,000-hectare forest cover but only 9,000 hectares of that now remain, according to Biñas. “We will not only be cutting down trees but we’ll be endangering the flora and fauna, and then of course the clean water sources,” he said. The PNOC-EDC is set to cut down 4,213 trees in a 12.5-hectare site in the park preparatory to the construction of roads and other infrastructure, according to the coalition. The 12.5 hectares are part of a 169-hectare buffer zone allotted to the PNOC-EDC for its geothermal exploration under Republic Act No. 9154, or the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act, it said.The provincial board of Negros Occidental approved in May the company’s entry into the buffer zone. The PNOC-EDC has vowed to plant trees in the project site in the face of strong opposition from environmentalists, the Church and civil society groups. This was a condition set by the provincial board for the firm’s entry into the buffer zone. The Northern Negros Geothermal Power Development Project hopes to generate at least 40 megawatts of electricity to supply the power needs of the province and nearby Panay island. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080622-144104/Save-Mt-Kanlaon-trees-At
ienza-urged

24) ILOILO—Corn production is getting lucrative. A number of Ilonggos have started engaging in this business to the detriment of the province’s forested areas. The province’s remaining forests, especially those in northern Iloilo, are being cleared for the planting of corn, said the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro). Penro is assessing forested lands in northern Iloilo damaged by corn farmers, said forest management specialist Antonio Latoza Jr. The Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) of the municipality of Sara recently informed Penro of the continued transformation of timberland areas for corn production. Ernesto Arevalo, who heads the Cenro in Sara, said this has caused the denudation of forested areas in several communities. Penro’s Valentin Talabero has also reported to Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. that this “economic trend” resulting to the destruction of northern Iloilo’s forest resources.“Corn production has become an attractive investment … due to its high market demand as a feed material and for ethanol,” Talabero told Tupas. Arevalo said his office has started taking steps to address this concern, one of which is information dissemination in several villages of Sara and the adjacent towns of San Dionisio, Batad, Ajuy and Lemery, emphasizing the importance of conserving and protecting forests or timberlands. But aside from forested areas, private lands are also affected by the upsurge in corn plantations. Arevalo said even private lands are being converted into corn plantations, resulting to rapid soil erosion. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080623-144227/Iloilo-losing-fore
sts-to-corn-plantations

25) A new definition of forest should be used. A forest is not composed of just the trees but is an ecosystem. A more accurate definition would be “land consisting of trees with overlapping crown covering of at least 60 percent with a biotic community mainly composed of woody and nonwoody vegetation and the wildlife therein.” The definition in the Senate and House versions describe a forest as having at least 10 percent cover in an area of at least half a hectare. From an ecological point of view, an area with 90 percent grassland is not a forest but a grassland. The definition of forest should refer to the dominant vegetation of the area. Forests are part of the mountain environment in the watershed continuum. They aid in preventing flooding and soil erosion. Forests also feed the streams that feed the rivers that feed the seas. Nutrients from the forest are eaten and released and eaten again by microorganisms as they spiral downstream. Excess nutrients finally flow out of river mouths to enrich estuaries which in turn release their nutrients into the coastal waters. Forests promote biodiversity not only in the areas where they are found but also in the lowlands and the sea. The role of forests in mitigating global warming and protecting endemic endangered species of plants and animals in forests should be highlighted. Adding the following statements in the basic policies can do this: 1) The State recognizes the importance of the ecological services of tropical rainforests in sustaining life on earth especially in mitigating global warming. Further, tropical rainforests are the most important habitats of endemic and threatened species of plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. 2) Forest management must always and sincerely consider biodiversity protection and conservation of wildlife resources and their habitats consistent with Chapter 1, Section 2 of Republic Act. 9147. http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/june/21/yehey/opinion/20080621opi7.html

Malaysia:

26) Golden Pharos Bhd is confident it has gotten over its worst patch and is ready to create value from its principal asset in two timber concessions totalling 129,000ha in Terengganu. After an equity restructuring exercise, which included a rights issue, the company was now in a position to focus on growing its business and even to contemplate rewarding its shareholders with dividend, chief executive officer Datuk Maruan Mohd Said told The Edge Financial Daily in an interview. The company recently announced that it had adopted a dividend policy of paying out 50% of its net profit annually starting from the year ending Dec 31, 2008 (FY08). Maruan said the state-controlled company had businesses along the value chain of the timber industry, including harvesting, sawmilling and downstream activities in door- and glass-making. The company’s timber concessions, among the biggest in Peninsular Malaysia, would ensure a continuous supply of raw material for its activities, he added. Golden Pharos, a 54% subsidiary of Terengganu Inc, was recently awarded the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for the 108,000ha concession under its Dungun Timber Complex Forest Management Unit, which would help ease the passage of its products to foreign markets that are critical for the tropical timber business. “It can help tap the premium value of our products and give us wider access to the export market,” said Maruan. He said as the company obtained its two concessions in 1979 and 1983, it was now ready to go into the second cycle of harvesting, which could produce some 45,000 hoppus tonnes of timber this year. Depending on the species and grade of timber, a hoppus tonne could fetch between RM600 and RM6,000. Maruan said its door and glass businesses contributed about RM30 million and RM25 million, respectively, to the group’s revenue last year. Its revenue rose 19.3% to RM118.82 million in FY07 from RM99.63 million in FY06, while net profit fell to RM1.23 million from RM2.16 million. “We need to strengthen these sectors by looking at its market reach, especially in Europe and the UK, to ensure better sustainability,” he said, adding that the company had initiated talks with several potential marketing partners. http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_b377417f-cb73c03a-
c8c7d600-903c48b9

Indonesia:

27) The sun remained on the eastern horizon, reluctant to show its rays. Cool air still covered the village. The bird songs came from the branches of trees. The dew on the grass was yet to dry. But the activities of the people had already started in Langko Village. Langko village, Donggala regency, is located about 70 kilometers south of Palu city, Central Sulawesi. One by one, people wearing brightly colored siga (a kind of batik headdress similar to that worn by Javanese men) entered the village. They were the customary law leaders of villages and subdistricts in the Lindu plain. The rain was pouring down, but it didn’t dampen the leaders’ spirit. On that particular day, the customary law leaders came to the village at the edge of Lake Lindu for a traditional discussion, called “Kapotio Nolipu Ada”, to reach an agreement based on customary law. The deliberations were staged as one of the ways to observe World Environment Day, which fell on June 5. At the meeting, all customary law leaders agreed with the concept tuwuku linoku — my forest, my life. “Tuwuku linoku means my forest is my life. So if the environment is damaged and the forests are cleared, then there is no source of life … It is our obligation to protect our lives,” said Lindu Customary Law Institution head Daniel Tarese. “Tuwuku Linoku, my life is here. Here we’re alive. Here we eat. And here is where we work. So where we will go if the forest, that gives us our lives, is destroyed?” At the deliberations, the community reconfirmed its commitment to the Lindu Community Conservation Agreement (KKM) to manage people’s social life and natural resources. Daniel said that all can be managed well if the government fully trusts the community to manage the forest and natural resources based on local wisdom that has been in place for a long time. “The felling of forests happens everywhere because the government doesn’t trust the community’s adat (traditional customary law). The community was even accused of felling of forest,” he said. http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20080624.Q01&irec=0

28) ALAS KUSUMA GROUP, Indonesia leading company, carried out destructive logging illegally in Protected Forest Mt Lawang (Hutan Lindung Bukit Lawang) in west Borneo, Indonesia. In addition, documents revealed they have been working together with private Illegal Loggers in the area for years by signing up a secret agreement among them. I have evidence to show it. Mr Tony Wong has reported this matter to all Government Departments and President SBY. However, Indonesia Government gives no attention in response to the issue, no authority dares to take action against ALAS KUSUMA GROUP, despite the company has been evidenced for the involvement in Illegal Logging since 2005. On the contrary, Mr Wong has been jailed over the revelation of this matter since May 2007 (Full story at: THE TRUTH BEHIND ILLEGAL LOGGING) Please stop the Forest Crime! Indonesia Government fails on the issue, International attention and awareness are vital to help stressing on the issue and addressing it properly. WITNESS EVIDENCE AT THE FOLLOWING LINKS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5STSEYKM7k4 http://jacsky.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/alas-kusuma-group-destructive-logging-in-protected-forest
/

29) Michael Sheridan is a documentary filmmaker and experimental videosonic artist whose recent work Instant Noodles addresses the crisis of deforestation and the palm oil industry in Indonesia. His work reminds us that there are as many avenues for expressing environmental consciousness as there are individuals in the world – and that the inspirational nature of art is boundless. Below, Michael shares his thoughts about the creation of Instant Noodles as a means of instigating fresh perspectives on everyday life, and encouraging personal behavior change. When I arrived in Indonesia in August of 2007, I was already committed to producing new artwork for two exhibitions in the United States. In December I finished a new installation sound piece, This is Foreign for the Axiom Gallery and in January a new videosonic work Instant Noodles. Instant Noodles was part of the exhibition Greed, Guilt and Grappling-Six Artists Respond to Global Warming at the Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts. Mags Harries and Clara Wainwright, the artist-curators of the exhibition, asked me last year if I would be interested in participating. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to ground my new explorations in Indonesia – a country I frankly knew very little about. I came to Indonesia because I wanted to go somewhere that I’d never been and to spend an extended period in a developing country. For the past 15 years I have produced documentary films and videosonic art that primarily address social and economic issues in poor and developing communities in Africa, South Asia and the Americas. But the production trips associated with these projects seldom lasted more than 2-4 weeks. http://earthkeeper.com/blog/corporate-social-responsibility/indonesia-and-instant-noodles-an-ar
tist%E2%80%99s-perspective-on-climate-change/

30) Saving rare rhinos and valuable forests is not your everyday kiwi lawyers’ job, but for Bell Gully’s climate change team they’re concluding a world-first deal in the tsunami-struck Indonesian province of Aceh. The deal that combats deforestation in Indonesia as well as providing an innovative financial product onto the world financial markets. Bell Gully’s climate change team, lead by Simon Watt, have been involved in the complex deal involving the trading of carbon credits derived from Indonesia’s tsunami-hit Aceh province. The 2004 tsunami killed more than 168,000 people in the province alone. Since then, Indonesia has partnered with Australia to develop mechanisms that not only reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). Indonesia’s deforestation has been a major environmental concern as well as a major carbon emission contributor, for many years. Bell Gully’s have developed a growing practice in climate change law with Simon Watt receiving a Chambers Global accolade last year as one of 10 partners worldwide identified as a legal expert in the area. Along with colleague Kate Radka, the team have been working on the deal with Indonesian officials, bankers and other professionals on what is potentially a billion dollar deal in terms of carbon credits. The innovative deal is being financially orchestrated by Australian company Carbon Conservation, and will be the world’s first commercial financed deforestation avoidance project. Deforestation is the third largest source of carbon emissions worldwide. The current deal involves a massive commitment towards a reduction in deforestation across 750,000 hectacres of tropical forest in Aceh’s Ulu Masen region. In broad terms, the deal involves a carbon broking relationship under which Carbon Conservation sources buyers of the carbon credits from around the world. The first tranche of credits will be sold to Wall Street bank Merrill Lynch, who intend to market the credits to their investment banking clients, including ‘carbon poor’ companies in Europe and elsewhere. http://www.lawfuel.co.nz/news/article.asp?NewsID=317

31) Borneo Orangutan Survival’s rescue and rehabilitation centre in Indonesian Borneo - has recently welcomed the arrival of three young orangutans from West Kalimantan. All three (aged between 2 - 3 years) were confiscated from private households - victims of palm oil development and logging. Nyaru Menteng, founded by Lone Droscher-Nielsen, is home to 670 orangutans, ranging in age from a few months to about 8 years, where they are cared for and rehabilitated to prepare them for their ultimate release into the wild. In February this year, the Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of the Forestry Department in Indonesia, confiscated Frengky - one of the orangutans - from the area of Singkawang, on the north coast of West Kalimantan. Within two months, another young orangutan, Thomas, was rescued from Sintang, also in the northern part of West Kalimantan province. They were temporarily homed in transit cages in Pontianak, waiting for an opportunity to be transferred to a rehabilitation centre. It wasn’t long before a third orangutan, Caleb, was confiscated - this time in Ketapang, a small town in the southern part of the province, abut seven hours’ journey by boat from Pontianak city. He was placed in the Yayasan Palung’s transit centre in Ketapang to await transfer to a rehabilitation centre. No such facilities exist in West Kalimantan, and all the other orangutan rehabilitation centers in Central and East Kalimantan were all full at the time. In May, however, the Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP), which assists the BKSDA in caring for captive orangutans in West Kalimantan, heard that Nyaru Menteng would be able to accommodate these youngsters at the end of the month. http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/

32) The once pleasant air in the Puncak area of Bogor, West Java, is warmer now that the open green countryside has become a popular site for luxury villas.The change has turned Ade Basir Baesuni into a determined conservationist, planting trees in the area wherever he can. In his self-designed regreening campaign, the 40-year-old Bogor farmer and teacher has been supported by his students from Madrasah Aliyah Miftahulhuda senior high school and SMP Terbuka Amerta Megamendung junior high. Ade said planting trees was easy; the difficult part is caring for them. He said government officials and society groups had planted millions of trees in Puncak, sometimes with little effect. “They just leave the trees without knowing whether they grow or die. Maybe they think the important thing is that they made a regreening effort and the job is done. “Even though 5,000 to 10,000 trees have been planted in a single day, if they don’t get proper care, it’s a waste; they will die,” Ade said. Ade studied only as far as elementary school but he has a masterful knowledge of farming. He successfully cultivated a seedling nursery and was asked to manage the gardens of SMP Terbuka. The school was established by the nongovernmental organization Gerakan Peduli Sekitar Kita (GPSK), which is largely made up of members of the Buddhist community. http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20080624.W05&irec=4

Australia:

33) The Kimberley wilderness coast is internationally recognised as one of the last great unspoiled marine and terrestrial environments in the world. The Kimberley’s clean seas, countless islands, coral reefs, mangroves, rainforests and rivers are home to an astonishing variety of wildlife including endangered humpback whales, 5 species of marine turtles, dugong, crocodiles, rare snubfin dolphins, and the northern quoll. The Kimberley coast also has outstanding cultural values for the region’s many Indigenous communities. From June to November each year, endangered humpback whales make their way to calving grounds just north of Broome, where they stay for four months with their calves. This special whale nursery area needs to be protected from the damaging impacts of industry. The urgent reality is that right now several companies, including Inpex (a Japanese energy company) and Woodside Ltd, have submitted proposals to develop the Browse Basin gas field to the State and Commonwealth governments. The impacts of industrialisation, including proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, would destroy one of the last large and remote coastal wilderness areas left in the world. This government needs to commit to: 1) science-based regional conservation planning and management using whole-of-landscape principles, 2) strong involvement of the Traditional Owners and Indigenous communities in land and sea management programs, 3) ruling out incompatible large scale industrial activity. — I need you to take urgent action TODAY. Simply complete the form opposite to ask Premier Carpenter to protect our Kimberley wilderness coast for future generations. https://secure.wilderness.org.au/cyberactivist/cyberactions/08_06_kimberley-cyberaction.php?ema
il=deane@efn.org&u=129739

34) Macquarie Group Ltd., Australia’s biggest investment bank, plans to generate carbon credits by protecting forests in southeast Asia, South America and Africa. Each permit created by saving trees, representing a ton of carbon-dioxide emissions that were absorbed in forests, will be sold to businesses that want to offset their own greenhouse-gas output, Fauna and Flora International, the conservation group that will manage the projects for the bank, said today in an e- mailed statement. The projects that stop deforestation may help guide international policy makers in devising a new treaty to fight climate change. The United Nations estimates deforestation contributes about 20 percent of the emissions of carbon dioxide blamed for global warming, and forest protection is currently included in UN emissions trading markets. The world body last year called for demonstration projects to be set up. “We’re fulfilling the requests to undertake demonstration activities,” Joe Heffernan, leader of the project for Fauna and Flora International, said today in a telephone interview from Cambridge, England. Macquarie “see it as a significant new horizon, and they’re very clear to explore the boundaries of that market and where revenue could flow from in carbon.” The cost of the projects has yet to be determined, and Sydney-based Macquarie gas said it’ll fund them “as required” said Heffernan, who declined to provide an amount. Fiona Tyndall, spokeswoman for the Australian bank, didn’t reply to a voicemail left on her phone after office hours today. The plan, to be carried out over the next three years, will involve identifying tracts of forest and then working with the villagers who live in it to prevent logging, while ensuring they have an alternative livelihood, Heffernan said. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=a45dC.tgmSF4&refer=australia

–Alaska: 1) Describing the landscape as well as mystery of burled trees
–Washington: 2) Eyes in the Woods volunteers for corporate destroyers, 3) Logger landslide ensures Pe Ell becomes a ghost town at no expense to the loggers,
–Oregon: 3) Loggers not only destroy forests, they poison their neighbors! 5) Tree climbing gives you integrity and moral character, 6) NW Natural pipeline may destroy many forests, 7) Protecting wilderness these days may mean more destruction, 8) BLM plans to poison the land with herbicide, 9) Wyden’s ‘forest protection’ bill will eliminate rules that limit logging activities, 10) cont. 11) Categorical exclusions and eliminating administrative appeals is not what the courts allow! 12) Compromises between loggers and enviros mean enviros lose, but not as much,
–California: 13) Exaggerating fire fears eliminates logging laws in Tahoe, 14) Fire-fear-based thinnings destroy mature forests in Tahoe, 15) Logging in stream is the solution to fire protection? 16) Tahoe NF withdraws bad logging plan, 17) History of Moody ridge forest, 18) Lack of predators near tourist areas lead to deer-caused deforestation, 19) Berkeley Treesit, 20) cont.
–South Dakota: 21) West rim project, Black Hills NF, 22) South Project, Black Hills NF,
–Indiana: 23) I-69 treesit evicted, 24) Roadblock Earth First! 25) cont. 26) cont.
–Illinois: 27) Emerald Ash borer debuts in Chicago, first tree falls!
–Alabama: 28) Power company gives up legal battle against tree defenders
–Massachusetts: 29) Life-long tree defender supports clearcut-Kleenex campaign,
–Tennessee: 30) Friends of Warner Parks, 31) Rocky Forks purchase on front burner,
–Florida: 32) Red-cockaded woodpeckers

Alaska:

1) When I was in Fairbanks for my obstetrics and gynecology rotation, I was fortunate to have a few days off so I could get out and experience the Alaskan landscape. Alaska is so big that it is impossible to make generalizations about the land. The people, the flora, the geology, the weather - it’s difficult to write about the place without over-generalization. One thing about interior Alaska that is hard not to notice is the trees. Having lived in the Pacific Northwest for several years, I’ve rediscovered a connection with the colossal organisms that define the landscapes here. Evergreens are, after all, the reason Seattle can claim the title of Emerald City. It isn’t surprising that one of the first things I noticed after landing in Fairbanks was the diminutive stature of the area’s trees. Black and white spruce, paper birch, alder and poplar are the main species there. And none of them grow much taller than 40 feet! Old growth forest consists of tree trunks less than a foot in diameter. The short growing season conspires with the extreme winter cold to limit tree height and diameter. There is something else peculiar about interior Alaska’s trees. There is a much higher frequency of burl formation there than any place I’ve been. Woodworkers know burls to be valuable sources of figured wood. Laminates, sculptures, and bowls derived from burls are things of beauty. Hikers and orcharders know burls to be those funny bulbous growths along the trunk, roots and limbs of trees. One of the more affected trees I encountered on a hike is shown at the left. The strangest thing about burls is that no one really knows what causes them. Theories range from insect infestation, mechanical damage, genetics, fungus and soil contents. What I know is that when a medical student who has been a biomedical researcher and is an amateur woodworker encounters these misshapen trees in the forest, the first thing he thinks of is a riddle. That’s right, the trees speak to me! This one said: You doctors, you searchers, you cutters of flesh; You sawyers, you sculptors, you dry aesthetes: Gather together to crack my mystery. http://hope-for-pandora.blogspot.com/2008/06/cancer-riddle.html

Washington:

2) Members of the Eyes in the Woods organization will be clearing litter from private timberlands in western Washington this month, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is encouraging hunters to lend a hand. Eyes in the Woods, a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to fish and wildlife stewardship, is sponsoring clean-up events in the following areas: - Olympic Peninsula: Participants will meet at 9 a.m. June 21 at the WDFW Region 6 Office, 48 Devonshire Rd. in Montesano. The clean-up effort, focusing on timberlands managed by Weyerhaeuser and the Campbell Group, will continue until 6 p.m. - Mount St. Helens: Participants will meet at 9 a.m. at Drews Grocery on State Route 504 in Toutle. The clean-up effort will focus on Weyerhaeuser’s Mount St. Helens Tree Farm and will continue until 6 p.m. For contact information about these events, see the Eyes in the Woods website at http://eitw.us/boscal/calendar.php or call (360) 480-6689. Dave Ware, WDFW game manager, said Eyes in the Woods volunteers play an important role in wildlife management by monitoring hunter activity, staffing check stations, posting signs and assisting the department in a variety of other ways. The upcoming clean-up effort is another example of those efforts, Ware said. “Access to private lands is a major issue for hunters and this department,” Ware said. “This is a way for hunters to show their appreciation for landowners who open their lands for outdoor recreation.” http://outdoornewsdaily.com/index.php/archives/4238

3) PE ELL — Just sauntering down the main street of Lewis County’s westernmost town doesn’t say much about the December 2007 flood. It’s not that water didn’t make it into some of the businesses along state Route 6, but the most expensive damage happened on a logging road ridge hidden by forest near the town’s water source. A powerful surge of hilltop rain brought the headwaters of the Chehalis River about 50 feet higher to destroy the historic covered Tin Bridge and the adjoining connector pipe from Pe Ell’s water intake dam at Lester Creek. The new costs are causing some to question whether a government as small as Pe Ell’s can handle the post-flood financial burden. The revenue taken in by water and sewer bills is only authorized to cover the costs of that system, and the burden of those costs falls exclusively on users, most of whom live within the city limits. “It’s going to be a lot of debt that people are going to have to deal with, and I don’t know if it will get to the point where we have to disincorporate, but this could end up being a ghost town,” said Pe Ell City Clerk and Treasurer Jeanette Schwartz, adding that the city currently charges normal households $52 per month for sewer services and $42 per month for water, for an annual total of $178,000 for sewer and $192,000 for water. Four former timber workers having coffee and pie at Evey’s said it’s pretty simple — the economy, with the timber industry, has declined. “Weyerhaeuser does operate here, but not like they used to,” said one of the men, most of whom declined to divulge their last names. Some people in town don’t feel the city needs a government. Without an established water system, Nichols said people would be forced to dig their own wells to the water table, and depending on the location, that can be a problem. “If you go try to put in artesian wells and you go too deep, you get salt water,” Nichols said. http://www.chronline.com/story.php?subaction=showfull&id=1214032375&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&

Oregon:

4) Pitchfork Rebellion co-founder Day Owen says: “Three years ago my wife and I co-founded The Pitchfork Rebellion in response to the poisoning of many of our forest-dwelling neighbors by Timber Industry helicopters spraying herbicides on the clear-cut mountain tops that ring our homes. Then, this Fall, my wife and I were poisoned by aerial spraying near our home and had to get medical attention. Now, this Spring, our teenage daughter needed medical attention after an early morning aerial spray across from our home. This rally in Portland is nothing less than a cry for help! Help us stop the aerial assault on rural families, and help us stop the WOPR and other unwise forest practices.” On Sunday, July 27, 12 noon at Portland’s Pioneer Square (701 SW 6th Ave.) take a stand with the Pitchfork Rebellion - a group of rural Oregonians sick (literally!) of having their water sources, organic crops, livestock, and children poisoned by timber industry helicopter herbicide - for a rally and free concert in celebration of the forests that give us life. http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2006/03/16/coverstory.html

5) It sounds easy — climbing a 160-foot ponderosa pine and hanging out in a hammock way up there — that is, until you’re standing at the bottom of one of these gigantic, centuries-old trees and Viola Brumbaugh is securing you in your hip saddle and hooking you up to myriad ropes, pulleys and other little gadgets on which your life will soon depend. Then, in creeps that doubt: can I do this? Well, I could shout out, “Hey, ’scuse me, but I’m weak of body and mind, a little scared and would like to be rescued and taken down to the ground like a big wimp, OK?” But that’s not going to happen, is it? I’m going to keep going, Then the wind starts blowing in a blustery way and, dangling from my long rope, I get to navigate my way up between big branches, many of them dead and not inviting me to rest on them. Brumbaugh keeps a keen eye on my body language, facial expression and tone of voice. “You OK? How are you?” There’s a right answer and wrong answer to that question halfway up this big tree, isn’t there? But, of course, Brumbaugh knows all the signs of naked terror — and knows I’ll overcome it. That’s what the climb is for, right? It’s like doing a fire walk, on coals. There’s such an element of impossibility about it but (like life itself), the clear hope that, if you find your guts and strength and if you can envision it, by cracky, you’ll do it! “Amazing, isn’t it? This little metal ratchet gadget is all that’s standing between me and about 5.5 long seconds of screaming, followed by a big thud.” They agree, it is amazing. So, having never done it before — and a bit white-knuckled on the ID lever, I rappel down a long, steep, vertical surface, bouncing off it with my feet, just like on Discovery Channel — and it’s easy. Soon my feet are on the ground and I’m unlatching the carabiners and letting the saddle fall to the ground. Whooppee! Alive! Not just alive but “really alive.” As I tell friends about it later, I realize, geez, doing something that challenging and pushing beyond the idea, the illusion, the dread of catastrophe, I really had to push down a ton of fear and switch instead to a different channel, the one broadcasting messages like, “Hey, this is nothing, you can do this. Our ancestors only a few centuries back dealt with bigger dangers on a daily basis and it’s what made them real, strong and confident. That’s how it works. We’re supposed to engage danger and risk, not devote our lives to skirting it. The skirting is what makes us a nation of sheep!” http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080619/LIFE/806190301

6) For two decades, NW Natural has talked about building a pipeline over the Cascades to connect with interstate lines that carry Canadian gas through central Oregon to California. The company isn’t about to run out of gas without it, Kantor said. But a new pipe would provide an alternative supply route to the Willamette Valley if shipments up the Columbia River Gorge were ever shut off. An alternative route, the company said, would also give it leverage in contract negotiations with its interstate gas carrier, Williams Northwest Pipeline Co. For years, however, the proposal languished because neither the company nor regulators could justify the huge cost. Existing supplies and pipeline capacity were adequate, they concluded. Last year, however, NW Natural changed its tune, proposing a 212-mile pipe. About half would snake from north of Madras in central Oregon, through the Mount Hood National Forest to its gas hub near Molalla. From there, the so-called Palomar pipeline would skirt south and west of Portland in an additional 104-mile arc, terminating about 25 miles east of Astoria. Just around a bend in the river: the proposed Bradwood Landing LNG terminal. NW Natural would be a 50 percent owner in the $650 million pipeline proposal with TransCanada Corp., but its share would constitute the largest investment in the company’s 150-year history. And potentially one of the most profitable. The pipeline business is viewed as one of the lowest-risk enterprises in the energy industry, Kantor said, which means lenders provide the necessary capital at lower cost. Meanwhile, pipeline rates are set by federal regulators, who allow a significantly higher return than state regulators grant on regular utility operations. “The pipeline business is a really good business,” Kantor said. It’s also highly controversial. Few people want a high-pressure gas line on their property, and NW Natural’s most recent struggle with pipeline politics offers a glimpse of the difficulties it’s likely to face. The company’s South Mist pipeline, a 62-mile run from Mist to Molalla, put NW Natural in an acrimonious fight with farmers and landowners that landed in the Oregon Supreme Court in 2003. “They have the money. They have the resources. They do whatever they want,” said Asad Shirazi, a landowner who went to court over what he claimed was a lowball offer for an easement across 2,000 feet of his property. Shirazi refused to settle, but saw the pipeline bored under his property anyway after NW Natural sued for condemnation under eminent domain laws. http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/121394310569470.xml&coll=7

7) I know the ‘Badlands’ east of Bend well. Our Senator, Ron Wyden, is currently working to designate this area as “Wilderness” and our town is heavily festooned with bright yellow lawn signs that loudly proclaim - “Protect Badlands Wilderness”. Wild Wilderness chose not to take any position until we could read the language of the bill. Now that it’s been introduced and having read it, it’s my opinion that this bill is much improved compared to the Badlands legislation introduced two years ago. That said, I am not yet displaying a yellow sign in my front yard. A decade ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated to support just about any new Wilderness proposal. Today one can’t ignore the fact that just because an area is designated as Wilderness doesn’t ensure that the wildness of the place will be preserved. If one wants to get a clearer sense of how an area will likely be managed once designated, it’s important to read the bill with care and to pay close attention to the associated buzz. Appended are two items of buzz. The first is a quote from Senator Wyden. The second is a online reader’s comment to an article that appeared in our alternative media. I don’t know the author, but knowing what I do about the Forest Service, the BLM, our local politicians, visitor’s bureau and land managers, I appreciate the points he makes. From Oregon Public Broadcasting, May 28, 2008: Ron Wyden: “Seems to me, if we can get national recognition of the Badlands, that’ll be a big shot in the arm for recreation. And quality of life is a big driver of economic success in central Oregon, and that’s why I’m going to work hard to promote it.” From “The Source Weekly”, June 14, 2008 Officially designating the Badlands a “Wilderness” is like hanging a giant neon sign over it saying, “Hey! Yoohoo! Look at me! Come drive out to visit me along with all the other people who need an official designation of “Wilderness” before they consider me worth their time. If it is so wonderful and solitary, why not protect it in a way that attracts less attention? Do we really need fancy bathrooms and all the other junk that justify charging a trail fee to park there? This will be another flashy feather in the cap of the whore that is Bend. But I’m sure the tourists will love it. - Luther Von Ruckerson — Scott Silver, Wild Wilderness http://www.wildwilderness.org

8) Dear Interested Party: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is initiating a Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on BLM Lands in Oregon Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Noxious weeds and invasive plants infest millions of acres in Oregon. To address this issue, the EIS will analyze the effects of herbicide use on Oregon BLM lands as one of the many tools to control noxious and invasive species and achieve landscape health objectives. The EIS will only address the effects of updating the list of available herbicides for use in Oregon. Currently, Oregon BLM uses only four of the 18 herbicides approved for use on BLM lands nationally. The EIS will not evaluate the use of herbicides for commercial timber enhancement or livestock forage production. The BLM will be holding public meetings across the state in July 2008. The primary purpose of these meetings is to share information and solicit ideas for issues and alternatives to consider in the EIS. If you wish to stay on this mailing list, please visit the project website at http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/vegtreatmentseis to fill out the interest form online. More information on the Vegetation Treatments EIS is available on our website. Or, if you have questions, please contact the EIS Team via email at ORVegTreatments@blm.gov

9) Here it is folks, the moment I have been screaming about. Landscape level 25000 acre categorically excluded partial cuts, biomass contracts 20 years long and all it takes is one sold out green group to approve it. Visit your forest soon, or it may be to late.
Aaarrrgh!!!! Bill Barton, Native Forest Council, Field Operations bill@forestcouncil.org
http://wyden.senate.gov/forestproposal/WydenDraftForestRestorationProposal.pdf

10) The Wyden bill is intended to turn the focus of the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management from timber production to forest restoration, said Josh Kardon, Wyden’s chief of staff. But even with a focus on restoration, preliminary estimates are that the bill would significantly boost timber production from federal lands, Johnson said. The bill divides forests into those that are dry, primarily on the east side of the Cascades, and those that are moist, primarily on the west side of the Cascades. In moist forests, stands and individual trees older than 120 years would be off-limits to logging. In dry forests, trees older than 150 years could not be cut, but younger trees in those stands would be logged to reduce fire danger, improve forest health, and promote fish and wildlife habitat. “The forests are at incredible risk of uncharacteristic disturbances by fire and by insects,” he said. “Furthermore, they are not fulfilling their ecological functions in terms of habitat needs. This is only going to get worse with global climate change.” Conservation groups were generally supportive of the legislation. Steve Pedery of Oregon Wild said it was a good start, but they hoped to see some details changed to increase protections for old growth. Tom Partin, president of the American Forest Resource Council, said they were unhappy at the limits on logging old trees, particularly the possibility it could complicate BLM’s plans to greatly increase logging in old growth forests in Western Oregon. http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-25/1213924745299010.xml&story
list=orlocal&thispage=2

11) The Wyden bill is similar to the DeFazio bill with some elements of the Bingaman bill. We will provide a more in-depth analysis soon. As we have seen in the past with the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (2003), the elimination of administrative appeals and categorical exclusion from NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) have been rejected by federal courts time and time again. There is no reason to believe that the Wyden bill will have any success in that regard. If Congress finds NEPA to be unworkable, then they should revise or rescind it. Otherwise, they should abide by it. This appears to be a fatal flaw in Wyden’s bill at this time. Drs. Franklin and Johnson gave landmark testimony before Wyden’s Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests on this issue last December [here]. It remains to be seen whether Wyden’s new bill actually addresses the issues raised in their testimony. The bill as currently worded prohibits cutting of trees currently 120 years old and older in moist forests and 150 years old or older in dry forests. The emphasis on individual old trees is a sea change away from mis-characterized “old-growth stands” which contain trees of many ages, so the bill may represent a great leap forward in that respect. http://westinstenv.org/sosf/2008/06/20/a-new-wyden-forest-bill/

12) The recent compromise agreement between logging interests and “green” groups in Grant County has drawn praise from a wide variety of folks, including The Register-Guard in a June 3 editorial. Unfortunately, the conversation once again has been limited to how and where taxpayer-subsidized logging should be done. What gets lost is the harsh reality that this agreement once again inflicts more cutting on our already overcut national forests. This deal may prolong the life of a couple of mills, but it is yet another step toward oblivion for our life-giving forests. Consider the collapse of Atlantic cod and Pacific salmon fisheries. Quotas for these fisheries were based on what managers believed to be the maximum sustainable harvest. Fisheries “experts” and fishermen collaborated to set harvest levels that would allow fishing to continue. Predictably, those strategies failed. The compromises that they allowed — combined with financial desires, environmental factors and heavy fishing — destroyed the natural balance. Our forests — and the soil, air and water they provide — are not immune to this fate. Ever since we began strip-mining Oregon’s public forests, their condition has declined. Despite many assurances from the industry and federal agencies, the situation has not stabilized, let alone improved. In a misguided effort to keep folks working and maintain the status quo, we are seeing the life of our forest compromised away a tree at a time. The salvage logging in Grant County will probably not be a major contributor to the death of the planet. Few individual actions are — but the cumulative effects of generations of mismanagement will eventually catch up with the forest, just as it has with the fish. When “environmental” groups position themselves as collaborators with the forces that have liquidated more than 90 percent of our native forests, we all lose. To act as collaborator when dealing with a market-driven management policy directly contradicts their stated purpose. Market-driven logging is deadly to the forest. The forest dies, and only an industrial fiber farm may be allowed to grow back. The Sierra Club, Oregon Wild and the other groups that promote taxpayer-subsidized logging are killing the forest just as surely as the logging companies they are supporting. Many fishermen have paid the price. They are finding new careers and moving on. It is time to do the same in the logging industry. Ending the export of our country’s trees as logs, chips and pulp while keeping the mill-processing jobs here at home would also help. Industrial forestry will still end on public lands. This will happen either by choice or by necessity. We are paying down the future to all the timber barons to liquidate our forests and commons, and it will stop at some point. http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=114889&sid=5&fid=1

California:

13) On June 2, Gibbons and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger followed one central recommendation of the panel, declaring a state of emergency within Tahoe’s five counties to speed the release of the millions of dollars needed for the work. “We will not rest until this natural crown jewel is as safe as it is beautiful,” Schwarzenegger said during a news conference not far from where the fire started. From Rogich’s perspective, the primary lesson from the Angora Fire is the need for a balance in priorities. For far too many years, Rogich argues, the emphasis at Tahoe has focused solely on environmental protection. “Things are not going to stay the way they were,” Rogich said. “Public safety, loss of life and property, is in essence equal to the environment. You have to find a reasonable meeting point.” A “little arm twisting” is in order to make needed changes, primarily at Tahoe’s forefront land-use regulator, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Rogich said John Singlaub, TRPA’s executive director, knows well the impassioned sentiment of many in the fire’s wake. He was shouted down during a public meeting during the fire. Insufficient progress in dealing with fire danger was cited by critics on the agency’s governing board during his last performance review. “I don’t believe any of it was justified,” Singlaub said of the criticism leveled at his agency. TRPA made wildfire prevention its top priority in 2004 and that same year eased restrictions on use of motorized vehicles in stream areas for forest-thinning projects. Both actions demonstrated the agency’s commitment to addressing fire danger years before the Angora Fire, Singlaub said. Another important change comes late this month when officials with California’s Water Quality Control Board are set to streamline the permitting process for timber management activities. Laurel Ames, a South Lake Tahoe resident and environmental activist, acknowledged concern that a rush to change in the wake of the Angora Fire could come at a cost to an already troubled environment. She’s particularly concerned that accelerated logging on Tahoe’s steep slopes and stream areas could dump dirt into the lake, worsening loss of its famed clarity. http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080622/NEWS/806220347/1321

14) Have you noticed Incline Village to be a little less green? You definitely would notice this if you frequently visit our local recreation center. Over the past week, hundreds of trees have been leveled to the ground by an army of government workers armed with chainsaws and other expensive equipment. There is a thick pine smell emitting from the dying trees, and many animals have fled from their once safe homes. Why the destruction? This whole procedure is intended as a fire prevention technique (“fuels reduction”), and as a homeowner, you probably are grateful for the service. Yet, I find myself questioning the intelligence. Having spent much time in the overgrown forest, I have become accustomed to a dimly lit atmosphere. The tall trees grant shade to everything below, and the temperature is much lower. The shade allows delicate ground cover to flourish. This ground cover is very important because it keeps in the moisture, naturally inhibiting forest fires. Now the situation is much different. Even large strong trees have been chopped from their bases (I counted rings on stumps to 60), and the ground cover has been removed and set to the side. Now the sun light beams through and burns the remaining delicate plants and ground cover. There will no longer be wild raspberries throughout the forest. They will burn this summer, and perhaps for the next 10 summers as well. The trees and plants removed no longer provide moisture from their roots to keep the ground cool — it is now becoming dry and parched. The saddest part: Even at 21, I will not live long enough to see this lush forest grow back. I have spent many hours exploring, relaxing, pondering and enjoying in the natural ecosystem next to my home. Now I feel like crying whenever I see the massive piles of dying green trees on the ground. http://www.tahoebonanza.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080618/NEWS/259452679/1021&parentprofi
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15) “It’s been recognized for years that stream zones are overloaded with fuels,” Brown said. “We need to get in there to create a fire safe and healthy forest in that project area.” The district is employing its handcrews to thin brush and trees in the area, a job fire used to do before humans inhabited the basin, Brown said. But, with humans protecting against fire, the stream zone became overgrown and presents a serious fire threat. “Reducing the fire threat to our community is the No. 1 priority,” said Norb Szczurek, who heads up the project as NLTFPD fuels division chief. “By reducing the fire threat we reduce the amount of vegetation in the area, and that allows the leftover vegetation to have less competition for nutrients in the soil.” The hand crews are being assisted by machine equipment which is tailored for stream zones, using a specialized arm to remove trees before limbing and chipping them. The machine is able to stay far away from the stream, minimizing impact on the sensitive area and keeping the stream clean of dirt and vegetation. Work is expected to be completed Wednesday, Szczurek said, a little behind schedule because of a complication with the removal and chipping of willow trees. Szczurek said willows are wetter than average trees and take the machine longer to chip because of excess moisture. The willows are being left to dry to make chipping them in the coming weeks an easier task. Leftover vegetation piles in the stream zone should be cleaned up within weeks, Szczurek said. Brown said that due to concern for the project he’s led multiple tours of the area to educate residents on the health of the forest. The district is planning to organize group tours of the area in the coming weeks, Brown said, and an announcement of the tour times and dates could be made as early as next week. http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20080620/NEWS/152375643/1061&ParentProfile=1050

16) Nevada City - On June 19, the Sierraville District of the Tahoe National Forest has reversed its decision to implement the Montez logging and road building project in the Castle Peak Proposed Wilderness that would have degraded wilderness values and negatively impacted Perazzo Creek, an eligible wild and scenic river. On May 7, 2008 the Forest Issues Group, Sierra Forest Legacy and the California Wilderness Coalition appealed the Montez Project. Sierra Foothills Audubon Society, Friends of the River, and Sierra Club had previously joined these groups in asking the Forest Service to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the project that offered an alternative to restore this area using methods that better conformed to wilderness principles. This alternative was rejected, but the Forest Service has now withdrawn its logging plan. The 16,000 acre Castle Peak Roadless Area is proposed for wilderness protection in legislation introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Hilda Solìs. These wild lands in the Tahoe National Forest provides Californians with spectacular outdoor recreation opportunities and is home to several important watersheds that supply drinking water to Nevada County and wildlife habitat for endangered species. This area provides habitat for the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout, willow flycatcher, northern goshawk and the California spotted owl. It is also home to old growth red-fir forests. A major effort is currently underway to improve the trout fishery in downstream waters of Perazzo Creek, while protecting willow flycatcher habitat in Perazzo meadows. “We are extremely pleased that this project has been withdrawn and congratulate the Forest Service for their reversal decision”, said Don Rivenes, spokesperson for the Forest Issues Group. “Hopefully, the U.S. Forest Service will redirect its limited funds to pursue projects that protect wildland/urban interface communities and restore key forest ecosystems.” Brent Schoradt, Deputy Policy Director for the California Wilderness Coalitions says “The Castle Peak Proposed Wilderness deserves to be protected from road building, logging and other threats.” http://yubanet.com/regional/Logging-Project-in-Proposed-Castle-Peak-Wilderness-Withdrawn.php

17) On the gentle uplands of Moody Ridge, some four thousand feet above sea level, there once grew an open forest of mighty pines and cedars. Then, around 1870, came Progress: those gigantic trees, centuries old, were laid low. A dense forest of young pines rose in its place, almost impenetrable, as is remarked in the field notes of Berkeley zoologist Joseph Grinnell (see http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Grinnell.html), who visited in 1912, collecting specimens for days on end. He stayed at the Pine Mound Inn, one of several hotels in and near Dutch Flat at that time. Fires swept across Moody Ridge and thinned that dense forest again and again. More logging took place, notably, around 1960 and 1977-78. This last cut was the unkindest, in that every conifer over fifteen inches in diameter was taken, and then, adding insult to injury, the bulldozer-churned forest land was illegally subdivided. Thirty years later, the signs of logging have softened, but the skid trails of the 1977-78 timber harvest are still plainly visible, as the bulldozers spun their treads deeply into the rich forest soil, casting it to the side, and exposing the clayey subsoil. Only recently did I finally realize, after a few decades of walking about, that signs of the earliest phase of logging, dating to around 1875, remain visible, in the form of narrow-gauge railroad grades, very carefully located to allow for the easiest yarding of the huge first-growth sawlogs, which would be rolled directly onto the flatcars, and hauled away to the Canyon Creek Mill. I have cleared debris and small trees from one of these old logging-railroad grades, which winds in and out of a small valley on a line so level one would imagine it an old mining ditch, and it makes for a nice walk. I call it the Railroad Trail. Yesterday, walking along the Railroad Trail amid Incense Cedar and White Fir, Ponderosa Pine and Sugar Pine, I saw what seemed to be the white ghosts of small pine cones thrusting up through the pine needles which deeply cover the forest floor. They were quite intricate, and clearly, without any chlorophyll, being one of those saprophytic plants often placed in the Heath Family, like Pine Drops and Snow Plant. http://northforktrails.blogspot.com/2008/06/fringed-pinesap.html

18) YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK — More fear of fangs is what’s needed to revive hoof-worn Western lands. That’s the view of pioneering scientists certain that a scarcity of cougars and other large predators is devastating large stands of oak, aspen, cottonwood and even spectacular wildflower blooms in Western wild lands because deer and other foraging animals no longer fear predators and are overgrazing as a result. “It’s one of the most exciting new ideas in ecology within the last 25 years,” said David Graber, chief scientist of the Pacific West Region for the National Park Service. “The whole notion of how important large predators are on the landscape is extraordinary.” Two Oregon State University scientists say their studies on the “ecology of fear” at national parks, beginning at Yellowstone and most recently concluding at Yosemite, show this phenomenon is under way on open lands across the West. It arose following a blitzkrieg by wildlife managers against large predators such as wolves and cougars in the early 20th century, as well as rising tourism at parks that drove away people-shy predators. “We’ve lost many large predators,” said Robert Beschta, one of the Oregon scientists. “And most of us didn’t realize the effects that may have caused. Here’s how the hypothesis works: Lacking natural predators, expanding populations of herbivores freely wander into areas where their ancestors never lingered long because grasses, bushes or trees could conceal a prowling cougar, wolf or grizzly bear. Lacking fear of these now scarce or absent carnivores, large herds of herbivores, such as mule deer in Yosemite and Zion, or elk in Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain national parks, lose their migratory ways and loiter in one area, devouring tender young plants until few — if any — survive to maturity. In groves within 2½ miles of the Visitor Center — the main hub of human activity in the park — they found a scarcity of young oak and no cougar scat. That indicated the deer browsed freely on acorns and oak sprouts because cougars weren’t frequenting the area. But in oak groves from 2½ to 5 miles from the Visitor Center, 10 times as many oak trees had survived since the 1920s, when deer populations surged in the valley after a government campaign to eliminate predators such as cougars and coyotes. “That still would be considered low,” Ripple said, adding it’s not a sufficient number to regenerate the groves. Cougar droppings found in these areas explain why relatively more young oak survived, the scientists said. The presence of the big cats, although still infrequent, was enough to keep more deer closer to the Visitor Center. http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_9662208

19) “Dumpster Muffin”, one the oaks defenders, is perched high in a platform extended high above the tip-wip of a Coast Redwood situated in the grove. As she gyrates her hips and dances for the crowds below, her platform sways precariously back and forth. One has to wonder why the UC would risk endangering the lives of these noble and fearless defenders in order to remove them against a court injunction, and well before the recent Oaks Grove ruling has been interpreted by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller. “Ayr”, a supporter from the ground, hollers through a bullhorn at the campus police, pleading with them not to risk the lives of the Oaks Defenders, his voice hoarse from back to back days and nights without rest. Luckily for the Treesitters, a multitude of supporters have gathered to observe the reckless actions of the UC police.Unfortunately, the UC has turned a blind eye to the court system, as well as the law and basic human decency. All are invited to visit the grove and support the defenders of these precious Oaks. You can read more about the struggle at the http://www.saveoaks.com/SaveOaks/Main.html

20) At 4 p.m. Sunday, a woman rocked back, lofted a green apple toward a grove of trees on the UC Berkeley campus, and was promptly arrested. As she was led away by university officers and the apple lay bruised on the pavement, an 18-month battle over those trees grew more serious - and far more surreal. In a highly scripted and mostly nonviolent demonstration, about 100 people, including Berkeley City Councilwoman Dona Spring, tried to bring water and food - energy bars, sourdough bread, grapes - to Dumpster Muffin and eight other protesters who remain up a tree in an effort to block the building of an athletic center. Rebuffed by more than two dozen officers standing behind metal barricades, the protesters produced an emergency room physician who warned that the tree-sitters might suffer kidney failure without sustenance. As cameras rolled, the doctor had a brief consultation with one of the tree-sitters - who over a blue walkie-talkie reported that he and his colleagues had urine that was “the color of amber.” “If it starts looking like ice tea or Coca-Cola, then you’re going to clog up your kidneys with broken-down material from your muscles,” responded Dr. Larry Bedard. It was like that all afternoon, this strange brew of police action and political theater. The very real prospect of danger for the tree-sitters mixed with a series of bizarre and even humorous exchanges, as the smell of sweat and burning sage wafted through. At the center of Sunday’s clash was the university’s 6-day-old strategy of isolating the tree-sitters, who are now lodged in their one remaining intact fort in a single tree, but move from tree to tree. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/23/BA7S11DFIB.DTL

South Dakota:

21) The U.S. Forest Service proposes to use a combination of commercial logging, thinning and prescribed burning to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and mountain pine beetle infestation on about 43,000 acres of the Black Hills National Forest south of Spearfish. Northern Hills District ranger Rhonda O’Byrne recently announced the release of the draft environment impact statement for the West Rim Project. The project area includes Spearfish Canyon, Spearfish Creek, Terry Peak, Iron Creek Lake and Bridal Veil Falls. Chris Stores, assistant natural resources planner for the district, said there currently is no serious outbreak of mountain pine beetles in the area. But, he added, “A lot of the stands are at moderate or high risk.” Of the 53,157 acres encompassed in the project area, 10,000 acres are interspersed private land where no actions are proposed. The Forest Service hasn’t determined its preference among three alternatives, Stores said.
Under Alternative A, no action would be taken. Under Alternative B, a total of 17,363 acres would be treated. Commercial harvest would be done on 13,379 acres. Thinning would be done on 13,713 acres, and prescribed burning would be conducted on 13,226 acres. The treatments, in many cases, will overlap, Stores said. Under Alternative C, a total of 18,291 acres would be treated, including 13,379 acres of commercial logging, 14,641 acres of thinning and 14,154 acres of prescribed burning. Alternative C was developed from public comments on the original proposal released last September, Stores said. Forest Service officials hope to have the final environmental impact statement finished in August or September. http://rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/06/19/news/top/doc485a893137c21472998418.txt

22) The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to improve forest conditions on more than 30,000 acres west of Custer through a combination of commercial logging, thinning and prescribed burning, according to Hell Canyon District Ranger Mike Lloyd. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the South Project is now available for review, Lloyd said. The project is intended to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire and mountain pine beetle infestation, as well as provide a diverse habitat for wildlife, Lloyd said. The project area is about 5 miles west of Custer in the Upper and Lower Pleasant Valley watersheds. Of the 52,081 acres in the project area, 7,800 acres are private land and 1,200 acres are owned by the state of South Dakota where no actions are proposed. The major roads within the project area include U.S. Highway 16, Pleasant Valley Road and Lightning Creek Road. The area is directly south of the Jasper Fire burn, according to Kelly Honors, National Environmental Policy Act planner for the Hell Canyon Ranger District. Honors said the preferred option in the plan calls for commercial logging on 31,527 acres, thinning on about 6,000 acres, and prescribed burning on about 11,000 acres. The second action alternative calls for commercial timber harvest on 32,118 acres, thinning on about 4,000 acres and prescribed burning on about 9,000 acres. http://rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/06/22/news/local/doc485f1deed89a1708497012.txt

Indiana:

23) June 20th 7am, Evansville Indiana — In the early morning hours of June 20th, around 25 police officers from the Indiana State Police (ISP), Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the Gibson County Sheriff’s office descended on the scene of the anti-I69 tree sit, just south of State Road 68 in southern Gibson County (20 miles north of Evansville). The police officers, many of them trained specifically for this purpose, brought in “cherry pickers” and other platform raising equipment in order to reach the sitters. Sitting on platforms suspended 40 feet above the ground, the tree-sitters were not in positions from which they could be easily and safely removed. Arresting officers’ reckless behaviors, however, resulted in protesters’ quick eviction. One protester was not attached to a safety line during the eviction, but was still hostilely handled by the Conservation Officers. As they reached her with the cherry picker, they pulled her unattached to anything that would have prevented her tumbling to the ground, putting her life in great danger. After evicting the first sitter, officers moved on to the second. They raised the cherry picker below the platform to threaten the sitter, and then lifted the platform with the cherry picker. They proceeded to cut the support line that was holding it in the tree. This protester had locked himself onto the ropes using a “lock box” device intended to